STRUMPSHAW FEN IN JANUARY PART 2: WOODLAND

   Moving on from reception hide to the bird feeders nearby I could see a collection of birds flitting around the trees and bushes. Foremost among these were the Chaffinches, Blue and Great tits and Goldfinches but I spotted a bird with the Chaffinches that looked a little different and closer examination revealed it to be a Brambling. These birds are mainly winter visitors to this country when they may number up to a million individuals but it is very rare to find any that breed here in the spring, the vast majority returning to breed between Scandinavia and Siberia.

   From here I walked into the woodland and after a while came to an old tree stump that seemed to be popular with the resident birds. It was evident that this stump was being used as a feeding area for the woodland species and so I settled down with the camera and waited for the first visitor. I didn't have to wait long before a Nuthatch turned up followed by a couple of others and I managed to get some good shots.

   Other regular visitors to the stump turned out to be Marsh tits and Robins as can be seen below.

   Leaving the stump behind I continued to walk through the wood where I came across several ivy covered trees which were being frequented by Blackbirds feeding on the ripe berries on the ivy. These birds were very tolerant of me and the camera as can be seen from the shots below.

   Finally as I neared the end of the trail a flock of Goldfinch could be seen feeding in an Alder tree and I snapped this picture of one bird hanging upside down to get at the seeds.

 

STRUMPSHAW FEN IN JANUARY PART 1: WATER

   Tuesday at last saw a bit of a break in the continually miserable weather as I made the trip over to Strumpshaw Fen and joined a couple of other people sitting in the fen hide looking out for Bitterns. A couple of hours later and the only Bitterns seen were at a distance and the usually reliable Marsh Harriers were notable by their absence; the only thing worth seeing was a Heron that landed in front of the hide and proceeded to catch a pike that must have been in excess of 2lb and which it duly swallowed without difficulty. The Heron did however spend the next hour or so sitting quietly letting its meal digest. Two Otters were seen briefly heading towards the river sluice so I hastily moved there and was rewarded by the sight of one of the Otters moving towards me along the channel but unfortunately it sensed my presence before getting too close and rapidly 'porpoised' its way back down the channel. It was amazing to watch this behavior that I had not seen before and certainly made me smile. I stayed at the river for the next 30 minutes or so and eventually heard an Otter calling which turned out to be coming from the river behind me and I briefly spotted the animal about 30 yards away; whether this was the same Otter that was in the channel or another I'm not sure but I decided to leave them in peace and make my way round to the reception hide.

   There always seems to be a collection of waterfowl in front of this hide and this day was no exception with a group of Coot as well as quite a few ducks of various species. The photos below show firstly a pair of Coot, a male and then a female Shoveller Duck and finally a pair of Gadwall Duck. The Gadwall is a common visitor in the winter when there are thought to be some 17,000 birds in the UK however in the summer it is much more unusual to see them as only about 800 pairs stay to breed here, the majority of the wintering birds nest in Russia.

 

A STILL DAY LOOKING FOR OWLS

   Monday dawned cloudy but calm and I decided to visit Langley flood. On arrival I parked at Chedgrave church and walked to the river Chet passing a few houses where I saw several Bullfinches in one garden but as usual they flew off before I could photograph them. Continuing to the river it was very quiet with only a few tits and the odd Robin for company until I reached one of the bridges over an inlet into the flood from the river. The bridge at either end had been supported by an area of pilings reinforcing the banks and behind a section of piling I could see clouds of bubbles emerging into the water. Puzzled I watched until I saw a nose and whiskers appear behind the wood and I realized it was an Otter which swiftly observed me and disappeared and on crossing the bridge I could see where the Otter entered the piled area as there was an obvious trail with spraint on view. Carrying on along the flood hundreds of Mute Swan could be seen along with many geese and ducks and a few waders such as Redshank and Curlew but the path was exceptionally muddy so after a while I turned round and returned towards the church spotting along the way several Grey Heron, a Little Egret and eventually a hunting Barn Owl. The pictures below show a group of geese landing on the flood and the Barn Owl that was hunting the banks of the river.

   Moving on to Carlton Marshes in the afternoon I was hopeful of seeing the Little Owls that frequent the area but of them there was no sign so I walked out onto the marshes and looked out over the scrape where I saw more Mute Swans, Little Egrets, ducks and a hunting Kestrel. In the far distance a Barn Owl was hunting and in the same area was a Marsh Harrier which appeared to squabble with the owl on occasions. I was just thinking of leaving when I turned round and realised that a Barn Owl was hunting right behind me! The bird moved away and I followed and managed to get the picture below.

   Walking back to the car as the sun was setting I looked over to my right and could see on one of the marshes six Grey Herons within 20 yards of each other in the growing gloom. Unfortunately with the lens I had with me I could only get three of the birds in the same picture at the same time as can be seen below. A pleasant winters day in dead calm conditions with a good variety of wildlife seen.

MORE NORTH COVE PHOTOS FROM LAST WEEK

   As well as the redpoll there have been the other usual suspects from the woodland hide at North Cove including Long Tailed Tit, Coal Tit and Bullfinch. The Bullfinch are particularly handsome birds especially the males with their pinkish/red breasts but unfortunately they seem to be really shy and difficult to picture so the only images I have from here are of females illustrated below.

   The various Tits on the other hand are very obliging and come very close to the hide making photography remarkably easy at times. Coal tits seem to appear regularly when the feeders are topped up and can be relied upon, Long Tailed tits however are seen less frequently especially this year in the mild conditions and when they do appear it seems there is only a small group of three birds rather than a substantial flock as you sometimes get in the winter.  

REDPOLLS AT NORTH COVE

   In the last couple of weeks I have spent several sessions sitting in the hide at North Cove nature reserve looking for the Brambling without any success but there has been a flock of mixed birds including Siskin, Goldfinch and Redpoll. The majority of the Redpolls are Lesser Redpoll with a few Common(Mealy) Redpoll amongst them which are markedly lighter in colour but because they vary in plumage so much it is not easy to tell them apart. I have taken several pictures during this time included on this blog which illustrate the variations that can be observed.

BACK TO DUNWICH HEATH

   I couldn't resist the opportunity to go back to Dunwich Heath again to hopefully see more of the Dartford Warblers. This time conditions were not so favourable with a strong wind blowing across the heath making it feel quite cold which according to the text books are not ideal for these birds. I sat myself down in the general area I knew the birds frequented and waited and after an hour or so by which time I had eaten most of my food and drunk several cups of coffee a pair of birds appeared flying low over the heather and landed close to me. They then began to chase each other round and through the heather sometimes stopping briefly to sing a few weak notes before continuing the chase. This behaviour only lasted a few minutes giving me a brief chance for pictures before they took off again over the heather to disappear. Unfortunately I only managed to capture one bird at a time, it would have been good to get them both together but I will return in the spring with the onset of warmer weather when hopefully breeding behaviour might start giving me greater opportunities.

GORGEOUS WOODPECKER AT NORTH COVE

   Last weekend in the breaks between the rain I visited the Suffolk Wildlife Trust reserve at North Cove again in the hope of seeing Bramblings but once again failed although I know from other people that there are some on site at the moment but they are very mobile and easy to miss. There were several Siskin and Redpoll around but they too kept their distance and I was beginning to think that I would return with my camera unused for a change when a Great Spotted Woodpecker saved the day. I observed him from a distance away before he began to make his way closer hiding behind trees as he approached. He was attracted by the nuts in the feeders but was very wary and it took a long while until he plucked up courage and showed himself in the sun. I only had time to get a few images but it was worth the wait.

DEER ON THE HEATH

   Also on the heath were a large number of Red deer in small groups scattered over the landscape which were predominately females, alone or with older juveniles. All of these were very wary and did not allow close approach but one female with her youngster did walk by as I was sitting in the heather waiting for the Dartford Warblers to show. At one point a Magpie flew down and landed on the back of the juvenile before hopping up onto the head of the female, I just had to get a picture of that. One of my targets for the year is to try and get some photographs of the deer up on the heath when the heather is in flower, I think that would look really good.

DARTFORD WARBLERS AT DUNWICH HEATH

   After a dull and wet start to Friday there was the promise of brighter conditions so I drove down to Dunwich heath and set off over the heather along the paths walking quietly and slowly until I spotted movement in the fauna when I sat down with my camera on a tripod and waited. Presently a bird began to show itself and I could see that it was a Dartford Warbler but it wouldn't come to the tops of the heather to allow photography and it took another half an hour before it became used enough to my presence and finally emerged to the tops.

   It was worth the wait, what a gorgeous bird with its chest colour and the striking red/orange ring around the eye it is certainly distinctive. This bird is never seen in most of the country being limited in range to the south coast and a small part of the Suffolk and Essex coast and numbering only a few thousand. This is a vast increase on the 10 pairs that are thought to have survived the legendary 1962/3 winter and indeed cold winters are the main enemy of this beautiful little bird. There were thought to be about 40 pairs holding territories on the Dunwich and Westleton heaths but this was before last winter which may have reduced their number somewhat.

   It was a positive sign then that I saw at least 5 separate birds in a reasonably small area of the heath and bodes well for their future. The Dartford Warbler is a largely sedentary bird with the adults remaining on their territories for most of the year feeding low down in the heather and gorse on insects, spiders and beetles. They also nest low down making a cup in the heather made of grasses, mosses and spiders cocoons and sometimes have a second or even third brood.

MORE DUCKS

   Following the departure to the south end of Covehithe broad of the Long Tailed duck out of sight I thought it would be a good opportunity to grab a bite to eat and a cup of coffee from my rucksack before moving on. Whilst eating I noticed a pair of Goldeneye at the north end of the broad and quite quickly they too began to move towards me. Readying the camera I prepared for another close view but these birds were altogether more wary and never approached too near before they too took flight to the south end of the broad passing by me as they did so.

   The Goldeneye also breeds in the north of Europe, Asia and North America but a few birds breed in the highlands of Scotland too and in the winter months many birds are found in this country on lakes and large rivers so it is altogether a much commoner species for us to see. As well as on freshwater this bird can also be found on more sheltered bays and estuaries at sea where the male is particularly noticeable with its bright plumage.

   At this point I moved to Oulton Marshes to try once again to get some good images of the long staying Glossy Ibis but as before the bird was distant and left me disappointed. There were however hundreds of Wigeon on the marsh and I did get the picture below when they returned together in large numbers after being put up by a passing Marsh Harrier.

LONG TAILED DUCK AT COVEHITHE BROAD

   After leaving the Snow Buntings on the beach at Pakefield I moved down to Covehithe as the weather was set fair for the day and walked down to the broad. There were several people here too but most of them headed down to the beach leaving me and the other birdwatchers alone looking at a few ducks at the northern end of the broad. One of these ducks could be seen to be a Long Tailed Duck which spent most of its time repeatedly diving for food.

   L T Ducks are sea ducks that breed on the tundra in Northern Europe and spend their winters on ice free waters further south usually at a distance from shore so it is a little unusual to get good close views like this. Although called the Long Tailed Duck it is actually only the male that has a long tail and as this bird is a female no tail can be seen.

   I moved away from the other people to a position half way down the broad where it narrows in the hope that the duck would make its way towards me. I was in luck and after half an hour or so the bird began to swim towards me regularly diving and surfacing again giving me some good close views and then it took off and flew right past me giving me an excellent chance to take a few flight shots which I was very pleased with. The photographs here start off with the bird swimming, then taking off before flying past me.