Minsmere - 26/1/2022

A BEARDED TIT, its handsome moustache denotes the bird as a male

The annoying thing about twitching is how unsatisfying it can be. Often the bird you've come to see appears briefly, or at a distance, and the only  way you know it is that bird is because someone told you it was. Sometimes you wait hours for a look only to get a blink and miss it view. Today's twitch was a LESSER YELLOWLEGS at Minsmere, and having been there for a week or so, the twitch wasn't big, a few birders moving in and out. But it was something I had to see, a destination bird, a rarity. This mislaid visitor from America was the first record at Minsmere for at least a decade, my first here and for Suffolk, a list tick at best.

A male TEAL feeding in front of East Hide

The bird was on the Levels, an area that begins just south of the Sluice and the Bushes, on and around Lucky's Pool. The Levels, an area off wet grassland, were flooded, and the bird spent its time on some wet land, annoyingly among some overgrown tussocks. I saw the bird in flight, with it white rump, and heard its call, and when I saw it in the open, which wasn't often, it resembled a redshank in shape and size. Two REDSHANK were nearby, which provided some useful comparisons.

This BEARDED TIT spent its time within a couple of metres of me, however photos were difficult as the reeds got in the way, interfering with the automatic focus.

As you can see from the photos the visitor from America wasn't even the bird of the day. Minsmere being Minsmere there were plenty of other birds about, enough to make a visit worthwhile without a twitch. Non-rarity bird of the day was a gorgeous male BEARDED TIT, who tamely stayed within a metre of where I stood, allowing me to admire it for an extended time. Although not a rare bird at Minsmere or on the Suffolk Coast, this bird is reliant on one habitat: reedbeds. And not just any reedbeds, but huge reedbeds. They are a pretty bird, all birds are this ginger colour, long tailed in shape, while the male also has a black moustache. Even when you don't see them you can often hear them, with their metallic "pinging" call, and there were at least three or four calling to this bird from deeper in the reedbed.

There is a tame ROBIN around the cafe

This being winter, there were plenty of DUCKS about, often dominating the birding scene. Twenty PINTAIL was a good record on South Scrape. Numbers of the usual duck on the Scrape were lower as flooding on the Levels had attracted more birds away to those areas. The Levels were full of WIGEON grazing the grassy areas. During winter a lot of ducks that turn up here for the season often pair up together before travelling back to their breeding grounds. Two male colourful SHOVELLER were competing for the attention of a brownish female, with a lot of head bobbing, and singing out their song, which is kind of like "jib jib". Shoveller are my favourite duck, the beautiful colours of the male, that extravagant bill, and when compared to the commoner ducks are strangely scarce.

A pair of male SHOVELLER displaying for the female's attention, which included a lot off head bobbing

Other than an off course American, there were a good range of other WADERS present, a bit of joy for a winter's day at Minsmere. A KNOT was a decent find, although I can see twenty thousand at Snettisham, Suffolk in general holds few of this bird, so seeing one is always a bonus. With the mild weather in the air, signs of Spring were beginning to emerge bleary eyed into the world with twenty AVOCET present, returning from their winter grounds, they will be looking to nest on the Scrape. Twenty DUNLIN were about, some SNIPE in grassy areas in front of North Hide, and five CURLEW on South Scrape were all seen. A GREAT WHITE EGRET was present on the Scrape, a bird I saw on my last visit, which has seemed to taken the area for a home and is staying put.

BEARDED TIT are common around large reedbeds, but are rare anywhere else

The sea as seen from Minsmere, can be quiet, but today there were a few goodies. A flock of 450 COMMON SCOTER (someone had counted them) were about, seen further down the coast, near to Dunwich, a long black line of black sea ducks. Several RED THROATED DIVERS were seen flying north, whist a GREY SEAL was also present, but apart from that there were just a few gulls.

Male WIGEON, this duck is quite common around the grassy areas.

All in all a solid winter's day down at Minsmere, with a rarity added into the mix. Places like Minsmere are so rare, so precious, yet even a place like this is at risk. Sizewell C is raising its ugly head, and will get the go ahead, even though its not needed, in fact stupid, but politicians want it so it looks like they are doing something, leaving a legacy at a huge cost.