A mild and windy week so far with relatively low tides has meant some drying out of the riverbank. This is great news as it is now slightly easier to walk to Tower Hide, the not so good news is that some very high tides are due for the next week, so the trails may well get flooded, for this reason it will be important to check the tide tables and ask at reception for the latest details on path conditions.
Despite the mild conditions, the harrier roost has been very impressive over the past few days; on Monday early morning I watched 31 marsh harriers leave the roost with 18 in the air at once, quite a nice start to the week! The volunteers also had a female hen harrier in the roost on the Sunday evening. These are very high numbers for the fen so we wonder if another roost nearby was perhaps disturbed on Sunday evening? I was watching the roost from Buckenham riverbank where I saw 17 marsh harriers, 4 buzzards, a large female sparrowhawk, 2 peregrines, a kestrel and two barn owls. All these birds of prey were alongside 900 wigeon 450 golden plover and the more regular geese. The bean geese have not been seen since 16 December, I hope they have not already left us, I suspect they are just laying low somewhere as they seem to like to do.
Strumpshaw Fen has seen a few bitterns in flight from reception and fen hides, kingfishers on the river along with otters at reception on a number of occasions. As mentioned above Marsh harrier numbers are very good and they are best seen in the late afternoon in windy conditions, when they appear to just play in the air. A jack snipe was reported on Monday afternoon and there are still a number of water pipits in the area, however seeing them on the ground is quite a challenge. At the opposite end of the scale, a stonechat is showing very nicely perching along the riverbank.
The trails are all open so hopefully we'll see you over the Christmas period, we are open every day except Christmas Day. Come and walk off those mince pies and enjoy some fresh air, the woodland circuit is particularly pleasant at the moment and if you want some family fun there is a winter backpack challenge.
On behalf of everyone at Strumpshaw Fen, we wish you a merry Christmas and a wildlife filled new year!