A celebration of birding and natural history, generally within a 10 mile radius of Ely Cathedral, Cambridgeshire, UK.
It would be great if you wanted to share your Ely 10 birding news, experiences, photos, art and video through this blog. Please contact hairyfolkster@gmail.com with your post or to join the authorship, I'll get you on the list quicker than a fly over Alpine Swift.
Winter on the Washes present stacks of wildfowl. This are generally fewer thousands less than in the past, when flooding was often shallower and water levels more dynamic, offering a greater range of feeding opportunities along the many miles of washlands. This suits dabblers and diving duck alike. Recently the Ouse Washes have been pretty full of water and some stretches have been a little birdless but a drake Ferruginous Duck, presumably making the hop from nearby Colne GP, has been hanging out with the Pochard at Chain Corner. Fudge Ducks get a rough ride in Cambs in terms of being subject to high scepticism around their provenance and hybridism. But still nice to have a look at one close to home though.
Waves of Russian White-fronts and Tundra Beans have arrived in the UK since Xmas, much of the action has focused a little way off the Washes at Sutton North Fen where 40 or so Beans and 30 odd White-fronts joined the copious Greylag and naturalised Barnacles around the private gravel pits. Into Feb more White-fronts arrived with small flocks dotted about. A 2,500 flock of Pink-feet at Suspension Bridge nr Welney WWT pulled in 3 Beans and 30+ White-fronts.
Further out on the fen a flock of 262 Bewick's (and 70 nearer Littleport) were the most Ben and I had seen locally for some years.
