WHOOPER SWANS AT SWT CASTLE MARSH

   Just a quick post to show you some long distance shots taken from Castle marshes on the river wall on Sunday. I had returned hoping to get some more images of the Barn owl I had seen the previous day but while I was waiting for the owl to emerge I noticed an approaching group of swans from the Lowestoft direction. Raising my binoculars I could see the yellow on their bills which meant they weren't Mute swans and as I watched they came closer and closer before landing on the shooting lakes at Aldeby on the other side of the river. Looking through the camera lens I could see they were Whooper swans and although they only stayed for half an hour or so I took many photos even though they were a long way from me. Walking back to the car the Barn owl came from across the river carrying a small mammal which was probably a vole and went up to the wood to eat in peace but it was good to see that this owl is successfully surviving the winter on the marshes.

A WANDER ROUND THE LOWER WAVENEY SWT RESERVES

   A cold and frosty Saturday morning saw me at Carlton Marshes reserve just before sunrise equipped with thermals, woolly hat and gloves to go and look at the flooded Peto's Marsh caused the previous weekend by a high tidal serge. This marsh lies on the unprotected side of the new flood defence wall that has been built during the past few months to prevent large areas of the lower Waveney valley from flooding. It is owned by a Dutch concern at the moment and used mainly for agriculture but if it continues to flood on a regular basis then it will not be any good for this and hopefully the owners would consider selling and allow the area to become a wildlife haven during the colder months for ducks, geese and wildfowl and during the summer would make ideal breeding habitat for such species as Snipe, Redshank and Lapwing. Anyway back to my visit and on my way down to Peto's marsh I couldn't resist taking a picture of a Heron perched on a fence post surveying the frosty marshland, not the best picture of a Heron that I have ever taken but I thought it looked good in the surroundings as you can see above. Looking over Peto's marsh you get an idea of the extent of the flooding even though the water levels have lowered by about 3 feet since last weekend and I've also included a couple of shots of various geese that flew over me on their way to the marsh.

   Getting back to the car I moved on to Oulton marshes which turned out to be fairly quiet although I did note several signs of Otter activity on my walk round including tracks and spraint. There were a few Wigeon feeding on the marsh but the only pictures I took were of a pair of Stonechats flitting along the fence line which I managed to get before the snow flurries started and I returned home for a bacon roll and a hot coffee.

   The bad weather soon cleared out in the afternoon and I drove down to North Cove and Castle marshes reserves. North Cove was full of the usual suspects but there was no sign of any Redpoll or Siskins but its always nice to see the commoner stuff as well. It was late afternoon before I made my way onto the river wall at Castle marshes where I could see substantial numbers of Mute swans feeding on the marsh but my attention was grabbed by a Barn Owl perched on a post nearby. I approached slowly and was treated to the sight of the bird hunting along the wall and near marshes where it repeatedly came to perch on fence and gate posts and was oblivious to the clicks of my camera shutter in the growing gloom. On the way back to the car a short glimpse of a Chinese water deer provided the last highlight of a rewarding series of smaller walks during the day.

WELCOME TO 2015

   New years day was a dull and dreary affair and my activity was restricted to a drive around Aldeby and Burgh St Peter looking for possible Barn owl activity and further sites to observe Hares in the coming months. I drew a blank with both of these objectives which, considering the weather, wasn't a surprise but I did spot a Kestrel hovering along the roadside. I pulled up, lowered the windows and turned on my camera but by the time I looked again it had disappeared. Scanning around there was no sign of it and I was about move on when there was movement in the hedge and all of a sudden a beautiful female Kestrel hopped up onto the top and I slowly lifted up the camera and managed a few shots before she took off again.

   The following day was bright and sunny so I made my way over to SWT Lackford Lakes which is normally a good site for wintering ducks as well as its more well known about Kingfishers. Typically for me the day turned out to be quiet on the bird front but I did come across a few Goldeneye on one of the lakes which at one point came close enough as you can see below. The male and female stuck close together but the male did leave her to drive off another male which dared to approach.

   Moving on to another lake I saw a variety of common ducks including Mallard, Teal, Tufted and Pochard. Most of the Pochard seen in the winter have migrated from North and East Europe and Russia although small numbers do breed in this country. The males are brighter in plumage than the females with a mainly grey body with a rusty red head and a bright red eye whereas the females are more of a grey/brown colour. They are usually found in groups and spend much of the time asleep as they feed at night to a greater extent when they dive to feed on plants and small mollusc's and insects. Luckily they approached close to the hide I was in and examples of both male and female can be seen.

2014 THE LAST POST

   The last day of the year dawned with the promise of a fine day so I embarked on a visit to a few coastal sites with expectations high and cameras fully charged. First stop of the day was RSPB North Warren where I was hopeful of seeing some of the winter geese there, and in that respect I did but unfortunately they were all distant and out of effective camera range. The geese included Canada, Barnacle, Greylag and Eurasion White-fronted, the latter of which has a population of about 150 birds on the reserve at the moment and is one of the major flocks of this species to be found in the winter. Luckily some birds did approach close enough for photography and these were the flock of 100 or so Black-tailed Godwits shown above and below.

   From here I moved up to Sizewell where I spent an hour or so walking along in front of the power stations but the wildlife was not really evident and the only photographic subjects were the Meadow Pipits which were flitting amongst the grasses and gorse on the sea front, the results of which can be seen below.

   Next was Dunwich Beach where the Stonechats were still around but getting close to them with all the people out walking over the holiday period was difficult. However I did discover a pair of Skylarks by nearly treading on them as I walked along the bottom of the sea wall, luckily for me they only flew 20 yards or so before landing again and I was able to approach quietly and get some acceptable images.

   The final stop of the day was at Blythborough as the sun was setting in time to see the waders and gulls coming in to roost for the night on the mudflats of the estuary. The light was going and the birds were at a distance so no pictures to show you but it was a nice way to finish the year.