Marsh round-up

It's been a while since I posted about comings and goings on the marshes. The past 6 weeks have seen much activity. One of the highlights has been the successful fledging of 2 Lapwing chicks last week and 2 Redshank chicks today. Our original 6 Lapwing chicks were whittled down to 2, almost certainly by a Stoat which my husband saw in the vicinity of one brood as the parents desperately dive-bombed it. We were never sure how many Redshank chicks we had as they were mostly invisible in the grass, their presence only revealed by the anxious calling of their parents as we passed by. I only ever saw one, most notably when I let the cows on to the marsh for the first time. The excited heifers did several laps of the marsh before charging on to the muddy margin of the scrape where, to my horror, I spotted a chick running as fast as it could in front of 56 rapidly closing cow hooves. Somehow it managed to dodge the feet including those of one cow that stopped to sniff it, and today it, and a previously hidden sibling, took their first flights from the scrape.
The first Hobby arrived back on the 29th April and have been seen almost daily since. For a few days a pair were using a telegraph post positioned at the head of 4 dykes on the marsh as a convenient vantage point to sally forth and grab newly emerging (probably Hairy) dragonflies. Fortunately for the Norfolk Hawkers which have just started appearing from the same dykes, the Hobbies seem to have changed their hunting behaviour.
Last year, I only heard Cuckoo on 3 occasions. This year, after their arrival on 27th April, I've heard them almost daily and there was still one calling this evening. Others have reported more Cuckoo activity this year and that's definitely the case here.
Much to my relief, our Turtle Doves reappeared on 25th May. The males soft purring gave me a lovely background soundtrack as I prepared sheep for the Suffolk Show over the Bank Holiday weekend and he was still going strong today. Yesterday I saw another locally at the Hillfield plant nursery and PYO so we seem to be in a good area for them. The Marsh Harriers are doing well too. It's almost impossible to scan the marshes without seeing one as they're now busy feeding chicks.
Other highlights have included a Black-tailed Godwit on our scrape, although soon driven off by the Lapwings doing a very good avocet-like act, and any time out in the garden is regularly enlivened by a strident peep as a Kingfisher announces it dashing presence along the dyke at the bottom of the garden. We have a family of Water Voles here too, who seem to be very tame and will munch unconcernedly on Water Soldiers while you watch

Flowers are starting to put on a show too with vibrant yellow flag iris in various places

The Common Spotted Orchids are appearing too both on the marsh and in our orchard

And the warm weather has brought out an increasing variety of dragonflies in addition to those mentioned above with Variable and Azure Damselflies, Four-spot Chaser and Black-tailed Skimmer.

Dorset Dawn Magic - the Morden Bog Short-toed Eagle

The last few weeks have been very busy, work, sheep, garden and home all conspiring to reduce blogging time to zero although managed to lever some birding time in somehow. At last, this weekend looked free for a relaxing time and a possible pootle up to the North coast for a look for the Black-headed Bunting. Things changed on Saturday morning when the pager mega-alerted with a Short-toed Eagle sitting in a tree in Dorset. My first reaction was "pale-buzzard". On seeing the photos my second reaction was unprintable, however the eagle had flown and I expected that like most raptors of that ilk it would vanish or just be seen flying over the occasional place every now and then. I relaxed and got on with the task of helping locate Marsh Harrier nests for an RSPB project.
Come the afternoon the eagle was reported once more and then it was found again sat in a tree at its original site. Sunday in Dorset was now beckoning but as the eagle continued to sit in its tree on and on into the evening it became increasingly obvious that Dorset at dawn was the place and time to be.
Rather conveniently, the eagle had chosen to turn up just 3 miles from my brothers house. Inconveniently, it turned out that my brother had gone away for the weekend so the option of a few hours in a comfy bed was sadly unavailable. So it was I found myself pulling up in a layby in Dorset where 4 other cars were already parked at 1.50am  hoping I was in the right layby (you can't be too careful these days). As all appeared well I removed my contact lenses and settled down on the back seat hoping to get a couple of hours sleep. My hope was ill-founded as more cars arrived with increasing frequency as dawn approached. When birders started chatting outside the car I gave up, put my contact lenses back in and realised that everyone was assembling by the gate. It was 10 to 4 and barely light. Hurriedly grabbing coat, bins and scope I joined the group as they headed quietly out on to the heath. Churring Nightjars welcomed us and then a Cuckoo joined in heralding the impending arrival of dawn. As we assembled on the ridge overlooking the eagles roost site the dawn chorus was in full swing but it was only light enough to make out the shapes of bare trunks against the dark pines. As the light improved a little more someone nearby announced that they thought they had the eagle. Following his directions I picked out a brown and white shape, the brown looking indeed like the fold of a wing against a white belly. It was only when the bird lifted its white head from where it had been tucked in its back was it possible to see that this was indeed the Short-toed Eagle, to the enormous relief of the gathered crowd.
As the light improved further the views became better but then the eagle was swallowed in a shifting mist, at times completely invisible, at times a ghostly shape. It was nearly another hour before the rising sun was strong enough to burn off the mist and give us a proper look at the bird in decent light.
The eagle spent the whole time I was watching it on one small part of one branch in one tree. Occasionally sleeping, occasionally preening, and looking around sometimes right at us with piercing yellow eyes in an almost owl like face. It attracted the attention of several of the local residents, being mobbed in succession by 3 Crows, a Jay, Green and Great-spotted Woodpeckers, and a Mistle Thrush. In the gorse beneath its tree a pair of Dartford Warblers bounced about and Siskins called frequently. It was a magical site and well worth another visit when next I visit my brother.
By 7.45 I was feeling weary and headed back to my car. Here a flicking shape in the trees opposite became my first Spotted Flycatcher of the year and as I turned for home a Cuckoo flew across the road in front of me.

Return to Kessingland and more summer migrants

There was a mild sense of deja-vu when my mobile phone tweeted "Hoopoe at Kessingland NOW" as I lay in bed on Saturday morning. It was another grey morning (why at a weekend?) and rain threatened but a Hoopoe is always worth seeing. This time my husband came, and we also dragged my daughters out persuading them that the dog would enjoy the walk. Rallying the troops took some time as my 13 year old daughter is a typical teenager and rather partial to her bed at weekends so we didn't manage to set off until the rain had begun to fall.
Reaching Kessingland my daughters and dog headed off for the sea, leaving my husband and I to plod south along the beach into a fine drizzle driven by a brisk, chill southerly wind. I noticed a father and young son birding team walking off the dunes but it was my husband who spotted when they waved at us. Hurrying over to them they pointed out the Hoopoe feeding just in front of the shingle ridge in the middle of the beach. This exotic visitor from sunnier climes looked a little out of place in this bare, open somewhat dismal location and it rapidly took off and with flopping flight headed for the dunes. We caught up with it again as it fed along the path on top of the dunes but it was soon off again on to the slightly more bushy area where I saw the Ring Ouzels last week and then on again into bushes on the south side of the river.
We moved on to Beach Farm in hope of the Wryneck passing several Wheatears including some splendidly plumaged males. The Wryneck had disappeared with the onset of the rain and stayed stubbornly out of view whilst we were there. The bushes in the vicinity seemed alive with Whitethroats however. Walking back to the car, a Lesser Whitethroat gave a few blasts of its staccato song but refused to show too.
Today was a far more pleasant day with warm sunshine. I toyed with the idea of heading for the coast again but decided to stay home and bird the marshes instead. A morning stroll round the marshes was rewarded with confirmation that we had 2 broods of Lapwing chicks, with 2 sets of three chicks feeding around the edge of the scrape. Nearer the house my first Holly Blue butterfly of the year posed on an ivy and Orange Tips seemed abundant.

I stayed outside to have lunch on the patio enjoying watching the activities of the local Marsh Harriers. A House Martin cruised overhead, my first of the year, but even better came the sound of a Cuckoo across the marshes, much earlier than last year. A Peregrine dashed across the marshes too. I also noticed two largish dragonflies on the marsh, too distant to identify, but likely to be Hairy Dragonflies.
This evenings highlights were 2 Short-eared Owls, Green Sandpiper, and  a Curlew which became my third patch year-tick of the day. After a Garden Warbler in the garden during the week this brought my  Patchwork species total to 99 for the year. Can I crack 100 in the 3 remaining days of April?

Lapwing success

It was a red letter day today. Walking round the marsh this evening I noticed one of the Lapwings sitting rather awkwardly on the edge of the scrape with very fluffed out breast feathers. After a few minutes she stood up and, much to my delight, revealed 4 fluffy recently hatched chicks, a first for our marshes. Now all they have to do is dodge the crows, Herring Gulls and Marsh Harriers but at least the Harriers won't be feeding chicks for a while yet.
Other new arrivals are Sedge Warblers which are in full song and a new Green Sandpiper yesterday. I was also treated to the spectacular sight of 2 Short-eared Owls mobbing a Marsh Harrier, and a Water Vole paddling determinedly along a dyke was the first I've seen for a while.




This lunchtime I had a reasonable length lunch hour which gave me time to get away from the surgery with its endless interruptions to my lunch and nip out to Burgh Castle. The tide was just right with warm sunshine, giving me a very enjoyable and relaxing 45 minutes birding with 2 Greenshank, 2 Spotted Redshanks and a flock of 26 Whimbrel flying by being the highlights. There was a sizeable flock of Black-tailed Godwits, and singing Reed Warblers were a year tick too. When I get the chance I should escape here more often!

Dotterel and Ring Ouzel, Kessingland

It was another grey day in east Norfolk today and, with a wind whipping in off the North Sea, rather a chilly one too. A bright spot was news of a Dotterel at Kessingland Beach so with all quiet on the marshes I trundled over there this afternoon. The Dotterel was easily found in the vast expanse of shingle by looking for the small group of birders huddled against the wind. The massed ranks of dog walkers were thankfully sticking to the landward side of the beach leaving the Dotterel undisturbed in the middle.
Whilst I was there it spent all its time sat down on the shingle resting, only occasionally opening its eye for a quick look around. Without the other birders already there, it would have been very difficult to find!

With the Dotterel seemingly glued to the one spot, I walked over the dunes towards the sluice in search of the Ring Ouzels that were there. I quickly saw two including a superb spring male feeding with Starlings by one of the many paths that crossed the rough ground. The birds were very skittish, not helped by frequent disturbance from Sunday walkers using the area, flying back and forth from the line of bushes inland across to the rough brambly areas just inside the dunes and only occasionally lingering on the short grassy areas. However they were still easy to see unlike many other Ring Ouzels I've looked for in the past. I saw at least 3 birds in total, male and female and also some smart spring Wheatears, my first of the year.

New Arrivals

Spring has moved on apace as far as the local plants are concerned . Blackthorn blossom has rapidly given way to the wild damson blossom which in turn is handing on the baton to the start of the hawthorn blossom. My apple and cherry trees are just starting to bloom too and the Bird Cherry in our wildlife garden is smothered in flowers.

The Cowslips too are a mass of nodding buttery yellow across the grass there too

Out on the marsh the Cuckoo Flowers are appearing, white from a distance but a subtle mauve close up.

 These flowers are so named as they are supposed to herald the arrival of the Cuckoo but summer migrants have still been slow to appear. The sudden chill edge to the now northerly wind probably hasn't helped. There was a sudden flurry of activity on Thursday with some brief showers seemingly pushing small numbers of hirundines ahead of them. Two Sand Martins passed by along with double figures of Swallows and my first Yellow Wagtail of the year lifted off from the edge of the scrape. A flock of 10 Feral Pigeons flew through too, my first of the year on the patch! Today a single Whitethroat was singing in a bush along the road. Meanwhile, up to 3 Short-eared Owls, birds I associate more with winter have been quartering the marshes in the early evening but one Swallow is waving the flag for summer, singing each morning on the wires near his usual nest site.
Our Lapwings suddenly became even more aggressive in the latter part of the week, chasing off even their erstwhile ally the Oystercatcher so I wonder if they may have finally hatched off some chicks. The female in that area is no longer sitting but the grass is too long to see if there might be chicks so it will be a case of waiting and seeing. Another bird is still sitting tight.
We also welcomed two new additions to the farm, this years batch of pigs, although just two this time. Christened Piddle and Puddle by my younger daughter, they are Oxford Sandy and Blacks crossed with a Welsh boar, hence the ginger tones

Our final lamb of the year arrived on Tuesday easing the work load. Most of our ewes and lambs are now out on the marshes, the lambs enjoying the opportunity on warm evenings to stretch their legs in manic races across the fields, always an entertaining sight.

White-tailed Eagle at Lynford and Going Ape in the forest

If you read yesterdays blog you will be aware that family commitments kept me from Flamborough and the Crag Martin. However Go Ape is in the middle of Thetford Forest and close to several excellent birding sites and I couldn't see why we shouldn't combine a bit of birding with our visit, much to my two daughters disgust. Lynford Arboretum was our chosen destination and on our arrival several Common Crossbills and the contentious two-barred bird were present (of which there is an excellent discussion here). Typically, there were 2 photographers standing close by the drinking pool, way in front of the assembled birders, right out in the open.
We had a wander down to the horse paddocks seeing Yellowhammer, Nuthatch and Grey Wagtail before returning to the visitor hut hoping for more crossbills. Suddenly my husband said "There's a large raptor coming overhead". Looking up to the northeast I picked up the bird straight away. I see Buzzards and Marsh Harriers all the time at home and this was clearly neither, the bird was massive with huge broad wings, slightly wedged tail and a relatively long neck. This could only be a White-tailed Eagle especially when its huge size was confirmed as it was mobbed by a seemingly diminutive Buzzard. We manged to alert about 4 other birders and watched it for 5 minutes or so as it circled slowly just to one side of the sun before it drifted off to the south west.
Coincidentally a White-tailed Eagle had been reported 3 miles from our house this morning, it must have been following us!
Time was up and my husband dropped me and the girls off at Go Ape (paying £2.10 for the privilege of driving in and out of the car park) before he headed off to Santon Downham. I have to admit that Go Ape is actually worth the cost with my youngest daughter having an "awesome" time. My eldest daughter had to be virtually prised from a tree to make the first crossing but soon conquered her fear of heights and was climbing rope ladders, balancing precariously across shaky walkways and hurling herself down massive zip wires. Only at the very end when we were in the very highest trees on some of the scariest runs did her nerves return and she started clinging to the trees again. I'm not too keen on heights either but ended up taking the difficult route and doing the ultimate 'Tarzan Swing' a hair-raising initial plummet earthwards before the ropes catch you and swing you in to a large net strung high between two trees. I'm sure I heard Firecrests calling along the route but was never able to see one.
My husband meanwhile had  excellent views of a drumming Lesser Spotted Woodpecker at Santon Downham and at least 200 Brambling before having to pay another £2.10 to pick us up but a great day was had by all..