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.
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