Well, we all knew the cold weather would hit at some point, and sure enough, just as the birds had started warming up for spring, the snow fell. We had a good few inches at the reserve on Sunday, making everything look very pretty, but very cold. Still a great time to go out bird watching though. A short stroll around the East wood yesterday morning produced great-spotted woodpecker, woodcock (flushed by a roe deer), water rail, kestrel, snipe and a wee family of long-tailed tits. My intention was to find the lesser-spotted woodpeckers that have been reported a few times, but I had no luck with that. Just as I returned to the visitor centre, I had the lovely treat of a cracking male siskin singing away at the top of his voice very close to the path. Then a sudden splash nearby made me look at the ditch, just in time to see a small brown streak, presumably a stoat, making a dash across the ice and getting a slight dunking in the process – brrr! The barn owls were also performing beautifully near the visitor centre yesterday afternoon. It’s always a real treat to see these ghostly birds silently floating past the window.
The great-grey shrike was also seen again yesterday after a few days absence. It was spotted perched up on a willow in New Fen North by one of our volunteers. I had a quick look this morning but haven’t seen any sign of it so far. I did catch up with a pair of pintail on the washland though, tucked up in amongst the lapwings.
All six cranes are still around, making a lot of noise! We’ve put out some old potatoes for them in Humphreys paddock, which they seem to be enjoying (along with the roe deer, magpies and crows!).