Mare Fen
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A winter wonderland for wildfowl and wading birds |
Mare Fen is a large expanse of permanent pasture used for summer grazing, while also being part of an important flood plain. Grassland like this was once common in the Ouse Valley, but the reserve is now one of the remaining precious fragments.
The interplay of water, light, expansive views and grazing animals, which changes from season to season, give this landscape a distinctive quality, and reflects a land use which is declining in Cambridgeshire.
Being flooded in winter, this reserve is excellent for birds, providing much needed shallow water for over-wintering waterfowl and wading birds. These flocks of waterfowl are also partly dependant on the Ouse washes and will move to Mare Fen if the Water on the Washes is too deep. Mare Fen is a great place to see wildfowl such as teal, shoveler and tufted duck.
Birds: Teal, northern pintail, gadwall, wigeon, pochard, kestrel, golden plover, dunlin, ruff, long-tailed tit |
Birds: Grey heron, mute swan, garganey, shoveler, tufted duck, lapwing |
Plants: Water-pepper Insects: Dragonflies Birds: Greylag goose, mallard, coot |
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