Warblers are on the move, with young blackcaps, chiffchaffs and whitethroats all on the hunt for food in the Great Fen. Our bird monitoring, such as bird ringing, is recording large numbers of juvenile birds for each of these species this year, an encouraging sign. Elderberries are a well know menu item for blackcaps. In some cases, only a few berries have ripened so far in some places. Elsewhere, they are quite advanced, much to the benefit of this species of warbler.

Grey partridge have been spotted with young in recent weeks, all capable of flying now,  Other species, such as the cuckoo, have already left us. Earlier in the month we spotted the usual congregations on the powerlines, signalling the end of their stay with us; when was the last sight or sound you had of cuckoo at the Great Fen this year? On your walks around the Fen, you may spot young (juvenile) birds, and we'd be interested to have your sightings. Right now you might spot juvenile stonechats, or even a young wheatear. This raises an interesting point for this time of year, which birds were born in the Fen, and which ones are just moving through now?

In the wetlands, birds are still fledging and while some juveniles have already dispersed, others are taking to the wing for the first time; you will hear their calls coming from the vegetation. Some birds are still singing, and we currently still have grasshopper warblers on our restoration land, producing their insect-like reeling song. Check out this link, for a video of one singing.

At this time of year the common reed is magnificent, towering above you, and this late flowering grass is joined by some other iconic 'Great Fen' species. On the ditch edges you may also encounter the statuesque marsh sow thistle, with its spear-shaped leaves and small yellow dandelion-like flowers. Purple-loosestrife is also in flower, one of my favourites, adding an impressive splash of bright purple to the waterside. Look out for hemp-agrimony as well, a great source of nectar, often attracting lots of insects day and night.

Now that we are into July, livestock is returning to the grasslands and mowing is taking place. Look out for the hay and straw bales, as these are vantage points for raptors, and they will be using them to hunt from. Sparrowhawks, kestrels, buzzards and red kite, may all be using them to perch on, and provide you with an opportunity to observe them from the many paths in the Fen; send me your photos.

The grasslands have already showing their best in terms of flowering plants, but some species are around. We have many uncut field margins, and late cut/grazed areas, which sport the egg-yellow coloured common toadflax at this time of year. A closer inspection will reveal a familiar flowerhead, as you will recognise it from the 'snapdragons' in your garden.

Water levels are dropping at this time of year, as expected, but it has been a dry summer. Some of our ponds are designed to dry out now, which affects which species benefit from temporary (ephemeral) ponds and scrapes. Other water bodies still have plenty of water, and such permanent habitats support a different wildlife community.

At Ramsey Heights, the restoration work has been very successful, with many larval great crested newts being recorded this year. While 'pond watching' you may spot 'spring' species still around, such as scarce chaser dragonflies for example, and these are now overlapping with later species to emerge, such as the acrobatic migrant hawkers and the emerald damselfly. This means you have quite a range of species to enjoy right now. Do send us your dragonfly and damselfly photographs from the Great Fen this summer, we'd love to know what you are seeing and where. Various species are spreading, and the southern migrant hawker is just one example.

While the night time temperatures have been quite variable, we have been continuing with our moth surveys; especially as we have had a new moon, when all is dark at the Great Fen.

Last week we surveyed 8 locations around the Fen, including a range of habitats, from wet farming plots, fen meadows, wildflower meadows and wet woodland. In one night we recorded 1500 individual moths, of over 100 species, so it took a while to let them all go again!

The most numerous species was the common wainscot (388 moths). Not surprising as this is a grassland species, and we have a lot of grassland at the Great Fen. Importantly, this species has suffered a big decline over many years, so the Fen is providing an import refuge for this and other species that use the same habitat. Another wainscot, the bulrush wainscot, is also on the wing now. Recorded from multiple sites at the Fen, its caterpillar lives inside the stems of bulrush, moving from stem to stem as it grows.

We also had one of our favourite moths, here at the Fen, the small but beautiful gold spot, a creature of the damper habitats at the Great Fen.

The magnificent garden tiger and the red underwing moths rewarded our team of volunteers and staff with a view of the most stunning species on this occasion.

This is part of the excitement of this type of survey, you never know what you are going to get!

Henry Stanier (Great Fen Monitoring & Research Officer)