Wicken Fen

The plan was to go to Epping Forest, but I ended up at Wicken Fen which is where cuckoo expert Nick Davies did the vast majority of his cuckoo research.

I spoke to a lad who walked there daily with his dog and asked if he had heard any cuckoos yet. He said he had and gave me directions, so off I went. I was nearly there - close enough to hear if a cuckoo called - and for some reason sat down in a particular place. Moments later a pair of marsh harriers started courting above me! They did not do the iconic feed passing display - which you can see here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxEGb9Ae3_o

But one did stoop and that was amazing. I can't find images of that. They don't hunt this way - what I saw was part of a sky-dance as a mated pair were bonding.

Later, a bittern flew over the exact spot! I only saw that because I got talking to a lovely couple who had just seen a bearded tit. I didn't see that or hear a cuckoo.

I did see a lot of reeds.

Also I saw the Konik ponies.

The best bit of action was off camera.