Hobbies have been hunting dragonflies over the open water and ditches in the Great Fen, and as the hay bales start to appear, buzzards and kestrels are using them as perches.

Flocks of lapwing are now being joined by green sandpipers and dunlin, as they move through the area, feeding on invertebrates in and around the pools and scrapes; the changing water levels have provided shallow water and exposed mud, as the rain comes and goes.

While the cuckoos have left us, the swifts have been screaming overhead, but more change is on the way, as wheatears have appeared on the Northern Loop already, on their migration south. Next, we'll be looking out for other travellers coming through, such as whinchats.

A fresh batch of red admirals have joined other butterflies on the wing, joining 'skippers' and 'browns', finally improving the 'show' in our meadows. If you managed to find a sunny day in July, they you might have been rewarded with views of purple hairstreak and purple emperor butterflies in the woodlands. It has not been a great year for moths, but the silver y and hummingbird hawk-moth are around now, both of which you may have seen in your own garden.

Other insects taking advantage of the nectar and pollen sources in our meadows, include a variety of bees, such as buff-tailed bumblebee, common carder bee, garden bumblebee, red-tailed bumblebee and white-tailed bumblebee.

Hiding amongst the vegetation, the grasshoppers and crickets are starting to come into their own, with the adults appearing; look and listen out for our biggest, the great green bush-cricket!

Henry Stanier (Great Fen Monitoring & Research Officer)