July promises that excitement that the beginning of Autumn migration delivers, whether the season will be as interesting as you hope, or a massive let down. At this time of year the birds start to leave their breeding grounds and head to wintering ones, passing off at places like Minsmere along the way. During early July its the WADERS that are on the move, making it an exciting time of year, where the mind begins to wander at what might be about. And where better to see migrant waders than Minsmere.
The Scrape is world famous for its migrant waders, a habitat that was first created at Minsmere, and one that has now gone on to be replicated world wide. Basically waders need mud to feed on, because that load of gloop contains millions of little invertebrates which waders feed on. And as Autumn comes along more and more mud on the Scrape is exposed as the strong sun of summer dries the shallow water out. However due to this summer being a wet one with lots of rain, the result has been that water levels are a lot higher than normal, with less mud, so its a wait and see for what late summer brings. Wader migration peaks in late August, early September.
At this time of year the waders are still in their breeding plumage finery. Waders can look stunning at this time of year before they turn grey for the winter. The main stand out bird is the RUFF, with two present, one on South Scrape and one on West Scrape. No two birds look the same as each bird has their unique plumage which can be a wild splatter of very different colouring. Today one had ginger upperparts with a black underbelly, resembling a wild jungle fowl chicken, whilst another had white upperparts to black below. By August they will have moulted out of this finery and will resemble a redshank type wader.
That specialist of early Autumn migration is the SPOTTED REDSHANK, present from mid June, which at this time of year is dressed in an all black plumage, with white spots, making it very distinctive. Nine were present, five on East Scrape, three on South and one on West. There were plenty of other less showy waders, with three TURNSTONE, one GREENSHANK and one DUNLIN on South Scrape, three CURLEW on East Scrape and one GREEN SANDPIPER on West Scrape creating a good mix for so early in the season.
The usual BREEDING WADERS were about, there were several fledged AVOCET, the juveniles looking like the adults now, except being a light brown in places. However it doesn't seem to be a good breeding season for them, as not many were present. A REDSHANK was constantly in display flight on Lucky Pool on the Levels, for what reason I'm not sure, as this species has usually nested and fledged young by this time. Must be a lonely bachelor.
There had been a small build up in DUCK numbers on the Scrape, especially on West Scrape, with newly arrived TEAL amongst the resident birds. An over summering WIGEON was on West Scrape, a bird left behind by his other compatriots. There were several broods of SHELDUCK about, these families can get quite ridiculously big, with ducklings numbering into double figures. The BARNACLE GEESE also had several broods as well as all the other geese. With all its marshlands Minsmere is a haven for breeding waterfowl.
Of course being early July the breeding season was still in progress which just shows the complexities of birdlife, how birds overlap with each other at varying stages in their life cycle. Arriving later in the season, the COMMON TERNS missed out on the frigidness of April and the heavy rains of May. As a result unlike the GULLS, which had a terrible season, getting washed out, the terns have had a bumper breeding season with large numbers present. On parts of East Scrape and South Scrape there were lots of birds nesting with a good number of young chicks present. Good numbers of SANDWICH TERNS were about on South Scrape, although they don't nest here, they were just roosting. Also present on South Scrape were 20 LITTLE TERNS, this dainty little bird has started to nest on the Scrape, where habitat has been created for them. This small tern has been scared away from their usual breeding location, the beach, by the large numbers of human sun seekers who come to the coast of Suffolk. The only MED GULL present was an adult on the Konik Pools.
Out on the dunes the usual pair of STONECHATS were present in the gorse bushes by the Sluice. The female chased away a SKYLARK that had alighted too close to where they were nesting, a truly devoted mother. A small flock of three fledged juveniles were proof that breeding has taken place near by somewhere on the huge stretches of heathlands. There were lots of LINNET flying around, a bird which despite having suffered a large, long decline, has now seen numbers stabilise and starting to increase again. I see a lot more numbers out in the countryside again.
Away from the Scrape, the vast swathes of habitat that makes up Minsmere are full of birds. Huge areas of heathland, woodland and reedbeds are fully alive to the thrall of nature. Its in the reedbeds, which for so long has been a haven for extremely rare birds is where you will find Island Mere, which threw up some goodies birdwise. Island Mere, a large lake in the reeds, was the destination of the usual moutling wildfowl, with around 100 GADWALL and 20 SWANS present, with a couple of recently hatched GREBE chicks amongst them. In the quiet peacefulness as I was watching the birds at this pleasant spot, everything was disrupted when there came the sound of a squeeling pig from the reeds in front of the hide, which was the somewhat distinct call of the WATER RAIL. Several BEARDED TIT could be seen flying around in the reeds, beautiful russet coloured, long tailed birds, the male has a distinctive moustache, hence its name.
A HOBBY was seen flying over the reeds, with another one over the woodlands later, whilst large numbers of MARSH HARRIER were about, as they breed here in good numbers. One pair conducted a food pass, when a male with prey approached the nest, the female rose up to him and turning upside down beneath him caught the prey that was dropped to her. Its these simple things in bird watching that can be so thrilling.
Today's trip to Minsmere brought a fine display of early July birding, the classic mix of early Autumn and late breeding season birds. Minsmere is the perfect place for bird watching at any year, with the vast array of rare habitats attracting so many and so diverse amounts of wildlife. This richness is pretty much unique to Minsmere, as although plenty of other places are good and provide great spectacles, Minsmere just has so much diversity. If you ever wondered if you would enjoy nature watching, head to Minsmere and find out, because there is no better place to do it.
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