Monday 24th
Cold. grey morning with scattered showers. Out to Burwell Fen to see how the water levels were doing and to see if anything had come in. The area around the tree had some water appearing and this had attracted good numbers of Wigeon and Teal were feeding amongst the flooding fields.
The Pout's Hall pool and the back pool were looking really good and there were good numbers of Wigeon, Teal, Gadwall and Shoveler. Lapwing also present as were Mallard. A large (300+) flock of Greylag passed over as did a single Whooper Swan calling as it went by.
Walking back towards the bridge I was really pleased to hear and then see a small flock of Bearded Tit moving along the Reach Lode. This was the first time since 27th May 2021! At least eight birds were present and being very vocal.
Full sightings list: https://ebird.org/checklist/S285911265
Tuesday 25th
Working at Welney for the day. Lot more water on the site but still some good areas of land still visible. A few more Pochard around but still not the numbers that are usually there in winter. Good numbers of Whooper Swan on the surrounding fields and some still on the reserve. Pintail were around in larger numbers as were Gadwall and Wigeon.
A single Great White Egret landed close to the main hide and a couple of Cattle Egret were in with the sheep on the Crag Bank.
A Black Redstart was spotted and photographed just outside the main door. Despite keeping a good eye open while letter picking the car park I didn't spot it, which is a pity as I've not seen one at the reserve before.
Full sightings list: https://ebird.org/checklist/S286118367
Wednesday 26th
Another cold, frosty but bright morning saw us back to Burwell Fen. The weather might have been glorious but the birding was lacking!
The lower pool is slowly filling but held no birds at all. The Teal that had been feeding in the flooding grass were gone as were the Wigeon.
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| The lower pool (Tree pool) |
The top pool towards Pout's Hall did have a large flock of Wigeon (400+) and a good number of Gadwall and Shoveler.
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| Shoveler and Wigeon (Mobiscoped) |
Two Common Gull were in with a small flock of Black-headed Gull.
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| Say aah..... Common Gull (Mobiscoped) |
A single female Marsh Harrier was over the fen and at least three Water Rail were calling from different locations.
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| Towards Pout's Hall |
Full sighting list: https://ebird.org/checklist/S286189235
Friday28th
Stayed local this morning and did a walk that took in Horse Fen and College Woods. Have to say it was quiet beyond belief! Other than a Great Spotted Woodpecker calling as was a Buzzard somewhere and a number of Blue Tit in College Wood, very little else was around. Lucky I have a dog to walk otherwise it would be a waste of time!
Full sightings list: https://ebird.org/checklist/S286450727
