Sculthorpe Moor - 18/1/2022

Male BULLFINCH, a gorgeous bird

Its sometimes the most low key of reserves that offer the best conditions for bird photography. Sculthorpe Moor may not be the most famous of Norfolk's nature reserves, but it provides some great views of birds and I left the place with a sim card full of pictures. When writing a blog its always heartening to be able to put up great photos, and its always the opposite when coming away from a good birding place, like Titchwell, and having no decent pictures at all (see previous blog).

Male CHAFFINCH

I visited Sculthorpe after a morning at Titchwell, and having time to spare, had a look. Now Sculthorpe Moor is usually a place you visit after somewhere else, not a go to reserve. It is a small site of valley fen somewhere in the heart of Norfolk, an important habitat that is rare in any size. But now the Hawk and Owl Trust have expanded the reserve and its now almost quadrupled in size. So what was an after thought of a reserve, is now a destination in its own right. However, although the reserve has been expanded in size, there are no facilities in these areas, so I wasn't able to see the new parts yet. But there's still time and hopefully I will witness the new lands in the future.

ROBIN

Bird feeders. There are lots of bird feeders at Sculthorpe. Every hide had several feeders stocked full of nourishing food. And there were lots of birds to feed on them. It doesn't take much to create habitat for our smaller birds. Overgrown areas are all you need. Sculthorpe has dry woodland, wet woodland, scrub and open fenland. A good mix of various habitats, which are simple to grow and full of birds. But in our tidy countryside all our messy areas have been cleaned up, and our little birds have declined. So its only on reserves like this, that this simple overgrown habitat remains and as a result the place is full of birds that are absent from our countryside.

GREAT TIT

There were decent numbers of the scarcer smaller birds present. The reserve has to be the best place I know, in East Anglia at least, for seeing BRAMBLING, which are usually seen from Volunteer Hide. The brambling is kind of like a northern chaffinch that breeds in the huge forests in the north of the world, which only winters in this country,  The Volunteer hide is extended into the sky, up in the tree branches, and here a bird table is literally centermetres from where you sit in the hide, providing amazing views. Also here was a pair of BULLFINCHES, such beautiful birds, with their scarlet chest and big black beak, they are common, but hard to find.

BLUE TIT

At another feeding site close to the entrance to the reserve, by the tool shed, a separate group of BULLFINCHES were present (this pair was a male and female, the other two males, this bird always comes in pairs), another BRAMBLING and also a MARSH TIT, all good birds. At Whitley Hide, a hide that looks out over the fenland, a NUTHATCH was present on more feeders.

LONG TAILED TIT

So its only a matter of time before Sculthorpe joins the premier league of Norfolk nature reserves, a destination reserve in its own right. This is good, because the more land protected for wildlife, the more wildlife there will be. However there is only so much a nature reserve can protect, change is needed in the wider countryside to provide more habitats for nature to survive. Hopefully we have turned a corner and now maybe see our countryside as something other than food factories, something natural rather than industrial.

Thornham Harbour & Titchwell - 18/1/2022

LAPWING in flight

The North Norfolk Coast is one of contrasts. Both wild and desolate yet at the same time a tourist honey pot site, full of wild nature reserves and tea shops and art galleries. Its also one of the best birding sites in the country, regularly attracting rare birds as well as vast numbers of the more commoner ones. Titchwell is the RSPB's reserve for the area, a mix of wetland habitat that's attractive to birds. Its good at all times of the year, but is well known for its migrating waders.

Thornham Harbour

I had some time off work, using up the last of my holiday from the working year, so I headed north of the border into the heart of darkness known as Norfolk. Yesterday I visited the Ouse Washes, see the previous blog page, so a trip further north Titchwell was in order. Usually at this time of year the reserve is good, but this time something was missing. I have been to this reserve several times in winter, and usually I have some good sightings, but not today, today was quiet, and has been for a while according to those at the reserve.

One of the creeks at Thornham Harbour

Before I went to Ticthwell, I stopped off at Thornham Harbour, a picturesque little spot with small muddy channels among a large expanse of saltmarsh. Here among some REDSHANK was a wintering GREENSHANK. Although a common enough bird on migration, greenshank are actually rare wintering birds, so this was a decent find. Further in the distance the calls of BRENT GEESE could be heard, with small flocks breaking into the sky, a bird I will see in larger numbers at Titchwell.

Resting LAPWING

And so it was on to Titchwell. The footpath at Titchwell is fairly simple to explain. Basically it is one path down to the beach from the car park and back. On the way it walks through various habitats, succeeding from woodland into reeds, into a freshwater scrape, to tidal lagoons, and eventually the beach and the sea. As a result with every different habitat there is an encounter with different species along the way.

Island Hide overlooking Freshwater Marsh

Freshwater Marsh is the focal point of the reserve, a large body of water with some newly created islands. DUCK numbers were low, but on the islands were a large flock of several hundred GOLDEN PLOVER and LAPWING. Five AVOCET were the first of the spring, this bird will start to nest here around March time in small numbers. A flock of BRENT GEESE were present, this black shaded bird is our smallest goose, the size of a mallard, they'll spend the winter here before heading off to Spitsbergan to breed.

Large numbers of GOLDEN PLOVER on islands in freshwater Marsh

After Freshwater Marsh the various tidal lagoons were quiet, the odd scattered WADER, like a REDSHANK, but little else. Tidal Marsh close to the beach had a red head (female) RED BREASTED MERGANSER present, a bird you expect to see on the sea, some distance away, not actually on the reserve, and close to, like this bird.

Resting TEAL

The path ends at the beach. As you walk over the dune tops you are suddenly blown away by the sheer scale of the beach, at Titchwell its huge. It stretches for miles in every direction. On the water's edge among the mussel beds were large numbers of WADERS. Little white SANDERLING, running like wind up toys along the water line, the slightly bigger and more stout KNOT, and the even more larger and more elegant BAR TAILED GODWIT, among all the other types of birds, such as OYSTERCATCHER, TURNSTONE, DUNLIN and more.

Parrinder Hide, a big glossy hide that's maybe a bit souless

On the sea, everything was quiet. Usually there is a decent assemblage of birds, but today there were just a couple of GOLDENEYE, just over the breakers on the sea. Not a diver, or a grebe, or any other kind of duck to provide any interest, which is a bit worrying.

More TEAL

Close to the visitor centre, before you take the main path to the beach there is a small path that detaches itself from the main footpath and meanders its way through some woodland and areas of fen and reedbed. In the trees were three BULLFINCHES two males and a female, which is a nice find, and maybe a first for me at Titchwell. Further along, Patsy's Pool, usually good for ducks, was practically deserted, which sums up the day for me.

GADWALL often feed with COOT. The coots dive, while the gadwall wait and take whatever the coot brings up. Sometimes this can really pee the coot up.

Now I look back on today's birding, it doesn't seem to be as bad as I originally thought. At the time, whilst I was actually at Titchwell, I just felt so underwhelmed, but maybe it wasn't too bad after all. Its just with such good reserves you  expect to see rare birds, and when they not there you feel disappointed. I know I'm repeating myself when I say the milder weather is resulting in lower numbers of birds turning up, but it seems to be a real problem for them. Climate change is creating little difference between the seasons and as a result there's less birds, less variety and the world of birds is becoming that much blander.

Welney & the Ouse Washes - 17/1/2022

There are plenty of wildlife spectacles in this country, even in a country as nature deprived as ours. I  can think of the wader roosts on the Wash, the sea bird cliffs around our coast, all of which hold thousands of birds, but there are also our lowland wetlands, well those that have survived. Having been drained and cultivated over the millennia our wetlands are a fraction of their former selves, and as a result have become something rare, like our wildlife in general, something that is treasured for this rarity. One of the jewels in our natural crown is the Ouse Washes, ironically created to drain the fens, a place that  is able to attract wildfowl in the thousands, and in its turn attract the thousands of people who come down to witness this spectacle and look at birds.

View from the Observatory before the Swan Feed, a SWAN among POCHARD

Welney, the northern most part of the Ouse Washes, is a reserve owned by the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust, and is situated in the flat, featureless farmland of the Fens. Clues that you are approaching the reserve are provided by the flocks of SWANS feeding out on the fields as you drive by, white specs on the black soil. These birds roost on the Washes in the thousands, but spend most of the day feeding out on the nearby farmland. They are mainly WHOOPER SWANS, the closely related BEWICK'S, once the most numerous swan, is now a rare visitor.

Ringed leg of a swan

In this naturally occurring winter spectacle, the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust add another, more human event, the Swan Feed. The Swan Feed is a bit controversial to birders. At certain parts of the day a person goes out in front of the observatory throwing grain out to attract the birds to feed, which results in hundreds of birds pushing over each other to get that food. Some people look down on this, making it seem like a zoo, something unnatural. But, myself I'm not sure. It creates a spectacle, it provides the opportunity to get some great photos, and it provides something for the non-birder to enjoy other than distant views of ducks. In a country that has become so alienated from wildlife, so distanced from it, to  come so close, eye to eye with wild birds is something special. Anyway there are plenty of places that don't have swan feeds where you can escape the crowds.

Pandemonium as the Swan Feed commences

The Ouse Washes were created to contain the flood water drained from the surrounding farmland in the fens. As a result water levels are very important to the area. When not flooded the Washes are an area of grazed grassland but if the winter has had too much rain then the place floods and becomes like a large lake. This can be quite bad for the birds as this featureless expanses of water holds little habitat for them. Today the water levels were about right, they had dropped off a bit and now islands of grass and reeds were beginning to break through the surface of the water. As a result the birds had places to roost and feed, and those birds were here in their thousands.

A warden threw out grain which the birds gobbled up

A good sign of a nature reserve visitors centre is the state of the scones in the café. Welney's were alright, but still doesn't quite reach the heights of those sold at Minsmere. On the bird feeders outside, several TREE SPARROWS were feeding along with the common house sparrows. Formerly a very common bird tree sparrows numbers crashed towards the end of the last centaury. When I was a kid I would read old bird books which described the tree sparrow as a very common bird, and I couldn't figure out why I wasn't seeing any out in the countryside. Tree sparrows populations had just crashed so quickly and so drastically that the books couldn't keep up. But now we have the internet we can keep up with present trends and tree sparrows have stabilised but at a fraction of their previous numbers.

MALLARDS and WHOOPER SWANS feeding in front of the Observatory

The visitor centre looks out over Lady Fen. Not part of the Washes, Lady Fen is an area of wet grassland created from former agricultural land, an area created to offset bird populations lost to flooding on the Washes in summer. Rough grassland with pools, it spread out to the horizon as only flat fenland country does. This area is fairly quiet, without the large numbers on the nearby Washes, a GREAT WHITE EGRET was feeding on a pool whilst another one flew over. This area of grassland would get more exciting when I returned from the Washes, but I'll tell you about that later.

To get access to the Washes you cross the road to the Main Observatory, which is the first port of call when finally viewing the Washes. This is a nice, heated and comfortable place, something unusual at your average nature reserve, where you mainly spend your time shivering in a hide in winter. When the Washes are heavily flooded this can be the only viewing point, as everywhere else is inaccessible, the waters cover up the footpaths. There are further hides up and down from the observatory, the Washes themselves are a rectangle in shape with access up and down the eastern side of them. 

A gang of MALLARDS

If you are a photographer I recommend visiting Welney, you will be well rewarded with some amazing photos. Beneath the Observatory is a photography basement, which if you look out of slats, find yourself at eye level with the water birds. There are hundreds of duck so used to humans they swim about in arm's reach, and as a result its impossible to get a bad photo. Now some people think this isn't real photography, but having the chance to get good photos of birds that are usually a great distance away, is so rewarding. At Welney there is this strange spectacle in the birding world, where bird and human seem to come close together like few other places. 

POCHARD

In front of the Observatory, the most numerous of birds are the POCHARD. A large flock of several hundred of this burgundy headed and light grey bodied duck occur, mainly males, the females winter in Spain. When the swan feed take place, half the pochards fight over each other to eat the grain, whilst the other half stay back asleep, as if disdainful. Close to the observatory were a series of islands which were full of resting birds. Hundreds of birds crammed themselves into these patches of roosting habitat providing a good challenge of ID to tell the birds apart.

The emerging islands were full of resting birds

A place like Welney, with so many birds and such a large area of rare habitat regularly brings in the unusual birds. Today this was provided by a flock of seven TUNDRA BEAN GEESE that flew in at the end of the swan feed, and then spent the rest of the day asleep on islands in front of the Observatory. My first ever record of this species was at Welney many, many years ago, and are a scarce bird in this country, there is maybe a couple of hundred wintering in the UK, which makes these birds a good find.

SWAN and POCHARD

Away from the Observatory, there were hides up and down the Washes where birds were wilder, not brought close to you by any feeds. DUCKS were more dispersed on the extensive water, loose flocks which still numbered in the thousands. WIGEON were in the largest number, with good numbers of PINTAIL, TUFTED DUCK and SHOVELLER, although surprisingly I didn't see a single gadwall. There are not many places in the country where you can see so many ducks in such numbers in one place.

With some exposed land about there were a few WADERS in and around the reserve. At the furthest hide, Friends Hide, three RUFF were present and a CURLEW flew over, but in all the tussocky grass there were DUNLIN, SNIPE and REDSHANK about. In larger numbers, there were a thousand GODWIT roosting in front of the Observatory and many thousands of LAPWING would bounce into the air at the slightest whim. 

This swan had a damaged wing, so I don't think could fly

When I had finished with The Washes, having seen many birds, I walked over the road to the visitor centre, to enjoy a nice coffee and unwind a bit. A small crowd of birders was present looking out over Lady Fen, who it turned out were watching a pair of SHORT EARED OWL. This is a large day flying owl, often found on remote areas of rough grassland, and are always a much sought after bird. The birds flew around the area, never really interacting, crossing over each other, occasionally dropping to the floor to catch some vole. What makes them so different to other birds is their distinctive flat faces, with eyes that point forward like a person's rather than to the side like other birds. This was a great end to a superb time at Welney an amazing nature reserve with lots of birds.

RSPB Ouse Washes

The southern section of the Ouse Washes are owned and managed by the RSPB, although its pretty much the same as Welney. Less of an attraction than Welney, there aren't any swan feeds, and unlike the hordes of people at Welney you seldom see a soul here, its a very quiet place to spend some time. There was a lot maintenance work going on at the banks, and as a result only one hide was open, where I spent the last couple of hours of the day. As at  Welney, the birds were present in large numbers but were well dispersed over the site. Trying to find anything unusual in the vast number of birds was a thankless task so I just enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere, occasionally disturbed by the whooping of a swan.

WHOOPER SWANS are the largest of our swans, with several thousand roosting on the Washes every night. During the day they can be seen feeding on surrounding farm fields.

In reeds by the hide, a CETTI'S WARBLER was seen, and later heard in song, while as the light faded a small number of CORN BUNTING came in to roost, little, fat brown birds, they still exist in decent numbers out on the fen farmlands, but again are a farmland bird in crisis. As I left the site a BARN OWL was seen quartering along a ditch in some farmland, a ghostly vision of white floating in the twilight creating a nice end to the day.

The Ouse Washes are a formidable couple of  reserves to write about. How to do justice to the vast number of birds that use the place. What about the fact that Welney  has some of the greatest facilities of any nature reserve. There are so many birds, with great photography opportunities, this is a must visit place for any birdwatcher. And if you're a birdwatcher and have never visited Welney, what are you doing? Go now. Anyway, if you're new to birdwatching and are wondering if you would enjoy the hobby then a trip to Welney is in order, a true wildlife spectacle like no other.

Barham Pits - 16/1/2022

Pair of CANADA GEESE Pit B

Its not often I dedicate a whole post to Barham Pits, but, just occasionally, the place can come good. A set of three fishing pits between the villages of Clayden and Great Blakenham, on the outskirts of Ipswich, flanked by the A14, its set in a fairly urbanised area. Pit B is the biggest with Pit A half the size and Meadlands again which is pretty small, they are all tree lined, but are heavily fished so there is a lot of disturbance. It doesn't attract a whole load of birds, mainly those of gravel pits, but today there were a few goodies.

Barham Pit B, your typical gravel pit

A patch first for me, for the area along the Gipping, was a GREAT WHITE EGRET which alighted on a tree for a few seconds before flying off again, some time around midday. Formerly a rare bird in Suffolk, if this species has finally arrived to the Gipping Valley, then it has really colonised every corner of the countryside, a dash of something exotic in a very mundane place.

Pair of GOLDENEYE

Another local mega, and this is a strange one, was a pair of GOLDENEYE on Pit A. This is a duck which winters on lowland lakes, pretty much like the ones found here along the Gipping, yet in this area they are very rare. It doesn't really make sense, the area should have a lot more records of this duck than it does, its just one of those unexplainable things. My only other record for the Gipping Valley was one at the Suffolk Water Park a couple of winters back. The only other duck at the pits were four TUFTED DUCK on Pit B with five more on Pit A, not big numbers at all. A pair of EGYPTIAN GEESE were on Pit A, this is the sort of habitat that is attractive to this kind of bird, so they may colonise the area. These birds come from Egypt, as you would expect, the birds in this country originated from escapees from wildfowl collections that have now become naturalised. 

Pair of EGYPTIAN GEESE Pit A

The pits are good for GREAT  CRESTED GREBE, with several pair nesting on them each year. Today, two birds had dressed up in their summer plumage finery, and with the thrill of spring in the air, had decided to tentatively start their courtship. Okay so it was just a small amount of  head bobbing, not the full dance, for which the bird is famous, but its still nice to see, one of nature's wonders. A decent count of twelve COOT were on Pit B, whilst a count of 40 MOORHEN there was important. On a final note a KINGFISHER was on Pit B, a little speck in flight, short but nice.

LITTLE EGRET, half the size of a great white egret, which flew over the Pits today, this is now a common bird in Suffolk

Having visited this site many times over the years I really wasn't expecting to see any birds, I have become desensitised to the area. But such are the joys of birdwatching, the inconsistencies, and the fact that any place anywhere can attract birds, even Barham Pits.

Lackford Lakes - 12/1/2022

GREAT TIT on the Stump

Birdwatching is now becoming a big thing. Upon entering the car park at Lackford Lakes I was amazed at the number of cars parked there, it was full to the brim. And this was just a normal day on a Wednesday in January, no special events on at all, and yet it was still busy. This popularity of Lackford is great news for nature, as the more people who get involved with her, the more people will want to protect her. If people enjoy nature and the countryside at Lackford then they may want to support the Suffolk Wildlife Trust, the owners, and that is good news for wildlife in the county. Nature should be there for everyone to enjoy, appreciate and to look after.

The Slough

As with most reserves, when you leave the visitors centre and the first couple of hides the people are soon left behind, and apart from a tour group, I barely saw a soul. Since my last visit there had thankfully been an increase in bird numbers on the lakes although numbers were well down on previous winters. The warm temperatures have resulted in many wintering birds not turning up on our shores. This is called Staggered Migration where birds from the continent flee the cold weather in steps across their migration path, and if the temperature is warm enough at one step they don't need to move on. And as a result a lot of our normal wintering birds are staying in Europe and not coming over here.

GULLS on the Sailing Lake

As with most visits to Lackford there were plenty of birds about to see. The western lakes, the Sailing Lake and the Slough, are usually the best for birds, holding the largest number and most variety. The Sailing Lake is the largest at Lackford, and when there are no boats on the water it is often full of birds. When approaching the hide there grew this cacophony of noise, and looking out on the lake there was a reason why: hundreds of GULLS were present, never the quietest of birds, today they were making quite a racquet. The Sailing Lake is the main area for POCHARD, this pretty duck forming small tight flocks in the centre of the water. However the total of forty birds is pitiful when compared to previous years, when there are usually double that number. This is a bird that has declined quite substantially in this country due to the milder winters we have enjoyed.

Female GOOSANDER on the Slough

Further on from the Sailing Lake, the Slough usually holds a good variety of DUCK, with its array of different habitats: reed and tree fringes, deep water and shallow, islands and scrapes it attracts a lot of birds. Bird of the day was a female GOOSANDER red headed with a grey body, quite shy it had disappeared out of  view behind some trees, and took a while to be coaxed out. Lackford used to be the prime site in Suffolk for this duck, but nowadays only a couple are seen here each year. The Slough was the only place at Lackford for SHOVELLER, with around twenty present, again low numbers. In fact the only duck to make it into triple figures today were TUFTED DUCK, WIGEON and TEAL, birds present on all the lakes, east and west. Teal were present in the largest numbers with several hundred present, mostly sleeping on some tree on the edge of a lake.

TUFTED DUCKS

Around four pairs of MUTE SWAN were around the site on various lakes, as well as a pair of EGYPTIAN GEESE, the latter are very early nesters, often starting to breed in January. SNIPE were about with eight present on the Slough, with six more on the island in Plover Lake out on the eastern fringes. As always with this well camouflaged bird, of those I saw, probably many more were present.

NUTHATCH on the Stump

As you enter Lackford from the main road you instantly know you have arrived at a nature reserve from the general countryside, the hedgerows are fuller and things begin to look untidy, as nature wants. The trees, scrub and reedbeds at Lackford attract lots of smaller birds, many of which will soon start to sing as the days lengthen. The best place to look for these songsters is the Stump, just on from the Slough, but before the Eastern Lakes. This is a an old fallen tree where photographers put out seed to attract birds down to take pictures of. These birds have now become used to people now, and don't mind if you come too close. And there were some good birds too. A  NUTHATCH, dapper in blue-grey; a pair of MARSH TIT scarcer than its cousins, although muted in colour; COAL TITS, GREAT TITS, BLUE TITS, BLACKBIRDS and DUNNOCCKS, were all encouraged down to feed.

KINGFISHER from Steggall's Hide

Right at the most eastern end of the lakes, at Steggall's Hide, a KINGFISHER flew in to perch on the edge of the reed fringe, this little jolt of sapphire shining through the brown reeds. Just outside the hide a large flock of SISKIN were heard feeding in the alders, little greeny-yellow finches making quite a racquet with their melancholic call. 

Long Reach Lake

In winter aside from the birds, wildlife takes a break with only the odd mammal seen. Today, as I walked towards the Eastern Lakes, a CHINESE WATER DEER nonchalantly walked across the path in front of me, it didn't even bother to look at me as it passed, totally confident as all deer have become in a countryside free of predators.

Pair of SWANS

When Lackford's good it really does pull in the birds. Habitat like the lakes here are quite rare in Suffolk, so for birds the place is quite important on a county level, if not nationally. This is one of the Suffolk Wildlife Trust's largest and most popular reserves, situated in an area where there are few wetlands which makes it so important for wildlife and if you're bored of the coast is worth a visit.

Blythburgh and Hen Reedbeds - 6/1/2022

DUNLIN are one of our smallest and most numerous wader, forming large flocks on the mud of our estuaries

What a cracking reserve Hen Reedbeds is. Formed in two river valleys that flow into the Blyth Estuary, when the Wildlife Trust took over the reserve at the start of the millenium they allowed the area to grow into reedbeds. The area has now had time to mature, and coupled with great views of the Blyth Estuary, the place makes for a good birdwatching site. It forms part of the vast Walberswick nature reserve complex an area that is very rich in birds, one I visit many times, and never tire of visiting.

The estuary at Blythbrugh

I started the day looking over the Blythe Estuary from Blythburgh. The tide was still rushing out of the river, but on the expanses of the estuary there was still lots of mud about. As you would expect there was a vast array of birds, mainly WADERS and DUCKS. The usual suspects were about, including a lot of black and white AVOCETS, among the flocks of commoner browner waders. Also a bit scarcer in the duck congregation were a good number of PINTAIL among the TEAL and WIGEON.

Vast skies on the estuary

From Blythburgh It was a short distance up the road onto Hen Reedbeds. Next to the car park is a viewpoint which looks over the sea of reeds pushing inland to trees behind. From here two MARSH HARRIERS were flying about, a male and female, although it might be too early for them to start looking to nest. Ten SNIPE were about, on the edge of the reeds, feeding in the areas exposed to the sun, ground which was thawing out, becoming soft enough to let them insert their bill into the mud. Cryptically plumaged, these birds are well camouflaged, and if you see one bird, there are probably just as many more hidden in the vegetation.

The reeds from the viewing platform

Just below the car park a flock of SISKIN were noisily feeding in the alders, their call a melancholy sighing ringing through the trees. From the car park, the footpath crosses the road to lead up to the river wall, Here the wall protects another area of reeds, whilst on the other side is the mud of the Blyth, giving the best views of the north side of the estuary.

More reeds, this is an important habitat for many rare birds

The tide on the estuary had come in somewhat since I was in Blythburgh, but there was still plenty of mud about and as a result there were plenty of birds. The Blythe is a strange river in that parts of it are narrow channels, whilst others explode out into vast seas of mud at certain periods. Along the wall at Hen Reedbeds there were both narrow channels of inrushing water, before turning to big stretches of mud. A KINGFISHER zipped down the river, briefly alighting on a branch before disappearing again. Its so frustrating that our most colourful jewel of a bird is rarely seen as anything but a distant speck flying low over the water, as if it was feeling so self-conscious about its beauty, as if it was embarrassed about it and refused to show it off.

A female MARSH HARRIER being mobbed by a pair of CROWS, sorry its a bit out of focus

On the reedbed side of the reserve a pair of SWANS were pairing up to probably breed, whilst a BEARDED TIT flitted across a gap in the reeds. On the estuary there were plenty of birds, of both WADERS and DUCKS, although nothing different to what I saw at Blythburgh earlier on.

A pair of SWANS pairing up, probably to attempt to nest over the next couple of months

Further on, as the path leaves the reserve and its reeds, the wall passes low lying grasslands, several of which had flooded. Among the ducks and loafing gulls present was a flock of seven WHITE FRONTED GEESE This is your typical mid winter bird, a goose from Russia brought here by the cold weather. A small goose, told apart by the white band behind the beak, this is my first record for the Walberswick area. The Suffolk Coast has to be the main site in the country to see this species, as I have never seen them as often as I have here, although I do spend a lot of my time birding the area. From these flooded pastures I made my way inland, and climbed a hill to a café where I had a coffee and a nice giant sized scone, looking down on the estuary and the reeds and grasslands below.

A flock of WHITE FRONTED GEESE on fields beyond Hen Reedbeds

After Hen Reedbeds I took a trip over to Southwold Harbour to have a walk among the boats, the gulls and starlings. The place is fairly ramshackle, a hodgepodge of shacks, boats and little bridges connecting them to land. Its still an industrious place, there were plenty of fishing boats and lobster pots left out to dry in the sun. The harbour is at the mouth of the estuary, where it meets the sea. Its very much down by the water and there's no real way of protecting it from sea level rise. Behind the harbour, and lying below the town of Southwold, the Town Marshes had a bit of flooding but little beyond flocks of LAPWING, STARLING and ROOKS feeding on the grass.

Southwold Harbour, a nice ramshackle place at the mouth of the estuary

An interesting time at an interesting place, I really should come out this way more often. But as it is I am completely spoilt with birdwatching on the Suffolk Coast, there is just so much to see and do in the area, just not enough hours in the day. Few places can match the sheer variety of habitats and birds that the area throws up. A third of the land in the Suffolk Coast is protected, which is what the entire country needs to be to avert species extinction. Imagine that, the whole country looking like the Suffolk Coast, how amazing would that be.