Youth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55XNinX7HhU

More stunning photo's of the Ely youth making a racket and showing off around the cathedral.  They are gathering quite a crowd of admirers now, hopefully all appropriately socially distanced.

At The Sound of Speed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIkPxiaxu30&app=desktop

In the past week Ely Cathedral has proudly advertised the breeding success of the Peregrines which have been in residence since March.  There's no better opportunity to share the giveaway pictures that Simon Stirrup has sent me as he has followed the birds over the months.  

Blackcap Brambles

There was some quick movement in the bramble. Earlier on, I'd seen a now well grown juvenile Blackcap perched among the gamboge crinkled branches of the overhanging elder bush. It had dropped away out of sight before I could even raise the camera, but later on I glimpsed it again, preening on a thorny floricane. When viewed with binoculars, I could see another tail - and through the scope, the young bundle resolved into three birds - a male and two females judging by the subtle tone of their caps. 

                                          

Copycat

Marsh Warbler, Wicken Fen - Simon Stirrup

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdKK3OMyLxs&app=desktop

For a variety of reasons I have enjoyed quite a few late evenings and early mornings on Wicken Fen this spring, the lure of  a singing Golden Oriole being one of them.  A dawn raid on Monday morning was cold, windy and fruitless.  An evening visit on Wednesday with the family was hopeful but as it turned out the bird had not been on Bakers Fen as reported, the exuberant girls may well have given it a shock if it had.

It was on my third, unsuccessful, visit to listen for the mellifluous, descending loops of Oriole song that I met up with Mark Hawkes for a pre-work walk.

A little despondent, it being 21 years since last hearing Golden Oriole in the county at Burnt Fen, we walked back to Bakers and just as I was getting my bike ready to go Mark said - "What do you make of that then??" Almost immediately the song of Marsh Warbler popped out of the soundscape - with a smile I said "That's Marsh Warbler".  We had a little dalliance with Blyth's Reed, the song was initially very short bursts, the pace was not manic and there were quite a few introductory rolling ticcs.  The song then became fuller, prolonged and full of mimicry.  When we saw the songster the pale tipped primary projection was long,  and supercilia not as strong as we'd first glimpsed.  I grabbed some video between a couple if downpours and then had to get to work.  Mark stayed and got some more video, a steady stream of admirers have continued to enjoy the bird and some lovely recordings of it's song have been published by Simon Gillings.

https://m.soundcloud.com/user-909252901/marsh-warbler-song-compilation

Video - Mark Hawkes

Shine On

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZWVO2NME20&app=desktop

During lockdown I upgraded my moth trap to a big diy Robinson.  I wussed out a bit and bought the electrics complete online but it still came in about a 3rd the price of a packaged trap.  Long and short though I am now getting a better rate of Moth fun in the garden with zero casualties (midgies aside) thus far. The Hawkmoths are always exciting, like the Eyed Hawkmoth above, but I continue to wade through the fine lines and kidney marks of the noctuids and enjoy the more colourful and characterful moths as they turn up.

Cinnabar

Chocolate Tip

Buff Tip

Scorched Wing

A moth highlight was finding a Broad Bordered Bee Hummongbird Hawkmoth at Brandon Country Park.  I had a hunch the flowers in the walled garden might attract them but on arrival it was shut.  With the aid of the scope my hunch proved worthy but I hope that next year I can return and find one to drink in up close.

A new Dragonfly appeared in the garden, a fresh Scarce Chaser which alighted amongst the umbellifers surrounding the pond.  A bit of a surprise that one.....

Simon Stirrup sent some fantastic images of the Azure and Large Red Damselflies at his pond and of a Grass Snake that has also been visiting - all cracking stuff.

Fur Immer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NceWsh7IVwk&app=desktop

Having completed 2 previous Cambridgeshire Bird Club lockdown bird races, I was keen to complete a third, allowing 24hrs of birding by bike on 24th May.  I have always considered the "eat as much as you want" advertising at a bargain banquet as a challenge rather than an offer and if there's a 24hr bird race I'll take the lot please.  I had intended to start at midnight but the strong westerly winds of the previous day continued and I decided to amend my plan a little to reduce the amount of cycling into the wind, I hoped a little wait might allow the wind to drop too - it didn't.  

At 2am I set off on old faithful - veteran of Lands End to London, North Norfolk Coast shenagins and a sluggish Tri-athlon.  We powered, wind on our back, to the far east of the county where Stone Curlew called and a Skylark sang in the first shards of the undimming.  It looked like this.

Then.......to the woods.  Before I entered Chippenham Fen I heard the wisp and grunt of a roding Woodcock across the canopy.  I took the west facing fence at the cross path, this side sheltered more from the wind by the bigger Oaks and bordering woodland.  I cupped my ears to listen for Grasshopper Warbler which obliged almost immediately.  I continued to cup my ears and listen for sounds and in one specific area kept picking up the sound of a distant churring Nightjar - an almost impossible proposition.  A turn a few degrees left or right and the sound disappeared, being distant I considered whether it was a low buzz of a generator.  I could only hear it with ears cupped and decided that it must be an aural hallucination.  At the end of a full day out birding in the Fens in spring it is a strange phenomena that even laid in bed the chunter of Reed and Sedge Warbler song has imprinted on the mind and can be still be heard.  I told myself my ears must be attuned to some monotonous road surface noise from the previous couple of hours cycling and that this is what I could hear with ears cupped at a certain angle - more of this later.

My next woodland stop was the green tangles of Fordham Woods where dawn broke and I could start using my bins.  I flushed a Woodcock from right by the boardwalk and Treecreepers and Goldcrests needled their spindle of song from the spruce and pine.  A Nuthatch called from within the woods and a vocal Great Spotted Woodpecker family drew attention along the furthest boardwalk, sadly no Marsh Tit broke cover and it is possible they are no longer present here, I couldn't find the Coal Tits I had hoped for either. 

The exposed ride to Wicken,  into the wind, was as unpleasant as I had expected but with the shelter of trees and scrub along Wicken Lode the first breaks in the cloud yielded some warmth and a little surge of birdsong.  A full complement of Warblers included the inevitable drive by shoutings of Cetti's Warbler, the cheerful rattle of Lesser Whitethroat and manic rambles and stutter of Sedge Warblers.  No booming Bittern or the glory of Nightingale song this year, and Turtle Doves now feel like a distant memory.  Crane, Little Egret and Egyptian Geese feeling like an uninspiring swap today.  

Out of the fen at the southern end and canary Yellow Wagtails dotted the ploughed fields and a Grey Partridge flushed from the broken roadside.  The Cam Washes at Upware looked great with lots of freshly exposed mud but no new birds on offer.  Kingfishers Bridge held no surprises but Pochard, Little Grebe and a drake Garganey were not to be seen elsewhere.  A hefty detour to take in a Turtle Dove spot was frustratingly fruitless bar some lovely views of my second Spotted Flycatcher of the day.

Half the ride done I wheeled into Stuntney just before midday and treated myself to a hearty brunch and plenty of bath salts in a leisurely soak.  It had turned out nice for the afternoon but the wind persisted, a pedal through Ely produced what it needed to but not the Grey Wagtail often present at the sewage works.  I turned my back on the town and rolled out towards the Washes.  A roadside Little Owl was delightful and there were Barnacle Geese and a Red Kite nearby, a peek over the bank at Pymoor revealed a siege of 7 non-breeding Crane.

I continued northwards along the Washes and into Norfolk to cross the river and drain and return southwards on the western bank and the productive pools along the Manaea side of the RSPB reserve.  A Cattle Egret was a real bonus, quickly joined on the list by a Great White Egret, two Greenshank departed high and of 2 plovers on the mud one was a Ringed and the other Little Ringed.  Limosa were far from subtle in their territorial protestations across the pilot project and further along pairs of both Stonechat and Whooper Swan looked settled.

The restructuring of the banks has left an exceptionally rutted track, almost mountainous by fen standards.  The cycling was tough and by the time I reached the A142 I had been on the Washes for some 6 hours.  My knees were beginning to feel the grind as I peddled back North along the East bank.  I decided to take the longer but smoother route by road and winded past Byall Fen and on to Oxlode where I enjoyed the fall of the sun.  I was hoping for Crakes but heard a much needed Water Rail, I needed to see a Hobby but a Bittern flew past to raise the spirits.  The sun set in spectacular shades in the clear sky and the wind dropped to nothing.  Unbeknownst to me, back at Chippenham Fen, a Nightjar was being listened to.  Once the last of the light had left the sky I was returned to the inky blue of night.  In the light of a torch beam I headed home and the last bird of the day was a Tawny Owl hooting in the shadow of Ely Cathedral at 11.30

Next day I did the numbers, I had covered over 90 miles and seen or heard 110 species - a great total for late in the spring.  There are always birds you miss that just don't appear when you need them to.  Often Grey Partridge, Green Woodpecker, Jay, Corn Bunting and Sparrowhawk make you wonder if you need to hang up your bins.  Today it was Hobby that just didn't flash past, tracking down Grey Wagtail, Coal Tit and Marsh Tit was always going to be tricky and crakes on the washes are just temperamental from year to year and I put all my eggs in the Oxlode basket.

I think on a good May Bank Holiday with plenty of wader movement, a bit of tern passage and some lingering winter visitors 120 is a possibility on this route by bike.  Whether, in the future, I will have the motivation to commit to the physicality of a biking big day again will remain to be seen but as a memorable part of the C19 spring, the 24th May 2020 will take some beating.

As a post script, 110 was the previous cycling county record.  If I can bring myself to count a retrospective identification of the Nightjar I talked myself out of at Chippenham (which thankfully I saw and heard later in the week) then 111 would be a new record.  However, 115 species were seen during a bike ride in the north of the county earlier in May 2020, outside of lockdown rules and guidance.  To my mind this 115 should be the new county bike record, mostly because this would give me a realistic target and the motivation to do it all again next spring.

Pegstacy.

Finally decided to have a look at the Peregrines at the [undisclosed site]. I didn't expect much, to be honest - but it turned out to be very easy indeed. Both birds put in an appearance - the male was at first standing guard on [Architectural feature X], but after a few minutes he swept across the dull sky to [Architectural feature Y], where the female stood watching what I presume is [redacted]. She has a more bulbous [redacted], and a few dashes of brown on the back of her [deleted scenes]. Her coverts are a mix of grey and brown, which makes me think she might be a [explicit material] still not in full  [censored].

Thanks to Simon Stirrup for the use of his magnificent photos.

                               

Both birds took to the air at times, and broke the illusion of the monumental [restricted access]. The [undisclosed site] suddenly seemed smaller as the two falcons traversed the space between the [Architectural feature X, Architectural feature Y] with ease.

                                                                                                                                                                                           

Testament to Youth

 The Great Tits have entered the wide world of the garden. Their urgent begging now triggers a frantic back and forth to the feeders, where both parents pick and prepare sunflower hearts to satisfy the youngster's buzzing appetites. The first Greenfinch, then Goldfinch and then Robin, juveniles have appeared too - but my curiosity turned to the bramble patch outside my studio window. The Blackcap had announced Spring from the tangled spray of prickles, and gradually had become quieter and less visible. A female had arrived, and the male cocked his tail up towards her, shivering his wings in brief flirtation, but since then, proceedings had been hard to fathom. 

Two days ago, the male sprang out of the bramble and flew off, and seconds later the female emerged, gleaning among the overhanging elder branches briefly, before heading into the oak tree. Perhaps something was happening. Up until now, my only clue that breeding might be happening was a sustained chorus of alarm calls one afternoon as a Magpie lingered nearby. But now I was sure that the pair was still together - and that could mean only one thing.

Yesterday evening, as the low orange light filtered through the hedge, a small bird almost fell onto an exposed branch. In the warm gloom it almost looked like a Wren - but something not quite perceptible made me think that this was something more significant. I approached quietly, expecting the tiny ball of bird to disappear at any moment. But it didn't. In fact, it just froze. Long enough to rush in and get my camera. Long enough for me to take a couple of pics with one lens, then go back inside, get my other lens, fiddle around trying to change them, and go back outside to take a couple more shots. 

tame.