Carlton & Oulton Marshes - 30/1/2020

 

 

 

 

Several years ago the Suffolk Wildlife had the vision to buy up the land that bordered their nature reserve at Carlton Marshes. This area of low-grade farmland, of no use to man or nature, was to be returned to wetland - the landscape it originally was before it was ploughed up. The aim was to create a protected area on a vast scale, to make a reserve over a thousand acres in size.
Having succeeded in buying the land they then set about rewetting it, creating many scrapes and pools for wetland wildlife. With so much habitat destruction happening in the world, a recreation of wetlands on such a scale is surely something to be extremely positive about.
My visit today was the first since the new reserve was purchased and I was curious to see what has happened to the place. I don't know the area well, I have only been there two times previously, once to see the American bittern (see old posts 24/4/2018).
And despite being less than two years old the new area of the reserve is already a success. The most northerly area, called Peto's Marsh, which is ear marked for a reedbed has had some pools dug, and they were full of birds. Over a thousand LAPWING danced through the air swirling around in large knots in the sky, accompanied by several hundred GOLDEN PLOVER. DUCKS were present, mainly WIGEON, as you would expect on flooded grassland, with smaller numbers of TEAL, SHOVELLER and GADWALL. I counted 15 PINTAIL amongst them, a bird that  can be difficult to attract.

Looking across recently purchased land to the new hide

 

A GREAT WHITE EGRET flew over, while there were a couple of STONECHAT dotted around the paths, posing on a bramble stem as they do, adding to the mix
Parts of the reserve are still closed so it wasn't possible to see it all. The bare bones of the visitor's centre look out on the reserve, it was still being built, and there are hides still to be finished. Its an exciting time to be a bird watcher in Suffolk, this new reserve added to the jewels already in this county. Being on the suburbs of Lowestoft, although you wouldn't know it, Carlton is right near to the train station, encourage sustainable transport.

Oulton Marshes
After visiting Carlton Marshes I had a quick look over the river to Oulton Marshes. This place is classed as the same reserve as Carlton, but is more low-key. Its diverse wetland habitats weren't really geared towards birds so much as other wetland wildlife, and despite some flooded areas didn't really attract many birds.

Looking across the scrape to Oulton church

 

A pair of STONECHAT were on the river bank, whilst I spotted a CETTI'S WARBLER in the riverside reeds. There were large numbers of small birds in the bordering woodland, although I saw nothing unusual.
Oulton Marshes is one of those places that if you visited regularly, like as a local patch, you would see a lot, a good place to explore. However its not really the kind of place where if you just played one visit you would see a lot. But its good to see the place anyway, if for no other reason than curiosity.

Exciting times are in store for birders in Suffolk. With such a vast new reserve, who knows what's going to happen, its all so exciting. There are several projects like this happening in the country, but for a local Wildlife Trust to do this is quite amazing, punching with the conservation heavyweights. With places like Carlton Marshes the possibilities are endless. Good times indeed.

Landguard Point - 28/1/2020

 
I seldom go to Landguard in winter because at this time of year, birds are at a minimum and the place can be bleak and lifeless. But on occasions Landguard has the habit of attracting scarce species, birds hard to come upon in Suffolk. There were three birds I was looking for today and surprisingly I was able to catch up with them all, with the most minimum effort as well.

 

The Point was the focus of my attention today. This is the extreme end of Landguard, where the place sticks out between the river and the sea, a feature which makes it  so attractive to rarities. First birds of the day were two SNOW BUNTINGS, in the roped off area. They were very tame and confiding allowing the several birdwatchers present to get within a couple of metres. They are nice birds, mainly white, with ginger markings round the face. This was a good find as there are only a couple of flocks in Suffolk at the moment, and this species suffers from the large amount of disturbance on the beaches it winters on.

The second species was a ROCK PIPIT, heard calling in flight and located on the river wall. This is a species more suited to the rocky coastlines of Scotland, rather than the gentle ones of Suffolk. It wasn't a particularly spectacular find, being a little brown job, but nice anyway.
On the groynes on the most extreme part of the point I would come up with the third species. The strong South Westerlies were crashing the sea against the wooden barricades, and there lurked a PURPLE SANDPIPER. It was brief, but came within an arms width of me. Its not really purple, more a grey colour, and Landguard is one of only two regular wintering sites for the bird in Suffolk, the other being in Lowestoft.

MED GULL flying in front of the cranes of Felixstowe Docks. The white wing is very pronounced.

 



These four birds were the only birds on the point, so it was a case of quality over quantity today. The grasslands and the bramble bushes were all empty, the breeding birds have yet to return.
Over by the café, at the lookout point over the docks, amongst the BLACK HEADED GULL flock, was an adult MEDITTERANEAN GULL, almost coming into summer plumage. A few winter most years here, Landguard was the location where I saw my first one of this species. The bird can be identified from the black headed, by having a black head rather than a brown one, a chunkier bill, and all white wings. It may sound difficult to identify one, maybe a bit too esoteric, but when you get your eye in, it becomes fairly easy.

MED GULL sitting on the beach. It was very tame, sitting there within a stone's throw of the car park.

 



That's the longest blog I have ever written about just five birds. It just goes to show that seeing a thousand birds all of one species is just seeing one species, if you think like that. Birdwatching can be funny that way, and Landguard is a strange place. There isn't really much going for the area, except it will show up a rarity or a scarcity on a regular basis, something worth writing a blog about, something to tick off from your list, and its always good to have one of those sites handy. Located in an urban area its easy to access by public transport, even all the way from Ipswich, where I live. And maybe that's why I'm not too enamoured with the place, because its too easy to get to, you don't have to walk for miles to get there and everyone can see the birds. Where's the fun in that?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Benacre Broad & Hen Reedbeds - 22/1/2020

Today was one of those quiet days, a time when there was really nothing much to get excited about, where bird sightings were at a minimum, and I didn't expect it to get any better. I chose to go to Benacre today, as there were some sightings to be had there, but in the end turned out to be a disappointing visit. I have never been to Benacre in winter before, but on this visit probably won't come back gain in this season, it just wasn't that great.
It was a calm day and a mist cloaked the land to begin with, but someone up there heard my payers and the mist would soon clear up, providing decent visibility. However the mist lingered on the sea, hanging like a curtain and creating an artificial horizon. Because of the rubbish light and there being few birds within range, photography was difficult.

 On this rapidly eroding coastline, lots of buildings are claimed by the sea.

 

I originally parked at Covehithe, hoping to walk down to the beach there, but the coastguard had taped off the footpath for some reason, so I was forced to go over to Kessingland and walk down from there. As it was  Covehithe Broad was just too far to tramp down to, so I missed out on that place, which was a bit disappointing.
Kessingland, a little sea side town, has a huge beach stretching for miles, but there was a lot of disturbance from dog walkers. A small flock of LARKS, MIPPITS, GREENFINCHES and WAGTAILS, numbering around twenty strong, fed on an area of grass just in from the shingle.
From there it was a walk straight down the coast to Benacre Broad, and basically taking the same route back up the coast again back to Kessingland.
The sea offered most of the birds, with plenty of RED THROATED DIVERS present, the seas of Suffolk are a national stronghold of this species. Three GREY SEAL were around doing that thing that seals do, nosily watching the shore from the sea. A flock of thirty WIGEON were a strange find lying just off the shore.

 

Further down the coast a hard slog led to the gravel pit. This is where the nature reserve starts, a small lake bordered by the sea on one side and by scrubby heath behind. The place is a National Nature Reserve, no less, known for its three broads with extensive reedbeds, which should be a magnet for birds.
Around the gravel pit a pair of STONECHAT were present which could be wintering, migrating or breeding birds its hard to tell with this species, a bird that is known as a partial migrant.
Benacre Broad the final destination, was the most full of water that I have seen, it actually lived up to its name as a broad. However despite this numbers of waterfowl were poor. A GREAT NORTHERN DIVER was present, loitering towards the back, so I couldn't get a photo, but was the one bird I came to see. The bird was huge with a massive bill, much larger than the RED THROATS off shore. Its a much rarer bird in Suffolk than the other diver, with only a few most winters. But when they turn up they linger for a while, as this bird has. Unfortunately there was little else to observe. Around 60 MALLARD, 13 GADWALL, 3 SHOVELLER, 4 LITTLE GREBE were all present around the reedy edges of the broad. Three male GOLDENEYE, were handsome fellows, hanging around in the centre of the broad and a pair of SWANS were probably staying to nest this year.
Having looked over the broad it was a straight walk back up the coast back to Kessingland.

Hen Reedbeds
I stopped off at Hen Reedbeds on the way back, although I only had a short time. I walked along to the first hide, following the narrow channel, until it widened out to a vast expanse of mud. The tide was out, and although there were lots of birds they were mainly all singletons scattered to the horizon. Some RINGED PLOVERS were around the commoner birds, and a small flock of GOLDEN PLOVERS were nice.

 One of the pair of KONIKS that graze part of the reedbed

 

I heard a few BEARDED TITS in the reedbeds, although I didn't see them, but apart from that most of the reserve was quiet.

Blythburgh
Driving down the A14 I decided to stop at Blythburgh, to have a look to see what was about in the flocks of birds I spied from the road. As at Hen Reedbeds the tide was well out, but some birds were gathering around the channel, which flows under the A14, and then through the vast expanse of mud. Amongst all the WADERS, there were some AVOCETS, and there were some PINTAIL amongst the DUCKS. A single BAR TAILED GODWIT was noteworthy. It was only a short stay, and there was probably a lot more out there in the vast numbers of birds, but I didn't have time to see them all, such is life.

Birdwatching can be tricky when there are few birds about. If you don't know a place well it can be difficult finding birds. Although today was an adventure of sorts, covering new ground, it didn't really come up with as much as I anticipated. Its always difficult to predict where the birds will be about, the vagaries of nature is what makes this past time so fascinating. If I wanted predictability I would have taken up something like train spotting.

 

 

 

Christchurch Park - 7&9/1/2020

Urban parks provide a green lung to otherwise urban areas, an experience of wildlife far away from the country. In the town of Ipswich there are some good parks, of which Christchurch is its crowning glory. Beautiful parkland with some ancient trees, the trunks twisting and turning like there are spirits writhing beneath, providing plenty of habitats for wildlife.

 CORMARANTS spend all day drying their wings on the log

 

In the park there is the Wilderness Pond which is probably the best birding site in Ipswich. Because amongst the water side trees, amongst all the feral MALLARDS, the cantankerous CANADA GEESE, and GULLS, some good bird sightings can be had.

 

The pond is the best area in Suffolk for MANDARINS, and on the 7 Jan I saw an amazing 19. The birds nest most years, but the chicks get eaten by the large GULLS that nest on the surrounding roofs. Urban gulls are the new rat. And there are plenty of RATS scurrying around burrows beside the pond, feeding on the grains left out for the ducks.

 HOODED MERGANSER

 

Bird of the day has to be the HOODED MERGANSER. It has been present in Ipswich for a couple of months now. I have described it in a previous blog, but have only recently caught up with it again.

 MANDARINS have to be the most bejewelled of  British birds. Although they are not native, they have naturalised and are classified as a British bird.

 

The MERGANSER is feral, having escaped from a wildfowl collection. It has a yellow ring on its leg, evidence that it belonged to someone. The bird is very tame, coming up quite close, so close I could reach out and grab it. Bird photography shouldn't be this easy!

The bird originates from America, so it would take a lot of effort to make its way all the way over to Ipswich, and so is classified as an escape, so won't be seen as a tick on the bird list.

 

STICK DOVE and MOORHEN

 



There are other birds away from the pond, birds that like the parkland habitat at Christchurch. STOCK DOVES are one of the commoner birds with around ten pairs present. They are easy to spot around the Pond where they feed on the grain put out by families to feed the ducks.

 

GREY SQUIRRELS, love them or loathe them, are common in the park

 

There are plenty of other parkland birds such as GREAT SPOTTED & GREEN WOODPECKERS and MISTLE THRUSHES, liking the habitat of grassland with scattered trees.

 



 

I have left it to last to describe the most famous resident in the park. For a long time Mabel, a TAWNY OWL, would spend the winter sitting out in the open on the edge of a hole at the top of the tree. Often featuring in the local paper, and with even a wooden statue erected outside her tree, she became the most famous owl in the country. The bird disappeared for a couple of years, and now has returned back to her position. Is this Mabel, or is it another bird, who knows? If its Mabel she would be really old, but what are the chances some other owl would copy her habits?

Anyway, even the most urban of environments can reveal a large amount of wildlife, so keep a look out every where you go. The animals are used to humans and so are fairly tame, making them good subjects for photography. There are plenty of positives to urban birding.

 

 

 

 

Minmsere - 8/1/2020

Minsmere is such an amazing reserve for birds that even within a poor day it can still produce some good sightings. Today wasn't spectacular, indeed it has been one of the quietest days I've had here, yet at Minsmere there is always something to see.
As a twitcher, the list hunting birder, the bird of the day was a GREEN WINGED TEAL, the American counterpart to our teal. It pretty much has the same plumage as our teal, except the yellow horizontal slash on European teals is a vertical one on the green winged. Got that? Then manage having to look through 1500 European teal to find that one bird with a vertical slash. Well someone did, and showed it to me through his telescope. Very nice and convenient indeed. Later on something put all the ducks to flight, jumbling the pack somewhat, meaning someone had to search yet again through 1500 teal to find the bird again.

There was a large congregation of CORMARANTS on the East Scrape, they would fly out to sea to fish

 



As you can see DUCKS were the order of the day, and there were lots of them. 20 PINTAIL were on East Scrape, a decent number as they are fairly  scarce at Minsmere with a further 40 on the South Levels. The South Levels, the area of wet grassland to the south of the scrape, have completely flooded, for the first winter in a while, and were heaving with birds, with hundreds of GADWALL present. There is no formal viewing of this area, so I watched from the beach where even with a telescope the birds were quite distant.

Pair of WIGEON, South Scrape

 

Winter is a poor time for WADERS at Minsmere, where apart from large flocks of LAPWING, there are usually few of these birds about. Six BLACKWIT, three TURNSTONE and two AVOCET, were present, the latter may be returning breeding birds (very early) or nearby winterers getting lost.
The sea was calm, reflecting the mild weather, and there were four GREY SEAL present offshore, someone else had reported a harbour porpoise, which I unfortunately didn't see. There were small numbers of COMMON SCOTER about, an all black sea duck, and there was a RED THROATED DIVER flying low over the sea. The sea is quite poor for birds off Minsmere.

Two KONIK PONIES, grazing the Levels

 

Island Mere, the large lake in the reedbeds, held few wildfowl, although those it did hold were fairly scarce. There was a family party of five WHOOPER SWAN, handily enough resting on the cut area of reed immediately in front of the hide, where there were nine SNIPE. On the water the only birds were a pair of GOOSANDERS, a scarce bid in Suffolk, and my first record for Minsmere. A pair of MARSH HARRIER were quartering over the reedbeds behind.

Adult WHOOPER SWAN, Island Mere

 



Behind South Hide I heard, but didn't see, a small flock of BEARDED TITS, but the reedbeds, and the woodlands, were very quiet, with few small birds about. In fact it was only around the visitors centre, with its bird feeders, that we saw any small birds, with the odd MARSH TIT amongst the commoner tit species.

Sleeping SNIPE, Island Mere

 



A fairly quiet day by Minsmere's standards, the number of species seen was quite low, with a remarkable dearth of smaller birds. I hope that its just me, my recording, or its just the day wasn't right for them, because otherwise we are looking at a massive crash in small birds. Further reductions in our already depleted ecosystems is frankly quite scary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pipps Ford - 4/1/2020

After the excitement of Boyton and Hollesley Marshes (see previous blogs) things came crashing down to earth at Pipps Ford. There were birds about, but the quarry area, usually the focal point was devoid of any life.

 

I had nothing to photograph today, so no photos (again)

 



Stand out bird, no the only bird, was a BRENT GOOSE. It was an interesting sighting so far from the nearest estuary, maybe the first ever sighting in the Gipping Valley, it looked so lost grazing on its own.

The Pipps Ford complex is a working quarry in the River Gipping area, as well as some small lakes. There was plenty of water after last winter's drought conditions, but it didn't translate into birds. On River Farm Pit there was the family party of MUTE SWANS with the three juveniles almost raised to adulthood, a couple of CROMARANTS, but its a tiny lake so doesn't attract too much.

It was on Pippins Lake that there was most activity. This small, tree bordered lake held 35 GADWALL, which is above average for a winter flock here, as well as 10 WIGEON, which is my first record for the Pipps Ford area.

A GREEN SANDPIPER was seen feeding on a muddy puddle in the quarry area and a GREY WAGTAIL flying over the river was the only other interesting sighting.

Oh well you can't have it all. I suppose an inland Suffolk like this, can't really stand up to RSPB reserves specially managed for bird life. Still I'm going to keep coming back because this is one of my local sites and the flow of nature here fascinates me. With all this mud it may be an interesting Spring, both for breeding and passage waders. Keep reading to find out.

Hollesley & Boyton Marshes Part 2 - 2/1/2020

After all the excitement of the goose flocks at Hollesley and Boyton, there is still some more I have to tell you abut the other birds I saw at those two places. For the GOOSE flock description see my previous blog.

Unfortunately due to the distance of the birds and the poor light I was unable to take any decent photos today.

The plan was to park up at RSPB Hollesley and walk to Boyton and back, in a long loop. I thought, correctly, that this would provide the best opportunity to view birds. Its not too long a walk, half on the marshes, half through farmland, and took a couple of hours.

Unusually for Hollesley, there were people present, with several cars in the car park, usually you would expect to be the only person there. From just outside the car park, looking over the grazing marsh there was the GOOSE flock, with an incredible 7 species within, however I was only able to see a small part of it and would get better views later.

The scrape is the centre of the reserve, and there I met a small group of birders, although they hadn't seen much about. DUCK numbers on the scrape were fairly low, with all the usual common species with around 15+ PINTAIL also present. CURLEW, BLACKWIT and REDSHANK, fed on the muddy margins, but for some reason wader numbers were low today.

Having had a thorough look I moved onto the river wall. A bird that has been present in the area for a couple of months was a SIBERIAN STONECHAT, just south down the river wall. When I got there it wasn't showing, but this was the reason why there were birders present. I didn't stay too long, I don't like twitching. Several normal STONECHATS were present here, and I would see four in total along the walk.

The walk to Boyton from Hollesley is through rather featureless farmland, low lying arable fields with ditches but no hedges. This was a country of low horizons and massive skies, real East Anglian scenery. This was definitely telescope country, the birds, although numerous, were very distant and hard to see with only bins.

The path took its route along the wall that hugs the river Alde. The river was at mid tide, but held few WADERS, strangely. Small flocks of LINNETS were present feeding on the saltmarsh that had formed there.

On the farmland of this area I would see the flock of 9 BEAN GEESE. This area was proper wilderness, there wasn't a single person in sight once I left Hollesley. If you really want to get away from it all, then I would recommend a visit.

On one arable field near to Boyton, there was a flock, at least a hundred strong, of GOLDEN PLOVER, so well camouflaged in the ploughed mud, the only time I could see them was when they would shake their wings, every so often.

Boyton Marshes RSPB were great. This is a small nature reserve run as a farm, and today the grassland had flooded attracting lots of birds. In excess of a thousand birds were present, mainly WIGEON and GREYLAG, the geese I wrote about in my previous blog.

After walking the river wall the path cut back inland and went through mostly arable land. This part of the walk was fairly quiet, as you would expect. A large flock of FIELDFARES, at least a hundred strong was feeding in some stubble, I could only really see them when the occasional bird flew into the air, landing close by. This is probably the biggest flock I've seen this winter, numbers have been low of winter thrushes. One unusual bird flock was made up of CHAFFINCHES and REED BUNTINGS, strange bed fellows indeed. Soon the buildings of HMP Hollesley Bay came into sight and the walk headed back to the marshes.

This path behind Hollesley Marshes gave the best view of the GOOSE flock, which was situated behind the scrape and so wasn't really viewable from the reserve paths. Again see the previous blog for a further description.

So a good, strong day's birding at some underwatched sites. These places are not so well known outside of local biders, yet today provided some great birds, and should be better known. At this time of year it can feel like a true wilderness with few people or signs of civilisation, which is hard to come by in lowland England. Never take places like Hollesley and Boyton for granted, they have been protected not just for the birds but also for a piece of our soul.

Hollesley & Boyton Marshes Part 1 - 2/1/2020

Wow, how to describe a day like today. I've been waiting a long time for things to turn out like they have, a lot of birding hours have come into today. A mixture of the right place at the right time provided quite the spectacle. There might have been winter days when I saw more, there might have been times when I saw something rarer, but today encapsulates the true wilderness of birding in winter in Suffolk.

First off let me talk about the GEESE. Not usually so much of a feature of this area, but at Hollesley Marshes there were an amazing 7 species. That's right 7 species of goose. I shall recap them for you, make it easier to understand:
The most common of them, with the largest flocks were the GREYLAG, with CANADA close behind. Nothing unusual I can see them at my local fishing pits. Amongst them, in smaller number there were the 'black' geese with flocks numbering in the 40s: BARNACLE and BRENT, birds more restricted to coastal Suffolk. A sense of scarcity was added to by 21 BEAN, 11 WHITE FRONTED and 2 BAR HEADED GEESE. The two BAR HEADED are most probably the pair that tries to nest at Minsmere, but usually fail, and aren't considered wild in the truest sense.
All 7 species formed one large flock which spread out for several hundred metres in one long line, being geese they were found on the grassland rather than the scrape.

But that's not all. At Boyton, there was even more. Just south of the Boyton Marshes reserve, on the flat arable land, feeding with a small herd of MUTE SWANS were a further nine BEAN GEESE. On Boyton Marshes reserve, there were around 40 WHITE FRONTED GEESE mixed in with the larger and more numerous GREYLAG. Away from North Warren, the WHITE FRONT'S stronghold, numbers of that goose doesn't usually reach such big numbers, so 40 is a decent count. This year seems to be a good one, with a lot of coastal places recording this bird. WHITE FRONTS are smaller than GREYLAGS, have pink bills, are darker, have pink legs and have black markings on their chest.

The flocks of BEAN GEESE, in particular are very good. The species has one stronghold in the UK, Buckenham Marshes, in the Broads, where even there they are difficult to see. This is one of those birds that truly make a winter, really encapsulate the season. They are regular in Suffolk, but scarce and in usually in single figures, so to get two flocks in one area is quite remarkable. Its a grey goose like the GREYLAG, but is slightly smaller, has a darker body and a darker bill, and has orange legs.

I saw other birds today of which I will recap in the next part of the blog, there was just too much to fit in.

 

The Gipping Valley Lakes - 1/1/2020

We all celebrate the New Year differently, some drinking in to the wee small hours, others getting up at the crack of dawn to go for a run. I'm somewhere inbetween, being sensible I was able to get up relatively early for a nice morning of birdwatching. January is the start of a new birding calendar when the year lists start again. The first day of that year is very important as every species counts, so you end up paying attention to every bird you see.
The plan was to cycle up to all the lakes on the river Gipping, but a puncture in my back wheel meant I was only able to get to Claydon (a couple of miles from where I live), and lock my bike up at Barham Pit B. From there I would walk up to Causeway Lake and Shamford Mere. Sorry all these names may be confusing, but  I'll describe them in greater detail in a bit. Basically the footpath follows the River Gipping, with gravel pits along it and also follows the unnatural boundaries of the A14 and the railway line.

ROBIN

 

There was a slight mist on the farmland as I cycled in but as I got to the lakes this had receded to produce good light. Barham Pits have been taken over by some new owner and so far the results have been pretty negative. Time was you could walk around the lakes but new fences have been put up to keep you to the footpath, that skirts the west side of the lake. A lot of trees have been cut down and the messy, overgrown wetland areas have been cleared. Time will tell the effects this may have, but there seems to be less birds about.
Of most interest on the first lake 'Pit B' were two female GOOSANDERS. This species although quite common, wintering on large reservoirs, is fairly rare in Suffolk. In this county I've only seen them in a few places and this was a first record in the area for me. At least there should be lots of food in the lakes for them.
Most of the lakes had small populations of GREAT CRESTED GREBE, COOT and MUTE SWAN, fairly ubiquitous lake birds, found wherever there is large bodies of water. I won't bore you with lists and numbers, just to remind you these birds are constantly present on the different lakes.

LONG TAILED TIT

 

Further north, leaving the river to cross the railway line is Barham Pit A, smaller than Pit B, but with more overgrown areas, there was a decent amount today. 18 TUFTED DUCK, a pair of SHOVELLER and a male WIGEON were present, the shoveller and wigeon the first records of those species on the pit. It doesn't sound a lot, and it isn't, but you get whatever you can from these lakes.
Meadlands was quiet except for a very noisy KINGFISHER, which at the same time was very hard to see, perched in a dense tree, which blocked my view, seeing the ripples as it dove into the river several times.
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DUNNOCK

 



It was a bit of a hike to Causeway Lake and Shamford Mere, walking along the river. These two fishing lakes are separate from any of the other lakes in the area, a good half hour hike away. Both are out of the way, difficult to access so are overlooked by birders. For some reason the mist still hung onto this area even though it had evaporated at the other lakes. Causeway Lake held just a family party of SWANS, the same as Shamford Mere, although on the latter there was a flock of 100+ GREYLAGS and 20+ CANADA GEESE. After these two lakes it was a hike back along the river to where I started.

TREECREEPER - does what its name suggests.

 

In the riverside alders that grow along the Gipping, there was a large flock of FINCHES, mainly GOLDFINCH, but with some SISKIN and LESSER REDPOLL amongst them. A TREECREEPER was seen creeping up a tree, who would have thought they would ever do that?

 

Well, that was a surprising day to be had along the river Gipping. Lots of birds, the lakes being some of the best I have ever seen them. It was a good start for the year, and they repaid  my trust in them. Just shows you that even some of the worst birding sites can throw up surprises, such is the pleasure of birding.