Fisher queen

While Pete was attending the Great Fen Steering Committee, Chris and I wandered round Woodwalton Fen NNR, sometimes together, sometimes separately. We saw a good range of the resident wildlife including two marsh harriers, eight Chinese water deer, over a hundred teal and a couple of kingfishers. This stunning female (she has a red base to her beak) was perched in a beautiful spot, but was really a bit too far away - I could have done with a much longer lens! However, for me, the most memorable moments of the day were listening to a shrieking water rail in the bottom of one of the ditches (they sound remarkably like a squealing pig - listen here) and watching and listening to a huge flock of fieldfares, several hundred at least, feeding on hawthorn berries at Ramsey Heights.