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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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