Sightings
Send us your own
We want to encourage those who live in the valley, or nearby, to share the things they see that interest them. In this way we can all discover more about this special place, our landscape for life, and enjoy every outing more. Your sightings do not have to be elaborate and can be as simple as watching mayflies dance, or a shape-shifting flock of starlings coming to roost, or noticing a fabulous sunset or a thatcher at work. Take a picture, write a few words and send both to sightings@greatousevalleytrust.org.uk If you want to write more of a mini article, that’s fine too!
We have accumulated quite a few sightings already. Here are a few to give you a taster. The tags alongside will help you to find other related topics and perhaps help to inspire you.
For some days my eye was caught by a Coot ‘waving’ at me. As it swam by, some way off, one leg was raised in...
Remember the Dainty Footwork sighting of the Little Egret? Imagine my joy when in the same spot, a Great Egret alighted this time and proceeded...
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....
A beaver in the Ouse Valley? Well, not yet! But not far away. In fact in Rushden Lakes, just off the River Nene near Peterborough,...
We had worried about the nest for quite a while. The Great Crested Grebes chose to build a floating mass of weed in the reedbed...
The delicate pale pink Cuckoo Flower, also known as Lady’s Smock (Cardamine pratensis), is now in bloom. It grows in damp places – along ditches,...
EGRET DAINTY FOOTWORK I watched this lovely Little Egret stepping carefully through the sunken reeds. Then I noticed something interesting. As it placed each...
OTTERS ABOUT A gruesome find perhaps but more evidence that Otters are once again thriving in the Great Ouse Valley. We have been aware of...
HANGING OUT? Bridget noticed a bunch of Cormorants gathered in the branches of a tall pollarded Black Poplar close to the river the other day....
Ever seen inside a bat box? Nor had I. So this was a rare treat. On a nature reserve island in the valley, the boxes...
St James’ Church, Hemingford Grey, stands proudly on the bank on the edge of the village, and always catches the late afternoon sun presenting a...
They are long gone now but are a wonderful reminder of the summer now cut short. I was thrilled when, after an absence of some...
Keep watching those back gardens … this is a White-letter hairstreak, named after the W mark on the underwings. Butterfly Conservation call it a high-priority...
So I went to check the postbox and stopped in my tracks. A mass of golden pin pricks – each with tiny legs! I...
The Trout Stream, Hemingford Grey, 2 June 2020 Just to prove the point that practically anything goes in Sightings, and that if you sit still...
Candi Hopkinson has posted some fantastic photographs of Common Seals recently – no, not from the Norfolk Coast but here, right in the Great Ouse...
Remember Ratty from Wind in the Willows? I was delighted to be introduced to him again recently by Rob Adamson who sees Ratty in his...
St Ives, November – March 2020 When our river rises at this time of year and the Hemingford flood meadow fills, as it is supposed...
Wildlife Trust Godmanchester Nature Reserve, April 2020 An uncommon visitor to this reserve, a Nightingale’s pure liquid song poured forth in the third week of...
The river, St Ives, May 2020 Downstream they came, three abreast. Fearsome ‘reptilian’ birds looking as if they meant business. And they sure did. Together...
The Backwater, Hemingford Grey, 7 May 2020 The Hemingford Grey backwater is narrow, fast flowing and twists through the meadows from the weir opposite the...
Holt Island Nature Reserve, 10 May 2020 I sat on The Waits and listened to the rolling skirl of the recently arrived Sedge Warbler’s song...
The Waits, St Ives, 10 May 2020 Where has she been? This is the question we have been asking ourselves for the past few weeks....
St Ives, 14 May 2020 I pulled the kitchen curtain at 5.40 am to catch a glimpse of a dumpy, chestnut brown shape running along the Meadow...
Back garden, St Ives, 21 May 2020 Another very warm day, warm enough to barbecue a sausage for supper. The slight breeze had died...
Back garden, St Ives, 28 May 2020 It’s amazing what you can see right under your nose if you take the trouble to look. Especially...
St Ives, 15 June 2020 This is another contribution from Nigel Sprowell, a Committee Member for the Friends of Holt Island Nature Reserve, on Holt...
Wyton, June 2020 We have been aware of the occasional sighting of this charismatic mammal in the Great Ouse Valley but do not yet have...
Hemingford Meadow, June 2020 St Ives resident Ian Dobson is passionate about the wonderful meadow and riverside flora we get to enjoy in spring and...
Hemingford Abbots, 3 July, 2020 It all started with an invitation from a friend to view a Red Kite’s nest in her garden. (This, hopefully...
Hemingford Abbots, 8 July 2020 The fox that Ian Jackson delightedly photographed with his phone has a near neighbour. I live just up the road...
Towards Hemingford Lock, 10th July 2020 Photograph by Keith Knight We decided to cruise quietly upstream into the sunset late on a perfectly still evening....
Hemingford Meadows, July 2020 Walking along the bridleway from Hemingford Abbots to Houghton Mill on a glorious day in mid-July, I found the meadow buzzing...
Hemingford Abbots, October 2020 Photographs by Bridget Flanagan Perhaps there are fairies at the bottom of my garden? If they do come to visit there...
The Thicket, St Ives, November 2020 How old are the woods along the Thicket Path? There are signs that they are very old indeed, possibly...
Buckden area, November 2020 We are pleased to have received this new Otter sighting in the valley, this time during the day and with vocals!...
Front door, St Ives, February 2021 Our house is on a narrow plot in town on the river, with the front door on the side....
Paxton Pits, St Neots, May 2021 We had just posted a Facebook message asking Ouse Valley spotters to let us know about sights and sounds...
BADGER CAM Holt Island Nature Reserve, St Ives, January 2022 A recent birthday brought me a trail camera present. This was exciting but I needed...
Here is a tale of daring do and dedication that will warm your heart. The drama caught the attention of the BBC Breakfast and the...
Portholme Meadow, Brampton. Jim Stevenson decided to circumnavigate this enormous flood plain meadow, thought to be the largest in the country, by canoe. This is...
Red Kites are now seen readily across the UK with a current population of some 10,000 birds, including about 2,000 breeding pairs. These birds have...
It’s that time of year and Bridget Flanagan of the Great Ouse Valley Trust describes a continuing local tradition. While the sun shines – our...
Celia Woolley pulls on her boots for two charities It was on June 4th 2020, my 53rd birthday, when I first had a spark of...
A family business chalks up 75 years on the river Great Ouse. Ian Jackson, of the Great Ouse Valley Trust, has the story. When Laurie...
The Great Ouse Valley Trust welcomes local naturalist Jim Stevenson as a contributor to our regular column. Here he describes how our river valley is...
TALES FROM THE RIVERBANK A regular series of stories from the Great Ouse Valley Trust. BIGGEST REED BED! We are so lucky. Why? Well, less...
The wonderful long-distance footpath that follows the river through the Ouse Valley in Cambridgeshire is one of our greatest assets. The Great Ouse Valley Trust...