Benacre Broad & Hen Reedbeds - 12/9/2019

Benacre is a place I seldom go to. Its just a little too far up the coast, and sometimes I feel its maybe not quite worth the effort what with Minsmere being so much nearer. Of course its a good reserve, lots of reedbeds, heaths and open water, which attracts lots of birds, but it suffers from sharing the same area as some of the best reserves in the country. The main point of the area the 'broads' were formed by glacial erosion and now sit next to the sea, they are surrounded by large areas of reedbed. They are not fully tidal, more brackish, but can totally dry out, so they can be unpredictable.

SPOTTED REDSHANK, Covehithe Broad

 



The weather, glorious for a day outside, was not great for migrants, which at this time is what I'm looking for. Sunny, clear skies, a slight westerly breeze weren't really what I wanted for a good birding session. On these kinds of days migrants just fly straight through - on rougher days there is more chance they'll get grounded and be easier to catch up with.

Different picture of the same SPOTTED REDSANK

 



Benacre is situated on one of the fasting eroding stretches of Britain's coastline, where the sandy cliffs are under intense pressure from the sea. As it is when ever I venture out here I wonder if the broads are still there or if they've been consumed by the sea.
But the broads are still there, well both Covehithe and Benacre Broads are, although Covehithe was just about surviving. On today's visit, Covehithe was just a large puddle, almost all dried out. However on this puddle there was a decent selection of WADERS feeding on the mud. There were 1 SPOTTED REDSHANK, 3 COMMON REDSHANK, 10 DUNLIN and FOUR TURNSTONE present. When I was at the broad a huge flock of BARNACLE GEEESE, several hundred strong, flew over to land at Benacre in the distance.

Covehithe Broad

 

From Covehithe there is a long walk north along the beach to Benacre. What's interesting about the walk is finding things that have fallen onto the beach through coastal erosion of the cliffs. There was the usual dead trees and most interesting a pill box, a relic from another time.
Today was quite quiet, not many people about. During the summer holidays and on a warm weekend, the hordes come out and the area can be just too busy as people come to the beach to enjoy the sun.
Benacre Broad, just up the coast is bigger than Covehithe, and was around a quarter full. Apart from a few hundred GEESE, numbers of birds were fairly small. There were around 30 BLACK TAILED GODWITS, 10 RUNGED PLOVERS, 2 BAR TAILED GODWITS, 2 OYSTERCATCHERS, 2 DUNLIN and 1 COMMON SANDPIPIER. Non-wader-wise there were 3 GREAT CRESTED GREBES and a PINTAIL.

Pillbox fallen off the eroded cliffs it will soon be washed out to sea

 



I walked a little  further up the coast where I took a path inland. This led through an area of sensitively managed farmland, with large amounts of woodland, hedges and weedy areas. However it was still farmland and there wasn't really much to see at this time of year. The walk took the shape of a square, with one side being the beach, and eventually took me back to the car park. It was a long walk, and maybe not one I'll do again, it can be a slog when carrying a camera and telescope, and by the end my shoulders ached.

Benacre Broad

Hen Reedbeds

On the way back home I stopped off at Hen Reedbeds, but only had time to visit the reedbed lookout near the car park. From there I saw four species of bird of prey. First a HOBBY over the distant woods, followed by a MARSH HARRIER, and then a BUZZARD which clashed with the HARRIER, and then a KESTREL flew across the reedebeds before doing its unique hovering hunting technique. I would say this is a golden age for raptors in Suffolk, but with so many harrier deaths up north, its wrong to get complacent.
As I gazed across the reedbeds a pair of KONIK PONIES (the same horses as at Minsmere) were pair bonding. These horses are an ancient breed that are given free rein to graze these areas of reedbed, to create lots of marshy habitat for the vast numbers of animals dependent on wetlands.
This is a good wildlife trust reserve in fact a couple of years ago in the Times it was given the accolade of the best reserve in the country. Its not quite that but its still worth a look as its a nice area to spend some time.

So not really much to report from today, this year September has been fairly poor for me so far, with Autumn not really developing much. But all it takes is for the wind to change direction, for the weather to be that little bit rougher and than things may become interesting. As ever with birding things are just difficult to predict, which makes it so rewarding.