Pipps Ford 16 & 25/6/2020

Despite the lockdown easing I have decided to remain loyal to my local sites, giving the attention I never afforded them before. These places have become very important me, not just as places to bird watch, but places to really connect with nature. Today I travelled to Pipps Ford, which I have mentioned before is the best birding place in the area. With recent high temperatures I hoped to get an early morning trip in, but being so bad at getting up in the morning I wasn't really able to.
Arriving mid-morning the sun had yet to reach it sweltering height. On the exhausted quarry ground water was still high, covering part of the land. SKYLARKS chirruped in the grassy areas with some occasionally started into brief song before realising they had no need to sing anymore.
Walking the path that cuts the site in two, a path that leads down to the river, the deep water of the active quarry shimmered in the sun, too distant to yet see.
As it still harboured water the exhausted quarry had a decent amount of waterbirds. The nesting COOTS had finally hatched their  brood, joining the older ones present since mid-May. Also newly arrived were four tiny LITTLE GREBE chicks, the adult pair getting quite territorial when a third bird turned up, and a fight broke out.

A BANDED DEMOISELLE, distinguished by its black tipped wings

The river was quiet. The Gipping becomes overgrown with reeds in its quieter sections and attracts singing REED WARBLERS. Clouds of BANDED DEMOISELLE were along the river, dainty little damselflies with distinctive black wing tips, they would alight for a short time, giving time to take a photo before fluttering off.
I followed the path north to Riverside Farm Pit, a small lake bordered by bulrushes and rough grass. Its fairly quiet here, being fairly small, but including young birds there were a whopping 20 CANADA GEESE present.

A family party of CANADA GEESE, Riverside Farm Pit

From this lake I walked back south along the river. As a bridge crossed a tributary a MARSH TIT was a good find, looking for insect prey it must be nesting nearby.
To get to Pippins Lake and the Active Quarry the path branches off to follow this tributary.
Pippins Lake is surrounded by tall trees and there is no view until you reach the top of the lake. On 16/6 a HOBBY was a brief delight, flying over the water before disappearing from view. Three broods of GADWALL were present with another 16 adult birds, which is a great number for mid-Summer. However when I came back on 25/6 all the birds had gone, and the lake was overgrown with this thick algae. However, still around were the family of SWANS which have been present since lockdown eased.

Bulldozer on the Active Quarry

From Pippins Lake, the path wanders over to the back of the active quarry, which allowed a closer look at the deep sided lake. This is a sand quarry, the excavation of which has shaped the land in the area, and it changes from year to year.
Around ten TUFTED DUCK are over summering here, whilst a pair of GREAT CRESTED GREBE were nesting on one of the islands. SAND MARTINS as usual drifted through the air.
A pair of LITTLE RINGED PLOVERS were present on a nice area of wet mud, and are probably breeding there. If this habitat stays this way it might attract some migrant WADERS down to feed as we get later into the year and Autumn migration starts.

The active Quarry

From the active quarry the path reconnects with the river. Walking back along here I disturbed a CUCKOO, which flew from perch to perch in front of me as I unintentionally disturbed it. Cuckoos have the appearance of a sharp winged bird of prey in flight but a closer look can always distinguish them. It was good to see such an iconic yet now scarce bird, I just use have to think back to my childhood when I used to hear them from all around the general countryside.
The cuckoo was the last interesting bird I saw and rounded my trip off nicely.

 The river Gipping is full of life

The height of summer isn't really the best time to go birding, as birds are being secretive raising families, and adding in the factor of high temperatures it really isn't the best time to go looking. So I count it as bonus that I was able to see the birds I did. I like this area, its easy to birdwatch, and you don't really see a soul, being so far from the nearest built up area. Autumn migration should be starting soon which should bring in the first of the WADERS, this site being one of the best for inland Suffolk, and hopefully something interesting should turn up.

Newbourne Springs & Hemley 23/6/2020

Today I took the road less travelled, exploring areas to the east of Ipswich. I chose the Suffolk Wildlife Trust reserve at Newbourne Springs and nearby Hemley, a little hamlet near the Deben estuary. The day was one of high summer, so it was sweltering and extremely hot, and as a result I didn't  really see much in the end. However despite this it was an enjoyable day out, getting to see some overlooked places (mainly by me) and exploring new areas of the countryside.

Newbourne Springs

A wet wooded valley with some fen meadows, Newbourne Springs is a nice little Suffolk Wildlife Trust reserve. Situated in the same named village I decided to visit this place first. 

 Juvenile LONG TAILED TIT

The woodland, which makes up most of the reserve, was all overgrown, with thick brambles growing under tall trees, where dappled sun light would steal through the canopy. In the middle of the valley the woodland was nice and wet, a habitat that is quite rare in our over tidy countryside.
The overgrown woodland, was a boon to WARBLERS, and were full of BLACKCAPS, plus a few GARDEN WARBLERS, and WHITETHROATS in the more open areas where the reserve opened to farmland. I also saw a GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER and a BUZZARD flew over high above.
But in the main it was very quiet.

The road to Waldringfield Heath
I got lost driving to Hemley and ended up heading north to Waldringfield. Strangely enough this led to good circumstances. In the middle of this single track road a YELLOW WAGTAIL was feeding one of its young on the tarmac. Now this is one of those birds that was once common, but has unfortunately vanished from a lot of the countryside. They are birds of wet grassland that has suffered when that land became drained. Seeing them is quite hard, even in a county such as Suffolk, which is less intensively farmed and has a lot of their favourite habitat remaining.
The birds I saw today seemed to be nesting in a potato field, (ok forget what I said about them using wet grassland, that's whats so good of birds they don't do what the books say)

Hemley

A couple of miles away from Newbourne is Hemley, a hamlet close to the Deben estuary.

A SWALLOW on wire. Hemley had a staggering amount of HIRUNDINES and SWIFTS

The most noticeable thing about Hemley was the sheer numbers of HIRUNDINES and SWIFTS in the built up areas. HOUSE MARTINS swooshed through the air flying in and out of their nests, muddy constructions under the eaves of the old houses. One house had five nests plastered under the roof whilst another had six, and they were full of life. This is what a lot of towns and cities would have looked like before those houses were modified and air pollution killed the insects the birds fed on. Seeing all these birds flying around really took me back in time, to a less tidy natural world and all this from just ten houses.

 A pair of COMMON TERN - will they nest here this year?

From the hamlet I walked to the river wall. The footpath crossed some beautiful area of country, lots of hedgerows, scrub with low lying cattle grazed meadows near the estuary. Like the hamlet, this is a landscape that felt like I was moving back in time to a less intensively farmed time.
As I approached the river I could tell this was a quiet stretch of the river, and it felt like not many people visited here. The tide was high on the river, but there were still some mud showing. The end of  June is probably the worst time of year to visit an estuary, as all the birds associated with this habitat are off on their breeding grounds. As it was there were just a few loafing GULLS about.
Some LAPWING were about, they nest early and are one of the earliest returning WADERS, and there were some OYSTERCATCHERS which nest on the estuary. Further down the river there were a pair of COMMON TERNS mating, and its possible they might nest on this area of dried mud above the water line.
Also about were a pair of SHELDUCK which had a staggering fourteen ducklings with them, quite the brood to look after. There was another pair further up the river, but I couldn't see how many young they had.

A view of the Deben 

Not really a remarkable day, but an enjoyable one non the less. Its good to visit these out of the way places, and seeing something unexpected merely adds to the value. I am so lucky with Suffolk having so much beautiful countryside to explore and I don't just mean the big reserves like Minsmere. There are acres of countryside out there, with a lot harbouring birds that are overlooked because they are in underwatched areas of the country. So dear reader, look on a map, find an area of countryside, find a route and start birding, I bet you will be rewarded.

Pipps Ford - 27/5 & 6/6/2020

For a time that can be seen as historical, not a lot has happened. The era of the coronavirus, is marked by how inactive people have been, a time which is defined by being stuck indoors. As with most activities that rely on travel, birdwatching has been badly effected. Reserves are closed, and for two months now travel has been forbidden. I'm not complaining, because there are bigger things at stake, its just that I miss going out on my little birdwatching adventures so much.
However as lockdown eases, travel is now allowed and reserves are open, although at the moment most hides and visitor centres are closed. This has a big effect for the likes of Minsmere, or Welney, reserves which provide the visitor experience, but aren't allowed to open.

A newly fledged BLUE TIT, on the river by Baylham.

I'm still birding locally at the moment. Pipps Ford as I have said on many previous posts is the best birding site in the area. Being an area of public footpaths and countryside, it is always open, and few people visit, so there's no problem with social distancing and getting infected.

I've always found photographing SKYLARKS really difficult. This is one of the few times I have ever seen one perching.

The area consists of an exhausted quarry, an active quarry, two small lakes, areas of wood and rough grassland, all along the river Gipping. This good selection of habitats means there is usually a lot to see, and occasionally it hosts the odd rarity.

The exhausted quarry at Pipps Ford. This year the area has been able to keep a decent amount of water which has been good for birds.

With the calendar turning to June, the breeding season is well underway. Despite months of incessant sun, the exhausted quarry still holds a good amount of surface water which has been good for water birds. A GADWALL brood of 4 was a good find, as this is a scarce breeding bird away from the main wetlands. There were small numbers of this understated duck around all the areas of water, but no other signs of nesting. There were two brood of GREYLAGS, a brood of COOT, with another nesting and one LITTLE GREBE. WADERS were represented by LITTLE RINGED PLOVERS and LAPWING. Both species were very noticeable, as birds would fly into the air to see off a marauding crow. This is a sign of breeding activity, with the birds protecting their chicks. The chicks however are very difficult to see, as they are very well camouflaged. Breeding waders are scarce inland and away from the coastal wetlands, such as Minsmere.
On the grassland that surrounds the water, there are good numbers of SKYLARKS in what is a small area. They have stopped singing now, but are very active with flights to and from the nest to feed their chicks. They have a very distinctive way of moving their wings in flight and are quite bulky, which distinguishes them from other small birds.

The active quarry

The footpaths network in the area is strong, providing good access to the many different habitats around Pipps Ford. A good place is the active quarry. The path gives good views of the changing landscape here. There were no diggers present today, but there was a bulldozer moving sand out of the way to create a new road for access.
At the moment the active quarry is a deep sided lake with a few islands. There weren't too many birds, except for a pair of TUFTED DUCK and a pair of GREAT CRESTED GREBES, which might be colonists that have failed at other sites.
What is disheartening is the low numbers of SAND MARTINS present. They nest in the shifting sandy cliff faces of the quarry every year, but there seemed to be less about at the moment, hawking low over the surrounding grassland. As they are birds of transitional habitats, their numbers do fluctuate from year to year.

One of the SWANS, with a mallard, on Pippins Lake

Up river from Pipps Ford, Riverside Farm Pit is a small lake surrounded by grass and bulrushes. It has small number of birds and today there was a creche of multiple broods of different sized CANADA GEESE goslings, as well as some young MOORHENS.
Pippins Lake, a larger lake bordered by tall trees, had a SWAN family with five lovely young cygnets, but not much else.

The woodlands are full of young birds at the moment, and it seems to be a good year, although it's hard to tell, from just today's visit. There were flocks of young birds newly evicted from the nest but still dependent on their parents. They would make a lot of noise as they demand to be fed. Those adults still raising young are making food flights and have no time to stop, its a race against time to complete everything in the short summer months.
By Riverside Farm Pit there were three fledged MISTLE THRUSHES in a sheep field, and a juvenile GOLDCREST nearby, the young bird lacking the distinctive head crest of the adults.
A nice spot, just down from Pipps, is where the river passes Baylham Farm Park. Here the river splits in two, and there were masses of young birds in the surrounding mature trees. There was nothing unusual, but the sheer number of birds meant that I had some great photo opportunities, a lot of  the photos on this blog were taken from this site.

The fledged BLUE TITS have yellow face and bellies, which are white on adults.

Sometimes its not about the birds you see, its just enough to see them. With lockdown still in force it has really made me appreciate my feathered friends and the countryside they live in. For several months now, I have been birdwatching my local area, no visitor centres, no hides, no other birders. These are places not manged for birds, yet the birds live here none the less, and I have greater respect for them. They have defined the lockdown period for me.
I must admit I do miss Minsmere though. I mean its the greatest reserve in the country. Maybe when things return to some form of normalcy, I will return. But at the moment I look forward to a morning's birding at Pipps Ford, a more humble destination, but one that still satisfies.