wolfbirder
Well-known member
I have already mentioned this briefly on another thread, but as 'Birds of prey' section seems a bit quiet, I thought I would tell you about my trip on Wednesday just gone to this wonderful atmospheric location - Wicken Fen, near Soham, Cambridgeshire.
I would highly recommend a trip to this English nature reserve (think its about £4.50 entrance mind!) and you best check as its closed Tuesdays I think, altho there is general access to the path by the canal but not to the hides at all times.
At least 4 hen harriers have been roosting here recently, they historically have often overwintered, but my trip provided me with my best views of these stunning raptors to date. Tower Hide on the right hand side of the canal from the centre is the place to be from about 4pm onwards until dark, as Barn owls are the first attraction to hunt around (I saw 3 plus), a Short-Eared owl has been seen frequently altho I did not see it, a Marsh harrier was present, Kestrels, a peregrine, and on top of that there are pools with wildfowl, and Bittern and Cetti's warbler are on the reserve tho elusive, as well as a Great Grey Shrike at present. You will not see thousands of birds for this is a speciality reserve. Tower Hide only holds 3-4 people, so this is the problem with going at the weekend. You can try to watch the harriers arrive from the path adjacent to the hide, but I have found the long grass stems make observing them annoying at times, especially when using a scope, and from ground level they quickly disappear from view behind clusters of trees. Also, I have found that they quickly become aware of you if you are not in the hide and this spooks them a lot and they can head off. Male hen harriers seem particularly sensitive to disturbance in my experience - perhaps because they are smaller.
It is the males that tend to predominate here for one reason or another. The roost site on this evening was just 50 - 100 yards from Tower Hide, and it produces a wonderful downward looking perspective of the birds flying beneath you but just above the level of the long grass. You may be aware of their piercing call to start with, indeed I hardly noticed the first male arrive low over the long grass, in relatively bright late afternoon light. It landed on short grass in full view about 100 yards away, where it sat for over ten minutes waiting for others to arrive. I have rarely seen this bird perched, so I was thrilled to enjoy this view. With its silvery-grey back to me, it still turned its head to me revealing its owl like facial disk and yellow eyes. Superb! Eventually an adult ringtail arrived and he took to flight to join her in close inter-active flight. 2 other cracking adult males then arrived, and all 4 flew around in light still good enough to enjoy very good views. I had two males criss-crossing the nearby roost spot in my scope simultaneously for a minute or two, infact i was surprised how well my midrange Opticron ES80ED performed in deteriorating light.
Take note it is not always easy to use a scope in Tower Hide due to lack of room and the stairs emerging through the floor on the side of the hide where the harriers tend to favour. Today I was by myself so it was easy! But at weekends if there are half a dozen it is crammed (most weekends in February). The steps are steep so take care.
There was no wind at all (not usually a factor that aids or prolonges harrier pre-roost flight), and a gorgeous pink-orange sky acted as a back drop as the sun set behind over the horizon. One by one they dived into the long grass and that was it. But I felt exhilarated and bewildered, I think the male Hen Harrier is my favourate bird, it is so hard to see really well unless you chance briefly upon a hunting bird as it passes, sometimes arriving at roosts a bit too late to enjoy views like I did (so again be warned- they can be unpredictable). Its ghostly but beautiful plummage colouration, and fascinating buoyant and graceful flight make them so exciting to watch. The pre-roost viewing, in context of the whole day of largely unexciting but relaxing birding, was over so quickly, so it always leaves me yearning to return to watch them again.
They will disperse shortly to their breeding grounds, perhaps there is as little as 2 weeks left this winter to enjoy views of these birds (can anyone confirm the estimated dispersal date?).
Birding at its best! Despite the no-guarantee, I would say that you have agood chance currently of seeing upto 5 birds quite or very well here. Sorry to bore you but just wanted to share the best birding moment of 2006 so far for me, with you.
I would highly recommend a trip to this English nature reserve (think its about £4.50 entrance mind!) and you best check as its closed Tuesdays I think, altho there is general access to the path by the canal but not to the hides at all times.
At least 4 hen harriers have been roosting here recently, they historically have often overwintered, but my trip provided me with my best views of these stunning raptors to date. Tower Hide on the right hand side of the canal from the centre is the place to be from about 4pm onwards until dark, as Barn owls are the first attraction to hunt around (I saw 3 plus), a Short-Eared owl has been seen frequently altho I did not see it, a Marsh harrier was present, Kestrels, a peregrine, and on top of that there are pools with wildfowl, and Bittern and Cetti's warbler are on the reserve tho elusive, as well as a Great Grey Shrike at present. You will not see thousands of birds for this is a speciality reserve. Tower Hide only holds 3-4 people, so this is the problem with going at the weekend. You can try to watch the harriers arrive from the path adjacent to the hide, but I have found the long grass stems make observing them annoying at times, especially when using a scope, and from ground level they quickly disappear from view behind clusters of trees. Also, I have found that they quickly become aware of you if you are not in the hide and this spooks them a lot and they can head off. Male hen harriers seem particularly sensitive to disturbance in my experience - perhaps because they are smaller.
It is the males that tend to predominate here for one reason or another. The roost site on this evening was just 50 - 100 yards from Tower Hide, and it produces a wonderful downward looking perspective of the birds flying beneath you but just above the level of the long grass. You may be aware of their piercing call to start with, indeed I hardly noticed the first male arrive low over the long grass, in relatively bright late afternoon light. It landed on short grass in full view about 100 yards away, where it sat for over ten minutes waiting for others to arrive. I have rarely seen this bird perched, so I was thrilled to enjoy this view. With its silvery-grey back to me, it still turned its head to me revealing its owl like facial disk and yellow eyes. Superb! Eventually an adult ringtail arrived and he took to flight to join her in close inter-active flight. 2 other cracking adult males then arrived, and all 4 flew around in light still good enough to enjoy very good views. I had two males criss-crossing the nearby roost spot in my scope simultaneously for a minute or two, infact i was surprised how well my midrange Opticron ES80ED performed in deteriorating light.
Take note it is not always easy to use a scope in Tower Hide due to lack of room and the stairs emerging through the floor on the side of the hide where the harriers tend to favour. Today I was by myself so it was easy! But at weekends if there are half a dozen it is crammed (most weekends in February). The steps are steep so take care.
There was no wind at all (not usually a factor that aids or prolonges harrier pre-roost flight), and a gorgeous pink-orange sky acted as a back drop as the sun set behind over the horizon. One by one they dived into the long grass and that was it. But I felt exhilarated and bewildered, I think the male Hen Harrier is my favourate bird, it is so hard to see really well unless you chance briefly upon a hunting bird as it passes, sometimes arriving at roosts a bit too late to enjoy views like I did (so again be warned- they can be unpredictable). Its ghostly but beautiful plummage colouration, and fascinating buoyant and graceful flight make them so exciting to watch. The pre-roost viewing, in context of the whole day of largely unexciting but relaxing birding, was over so quickly, so it always leaves me yearning to return to watch them again.
They will disperse shortly to their breeding grounds, perhaps there is as little as 2 weeks left this winter to enjoy views of these birds (can anyone confirm the estimated dispersal date?).
Birding at its best! Despite the no-guarantee, I would say that you have agood chance currently of seeing upto 5 birds quite or very well here. Sorry to bore you but just wanted to share the best birding moment of 2006 so far for me, with you.