Carlton Marshes is the flagship reserve of the Suffolk Wildlife Trust, a behemoth of a reserve, created from some useless farmland to form a wetland bursting with wildlife. It forms a big part of the small Suffolk section of the Norfolk Broads, an area of long winding rivers and low marshland, with big skies looming over the sunken landscape.
It has been a while since I last visited the marshes, and several seasons have passed, and the place is very much different. Gone are the lazy cattle grazed pastures, to be replaced by lots of water and flocks of birds. It was a day of winter, yet also the first glimmers of Spring, an inbetween time not quite one not quite the other.
The focal point of the reserve is Peto's Marsh, a huge area of flooded grassland and reedbeds. The bird flocks were large, with hundreds of LAPWING bouncing into the air at the slightest whim. With them was a small flock of around twenty GOLDEN POLVERS, a bird which cohorts with them in winter times. DUCK numbers were still high, mainly WIGEON, but also with large numbers of SHOVELLER, with smaller numbers of TEAL and GADWALL. Four male PINTAIL were feeding among them. Star of the show, though not the most showy of birds, was a female GARGANEY, a bird which superficially looks like a teal, but has a distinct eye and forehead stripe. A female teal fed nearby and providing comparisons, the garganey was slightly larger, darker and crucially had a dark wing stripe. Garganey are our only summer visiting duck, and with only fifty pairs nesting in the country are scarce birds. This bird is my earliest ever record of this species.
Out on the marshes signs of the upcoming breeding season were in motion with several pairs of REDSHANK returning, a pair of AVOCET, and three noisy OYSTERCATCHERS, whether a pair protecting their territory from an intruder or two aggressive males chasing a female, I'm not sure. A GREAT WHITE EGRET was present flying around the site, at one point confronted by a GREY HERON, to whom he turned his back on. The egret was actually taller than the heron, a truly impressive bird.
The low lying marshes make for good bird of prey country, and today there were large numbers of MARSH HARRIER present quartering low over the landscape. These new marshes have given these impressive birds of prey plenty of land to hunt over. Another reedbed specialist was the BEARDED TIT, heard calling from Peto's Marsh, although unfortunately I didn't see any.
A characteristic sight of Carlton Marshes are the CHINESE WATER DEER found there. Two animals were present on Peto's Marsh, observing me as a I observed it. In full gait it resembles a giant rabbit. It doesn't have antlers, instead it has giant canine extending from its top lip. As its name suggests it originates from China, and naturlaised here having escaped from deer collections, finding a niche for itself in our countryside.
OSPREY on the Blyth Estuary
Driving back down the A12 I decided to stop at the Blyth Estuary for a quick look, and I was glad I did so. Arriving on the river wall I noticed a bird of prey flying in the distance and taking a look was amazed to ID an OSPREY.
Its shape and white colour identified the bird immediately, and although it was distant was fairly easy to make out. This was a great find, ospreys are such iconic birds, their history in this country is such a milestone for the conservation movement. I don't have the space to write about it but if you have any spare time I recommend looking up the story of the osprey.
The osprey is a summer visitor and like the garganey earlier, this is my earliest record of this species. On the estuary itself, the tide was low, and not much was around, the usual DUCKS and WADERS, including some AVOCETS.
What an impressive county to birdwatch Suffolk is. And when new ones are created things are even better. However despite more reserves being created, there is still large scale destruction of the countryside, ones that nature reserves can't compensate for. Don't get me wrong, reserves are good, but what we need is for our wider countryside to be managed more in tune with nature.
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