VERY PURPLE SANDPIPERS

   On Saturday with the high tide forecast for about 1 pm I made the trip down to Ness Point in bright sunshine to try and get some good photos of the Purple Sandpipers that winter there. This is one of those birds that look quite dull in cloudy weather and only show the beauty of their feathering in the sunlight, and at high tide the birds come up onto the rocks at the point and can give very close views. There were about 10 birds in the area but most of them were in a position that made photography difficult, one bird however was quite happy to feed within a few feet of a collection of photographers gathered. This bird moved from the rocks down onto the weed covered slopes of the point and only moved away when threatened by a larger wave but would soon return as the water subsided. I spent an hour or so with this bird taking several hundred images which took a considerable amount of time later to go through and sort, a few being shown here which show the pinkish/ purple colours in the feathers in the sun.

NORTH COVE - DAY 2

   Once again yesterday the wind was blowing strongly so I wimped out again and returned to North Cove to try and get some decent pictures of the species that I missed on the previous day. As before the regular woodland birds were in abundance but there was nothing at all unusual so below are photographs of firstly a Coal tit and then a Marsh tit.

   After a while the Muntjac deer put in an appearance and I was fortunate enough to get a reflection shot as the Muntjac doe walked behind the pool and sniffed out the peanuts that I placed there to try and attract the squirrels which seemed not to be interested and preferred the bird seed under the feeder. Later just before I left as the light was failing the buck Muntjac turned up at the end of the clearing and below are pictures of both. As a point of interest Muntjac are the only deer species in this country that don't have a specific breeding time in the year and can produce young at any time, in any season. They are not natural residents of our countryside and were first released in the mid 1800's I think and are often regarded as pests now that they have become so numerous. 

OUT OF THE WIND AT NORTH COVE

   Today I started out with the intention of walking along the coast again but on arrival at Corton and nearly being blown off the cliff I decided that discretion was the better part of valour and retreated to the shelter of the woodland at SWT North Cove. Topping up the feeders at the hide I warmed up with a cup of coffee and waited for the birds to realise that the feeders were not empty any more which only took a matter of a few minutes. Firstly the Blue and Great tits followed by Chaffinches and then Marsh and Coal tits and the odd Robin and Dunnock. Later a Song Thrush put in an appearance along with a Blackbird, a couple of Treecreepers, a Wren and a Goldcrest with a few Pheasants thrown in as well. Pictured here is a nice Blue tit in a clear out of focus background.

   At regular intervals the birds were disturbed by a Sparrowhawk flying through the clearing on the hunt and also a Stoat climbing the trees. Soon enough the Grey squirrels arrived to devour the seeds dropped by the birds and I was fortunate enough to get some good shots of one of the squirrels reflected in a nearby pool which turned out to be my favourite shots of the day. Just before leaving 2 Muntjac deer showed up but by this time the light was fading so the photos I took were not really satisfactory.

GLAUCOUS GULL AT HAMILTON DOCK

   Last Sunday was a pretty gloomy day so I wasn't expecting much luck with the camera as I headed down to North Lowestoft intending to walk along the beach but there were a few people on Gunton cliffs looking for a Dartford Warbler so I joined them for a while. The bird, however was not being very cooperative and although I did see it briefly it was not possible to photograph but then news came through that a Glaucous Gull was at Hamilton Dock so I drove down, found somewhere to park and joined the 20 or so people on the edge of the dock looking at the collection of gulls on the water which included the easily identifiable Glaucous Gull.

   This is a large gull that occasionally winters around the coasts in this country between November and March normally in the juvenile phase of its life, as was this bird. The mottled brown feathering marked out this bird as a 1st winter youngster but the black end to its bill and size made identification positive. These gulls are common in the Arctic, Iceland, Greenland and North America but only a few make it here but as with most gulls they eat pretty much anything they can get and so are often found wherever a good source of food is. In the case here the people on the dockside were throwing food to the gulls so I was able to get some shots of the bird in flight as well as it chased after the snacks. 

FINALLY SOME SNOW BUNTINGS

   Drove over to Minsmere this morning but it was very quiet round the reserve so I walked along the beach from the sluice towards Dunwich cliffs spotting a few Pied Wagtails and Pipits on the way. I was approaching the cliffs before I spotted a tell tale white flash on the shingle which turned out to be two Snow Buntings in the sunshine. At last the opportunity was there to take some good photos in decent light and I spent the next hour or so with these delightful birds following them as they fed on the shingle and in the dunes.

   In the winter there are thought to be in the region of 10,000 birds in this country, the vast majority of which migrate up to the Arctic to breed but a small number breed high in the mountains of Scotland near the snowline amongst the boulder fields. They feed mainly on seeds but will take insects as well and in the winter here they are nearly always only seen on the seashore.

   I have been lucky enough to see a few of these birds in the last weeks but this was the first time there was more than one Snow Bunting on view at the same time and it was by far the best light.

SHORELARKS

   Driving over to Southwold I was hoping to catch up with some Snow Buntings in the gorgeous sunshine this morning but after a couple of hours wandering along the beach I only managed to get a couple of very poor pictures of a bird with an injured leg and a distant view of two Shorelarks which flew over to the town marshes after probably being disturbed by the number of people and dogs on the beach. Shorelarks are spectacular little birds that arrive on the east coast in October and November and remain until March when they return to the Arctic tundra and mountains above the tree line to breed. They are a little smaller than Skylarks but are mainly recognised by the vivid yellow and black markings on the head of the males and the small feathered 'horns' that can sometimes be seen.

   Moving on from Southwold I drove to Kessingland and walked along the beach to Benacre sluice spotting along the way a multitude of Pied Wagtails and Skylarks but about 100 yards before the sluice I came across a pair of Shorelarks. I crept closer on my hands and knees using grassy tussocks for cover and spent the next hour or so photographing these birds at will as there were far fewer people around to disturb them. It is thought that around 200-300 birds winter here in this country so I count myself quite fortunate to have seen 4 birds in one day. In this last picture the bird on the left is showing its 'horns' well as it looks toward me.

THE BLACK SWAN AT STRUMPSHAW

   No its not the name of the pub where I had lunch honestly! It has however been a regular at Strumpshaw Fen for the last few months. This species of swan is not resident in this country and in fact comes from Australia and is brought here as an ornamental bird but inevitably some escape to the countryside and they are now found regularly on many bodies of water. It is not thought that they could become resident here as there is too much competition from our native Mute swans.

   Although called the Black swan when in flight it can be seen that many of the flight feathers are white and it certainly looks spectacular in good light. This particular bird seems to spend a lot of its time chasing off the regular white swans and appears to be quite happy here at Strumpshaw. In recent years a Black swan spent the winter months on Gillingham marshes on the left hand side of the bypass as you approached Beccles from the west but I believe that bird perished last winter.

CLOSE UP BITTERN

   Far from being disheartened by the lack of Otters the multitude of other wildlife kept me entertained as I sat in the hide including Kingfishers, various ducks and geese and at least two different Bitterns, one of which flew in right next to the hide where it spent the next two hours teasing me with brief and partial appearances before disappearing back into the reeds. There were 2 or 3 other photographers in the hide and I suspect that we all got very similar shots over the course of the morning but it was amazingly quiet in the hide as nobody wanted to spook the bird and all conversations were conducted in tiny whispers.

   In this photograph you can clearly see the unusual eye position of the Bittern which allows them to hunt for prey being able to see under their bills into the water.

TUSKS!

   As a follow up to yesterdays blog I thought I would share these two pictures of a buck Chinese Water Deer. Both of these shots were taken at a reasonable distance so are not as good as I would like but you can clearly see the tusks protruding from the top jaw. The pictures were taken at about 8 am in the morning after another failure to spot any Otters even though I was on the reserve at first light........keep trying!

CHINESE WATER DEER

   Today I visited Stumpshaw Fen in the hope of seeing Otters but the only views I got were as one animal swum past hardly coming to the surface at all, however I did get some good sightings of a Chinese Water Deer.

   These deer are quite small only being a bit larger than a Muntjac but not as large as a Roe deer and are reasonably common around Norfolk and Suffolk having developed a liking to the wetland habitats available. They are not a natural resident of this country but were instead released and/or escaped from captivity and have since thrived. They were first recorded at London zoo in 1873 and at Whipsnade zoo in 1929 where the first escape occurred. The bucks don't have antlers but instead have tusks that grow down from the top jaws which indicates that this species of deer is very ancient and originates before the evolution of antlers. Chinese Water Deer are not social like other deer species and tend to prefer their own company apart from the rutting season in November when bucks and does pair up for a few months during which time the bucks will not tolerate the presence of any other males and fighting can occur. The does give birth around May/June normally to between 1 and 3 fawns but occasionally up to 6 but they have a very high mortality rate and it is estimated that 40% of fawns die within the first couple of months of life.

   You can see from the lack of tusks that this animal is either a doe or an immature buck that is not old enough to have developed the tusks yet. Another identifying feature of these deer are the rounded ears that are said to resemble those of a 'teddy bear' and these can be clearly seen in this picture.