Three quarter skies

The enormous, ever-changing skies of fenland are close to my heart. When I first moved to the area thirty-six years ago I mourned the lack of hills, even though my native county of Essex is hardly mountainous! But now I find the open vistas thrilling and, to me, well-wooded, undulating landscapes can feel quite claustrophobic at times.

Today there were flocks of Golden Plover and Lapwing circling over Engine Farm, Red Kites and Buzzards quartering the restored grasslands, and a mixed flock of Blue Tits, Linnets, Redpolls and Siskins feeding on alder cones at the edge of Holme Fen. A seemingly empty landscape which supports more plants and animals than you might imagine at first sight.