Sunday 18 November 2012

Short Eared Owls at Burwell Fen

Decided against the twitch today and opted for a lie in and an an afternoon watching Short Eared Owls at Burwell Fen in Cambridgeshire.

Burwell Lode



So we headed up the M11 and within an hour we've parked up and crossed the bridge over Burwell Lode to scan the Fen for any activity.

300+ Golden Plover, 200+ Lapwing gulls and Crows are seen as we scan.

As we start to walk across the Fen we spot our first Short Eared Owl as it hunts along the river bank.

After a while another owl flies by this time a little close as it quarters the field.
in all we see four birds at one time so safe to say the site holds at least four birds this year.
SEO's are just one of those birds I never get tired of watching and it's safe to say I'll be back for more
Short Eared Owl at Burwell Fen
Egrets and a Heron fly over head and we see Pipits, Reed Bunting and a Stonechat as we watch the owls.
On the way out we see Thousands of Corvids going to roost, the largest roost I've ever seen and quite a spectacle.

Reed bed
Locals call this "cocked up bridge"


2 comments:

  1. Hi Brian, Great blog. Hoping to get to Burwell Fen next week could you let me know where the best place is to park ? is it somewhere on Factory Road ? which leads to Priory Farm. Thanks in advance for any help
    Regards Steve A

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  2. Yes Steve that would get you there just walk over the foot bridge and you can see the fields from the bridge or walk the footpaths to get really close to the action. Enjoy.

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