Langdyke Walk - 6 December

[Photos by Iain Stowe]

A hardy bunch of eighteen Langydyke members and guests ventured out on the Nene Washes on 6 December in search of owls, ducks, swans and raptors.

It was certainly a cold afternoon so there was no great desire to stop for long to wait for the birds to turn up! Instead we walked both east and west from the car park at Eldernell and were rewarded with some wonderful winter views across the Washes.

A party of Whooper Swans flew across in front of us at one stage and settled on the flooded areas. We were also able to get great views of a hunting barn owl, as well as distant views of winter ducks such as pintail and wigeon. A marsh harrier flew past as the light started to fade and there were plenty of fieldfare - a member of the thrush family that visits England in winter from Scandinavia - around, as well as cormorants on the frozen Eldernell pit.

All in a lovely walk, although we didn't get to see the two cranes that had been seen earlier that day. These huge birds, bigger even than a heron, have returned to Cambridgeshire in recent years for the first time since the draining of the fens hundreds of years ago.