It's that time of year when walking the Great Fen trails could bag you a sighting of a male wheatear, or a view of its white rump (bottom), as it flies off ahead of you. Today, I spotted one, sat on the a bog oak (the bird, not me), on the corner of the little car park at the eastern end of the Norther Loop; they've been seen along the road, north of Holme Fen as well, as have the odd stonechat.

Corn buntings are singing on the Dragonfly Trail, especially to the northeast on the Last of the Meres Trail, on the way to Old Decoy Farm; it's worth listening out, as more birds arrive.

If you don't spot anything on the Northern Loop, except maybe a swallow flying overhead on the way to it, enjoy the swathe of cowslips in flower on the Loop; listen out for whitethroats, as they arrive and start using our field headlands there; these field margins will be used by a variety of wildlife in the coming months.

One or two sedges warblers can now be heard, calling from the ditch margins, and waders are starting to appear as well. Waterfowl are gathering around various scrapes, ponds and meres. So keep and lookout, please keep to the marked trails, please keep out of the fields, and send us your sightings, especially cuckoos!

For some background information see the latest blog, or if you'd like to really appreciate the birdsong, with some company, try our Dawn Chorus Walk at Woodwalton Fen; just a few weeks away!

Henry Stanier (Great Fen Monitoring & Research Officer)