MikePearson
Sunday 12th January 2003, 17:01
I should of course be packing and sorting out last minute odds and ends. But it was such a pleasant morning that I just had to go out.
I got to Wicken Fen by 9:30. The Fen was an absolute picture even though the sun had started to retreat behind the clouds and the frost painting the foliage a whiter shade of pale. There was of course a lot of ice about, ideal conditions for the bird I wanted to see most, usually a reduced amount of open water will tempt them out of hiding. But although there were three reported on Friday, the Bittern didn’t show in the two and a half hours I was there.
On the ice there were all the usual suspects in the waterfowl department. Widgeon and Mallard in their hundreds. Many pairs of Teal, a few Gadwall and Shoveler but best of all two pairs of Pintail as they are infrequent visitors to Wicken. As expected, no sign of waders and no plovers of any kind. A dozen Cormorant, A Heron, Moorhen and a single Coot (unusual these days, mostly they appear by the dozen) also present in front of the west mere hide. A dog fox tried to catch himself a duck, repeatedly and unsuccessfully. Right in front of the hide, three immature Mute Swans did a comic turn for me by attempting a water landing (is that an oxymoron) on the ice. Boy did they have to back peddle, only coming to a halt inches from the reed bed. They then took a seriously long time to get back to the open water, slipping and a sliding so to speak. Oh for a video camera and the wit to spot the moment in time to switch on!
It was also nice to hear and then see a Water Rail as I walked back through the reeds from the hide
Along the bank and in the hedgerows I managed good look at two Waxwing. Blue Great and Long Tailed Tit. Chaffinch, Greenfinch and Siskin. Wren. Blackbird, Song Thrush, Robin and Dunnock. No Fieldfair or Redwing this time around. Nice views of a Kestrel hovering and a Sparrow hawk obliged with a flypast.
Halfway back to the car park, almost opposite the Tower Hide I caught the mearest glimpse of a long bodied mammal in the lode, swimming along the bank. I approached with caution. As I got close to the spot, I noticed that the vegetation was flattened such that it was apparent that some animal entered and left the water on a regular basis. I stood at this spot for a few a while and was eventually rewarded for my patience as a head and two eyes appear at the surface looking straight at me. As fast as you like, and with a heck of a splash it’s gone. A Mink says I to myself. I mention it to one of the staff at the visitors centre. He tells me that it was more than likey an Otter! Evidently, since their reintroduction, the Otters have driven off the Mink that were released by animal rights activists from a nearby fur farm.
As leave the visitors centre a good-sized flock of House Sparrows serenade me up the lane to the car park.
If there’s one place I’m going to miss when I move it’s going to be this one.
I enclose a few images of questionable quality for your perusal.
Mike
I got to Wicken Fen by 9:30. The Fen was an absolute picture even though the sun had started to retreat behind the clouds and the frost painting the foliage a whiter shade of pale. There was of course a lot of ice about, ideal conditions for the bird I wanted to see most, usually a reduced amount of open water will tempt them out of hiding. But although there were three reported on Friday, the Bittern didn’t show in the two and a half hours I was there.
On the ice there were all the usual suspects in the waterfowl department. Widgeon and Mallard in their hundreds. Many pairs of Teal, a few Gadwall and Shoveler but best of all two pairs of Pintail as they are infrequent visitors to Wicken. As expected, no sign of waders and no plovers of any kind. A dozen Cormorant, A Heron, Moorhen and a single Coot (unusual these days, mostly they appear by the dozen) also present in front of the west mere hide. A dog fox tried to catch himself a duck, repeatedly and unsuccessfully. Right in front of the hide, three immature Mute Swans did a comic turn for me by attempting a water landing (is that an oxymoron) on the ice. Boy did they have to back peddle, only coming to a halt inches from the reed bed. They then took a seriously long time to get back to the open water, slipping and a sliding so to speak. Oh for a video camera and the wit to spot the moment in time to switch on!
It was also nice to hear and then see a Water Rail as I walked back through the reeds from the hide
Along the bank and in the hedgerows I managed good look at two Waxwing. Blue Great and Long Tailed Tit. Chaffinch, Greenfinch and Siskin. Wren. Blackbird, Song Thrush, Robin and Dunnock. No Fieldfair or Redwing this time around. Nice views of a Kestrel hovering and a Sparrow hawk obliged with a flypast.
Halfway back to the car park, almost opposite the Tower Hide I caught the mearest glimpse of a long bodied mammal in the lode, swimming along the bank. I approached with caution. As I got close to the spot, I noticed that the vegetation was flattened such that it was apparent that some animal entered and left the water on a regular basis. I stood at this spot for a few a while and was eventually rewarded for my patience as a head and two eyes appear at the surface looking straight at me. As fast as you like, and with a heck of a splash it’s gone. A Mink says I to myself. I mention it to one of the staff at the visitors centre. He tells me that it was more than likey an Otter! Evidently, since their reintroduction, the Otters have driven off the Mink that were released by animal rights activists from a nearby fur farm.
As leave the visitors centre a good-sized flock of House Sparrows serenade me up the lane to the car park.
If there’s one place I’m going to miss when I move it’s going to be this one.
I enclose a few images of questionable quality for your perusal.
Mike