Before I tell you whether yesterday afternoon's "Winter wildlife spectacular" guided walk was indeed spectacular, I just have to tell you about my walk around Brandon Fen yesterday morning. I walked up to the Washland viewpoint but before I got up there, a male barn owl flew right past me which was a great start. It was hunting, so it looked a bit like this:
Image credit: Phil Hacker
I scanned around the washland with my telescope and found 14 wigeons and one gadwall on the water. A group of nine little egrets flew over and a bit more scanning found a kingfisher perched up on one of the sluices. After watching it for a while, I went for my walk around Brandon Fen proper. Once I got up onto the riverbank, I spotted the barn owl again and stood still, just to see how close it would come to me. The answer was very! At one point, it was perched so close that I struggled to focus on it with my telescope. What a great start to the day!
Anyhow, thats enough about me! After what walk leader Pete referred to as: "a very slow start", the Winter wildlife spectacular guided walk did indeed turn out to be spectacular. Moreorless as soon as the group got to Joist Fen viewpoint, two cranes flew over and a kingfisher came and perched in front of them for about 15 minutes. A water rail was also squealing from somewhere in the depths of the reedbed.
As hoped, the numbers of raptors didn't disappoint. The group saw at least 19 marsh harriers and two male hen harriers. There was also a supporting cast of a juvenile peregrine, a merlin and a sparrowhawk just to add a bit of variety to the afternoon.
On the walk back through the reserve, some of the group got lucky when they spotted a little owl flying across the track near the visitor centre:
Image credit: Joe Rolph
All in all, I think that was a pretty successful guided walk if I'm honest! Unfortunately though, they didn't see absolutely everything though. Several visitors were watching the "spectacle" from a slightly different angle and saw a bittern having a "ding dong" with a "ringtail" hen harrier. They also saw a short eared owl hunting north of the river which was a real treat. Here is a picture of one from a couple of years ago:
Image credit: Darren Thompson
Please note that Winter wildlife spectacular guided walk this afternoon is FULLY BOOKED. Unfortunately, we can only accommodate those who have booked places in advance. However, you are still more than welcome to come for a walk and enjoy our wildlife so we hope to see you soon!
David, I think you can very safely call it spectacular! All of those raptors - including a merlin, never seen one! - make it very special. Not to mention nine little egrets.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.