June 19th Strumpshaw Fen

The sound of thunder was loud enough to wake me up in the middle of the night which followed with torrential rain that hammered my roof. It wasn't a good sign for today. So, I asked Mum for a lift to Strumpshaw this morning. Annoyingly though, it had stopped raining as we made our way there. However, it was still far from being a nice day with an ominous feeling that it could rain again sooner or later.

Barn Owl

As I had gotten a lift in this morning, I only had time to count the Highland cattle in the meadow to make sure they were all still there safe and sound. They didn't make it easy for me though as they were all sitting in the long grass of the furthest paddock with their horns poking out enough for me to just about make them out. While the cattle were hard to see, a barn owl hunting over the meadow fields was a lot easier to spot. Its ghostly shape floated over the grass shrouded in a light mist. It was a bit distant but impossible not to miss. I watched it fly this way and that, before it made a short rest on a gate post. Then a marsh harrier mobbed the owl moments later. I was in a trance like state, hooked on the owl's every movement until it finally vanished into the woods and I snapped out of it, remembering that I had to get back for my shift.

Bullfinches

From the Reception Hide, it was a bit of a raptor fest. Not only were the marsh harriers showing well today, but I also saw a hobby that seemed to enjoy sitting on the bare branches poking above the tree line at the far side of the broad. It made a few hunting attempts out over the reeds, but always returning back to its favourite few perching spots. A pair of bullfinches gave a few visitors a pleasant surprise as I spotted a male feeding a female in full view in a tree right beside the left side of the hide. Perhaps they were thinking about making a second brood? I also saw a great crested grebe fish out a young pike, a brief flash of a kingfisher, lots of reed warbler activity and I helped showed a few visitors as many of the orchids I could find nearby, including a new bee orchid by the twayblade area. And then it rained!