Cavenham Heath & Lackford Lakes - 22/9/2022

GREAT TIT

Although the best reserves in Suffolk are found mainly on the coast, there are a few good birding places further west, inland. Cavenham Heath and Lackford Lakes lie on the edge of the Brecks, an area of multiple habitats that was originally heathland. The area is a good place see those scarce birds of heathlands, the best place in the country for finding stone curlews.

Cavenham Heath 

Cavenham Heath is one of the few remnants of Brecks heath existing, an area of acid grassland with scattered growths of heather. Managed by Natural England (the government conservation body), the place is off the beaten track, a little area of wilderness in the Suffolk countryside, found at the end of a series of quiet roads.

Cavenham Heath an area of acid grassland with scattered heather and birch trees

The heath is famous for STONE CURLEWS, both as a breeding site and as a place where they congregate before departing for migration. It was for the latter reason, the birds depart in October, that I decided to have a visit. Looking for stone curlews is tough, they hate people and keep well away. They are also very well camouflaged and can disappear into  any tussock of grass, the birds tend to run along the ground rather than fly. Cavenham is vast, and finding any stone curlews is hard. Walking along the road which cuts through the centre, I scanned the sheep grazed grass for a WAILING HEATH CHICKEN, and I was eventually successful. Down by the very edge of the reserve, by the river Lark, I had a brief view of one, before it disappeared. The birds are a tan colour with a big yellow eye and a straight, yellow beak, distinctive looking without being particularly attractive. It appeared briefly before disappearing into the tussocky grass of the heath.

Near to the stone curlew, a GREY PARTRIDGE, stretched its neck above the grasslands to watch me. Formerly a very common bird of the countryside, they are now rare and hard to find, mainly due to habitat loss. Being a heath, STONECHATS were common, with plenty of birds perched on a fence or gorse. A GREY WAGTAIL was down by the river. A BROWN HARE was also about, grazing among the smaller rabbits. However, being a heath in September, in general it was fairly quiet.

Lackford Lakes

It was a quiet day down at Lackford, as it usually is at this time of year. The lakes were quiet, some wildfowl about, but no big counts. Despite there being plenty of habitat the reserve is poor for waders, and despite there being plenty of mud, nothing of this type of bird was seen. With the recent drought, parts of the Slough had dried up, but as a whole most of the lakes held water.

GREAT TIT on the Stump

As usual at Lackford, there were plenty of DUCKS about. Most common were TUFTED DUCK with close to a hundred present. There were also plenty of GADWALL and TEAL about with around fifty of each around, with single figures of SHOVELLER and POCHARD. The Slough held the largest number, the birds congregating around the central part of the lake. 

The Slough

A HOBBY flew over the trees behind the Slough an acrobatic display of the freedom to be a bird. Small birds were hard to come by, a few CETTI'S WARBLERS had started singing, god knows why in September, belting their song out from an overgrown area. Down by the Stump, a few TITS and DUNNOCKS were about, but nothing much else of note really.

A DUNNOCK and GREAT TIT

In all a quiet visit to west Suffolk, but I came away with the bonus of finding a stone curlew, the must see bird of the day. Its been a very uneventful Autumn for me with little passing through, I haven't seen anything really of note in the county. Maybe something will drift in but I don't hold up hope. What is really concerning is the lack of common migrants, with no swallows or hirundines seen today, despite it being peak migration. Bird numbers are crashing, as is most of nature, an apocalypse we can ignore, but shouldn't.

Dingle Marshes - 15/9/2022

Fishing boat at Dunwich

Its been a fairly underwhelming Autumn so far on the Suffolk coast with little of interest moving through. So with not much about I chose to visit Dingle Marshes on the off chance that I might find something of interest. Alas it wasn't to be, as although there were a few interesting birds about there was just nothing truly rare to see.

LITTLE EGRET on one of the shore pools

The walk around Dingle Marshes starts at Dunwich car park, walking north along the shingle beach, moving inland at the reed beds of Westwood Marshes before heading back south through Dunwich Forest. The Marshes are a mixture of grassland and reeds with a couple of shore pools, and the huge reed bed of Westwood Marshes, which is part of the Walberswick reserve. I spent some time around the area, three hours, giving it a thorough going over, checking all the available habitat so nothing could escape my searching gaze.

The huge skies that dwarf the marshes here

The shore pools on the marshes are pretty good for WADERS which are attracted to the shallow brackish water. The highlight today was a flock of five SPOTTED REDSHANK, a fairly common wader at this time of year, but for some reason they have been rare on the Suffolk Coast this Autumn. Its similar to a common redshank, but is more elegant, with a light grey wash plumage, and black on its bill. A WHIMBREL was present, as were two AVOCET, six DUNLIN, seven GODWITS and a COMMON SANDPIPER. Numbers of Teal had built up with 130 present, mainly asleep on the edges of the pools. Also around was a GREAT WHITE EGRET, mixed in with the LITTLE EGRETS, Dingle Marshes is the best place on the Coast to see this increasing species. A flock of seven RINGED PLOVERS were on the beach, often flying up and down when scared by a passing dog walker.

The abandoned mill at Westwood Marshes

Walking through the reeds at Westwood Marshes, a KINGFISHER flew down one of the dykes, a bolt of sapphire shooting across the water, moving so quickly before disappearing for good. The reeds were full of BEARDED TITS, their metallic "pinging" call echoing among the tall stems, with the odd bird rising up to be seen. This is the time of year when they "erupt", when flocks of the birds emerge from the reeds, leaving the larger reed beds where they nest to winter elsewhere. WATER RAILS could be heard calling, a squealing pig sound coming from the reeds, this is a fairly common bird that is so hard to see, hidden in the reeds, but announces itself every so often. Several WHEATEAR were around the shingle bank, while a STONECHAT was seen in the grassy slope that rises from the marshes.

MUTE SWAN on a dyke in the marshes

In the end it was a fairly standard day's birding down at Dingle Marshes with nothing much particularly of interest. I was hoping something of note might have turned up, but it wasn't to be. Its alright, its nice walking territory, and I enjoy visiting other places that aren't Minsmere. Its probably not the best place to visit on the Suffolk Coast, but worth a look every so often.

Minsmere - 1/9/2022

Water measuring stick in the dried mud

With the extreme drought conditions we are facing (there hasn't been any significant rainfall this year) everywhere is drying up and wet places are hard to come by. In the nearly thirty years I have visited Minsmere I have never seen the reserve so dry. East Scrape has completely dried out, and there were only large puddles left on West Scrape. This really bodes ill, as if there is no rainfall soon, places may never recover, our green and pleasant land turned to a desert.

East Scrape is now a desert.

With the Scrape mainly dried out, water birds were hard to come by. Most of the water had been pumped into South Scrape, and the levels were still high there, with some TEAL and SHOVELLER there, and a few lingering AVOCET. WADER wise it was very quiet, six SNIPE and four DUNLIN on West Scrape was paltry numbers. A flock of twelve SANDERLING were disturbed from the beach and flew down the coast.

All the water had been concentrated on South Scrape

A few lingering MARSH HARRIER were around the reedbeds, while a GREAT WHITE EGRET was seen to fly around the reeds before going down again. On Island Mere there were more ducks GADWALL, TEAL, SHOVELLER and TUFTED DUCK, with a few GREAT CRESTED GREBES as well.

A few puddles remained on West Scrape

Near the Konik Fields a flock of five BEARDED TITS erupted from the reedbeds and flew across the path, with another one lingering in the reeds. Only one STONECHAT was in the Dunes, a juvenile, the nesting birds have moved on and migrant birds have yet to arrive. Other wise small birds were keeping very quiet.

The anti-tank blocks facing Sizewell B, on the Dunes

So probably the  quietest day's birdwacthing I have ever experienced at Minsmere, there was just so little about. Water is the source of life and with so little of it about there were so few birds. If it doesn't rain, where does the water come from? A climate emergency is happening now, right in front of our eyes, yet nothing is being done to address it. Things have been started but not enough is being done now. What we need now is a deeper connection with our environment so we can understand just what is going so wrong with our world.