May 1st Strumpshaw Fen

Cuckoo

There was a bit of a misty start this morning, but it was soon warming up to become a nice day. A male cuckoo was singing from one of his favourite trees by the river, the same tree that he or some other cuckoo has been using for the last few years. Hearing him from the far end of the Sandy Wall, I knew exactly where he was singing without even needing to look. Experience does that to you. I decided to see him anyway and was surprised to see a large group led by Peter (who does the group walks at Mousehold Heath). They were excited, but Peter was more so. "Sean! Cuckoo!" he called to me with excitement in his voice. "I know. He's often there" I replied, trying hard not to look too smug about it.

Wren

After a quick photo session with the cuckoo, while also being teased by a whitethroat singing behind me that just would not sit still into view for too long, I decided to tag along with Peter's group for a short while. We were making our way to Tower Hide, slowly but surely. Birds were constantly distracting us, causing us to stop and look every few meters down the path. From cuckoos (again) to the sound of booming bitterns. The list was growing; chiffchaffs, blackcaps, willow warblers, reed buntings, marsh harriers, a garden warbler, a couple of brief kingfisher sightings, snipe, a bank vole, common tern, nesting black-headed gulls and redshanks. We made our separate ways after leaving the Tower Hide. They continued on towards the Lackford Run, while I made my way back to start my shift at the Reception Hide.

Kingfisher

It was one of those quiet mornings with the wildlife making sudden appearances to keep us on our toes. When you thought that you were just going to stare at a few greylags for the remainder of the morning, up pops a kingfisher who kept flying to the same tall, forked, dead tree to my left unannounced. It sat there as if part of the tree, using it as a vantage spot to look over the broad. Then there were the first sightings of swifts and hobbies that I've had this year flying high above the reserve and also the swallows skimming the water for a drink and a common tern that kept circling the back of the broad for some time. And by the end of my shift, it felt like time had just flown by. Another Wednesday morning over and done with already!