Wheatfen Magic Rodger Goodrick
You will probably know me from past newsletters as I spend some time at
Wheatfen as a volunteer. I have got to know some of the best times and places
to see the magic of the reserve and this is one of them. I hope I can do it justice
when putting it into words.
First I had better set the scene, as I know some of you do not get to visit the
reserve very often. Old Mill Marsh has a mixture of wetland plants including
Reed, Meadowsweet, Hemp-agrimony, Yellow Flag Iris and many more, to
name but a few, and is a delight to see during the summer months. Each winter
normally late December/ early January the growth has to be cut. The timing of
this depends upon the tides as this marsh floods regularly when we get high
tides. When cut it is stacked and burnt as there is so much growth through the
summer that this is the only way to get rid of it. The Thatch is at the southwest
corner of Old Mill Marsh and easily accessed by wheel chair via the boardwalk.
The grazing meadow is next to the reserve separated by a dyke. This very often
has sheep grazing on it and is to the west and runs the full length of Old Mill
Marsh with a hedge at the end.
I remember going down to Old Mill Marsh one January afternoon as the sun
was just setting and the mist was just beginning to rise over the marsh. There
was no wind and everything was silent. I was sitting on the seat near the Thatch
hoping to see Chinese Water Deer when out of the mist from the far end of the
marsh a ghostly shape emerged. As it came closer I could see it was a Barn Owl
slowly quartering the marsh hunting for its supper. It stopped, hovered and then
moved on, all in complete silence. It repeated this several times getting closer
and closer, by this time I had no need for binoculars. All of a sudden it dropped
to the ground and I lost sight of it behind one of the stacks that had not yet been
burned. When it came up after a few seconds (it seemed like ages) I could see
it had got something in its talons. I couldn’t make out what it was as it flew over
the dyke to a post on the grazing marsh, and promptly swallowed it whole. I think
it was most likely to have been a Shrew. I stood up very slowly and watched as
it sat perched on the post with its head always on the move looking for its next
meal in the long tufts of grass. I think it must have seen or heard something move
as it took flight on those silent wings. It swooped low but caught nothing and
silently went on its way across the meadow, relentlessly searching for its next
meal and disappearing into the next field as quietly as it came.
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