Dec 18th Strumpshaw Fen

Starlings leaving their roost

There was no real problem getting to Strumpshaw today. In fact, I managed to get there before the couple of thousand of roosting starlings decided to leave the reedbed in front of the Reception Hide. I had just managed to unpack my camera in time when they all took to the air at once. The mass exodus lasted mere seconds. A single whoosh over the hide and they where gone!

Fog

Moving on, and dodging Percy the persistently hungry pheasant's ambush in the woods (that's what I'm calling him now), I made my way to Fen Hide. Fog had shrouded over the reserve. Walking down Sandy Wall, you could hardly see parts of the adjacent meadow trail, but I did see something that caught my eye. With this thick cover of fog, the meadow trail was now perfect hunting conditions for barn owls. One had me transfixed for several minutes as it swooped silently low over the grazing fields, hovering at times and then plunging into the fog and grass. In this foggy scene, the owl was like a ghost. It was easy to lose sight of it. And just like a real ghost, with the aid of the gloomy light, my camera was struggling to capture it, always resulting as a fuzzy blur. I caught sight of the owl three times before I had lost it completely.

From Fen Hide, it was a bit of a waste of time as the fog became thicker and thicker until I was unable to see anything at all. With visibility so poor, I gave up and made my way back to do the feeders. From Reception Hide, sunshine was burning the fog away at a very rapid rate and I was able to see everything once again. That thick cover was completely gone by half ten this morning, but despite being able to see things properly now, didn't really mean too much. Today's shift in the hide was a bit uneventful. There were marsh harriers, buzzards, cormorants, 2 mute swans, a couple of coots, mallards, gadwall and teal, and not a lot else. My final shift of the decade came to an end with not a lot to get too excited about.