David, Ken and I had arranged
to go to Eldernell, Cambridgeshire this afternoon as there had been thirteen
Short-eared Owls reported on Saturday.
We didn’t leave until around 12:00 and picked Ken up at Uppingham seeing
a Red Kite just before we reached Uppingham.
We had a couple of flocks of Whooper Swans around the Dog and Doublet
public house on our approach to Whittlesey.
We were hoping to find some Bewick’s Swans and drove beyond the
Eldernell turning to view the fields from the A606. We found two more parties of Whooper Swans
but there were no Bewick’s but we did see a male Marsh Harrier and a Buzzard
and several Kestrels from the road. When
we arrived in the car park at Eldernell around 14:15, we were surprised to find
quite a few cars with most of the occupants being birders. It was noticeably warmer than of late but was
rather overcast and dull but we had our first Short-eared Owl as soon as we got
out of the car. We saw at least four
before we had moved away from the car to the bridge to get a better view of the
washes. The four Short-eared Owls were
initially flying around the fields quite close to the car park but eventually
they began to disperse although two remained quite close for most of the
afternoon and we eventually had a least six.
We found three female-type Marsh Harriers quite early and then later two
were observed with a male. There were also four Whooper Swans to the east and
we saw a large party of swans in flight that were also probably Whooper during
the early evening. David picked up
fourteen Cranes coming in from the east and we watched them as they flew west
for several minutes passing behind the old duck decoy and then dropping in and
disappearing behind some reeds with two more coming in later and dropping in
the same area. A Barn Owl was claimed
earlier but when we looked all we could see was a very pale Short-eared Owl but
a little late a Barn Owl did perform well and a second was observed as the
afternoon progressed. A Kingfisher was
then heard and was seen heading along the stream before it perched on the
bushes where the stream bent to the left.
As we continued scanning we found two Buzzards and a Sparrowhawk perched
on posts and there were at least three Kestrels. David then had a male Hen Harrier but it
dropped in before anyone else managed to get on it. As we continued to scan the area we kept
picking up Short-eared Owls but there was no sign of the harrier. I then saw something that could have been it,
a little further east but it dropped immediately and didn’t reappear. I continued scanning the same area but after
several minutes I hadn’t seen anything and wasn’t sure what I had seen. I then noticed a couple birds just a little
further to the right and on getting them in the scope Short-eared Owl and yes
the male Hen Harrier. I managed to get
everyone, except Ken, looking in the right area and most picked it up fairly
quickly before it started flying quite quickly to the east. Ken did eventually get on it but not before
it had gone some considerable distance but fortunately it turned and came back
and eventually started quartering an area just west of the car park, which was
probably the area it would go to roost.
We walked back to the car saying what a brilliant afternoon it had been
when suddenly there was a cry what’s this and a Bittern flew west right in
front of the car park and really put the icing on the cake on what had been a
superb afternoon.
Short-eared Owls
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