Lakenheath Fen RSPB 6th May 2012

Lakenheath Fen RSPB 6th May 2012

On the second day of holiday we were heading for Bury St Edmunds where we were due to attend a birthday party. It was our plan to go to the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust reserve at Welney – another site we have been meaning to go to for ages. Unfortunately we could not get near the reserve as the road leading to it was under water. We tried to get there a couple of ways but in the end we just have to give up. Even when the road was open there was only the visitor centre itself that was above water so we just weren’t lucky. Instead we decided to go a bit further and go to Lakenheath Fen instead. Lakenheath Fen is famous for its small population of migrant Golden Orioles so we hoped we might get lucky there. As it turned out we did get some new birds for our year list and a couple of lifers as well. But was one of these a Golden Oriole ? More on this later.

We started off by walking to the New Fen viewpoint and and as we walked past the reeds we got a good view of a Whitethroat perched on a nearby branch and there were Sedge Warblers singing everywhere. We also walked past a patch of grass that was ringing out with Grasshopper Warblers. We could also hear a Woodpecker and even a Cuckoo. We stayed a while at the New Fen hide but, apart from occasional glimpses of birds speeding over the reeds and then dropping down before identification was possible, there was more to hear than to see.

We walked further up the main track and through the woods which were at some points quite under water. We splashed our way through and just as we were reaching dry land a Sedge Warbler suddenly appeared a couple of feet in front of us and started singing its usual strident song and it was so close we could see right into its deep red throat !

As we were walking on to the Joist Fen viewpoint a couple just ahead of us pointed out a Cuckoo flying right across our path which was a first for us ! We sat down at the viewpoint and there were sometimes as many as eight Marsh Harriers in the air at the one time but best of all was the appearance of a Hobby flying low over the reeds and then along the railway track. We watched for about ten minutes as it swooped all over the place. Again another first for us – or at least me. We stayed here for quite a while but we still had quite a long walk back along the banks of the River Little Ouse on our way back to the visitor centre. As we walked I was sure I could hear a Bittern booming but they continue to elude us.

As we walked back there were Reed Buntings and at one stage we could hear Grasshopper Warblers all around. Swifts, Swallows and Martins flew above as they did everywhere we visited over the ten day period. On the river there was a single Whooper Swan – presumably left alone when its fellows migrated back north and also Pochard, Tufted Ducks, Great Crested Grebes, and Cormorants visible from the Washland Viewpoint.

I leave until the end the most controversial of our possible sightings and this occurred just where the woodland plantation ends. As you walk along the path at the side of the river, on your right there is a stand of poplar trees and as we walked along looking to our left a bird came into sight travelling from the direction of the radar station at Lakenheath. As it flew towards us there was something about it’s giss that was unusual – it was flying straight and in silhouette seemed to be a dove-sized bird, Looking into the sun it was quite striking so as it flew across our line of vision we looked at it closely and it appeared to have a yellow body and dark wings. The bird flew straight into the poplars and could not be seen again. As we watched it fly over a chap who had passed us also turned back and also looked at the bird. We got together and discussed what it might be. We all concluded that it did not fly like a Green Woodpecker and that is was – in all probability –  a Golden Oriole, possibly a female. When we got back to the visitor centre Anne mentioned this to the staff and one of the wardens there seemed to be not only skeptical but openly hostile to the suggestion and he insisted that it must have been a Green Woodpecker. I have seen a couple of Green Woodpeckers in flight and this bird looked nothing like a Woodpecker. He insisted that it was too early in the month for them and we left it at that. I looked at the web site and by the 10th – 4 days after we thought we had seen one – they were saying that at least one Golden Oriole had arrived ! Unfortunately I don’t think that I can claim this as a tick as a result of the attitude of the warden.

!!!!!! UPDATE !!!!!!

I changed my view of the above situation when I read  the “UK Bird Sightings” section in the August  issue of “Bird Watching” magazine. On page 105 Lee Evans writes “Golden Oriole. A male arrives at Lakenheath Fen RSPB on 26th April, before being joined in early May by a second individual” I felt that this tilted things in favour of our identification being correct and I adjusted my records accordingly.

Bird Sightings : Lakenheath Fen RSPB