Fen Drayton, one of Cambridgeshire’s best nature reserves, lies less than a thirty-minute ride along the guided busway (a route that follows a former train line) from the centre of Cambridge. A flooded former quarry that the RSPB now manages, this string of lakes is a magnet for wildlife in the area. Having visited for the first time in the doldrums of high summer last year and been very satisfied even then, I was not about to pass up the chance to visit at the start of string migration.
Predictably though pleasingly, the trip resulted in some year ticks. The explosive song of Cetti’s Warbler rang out from countless hiding places in vegetation around the reserve. Great White Egret and Cattle Egret are still incongrous birds to see in the UK, at least for me, so I felt transported to more southerly climes watching a group of 15 Cattle Egret (my first in the country) hurry around after a herd of cows. A couple of locally uncommon Lesser Redpoll were flying about. Picking them up on call, I managed to aid some local birders who were finding them a challenge to distinguish from Greenfinch. Thank you Norway, I suppose!
Speaking of local birders, I got chatting to one, Chris, who was kind enough to take me under his wing and show me the best of the reserve. We had an enjoyable couple of hours in each other’s company, discussing the differences between British and Norwegian birdlife and racking up a respectable 60 species by the time we parted ways. Chris is a frequent visitor to Fen Drayton and had a wealth of knowledge and experience that he shared generously with me. Perhaps what I most appreciated was him taking me to where Bittern is most likely to be heard booming, and as if on cue, boom it did – and in fact not one, but two! Bittern was actually a lifer for me, so my morning was made there and then.
Other highlights included a reasonably early Willow Warbler which was singing intermittently. A fairly large flock of around 200 Black-tailed Godwit (definitely one of my favourite birds) were too far out to appreciate well, especially for this tourist with just a pair of bins to hand, but were fun to see nonetheless. I always enjoy seeing ducks such as Shoveler, Gadwall and Pintail in considerable numbers, as we are lucky in Oslo to get a pair of each species at a time. Speaking of ducks, we didn’t connect with the drake Garganey that had been seen recently, but we were by no means the only ones. Anyway, I had just seen one a couple of days previously in Grantchester, so was perhaps less bothered than I otherwise would have been!
The waterfowl shoe can be on the other foot, though. I was bemused by the excitement a lone Barnacle Goose was causing – not a species I generally give more than a second’s attention to in Oslo, but its scarcity in Cambridgeshire had caused a small twitch. It was hanging around with Greylags and a few Canada Geese. As with many of these lone geese that just turn up, its origin is a bit dubious, but through sharing in the excitement of some of the local birders, I got a newfound appreciation for what is ultimately a very attractive species.
Taking Chris’ advice, I left Fen Drayton following the River Great Ouse as it meandered northwardsd to a relatively new reserve: RSPB Ouse Fen. Still partially a working quarry, the reserve is undergoing much work and will eventually have the largest reedbed in the UK. I was impressed by how vast the reedbed already seemed, and it did not disappoint. I was able to hear my first UK Bearded Tits, while skydancing Marsh Harriers provided much entertainment. They would sometimes fly to a great height before plummeting back down to the reedbed, reeling, twisting and somersaulting as they went. To cap it all, another Bittern was booming – three iconic habitat specialists under one roof, or at least in one massive reedbed!
It was a gloriously sunny Saturday, with a spring breeze sending clouds scudding across the huge fenland sky and shivering the reeds which rustled as the air zipped through them. Apart from the occasional puttering of a narrowboat on the river and Skylarks exalting the spring from on high, the only other sounds were the roars of delight from pubs in the nearby villages of Over and Needingworth, as patrons watched both Cambridge crews row to victory in the Boat Race. There was something quintessentially English about the whole thing that induced some unexpected nostalgia in this expat.
It’s a little frustrating that Easter was so early this year, leading to me missing the primetime of migration which is happening as I write. But I can’t complain, really. Cambridgeshire gave me a real foretaste of spring with some wonderful birds to boot, and I’m already looking forward to returning for more this summer.
My eBird checklists:
Fen Drayton: https://ebird.org/checklist/S166511244
Ouse Fen: https://ebird.org/checklist/S166487217
and the best of Grantchester: https://ebird.org/checklist/S165855965
The Revived Birder 
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