Fowlmere

Yesterday I visited the RSPB reserve at Fowlmere, which is between Royston and Cambridge, about an hour's drive from where I live. I'd been there a couple of times before, but this was my first visit for over ten years.

Fowlmere, as the name suggests, was originally a mere or lake inhabited by wildfowl. After a failed attempt to drain it, it was used for growing watercress for many years, but since the decline of that industry it has reverted largely to reedbeds. It is fed by chalk springs, which emerge at the surface where permeable chalk meets underlying non-porous strata.

I first visited a hide near the entrance, but saw nothing at all. I then walked most of the way round the reserve, largely beside a chalk stream with remarkably clear water. I saw Redwings, Long-tailed Tits, a Goldcrest and a Great Spotted Woodpecker. I briefly visited the Spring Hide, where again I saw no birds but could see where the water bubbled up from a spring into the pool in front of the hide.

I then spent most of my time in the Reedbed Hide, a raised structure overlooking the reeds and pools. I saw a solitary Snipe, a Gadwall, two Mute Swans, several Moorhens and Mallards. A female Sparrowhawk flew low over the reedbeds at one point.

Overall I ws disappointed not to see any birds that I would normally associate with reedbeds. Perhaps the site is just too small and too isolated from similar habitats.