Deeping Lakes and Willow Tree Fen
Friday 3 January 2025
Sunny, light to moderate westerly breeze. -2°C
Today I had the pleasure of taking 11 year old Eric and his Grandfather, Paul, out into Lincolnshire to look for Owls and Cranes.
Our day started at Deeping Lakes and as we headed to the hide, we stopped for a chat with the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust work party. A very helpful lady told us that the Long-eared Owl was still showing from the hide and made, an almost, throwaway comment about the Little Owl showing. Wait, what? It seems there is a regular Little Owl in Willows along the River Welland.
We had the usual woodland birds as we walked to the hide and once inside a couple of very helpful locals put us on to the Long-eared Owl. It was already well hidden but in a stiffening breeze, getting any photographs was a challenge. I picked up another LEO slightly lower but even more well hidden.
Eric enjoyed his time in the hide and as well as the owls he picked out a couple of Great-crested Grebes. I also found us a pair of Little Grebe amongst the Wigeon and other common wildfowl.
By now time was against us if we wanted to see the Little Owl, another birder in the hide gave us some great directions and once we had made our way to the riverbank the owl was easy enough to spot but getting Paul and Eric on to it proved tricky but with a combination of photographing the tree and much pointing and explaining we all enjoyed great views of Gary, as Eric named him. I did ask if he’d named the Long-eared Owls and after a bit of a chat we settled on the obvious… Leo.
After our break for sandwiches it was time to head to Willow Tree Fen. If we thought it was chilly at Deeping then it was absolutely Baltic at Willow Tree Fen. As we waited, and waited, for the grand finale, we were entertained by some beautiful Fieldfare feeding close and in great light.
A couple of restless flocks of Lapwing and Golden Plover kept us busy counting. Raptors were present with good numbers of Red Kite, Common Buzzard and the Marsh Harrier roost was building nicely with at least 17 in the air at one time. This included the now famous, white, Otmoor juvenile.
But where were the Cranes? I kept scanning and kept my ears open as that is often a clue as to their arrival. I found the roost of Goosander building nicely. The male is surely one of our most beautiful ducks. Still no Cranes though, despite a bit of very distant bugling.
By now the temperatures were plummeting and everyone was frozen to the core when suddenly a family party of four Common Crane were picked up heading in from the West, followed by at least 15 more. As they landed a pair did a little bit of dancing before they settled for one last feed as the light faded.
We had one final bonus along the roads by Bourne South Fen as a Barn Owl hunted the dykes. A brilliant end to a cold but productive day.
Bird Checklist
Click arrow to view 47 species recorded
Photos from the tour (click on thumbnail to zoom)
