28th April 2026

There is a large hatch of mayflies from the lodes at Wicken Fen, most likely Drake Mackerels Ephemera vulgata, that climb into the sky and are then carried on the brisk, easterly wind. Up to three hobbies hunt them at the edge of the Adventurers’ Fen, sweeping in low over the water from where the insects are emerging. The small, long-winged falcons are likely to be freshly arrived from their wintering grounds in Southern Africa; the mayfly hatch is an important food source at this time given that there are no dragonflies yet on the wing.

Across the fen there is the sound of cuckoos calling; reed warblers chattering and wheezing; shouting Cetti’s warblers; and, from a sedge fen, a grasshopper warbler whose long reeling song is just audible between the gusts of wind that rattle through the reeds and bankside willows. It is a fine spring day if you can stay in the sun but find shelter from the wind.