9th January:
It is always nice to get up the next morning and realise
that you only have a twenty minute drive to the meeting point for the trip and
by 9am we were all wrapped up and ready in the car park at RSPB Strumpshaw Fen. The cool southerly breeze was getting up and
the forecast only suggested that we might get a couple of hours before the rain
caught up with us.
The first screen revealed some great reedbed management work
and lots of very happy Mallard, Teal and Gadwall feeding in the mown
areas. I introduced the crew to the word
‘squibbling’ for the noise ducks make when feeding in shallow water. They
agreed that it was a fine word and I promised to tell the creator of such a
fine addition to their vocabulary. The traditional
Black Swan was loafing around but as usual there were no Bitterns, Beardies or
Otters to be seen.
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| Otterless... |
The trail was surprisingly un-muddy until we approached the
Fen Hide but some clever use of firm sand had created a very usable surface and
I will be taking the idea back to Rainham.
A Chinese Water Deer scampered across the dormant flower
meadows and a huge skein of Greylags came in from Buckenham but the marsh was
very quiet with no duck to speak of and only a couple of Snipe that were
spooked by one of the six Marsh Harriers that we saw. The Barn Owl came out of
the old pumphouse building as we approached and silently headed across the Yare
while a pair of Stonechats and a Meadow Pipit were perched on appropriate
fences posts.
Out of the wind it was very mild and the damp woodland was
alive with song with Mistle and Song Thrushes and Blackbirds, Robins and Wrens
singing like it was early spring. Cuckoo Pint, Primroses and Celandines were
already showing good leaf and Hazel catkins were already swaying in the
breeze. The wood itself was full of
roving tit flocks with Marsh and Coal amongst the Blue, Greats and Long-tails
along with several Treecreepers and Goldcrests but not one woodpecker.
Chaffinches fed in the leaf litter and Siskins and Goldfinches dangled
acrobatically in the Alder canopy.
A quick coffee and them onto nearby RSPB Buckenham for a
walk back down to the Yare through the extensive water meadows. Things were not as wet as I expected and the
mild weather has seen to it that the small number of Taiga Bean Geese that
arrived for the winter had largely moved on.
Two had been reported again last week so it was pleasing to pick them up
quite quickly as they fed loosely with some of the now numerous Pink-feet
grazing the area and even from some distance the long neck, dark head and big,
largely orangey-yellow bills stood out in the flat light.
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| Cantley Beet Factory in the distance |
Pinkies probably
numbered about 400 and after a good scan round we started to find the Eurasian
White-fronts and ended up with 126 of these and 11 Barnacles amongst the hoards
of Wigeon and swirling Golden Plover and Lapwing. Unusually there were no Ruff or Black-tailed
Godwits but I did find a single Grey Plover.
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| Canadas, Pinkies and a couple of White-fronts |
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| Chinese Water Deer and White-fronts |
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| Sam showing the Twins our funny 'Goshawk-headed Buzzard' |
Some of the Wigeon was especially obliging and fed right
alongside us by the main ditch. It is such a delight to see them so close and
hear them chatting away to each other with whistles, grunts and throaty
chuckles.
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| Wigeon |
Marsh Harriers and Common Buzzards were a constant feature
but a fly through Rough-legged Buzzard was something of a surprise as was the
complete absence of any Peregrines!
Three Chinese Water Deer grazed with the geese and the odd
Skylark flew around and both Water and Meadow Pipits were seen but with bellies
and bladders rumbling we decided to head back to the shelter of Strumpshaw for
lunch and some home comforts. By three
we were back at Buckenham just as the rain arrived. We had been lucky up until
this point but would it abate for the main spectacle at dusk?
Thankfully it did and as the light dwindled the flocks of
Rooks and Jackdaws began to appear, firstly from the west where they
congregated in several of the standard winter Oaks that lined the fields. There was not enough room to house them all
and the wind was making landing difficult and they played in the gusts around
the branches like Chough around and alpine crag.
Suddenly a huge flock of several thousand birds arrived and
the whole gang swirled off to the east and out of sight leaving a few
stragglers in the original trees and we wondered if it was actually going to
happen before the light left the sky. The noise level rose and they returned
shortly afterwards with tens of thousands of their friends in tow and the
swirling melange of black twisted and turned over the roost wood by the church
with the sound crashing over you like pebbles washing up on Chesil Beach.
I tried to video it but it never does it justice.... click here
It did not seem possibly that the cacophony could get any
louder but the southerly contingent had not yet arrived and then the sky to the
right of the wood suddenly darkened as countless more corvids came in in a
snaking line that took another five minutes to peter out and become absorbed
into the cloud of black wings.
With no sunset sky, the sound was all we were
left with as the hoard settled down for the night and was not much more than a
murmur as we ambled back to the cars as the first of the rain returned.
A Tawny Owl flew over the road as we drove back to The Swan
and we lost Pete C for a while (he had his Sat Nav AND Denis navigating) but by
the time we all assembled for dinner everyone was talking about what a great
day we had had. For some the roost was a
new experience but once you have witnessed it you will want to go back for
more...
10th January:
It dawned clear and dry albeit a bit breezy and so, winging
it as usual, we headed off towards the coast with Rollesby Broad being the
first stop. This was a threefold
destination... One: To check for any interesting wildfowl on the broad... Two: To
rendezvous with the Wren family and Three: To feed the ducks with all the manky
bread I had brought up from home.
All three were ticked off although duck wise the Broad was
poor with just some Pochard, Tufties, Great Crested and Little Grebes and a
strange little duck with the bread-begging motley ducks, Gypos and Coots is
still eluding identification.
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| Rollesby Broad |
With the Wrens in tow we headed for Winterton Dunes where a
whole hour was spent sheltering out of the cold wind behind a shed while us
lads watched the sea and the ladies and kids sat on the beach and made a
sandhill (not a castle).
At least twenty Red-throated Divers patrolled up and down
along with many Cormorants, Kittiwakes and Gannets. A few Guillemots and
Razorbills zoomed through and eight female Common Scoters were fishing just
offshore. An agile small Skua chasing Kittiwakes on the horizon was on balance
of probability a Pom but whichever species it was, its tenacity with its chosen
victim was astonishing.
The coast road was now slowly driven and although it did not
yield any Cranes, we did get superb views of flocks of Golden Plover and
Pink-feet but no wild Swans with the Mutes. A Barn Owl hunted a ditch line and
Antony picked up a delicate first-winter Little Gull feeding over a wet field
with some Black-headed and Common Gulls while Marsh Harriers were all around
and boded well for the roost later on.
We turned off the coast road and onto Hickling Road to cut
through to Stalham and stopped and the hard standing pad on the left as it
affords a view to the south. We could not see any Cranes but Pete picked them
up calling some way off inland behind the trees and the bugling was carried to
us on the wind. I tried to take us that way through the side roads but I could
not find them and I suspect that there are many small fields and sedgey plots
that we just cannot see from the road. Lunch was acquired at Tesco where Antony deomostratetd his parkign skills before pulling off
by the Catfield gas depot to have a look at the fine flock of winter swans
present in the fields around the old airfield. The sun was now shining and it
was good to have both species in the same herd and I counted 112 Bewick’s and
13 Whoopers. This slightly made up for
missing the eight Whoopers at Rainham on Friday morning!
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| Technically Antony managed to get his behamoth into almost four bays... |
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| Whoopers in the middle... |
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| and some Red-legged Partridge photobombing in the backbround... |
After this it was a short of slightly damp drive down to
Hickling for a picnic bench lunch in the sunshine and puddles. Extra layers were added as the sky was clearing
and the temperature was on the drop.
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| The view |
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| The Watchers |
We
were almost the first down at the Stubbs Mill view point and almost immediately
two Cranes got up and flew a short way and so with the key species in the bag
we settled down to watch and wait. The wind dropped almost completely and the
sound of Cranes calling somewhere out on Hickling drifted towards us while out
over the fields and reedbeds the Marsh Harriers slowly began to congregate and
we were quickly into double figures. During the course of the next couple of
hours I reckon that the best part of forty birds came in to roost including
several immaculate males. Two ringtail Hen Harriers joined them and at the last
knockings two female Merlins hurtled in. A fine male Sparrowhawk made several
attempts at some Fieldfares and even perched up for us and Barn Owls were near
constant companions for us as they ghosted around.
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| Barn Owl |
The closest pair of Cranes dropped back in to
an area where a couple had been out and put down grain and could be seen cautiously
feeding and seeing off opportunistic Shelduck while another pair and their
youngster flew effortlessly to the north.
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| Crane Family |
With a smidgen of light left we sloshed our way back (now
with Angie in tow) and stood in the car park for a little while to see if any
Woodcock headed over and out onto the marsh to feed. Nothing happened so most
of the party bid their farewells and started to head off. Angie and I remarked
that it was usually at this point that we saw the Woodcock and sure enough two
flew over as we waved them off... oh well
11th January:
Awoke to the sound of rain and the fact that Ziggy would no
longer play guitar before starting the journey homewards. The Crane Circuit did not reveal anything bar
some Pink-feet and more puddles of epic proportions. It did however result in the brakes on my car
getting over wet and failing to work properly for some time. I was certainly
awake and alert from that point onwards...
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| Pink-feet |
The rain abated briefly at Ness
Point, Lowestoft where seven Purple Sandpipers and 36 Turnstones were located
on the wave soaked sea defences and as usual the light was terrible and my
pictures poor. The sea was alive with Cormorants and small gulls and five
Pintail battled southwards.
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| An almost sharp Purple Sandpiper |
RSPB Minsmere saw us briefly as the weather closed back in
and we stayed just long enough to use the facilities and have a chat with Ian
Barthorpe about what was around. The
idea of heading out to the Levels to look for two Tundra Beans Geese did not
appeal but the chippy in Aldeburgh did and so lunch was spent watching the
gulls and more Turnstones opposite the bit of beach that held that lovely Hoary
Redpoll in December 2012 and the Ivory Gull even further back in December 1999.
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| A brute of a Herring Gull |
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| Black-headed Gul |
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| Can't quite read this BTO BHG ring... |
The rest of the journey home in the gloom and rush
hour was accompanied by the iconic voice of Bowie in his various guises...
A great write up and a great time had I'm sure Howard ! loved to have been there, but you know how it is at the moment. I remember the last time I was with the gang and you there at Stubbs Mill...without a coat on a freezing cold day, left it in Mark Vale's car in Harold Wood ! Happy days.
ReplyDeleteGood stuff, need a visit back to my old haunt - Strumpy, not sure how sustainable the sandy paths are - brings back memories of laying down sand from the reserves own supply every year and then watch it get either washed or disappear under layers of clay
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