Cambridge Holiday day 3: Fowlmere RSPB

For today my family were going to Duxford air museum. Having seen the pheasant yesterday and th weather being windy today I did not fancy going back for that, and all the other nature reserves that I wanted to go to is that I could not get to by public transport. There was an RSPB reserve near to Duxford and so that seemed like the best option.

It was a small reserve and I did not fancy spending all day there, even less so when birds were at a premium that would make soil hill proud. There were odd bits though having spent all day there so I gathered up around 25 species by the end of the day.

The first two hides had no birds in at all… but the third hide had a little bit more to offer, including Graylag Geese in good numbers, a few Canada Geese and a couple of Mute Swans. 3 Reed Buntings made an appearance too. The reedbeds were alive with the squealing of water rails but I did not see any.

-Graylag Goose

There was a Barn Owl box there which I could see a pale blob inside, presumably an owl, but could not make it out properly first time. Having said that, the second time round the bird had moved and now its face was clear through the hole, clearly making out that it was indeed a Barn Owl, happily dozing away.

-Barn Owl

I spent most of the rest of the time waiting for a Water Rail to appear from the reeds in one of the hides. I got a singing Chiff-Chaff and Teal added to my list. The real highlight of the afternoon was a Muntjac Deer that strolled along the hedge as I left the hide. I got a fantastic view of it and it did not even flinch when I got the camera out. However, I had it on auto-focus so failed to get it through the vegetation, and in the meantime it saw me and bolted, which I was a little gutted about for the missed opportunity but it was still a fantastic view.

-Muntjac Deer

That was about it though. It was nice, but most were species I could easily see at home, so it did feel a little like a day wasted. However, news broke in the afternoon that the Pheasant was now to fed with seed from tomorrow onwards, so I guess that’s tomorrows plans sorted…

Species List:

Fowlmere RSPB: Graylag Goose, Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Mallard, Teal, Barn Owl, Little Grebe, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Common Snipe, Long-Tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blackbird, Robin, Wren, Woodpigeon, Moorhen, Coot, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Reed Bunting, Sparrowhawk, Chiffchaff, Muntjac Deer, Goldfinch, Dunnock,