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.