February 26, 2025
In all the years I’ve been going on U3A birdwatching trips, I don’t think I’ve been on one where it’s rained so hard before we even started! We arrived at 11.00 intending to go on to Wicken Fen in the late afternoon but we decided to cut the trip short as we thought the raptor roost would be disappointing in the conditions on the day.
However, true to our beliefs that on days like this the weather must at some time get better, we enjoyed the facilities that Welney offers, namely a range of dry places including the visitor centre, the observation hide and the other smaller hides. Fortunately, the site was not flooded and although there were some large puddles we managed to get around without the need for wellies.
Starting at the visitor centre external viewing area, we got good views of the feeders with the usual House and Tree sparrows. There were also good numbers of Reed Buntings looking very smart in new plumage. There was little visible on Lady Fen itself as the birds were sensibly keeping their heads down.
Moving on to the main observation hide, there were lots of Pochard and we spent some time discussing the differences of plumage between the males and females. The males arrive back from migration ahead of the females to claim good territory, which explains why there were considerably more males on show than females.
Other birds present included Mallard, Shoveler, Tufted, Shelducks, Wigeon, Pintail, Coot, Moorhen, Black-headed Gulls, Black-tailed Godwit, a single Black-necked Grebe, a few Greylag Geese, Mute and Whooper Swans, Grey Heron, Cormorant, Great White Egret, Cattle Egret, Lapwing and a distant Marsh Harrier.
As I mentioned at the start of this report, the weather just had to get better and at around 3pm it did. By this time we were back in the visitor centre and some of our number decided they were damp enough and headed for home. In fact, the birds started appearing on Lady Fen presumably making up for the feeding time they had lost in the morning. Soon the single Cattle Egret increased to five, while a pair of Avocets put in an appearance, about half a dozen Crane were spotted right over by the distant pylons and for the piece de resistance a Short-eared Owl flew past.
Not a bad end to the day even ignoring the possible flock of Golden Plover which were putting on an aerial display just too far away for a positive identification.
I should apologise to anyone who spotted other birds. There’s always a few that get forgotten in the reporting and others such as the ever present Wood Pigeon that don’t even get a mention.
Reed bunting 
Lapwing, black tailed godwits, black-headed gulls 
Flock of Whooper swans Reed bunting Tree sparrows 
New Bedford river at Welney Mallards 
Pochard 
Whooper swan and two mute swans