Thrushes, such as redwing and fieldfare, are joining us for the winter and we have regular flocks of the former flying over the Fen at the moment. Winter wildfowl, such as whooper swans, have also started to arrive, and the flocks of lapwing are growing in size; watch out for smaller flocks of golden plover, they are around. Our monitoring is also showing an increase in snipe in the fields, as we would expect at this time of year, as well as the occasional jack snipe. Senior Reserves Officer, David Metcalfe, reported 20 snipe in just one of the newly grassed fields at Speechly's Farm. You may see and hear these fly out from an adjoining field as you walk the trails, so please keep your dog on a lead as usual.

We are awaiting the short-eared owls to set up residence, with just two recorded so far, but they did not stay. Merlin have been recorded in recent days, so study your raptors carefully, and don’t assume they are just our local kestrels or sparrowhawks.

Check out the Northern Loop, as it will take you past farmland, as well as land under restoration, and watch out of the increasing numbers of stonechats at this time of year, often perched on the available livestock fencing. We have already started colour-ringing new birds this autumn, so please report any resightings using my contact details here.

Thanks to some mild weather, some of the nights have been fit for moth-trapping, and our efforts have been rewarded. In one trap at our nature reserve at Ramsey Heights, amongst a group of hornets, was the stunning Clifden nonpareil, which always prompts much excitement. More recently, at our Apple Day event, the L-album wainscot put in an appearance. Only one of these moths has been recorded at the Great Fen before, in 1938 at Woodwalton Fen. It is a migratory species and this year seems to be a good year for them. In your own gardens, look out for other species such as the wonder that is the merveille du jour. This amazing moth has fantastic camouflage colouration! The adults feed on ivy berries and the caterpillar feeds on the leaves of pedunculate oak.

We have been blessed with quite a bit of calm, sunny weather recently, with various insects on the wing, such as common darter, ruddy darter, migrant hawker dragonflies, and willow emerald damselfly. Keep an eye out above and below, as the Fen can look spectacular on a misty morning, especially the spider webs.

Reserves Officer, Jasmin Atkinson, recently came across one of our more stunning species of spider, the pumpkin-like marbled orb weaver. Named after the delicate markings, It is also know as the 'pumpkin spider', for obvious reasons; a fitting sighting for this time of year!

Henry Stanier (Great Fen Monitoring & Research Officer)