Last week on a cold and misty morning I trudged along the shingle past the Dunwich shore pools up to the area where people have been putting down seed for the flocks of Snow Bunting and Twite that have been frequenting the beach. As I said it was very cold and apart from a few dog walkers near to the car park I had the whole length of the coast to myself and as I walked along I observed lots of gulls, a few Skylarks and Stonechats, a group of Ringed plover, a small group of Brent geese and various waders on the shore pools. Reaching the feeding site a large group of about 40 Snow Buntings took off and moved a 100 yards down the beach so I lay down on the shingle and waited.
It didn't take long for the flock to return, flying into the strong breeze and landing on and around the feeding site, staying for a few minutes before flying off to another area further down. This set the pattern for the next hour or so as they repeatedly flew in, fed and then flew off again. The strong wind allowed me to get some flight shots of the birds as they came in to land and hovered slightly before touching down. It was a mixed flock of male and female birds many of which were ringed and I could see that some of the male birds were becoming much brighter which is caused by the brown colouration on the ends of their feathers wearing off revealing the black and white breeding plumage beneath.
After the prolonged period of laying on the shingle the cold began to permeate through my layers of clothing despite the regular cups of hot coffee so I left the flock to their foraging realizing that they would soon be departing for their breeding grounds in Scandinavia as the weather warmed up and I may not see them again until next autumn. Heading back along the beach towards the car park I came across the group of Ringed Plover again as they relocated onto one of the shore pools so I sat down a little out of the wind and watched them. A couple of the birds were quite tolerant of my presence and as I sat still they approached closely allowing me to photograph them at will but after a while I decided that I had to head back to the car to warm up. All in all a super few hours without hardly seeing another person in the company of some beautiful little birds.
Last week I had the chance to spend a few hours in the sunshine at a new location for me looking for Hares. On arrival and scanning the fields with binoculars I could see one or two hares laying down in a crop of winter wheat but as the afternoon progressed and the light levels lowered I began to realize that there were a lot more than one or two animals present, in fact as they became more active and started to move around at one point I counted 21 hares in view at the same time. I knew that the farmer who owned the land did not shoot these animals but I was amazed by the number I could see.
I watched the hares until the light levels became too low for photography in the hope of seeing some 'boxing' but they seemed more interested in grooming and foraging and generally all seemed to get on together remarkably well. I will have to try and spent some time here over the next few weeks to hopefully catch some more interesting behaviour.
For the last couple of weeks some unusual visitors have been spotted in the river at Beccles Quay, a pair of Scaup who have been occasionally accompanied by a third bird. The Scaup is a predominately sea going duck only rarely seen inland and usually at distance but the two birds at Beccles are certainly disproving this description regularly coming within 20 yards of the bank giving very good views. Both birds appear to be female or immature examples which can be seen by the mainly brown plumage with white face patches which are more obvious in one of the pair. Adult males are much more distinctive having a black/green head and neck with a white and grey body.
These duck nest in Iceland, Scandinavia and northern Russia on the ground near to water and feed mainly on shellfish such as mussels but they will also take plant matter too which they get by diving. In the winter the birds migrate to the coasts of north west Europe where they may remain until March although some immature birds stay on their wintering grounds all year. Countless observers have been amazed by how confiding the Beccles birds have been and as of today they are still around the quay area.
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