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.