Wicken Fen visits

I have decided to make a bike ride to this nature reserve in the winter an annual thing. The bird species which attracted me the most was the hen harrier, of course, and I aimed to get as good images of it as I could possibly pull off, which is not easy to do with a supermanoeuvrable bird in dim light conditions with an atrocious camera. 

The hen harriers arrive every winter, this winter was no different though I did freak out very briefly because the SEOs had arrived and the harriers were lagging behind. These harriers can be seen in the fields but are best when coming in to roost at Sedge Fen. Often they will orbit around the place, providing for absolutely excellent views. 

The best observations were in 2019. I was in the observation platform, and a pair of hen harriers was roosting on a clear-cut right in front of it. My images were smeared by the giant distances, even with using a tripod, but I did get some nice long-range images of the species, particularly when the beautiful male started flying all over the place. I was much less fortunate in 2020. Despite knowing what to expect and coming prepared with more control over camera functions, the hen harriers never got anywhere near close. The best image I have is an extremely distant male on a murky afternoon. 

The birds can go up right to the visitor center, but this only happens if people keep off the boardwalk in that area. In both the cases I observed the harriers, there were people on the boardwalk. Despite this, in 2019, I was just leaving when a male hen harrier materialised out of nowhere right near the visitor center and swooped overhead briefly before diving down into reedbeds right next to it! 

The best way to observe these harriers is either find another place to see them altogether or try the boardwalk hide and hope for the best. And pick out a working night so that there is minimum risk of families ruining the spectacle. 

By far the better attraction despite not being so rare in Britain, the short-eared owls are extremely reliable and easy to observe and in 2020 we had five of them at Burwell Fen, hunting after 4pm. Beforehand they roost in the grass and are notoriously difficult to observe. Anywhere around the fields would do, and there are also barn owls along the hedges as seen from the boardwalk hide. 

During the 2020 visit I saw one of the owls flying around, but because of my camera and the extremely, seriously murky afternoon I got blurred images. Here is my best image from that day

There are also little owls, including a well-publicised one living in a certain logpile near Burwell fen. I was unable to see it. 

The best conditions to visit are still sunny evenings on weekdays starting from around November.