New Year’s Day. Time to venture out and blow away the cobwebs. So to Ouse Fen with a brilliant blue sky and a biting wind. Scanning the vast expanse of Phragmites fronds as they bowed and swayed was like peering through a blizzard. They were shedding seed on a massive scale. Above it all three Marsh Harriers floated as if in a ballet, slowly rowing upwind and then turning to speed back, and turn again to begin a new tack.

I stepped into a path through the reeds, hoping for a glimpse of the Ouse Fen specials – Bearded Tits or Bittern. No luck. But suddenly, with the Phragmites towering above me, I stopped short at the sight of an even taller clump of a different species I had not noticed before. Research back home revealed Reed Canary Grass, Phalaris arundinacea. It’s common in Cambridgeshire and grows to up to 3-4 m tall, way above the Phragmites, and me. So today was all about seed heads – the magnificent feathery fronds waving en masse and glowing gold as far as the eye could see, contrasting with upright pale stems bearing creamy white seed heads. I found this description: ‘in winter the Phragmites collapses outward into soft plumes, while the Canary Grass stays upright – a crown of spears over a fluffy sea. Perfect!