Monday, December 27, 2010


Bittern on frozen ditch, taken from tractor





This kestrel was in attendance at a large fire site that i was burning with the aid of tractor and front-loader. It realised that when i was moving large some root stocks small rodents would run out. It took a couple of hours to catch its first field vole which it did by running along the ground and through some branches at lightning speed, the second vole it caught approx one meter distance from my feet and another by dashing under the moving tractor only to come out the other side with its prize!


Monday, December 20, 2010

One of 21 wild male corncrakes that returned to the Nene Washes in Cambridgeshire in 2010, great encouragement for the re-introduction scheme. Also of note were two males that were three years old and a female that was four years old (the oldest known wild corncrake ever re-trapped in the UK and probably the world! Most wild corncrakes only live for around 1 year with the 3/4 of the breeding population made up of 1 year old birds (2CY).


Common crane bred for the first time, the first breeding in the cambridgeshire fens since they were extirpated in the 1600's


A great Egret in full breeding plumage visited breifly in May.