Hen Harrier

Juvenile male Hen Harrier, Ouse Washes RSPB, 30th October 2013 © Garth Peacock
In the late afternoon sun when the light was on the wane but a consolation for the Northern Harrier that did not come close enough for better shots than my last visit.
Note - for those interested, I originally posted this as a female until kindly corrected by James Hanlon. His interesting identification pointers are as follows.
'It is aged primarily by the pale tips to the greater coverts but the warm buff ground colour to the underparts, the rather uniformly dark ear coverts, the narrower streaking on the belly (than the breast) and the appearance of fresh flight feathers of a seemingly single age class (a bit hard to see admitedly) are other good pointers. The yellow eye indicates it is a male; the dark eye of juv females becomes paler with age.' JH

Marsh Harrier

Male Marsh Harrier, Ouse Washes RSPB, 30th October 2013 © Garth Peacock

Peregrine Falcon

Peregrine Falcon, Ouse Washes RSPB, 30th October 2013 © Garth Peacock

Wigeon

Drake Wigeon, Ouse Washes RSPB, 30th October 2013 © Garth Peacock

Water Rail

Water Rail, Fowlmere RSPB, 30th October 2013 © Geoff Harries

Kingfisher

Kingfisher, Fowlmere RSPB, 30th October 2013 © Geoff Harries

Grey Wagtail

Grey Wagtail, Fowlmere RSPB, 30th October 2013 © Geoff Harries

Green Woodpecker

Green Woodpecker, Fowlmere RSPB, 30th October 2013 © Geoff Harries

Robin

Robin, Fen Drayton Lakes RSPB, 30th October 2013 © Colin Brown

Long-tailed Tit

Long-tailed Tit, Fen Drayton Lakes RSPB, 30th October 2013 © Colin Brown

Marsh Harrier

Marsh Harrier, Fen Drayton Lakes RSPB, 30th October 2013 © Colin Brown

Goldfinch

Goldfinch, Fen Drayton Lakes RSPB, 30th October 2013 © Colin Brown

Fieldfare

Fieldfare, Fen Drayton Lakes RSPB, 30th October 2013 © Colin Brown

Meadow Pipit

Meadow Pipit, Fen Drayton Lakes RSPB, 30th October 2013 © Colin Brown

Sparrowhawk

Sparrowhawk, Willingham 30th October 2013 © Colin Brown

Rook

Rook, Willingham, 30th October 2013 © Colin Brown

Mistle Thrush

Mistle Thrush, Fowlmere RSPB, 28th October 2013 © Gary Thornton

Northern Harrier

Northern Harrier (presumed juvenile female), Ouse Washes RSPB, 28th October 2013 © Simon Stirrup
'... a few images that I took at Pymoor this morning. They are heavily cropped, but may contribute to the debate.' SS

Northern Harrier

Northern Harrier, Ouse Washes RSPB, 24th October 2013 © Garth Peacock
Always distant, hence the heavily cropped record shots. I hope the different angles from Jame's earlier photos helps to confirm the identification. Currently thinking is a juvenile female Northern Harrier.

Barn Owl

Barn Owl, Fowlmere RSPB, 24th October 2013 © Malcolm Housden

Northern Harrier

Northern Harrier, Ouse Washes RSPB, 21st October 2013 © James Hanlon
'This bird appears to tick all the boxes for the American race of hen harrier (split by some authorities as Northern harrier, but not yet by the BOU), a taxon which has occurred just three times before in Britain and never in Cambs (an old claim from Wicken Fen was found not proven). The unstreaked bright orange underparts and dark hood separate it from some lookalike cyaneus hen harriers, which can look very similar though generally possess some obvious streaking on the breast, flanks and/ or vent.
There are a range of subtle features all of which support the identity as that of a hudsonius, falling outside the known range of variability of cyaneus, including in particular the underwing pattern (especially the number of bars on the outer primaries) but criteria for acceptance is very much a work in progress and the goal posts could shift as we learn more about the taxon. It was important to sex this bird as there are minor differences between juveniles of the two sexes and the dark brownish eye colour indicates this one is a female. Rather oddly the form has recently started occuring with some regularity at Tacumshin, Co Wexford in Ireland, prompting some to question its true status and consider whether Northern harriers could be hybridising with cyaneus hen harriers somewhere. A DNA sample was recently obtained from one of the Irish birds and this may help to clarify the situation.' JH
For further discussion, see http://jameshanlonbirder.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/apparent-northern-harrier-in.html

Ringed Plover

Ringed Plover, Grafham Water, 17th October 2013 © James Hanlon

Great Skua

Juvenile Great Skua, Grafham Water, 17th October 2013 © James Hanlon

Little Gull

Juvenile Little Gull, Grafham Water, 17th October 2013 © Garth Peacock
A nice consolation for missing the Bonxie!!

Great Skua

Juvenile Great Skua, Grafham Water, 12th October 2013 © Mark Hawkes

Kestrel

Female Kestrel, Manea, 12th October 2013 © Kevin Taylor

Buzzard

Common Buzzard, Ouse Fen RSPB, 7th October 2013 © Geoff Harries

Hobby

Hobby, Ouse Fen RSPB, 7th October 2013 © Geoff Harries

Water Rail

Water Rail, Fowlmere RSPB, 7th October 2013 © Malcolm Housden

Little Bunting

Wing shape comparison (Little Bunting on top)

Tail feather comparison with Reed Bunting

Beak Shape Comparison with Reed Bunting (Little Bunting to left)

Flank comparison

Little Bunting, Dunkirk, 6th October 2013 © Tony Martin
'I had three reed buntings in a net this morning, and was struck by how small one of them was. Then I noticed that the beak of the small one didn't look quite right, and the head colouration was similarly unusual. And it had white on just the outermost tail feathers, unlike  in reed buntings. And the wing shape is different, and there's no emargination on the 6th primary. By the end of all this, I became convinced that this ain't a reed bunting.
I'm not altogether certain, but I rather think that this might be a Little Bunting.' TM
NOTE: ID since confirmed by Michael Holdsworth - Ed