Pipps Ford - 28/7/2020

On the 28 July I spent the morning at Pipps Ford and this is a quick review of that time. If you need some more in depth written account check the earlier posts I have made about this site before this one. I have birded this  area a lot recently so I don't need to write much more.

Pipps Ford is a decent local site which seems to attract a lot of birds to its variety of habitats. For a site like this to not be a nature reserve yet being so good for nature is quite strange.

I turned up mid morning, and the day thereafter was mainly overcast with occasional sun burning through later on, although it never got particularly warm. 

On the quarry it seems that digging has ended and they looked to be concentrating on landscaping, which they are by law obliged to do, before they leave the site. There was just the one bulldozer left now, no diggers.

The Active Quarry has been drained to produce lots of mud

The Active Quarry

The main place for birds at Pipps Ford today was the Active Quarry. What was a deep sided lake has been drained, leaving lots of mud available to entice migrant WADERS to stop off and it didn't disappoint. We are now coming up to peak Autumn migration and waders present were a REDSHANK, a GREENSHANK, two GREEN SANDPIPERS and a COMMON SANDPIPER. The redshank was a first for me in the Gipping Valley, as Pipps Ford is the only place where any wader habitat exists in the area. It just shows how local patch watching can produce more in-depth knowledge how a normally common and over looked bird can turn into a rarity.

Away from wading birds, a pair of LITTLE GREBES were creating a nest on the water. Now this could be the pair that has disappeared from the exhausted quarry, who are attempting to breed again, or are a new pair. There was a GREAT CRESTED GREBE on the water whilst the other bird which was nesting on an island has disappeared.

TUFTED DUCK had reduced to four birds from my last visit, and there were the usual single GEESE and SWAN. The pair of COMMON TERN were still present, this species is a real rarity in the area, for some reason, but they have decided to linger.

A new addition to the local wildlife, a small herd of horses grazing the grassy area around Riverside Farm Pit - OK its getting hard to produce new photos of the area.

The Exhausted Quarry was strangely quiet with just a pair of OYSTERCATHCERS fresh in. I don't know where all the other waterfowl have disappeared to, it seems that there was probably some kind of disturbance which has scared the birds off.

A walk along the river produced lots of BUTTERFLIES, including the COMMA in the photo at the top of the page. Birds were hard to come by though, with little about. GREEN WOODPECKERS have had a successful breeding season, with at least one juv about, yaffeling as it bounced through the air.

Riverside Farm Pit held 34 CANADA GEESE, whilst on Pippins Lake the single GADWALL chick was growing up fast, whilst there were five LITTLE EGRETS and six CORMORANTS present, which I reckon to be a local record. In the small bird flock around here there was a TREECREEPER and GARDEN WARBLER, but that was about it.

The lock and bridge over the river at Pipps Ford

Its a nice way to spend your days off, walking round your local patch, not a care in the world. Birdwatching provides so much peace of mind, yet doesn't ask for much in turn. Furthermore, local patch birdwatching really adds another dimension to the hobby just knowing an area free of any need to see something spectacular. In a way its like being at one with the rhythms of nature.

Abberton Reservoir & Mercea Island - 23/7/2020

July can be a tedious time to go bird watching, when even the main sites can seem quiet. The end of summer blends in to the start of Autumn, where everything is tired and yet to energise. So without great expectaions I headed down to Essex, to Abberton Resrvoir for a day's birdwatching.
For those reading from the future, this is still in the quasi-lockdown of the coronavirus, and a lot of places are still closed. This includes the centre and hides at Abberton, so all the birdwatching was done from the causeways, where access is still allowed, but viewing can be limited. 

Pair of EGYPTIAN GEESE

First port of call was Layer de la Haye causeway, which looks over the main reservoir at the hide bay. There were large numbers of birds present on the water, but they were mainly GEESE and SWANS, birds moulting on the reservoir.
A scan of the area produced a GREAT WHITE EGRET, on a spit of land, towering over the nearby CORMORANTS, as they dry out their wings.
Feeding on the concrete banks were two COMMON SANDPIPERS which were disturbed and flew off with that distinctive jerky flutter of their wings. In the end they would prove to be the only waders present at Abberton. These birds aren't really waders in habit, instead they feed on insects which are attracted to the warm sun traps of the concrete sided causeway. As their name suggests they are common birds, passing through on their Autumn migration.
Also of note, but not a bird, was a BROWN HARE, on nearby farmland beyond the causeway, a common mammal I know, but one I always love seeing.

Hide Bay, Abberton Reservoir

Just down the road is Wigborough Bay, where a car park joins a track to a little screen. There must have been a thousand birds present, mainly COOT, but with small numbers of GADWALL and POCHARD. It was the main concentration of birds on the reservoir, a nice sight, and bodes well for what is coming up later in the year.
After Wigborough, the next destination was the Layer Breton causeway, which slices through a smaller section of reservoir than the previous causeway. The area here is more natural, with trees straddling the banks. There were also hordes of loitering GEESE, waiting to be fed, and fed they were, as I was there several families turned up with bread in hand. Oh well if it gets the kids interested in wildlife I can't complain.
Also present were several hundred DUCK, mainly GADWALL, POCHARD and TUFTED DUCK, the first of what would be a large number of moutling ducks. As the ducks moult their flight feathers they cannot fly, which means they choose large deep reservoirs to spend their time, free of predators. This occurs in late summer and happens only on the large areas of water, but on those it happens it creates a great sight. The main challenge with birding ducks in moult is the the fact that all the ducks are brown in plumage, which makes them all look the same! The challenge is in trying to tell the birds apart by their shape and subtle differences of plumage.
Also from here I saw another GREAT WHITE EGRET, Abberton is a good site for them.

Mercea Island
With time to spare, I decided to take, for me, the road less travelled, by going to a place I've never been to before: Mercea Island. Travelling this area of Essex, its very leafy, unspoilt countryside, what you don't expect from this neck of the country. I travelled across the causeway and onto the island, the tide was well and truly in. I took the road to the east of the island where I hit the coast. There is a National Nature Reserve here, on the mudflats, so I thought I could do some birding here.
However, the tide was in and I felt very overdressed, bins, scope and camera to what was a beach crawling with people and no birds at all.

Abandoned boat, West Mercea

I walked along the coast to Cudmore Grove, your usual kind of country park, meadow, tree plantations, heaving with people, not really of interest to me, but its somewhere asking to be explored.
After this I headed over to West Mercea, which is built up, a one bank town, with cafes and another small beach. Nice to explore, but in the end not a place I will go back to again.

So in the end it was a good day out to an area I do not know well at all and it felt good to have expanded my horizons. The only problem is there are just too many places to visit and to know well.

Writing this blog I look forward to the heady days of Autumn, when birdwatching steadily ramps up to create a much greater experience. At the moment its just a trickle of waders that marks out the Autmtumn migrants, it feels slow, but soon as more birds have finished raising young it will turn into a torrent, and in no time it will soon be winter again. Such is the cyclical nature of the seasons.

Wolves Wood - 14/7/2020

There was a cathedral-like hush through the woodland, as at this time of year the birds are quiet and no sound of traffic or human voices could be heard. It was just myself alone in the woods, left to silently walk the paths. And as I wandered in solitary thought, what came to me was the surprise at how open the woods are, at how the sunlight came streaming through the canopy.

The idea of a woodland having a closed canopy is a product of modern day plantations. In the wild forest of yore not many trees would have survived to grow to any great height, due to browsing by wild livestock, such as wild cows, horses or deer. Human beings have replicated this in the form of coppicing, an ancient tradition that mimmicks that browsing. Cutting trees to the ground doesn't kill them, it actually allows them to grow back, but this time with multiple trunks. Ancient human tradition unintentionally mimicking nature for the benefit of both.

You can see examples of coppicing in Wolves Wood, an ancient forest that dates back to the ice age. Just think of all those years covered in trees, never once being cleared and surviving all that time in an agricultural landscape. The woods are an RSPB reserve out east from Ipswich, a large protected area in a rather hostile landscape.

The coppices alternate, the recently cut tree stools allow in lots of light, whilst the older area of copicing is dark, too overgrown to allow any light in. Then there are glades overgrown with THISTLES and MEADOWSWEET and ponds with baby MOORHENS slinking about. And very occasionally there is a tall standard tree looking over the forest. This is a dynamic habitat, constantly on the change, no two areas looking the same.

I had been to Wolves Wood once before, 23 years ago, and considering I live only half an hour away that is pretty bad going. All I have in my defence is that there are so many good reserves to go to in Suffolk I can't possibly visit them all, or maybe its a case of being lazy. Anyway as you can guess I remembered none of it from my last visit so many years ago, so it was all pleasantly new to me.

GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER 

Being July birdlife was quite noticeably quiet. The usual TIT flocks, ranging family groupings of birds, moving through the forest. At one clearing I got lucky and saw a NUTHATCH, some TREECREEPERS, a couple of MARSH TITS with a GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER putting in an appearance. These are all typical ancient woodland species and are good markers of a healthy wood. I would hear and occasionally see these birds in other areas of the forest and it seems there are plenty of birds about.

Nuthatches are quite rare in East Suffolk, despite being common in woodlands in England north up to Scotland. Their absence from this part of the country is a mystery, as they are not fussy birds, liking any sort of woodland, of which East Suffolk has lots. In the end its just some quirk of nature.

PEACOCK butterfly. You can tell this butterfly in flight by its black underwing.

This time of year is probably the best to look for BUTTERFLIES, with Wolves Wood harbouring some species associated with ancient woodland. Unfortunately it wasn't the right weather for butterflies, the air still damp from the rain that had occurred the night before, which the butterflies don't really like. Still sunny days are best for them.
However I did manage to see two species, but unfortunately only one individual of each kind, and none hung around long enough for photographs. One SILVER-WASHED FRITILLERY and one WHITE ADMIRAL which floated up to the canopy were all I saw. There were plenty of the commoner varieties about, often forming clouds as they were disturbed from a cluster of brambles, the most common being PEACOCKS, of which there were loads.

HONEYSUCKLE food plant of the WHITE ADMIRAL

So despite only staying a short time at the reserve I was suitably impressed with my visit to Wolves Wood today. Of course for birds July is out of season, the best time for them and woodland wildflowers is in Spring, so I wasn't expecting to see much, but I saw enough to want a second visit. Of course it won't be long before I come back again, as I am looking to keep my birdwatching as local as possible and this seems a good destination. As always there are many local places that are overlooked, so find a map, find an area of habitat, any kind, and pay a visit, it might be very rewarding.

Mid Summer on the Local Patch

From Old Norwich Road a rather innocuous footpath sign points down a small track that leads away from Ipswich, out to the countryside. This marks the beginning of the Local Patch, my go to place for connection to nature and from here footpaths tread their way through arable lands, meadows and along hedgerows. This is the British Countryside, open to and cherished by everyone.

WOOD PIGEON

Being outdoors, the weather is an important factor and this summer it has been a mixed bag. After the driest and warmest May on record, June was tempestuous, mainly overcast, with some heavy monsoon rain, yet at other times was blisteringly hot. It changed from day to day and was completely unpredictable when walking out under heavy threatening black clouds, never knowing if it will rain.
This unpredictability has had a harsh effect on the land, this means the stream, the little ditch running through part of the Patch, was one day running full of water, the other dried out. The Pond eventually dried out completely leaving behind a patch of dried mud. However vegetation has as a whole survived quite well, given shelter by the clouds from the heavy sun.

BLACKCAP, the female lacks the titular coloured head, instead sporting a nice russet bonce.

In the hedgerows and in the fields, birds are raising families, and the end of May is when they all start leaving the nest. LONG TAILED TITS are usually the first to appear, but the TITS in general come out early, and are the most noisy and noticeable of birds as they form post breeding flocks in large numbers, passing quickly through areas of wood or scrub, with a whole load of twittering.

YELLOWHAMMER

As the birds are all raising families there is no need for the males to sing, when instead they are busy feeding young. The Patch was generally quiet, the odd SKYLARK ascending into the air or a YELLOWHAMMER singing its distinctive song from a thick hedgerow. The song of these birds really lifts my soul as they carry in the countryside quiet, not drowned out by human interference like vehicles or chatter.
Over the reservoir SWALLOWS and HOUSE MARTINS catch food, nesting in the nearby hall buildings, where there are some abandoned farm buildings.

MALLOWS grow in profusion on the roadside verges, Old Norwich Road

From a birders perspective, the only species of note was a HOBBY, on 22/6, a bird which was seen dive bombing the local BUZZARD before drifting off. The BUZZARD quarters the Suffolk Punch Field the same as it does throughout the year, it never seems to leave, its one of the few residents on the Patch.
A LITTLE OWL was in the usual place, on a old tree stump in the horse paddock along Old Norwich Road, which with hope, means they are recolonising the area, a species much missed.

Farmer mowing River Meadow

Perhaps the most interesting of records were of mammals. On 20/6 a large buck ROE DEER was present, showing off his large antlers. It was browsing a hedge in a field only observable from Old Norwich Road, but nearby family parties and dogs walked past unaware of his presence. On 26/6 a STOAT was seen running down the track that leads to the abandoned farm buildings. Like the deer, I see this animal occasionally on the Patch, but not often enough. Stoats are mammals of the present countryside, learning to live alongside man without being noticed.

Recently fledged LONG TAILED TIT, they have no fear of me so I could get quiet close

Out on the Patch the meadows have all been cut. In the Reservoir Meadow the cut grass was alive with tiny FROGS, there must have been thousands of them. The Reservoir holds small numbers of blue DAMSELFLIES and DRAGONFLIES whizzing around the small body of water.
Around these meadows large numbers of MEADOW BROWN butterflies flutter around the brown grass and there are plenty of more butterflies, that I don't really which species they are. Next year I think I will learn to identify butterflies.

POPPIES growing on a roadside verge

What farming landscape would be complete without a burst of flowering POPPIES. This year hasn't been great for them, they are growing only on road side verges at the moment or singally in arable fields, little dots of red amongst the uniform green crops.

Flowers, in general, aren't doing too well on the Patch, less so than birds. Most of the flowers are mainly clinging on to the edge of arable fields, or in some area of uncut wasteland. The countryside may look green, but it should be more a mix of many colours.

PYRAMID ORCHID, First Field

The one exception to this is the First Field. This former arable land has been left fallow for a couple of years now. Amongst the long brown grass, little spikes of purple PYRAMID ORCHIDS are flowering. Amazingly, this colony of beautiful flowers has flourished and there are over 200 plants present. They are just away from the path to not be noticed, and as long as no one notices them, they should be safe, I mean if the farmer knew of them they would probably get sprayed. 

The field in general is alive with flowers, many of which would be considered "weeds". There are purple THISTLES and yellow HAWKWEED growing in profusion across the sea of brown grass. This is a pleasing sign, one that lifts the soul and is something that will only benefit the area. 

Looking to Suffolk Punch Field, across River Meadow

Summer is beautiful wherever you may be. In nature nowhere is unremarkable, everywhere unique. Even a concreted car park can still hold wildlife, if not much. The countryside is there, it will continue to be so, so go out there connect with it and make sure its being looked after properly. And above all make sure you Enjoy Nature.

Pipps Ford - 7/7/2020

Today I did the rounds of the Pipps Ford area, somewhere I have been visiting once a week since lockdown partially ended. As I have blogged a lot about this site, I won't go into any detail about the habitats too much. If you need more information I suggest that you read some of my earlier blogs (the ones below this one on the homepage).

  COMMA BUTTERFLY, so called because of the shape of its wing

I turned up mid morning and it was an overcast, sweltering day, kind of the usual I've come to expect from the summer so far. It has been a wet unpredictable summer and each day has been different from the one before. This weather has benefited a lot of wildlife, as hot temperatures usually drains the countryside and in this wetland environment wet weather has let water hang about longer on the land.

GREAT TIT 

The exhausted Quarry
The water is beginning to fade, but there is still plenty left. The usual birds were present as I have discussed in previous blogs. It seems LAPWING have had a good breeding season with three large, fledged Juvs present. They were moving in amongst the willow trees, a trait they probably learnt as chicks to escape the marauding crows.
The highlight was a pair of ROE DEER, a buck with a full set of antlers, and a doe, smaller but no less lovely. I often see the odd animal, but this is the first multiple sighting, and its good to know they have colonised the area.
A HOBBY flew over, and with several summer sightings its possible they are nesting in the area.

The Exhausted Quarry

The Active Quarry

As with the exhausted quarry it was again the usual, eight TUFTED DUCK are summering here, and GREAT CRESTED GREBES are nesting on one of the islands. There was a GADWALL brood of six, with six more adults. There were also two SWANS and two LITTLE GREBES present. 

A pair of COMMON TERNS were noteworthy, as I have never seen this species here before. Its strange that a bird you usually take for granted becomes a mega rarity on a local patch. This pair must be failed nesters from elsewhere (Minsmere and Alton Water are the main colonies).

 The Active Quarry

Riverside Farm Pit
Nothing much here, the usual large numbers of GEESE. I heard a KINGFISHER, and saw the distant speck of a bird flying across the water.

Juv LONG TAILED TIT

Pippins Lake
There was a GADWALL brood of one present, and some young MOORHENS meant breeding was successful here. The usual SWAN family was present
In a TIT flock, a large congregation of birds, adults and juvs moving around the lake's trees, there was a TREECREEPER and a MARSH TIT.

The company that owns the quarrying rights to Pipps Ford have until December to work the area. And as a clause for working the area they have to landscape it for wildlife when they have finished. I have no idea what this will mean, but usually when it comes to wildlife, developers can always find a loophole and get round any obligations, unfortunately.

I once asked the Suffolk Wildlife Trust if they had anything to do with the site, as I think it would make a good local reserve. They replied that although some discussions were made, nothing came of it in the end, which is a shame.

Probably Pipps Ford will end up being another fishing pit where wildlife and public access are discouraged, as so many places are, good sites being stripped of nature when sold to the highest bidder.

Juv BLUE TIT

So a decent mid-summer's birding, enjoying the life of the birds all around me on this good local patch site. Its a quiet time of year, but if you have patience and look closely, there is always something good to see.

Alton Water - 30/6/2020

With water stretching to the horizon, Alton Water can be termed as big. Acres of birdless water also mean the place is difficult to birdwatch. There are few viewpoints and the birds are often distant specks on the water. It takes a lot of time and a lot of walking to get to these viewpoints, but its usually worth it.
In the time it took me to see a meager total of birds here, I could have completed a circuit of Minsmere and have seen a lot more. However most places aren't Minsmere, and there were still birds present today and I was able to get some decent photos, so I can't complain.

COMMON TERNS on a tern raft

Alton Water is a unique habitat for Suffolk. Manmade, it is by far the largest body of freshwater in the county, the only expanse of any note. It is bordered by forest plantations which are maturing into proper woodlands, places that are full of the twitterings of small birds.
The water is the main county site for GREAT CRESTED GREBE, with a large population present whatever the time of year, with a small number breeding. This is a bird of deep water, feeding on the small fish that populate the reservoir.
The other bird its important for is its population of COMMON TERNS. This agile and acrobatic bird graces the water in large numbers as they look for food to feed their chicks, nesting on specially prepared rafts floating on the reservoir. The causeway is a great place to see them as they dance through the air all around you in good numbers.

A pair of GREAT CRESTED GREBE, Larchwood Hides

For ease I'll split the reservoir in four - the Northern Hides; the Tail; the Larchwood Hides and the Visitor's Centre.
The Northern Hides are usually my first port of call. A half hour walk from the nearest car park through some peaceful woodland, you don't see a soul, but then as you approach the hides, you begin to hear it. The closer and closer you get, the more this huge cacophony hits you. Lots of birds all falling over each other. This is the TERN and GULL colony, which nest on rafts that the hides overlook. Never the most peaceful of birds they squabble amongst each other in a noisy manner.

TERNS perched on the edge of one of their breeding rafts

There are three rafts in front of the hides. COMMON TERNS nest in them, the chicks at the moment are fairly newly hatched and are quite small. Compare that to the earlier nesting BLACK HEADED GULLS, whose young dwarf the terns, and are soon to fledge. The rafts can hold around ten chicks, but it was quite hard to count with all the coming and goings.

CORMORANTS airing their wings out, North Hides

The reservoir water levels are higher than last year. Usually several islands appear around this time of year, in front of the hides, whose muddy margins attract migrant WADERS to stop and feed. Today there was only one small area, but this was enough to attract a single GREEN SANDPIPER. The typical early returning wader, its strange to think Autumn migration begins already in June!

COMMON TERN perched on the railings, the causeway

The Tail, on the other hand, is an area of the reservoir thats cut off from the main body of water by the road. Its much more sheltered than the main reservoir, less disturbed and has more natural surroundings. As a result it attracts different sorts of birds and can be a good refuge in bad weather. There were breeding GREAT CRESTED GREBES and COOTS in various forms, from nesting birds to fully fledged individuals. There was a family party of SWANS, with three lovely cygnets, just idling round the water. A few pairs of swan nest on the water every year.

Juv BLUE TIT, Larchwood Hides

From the north section I drove round the underbelly of the reservoir to get to a new point. Here I aimed to visit the Larchwood Hides, the only viewpoint of the southern area of the water. The water sports people, the canoeists and such, don't really come this far up the reservoir, so there were plenty of GREBES out on the centre of the water.
In front of one of the hides a pair of GREBES were constructing a nest in a mat of waterweeds. The birds would share the weeds with each other, offering up as presents, a ritual of sorts, inspecting whether it was the right sort to go into the nest. It was lovely to watch, a very intimate experience, one I was glad to both witness and photograph. In the end I must have taken about a hundred photos of them.

This pair of GREAT CRESTED GREBES were making a nest

From the Larchwood Hides there was one raft in use by the TERNS, which made it less intense than the northern hides and another WADER of Autumn migration, a COMMON SANDPIPER, was using the raft to bob about on.
A KINGFISHER was present flying into an area of bordering wood. They nest in this area every year and its a decent point to look from them. Its such a shame our most beautiful bird is only ever seen in a flash as it flies away from you, a blur of sapphire blue.

 In front of the LArchwood Hides they would compare pieces of water weed

From the Larchwood Hides its a small hike to the visitors centre. On the way I saw another KINGFISHER, probably a different one to what I saw at Larchwood.
I didn't go all the way to the centre, as the area here is used by water sports people and so the water is very disturbed, with few waterbirds. I have nothing against people using the area for recreation, everybody must have access to the countryside, its just not great for birds. The centre, as you would expect, is busy with people and birdwatching doesn't really go with crowds. The centre is a honeypot site, where visitors to Alton Water congregate, even with the Covid restrictions.
The scrubby grassland around here is good for YELLOWHAMMERS, with a few still singing, some REED BUNTINGS and lots of WARBLERS.
There was a SWAN family with four grey cygnets, all getting strong on the food fed to them from the hordes of people, and there was a flock of EGYPTIAN GEESE, originally escapees, never truly become wild.

So you can decide if today was worthwhile, I really can't. I saw some birds, I got some good photos, but I had to work for it.There are plenty of places where you can see a wide variety of birds and get decent photos without as much time or effort, so it can be frustrating at times, and is the reason I don't often visit this site that is nearby to where I live.
However I shall not end on a down note. Birds are always here, our often overlooked companions on planet earth, and its nice they can adapt to live in a place that is entirely manmade in construction as Alton Water.