Here are some of the garden visitors who showed up during my hour ...
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| Blackbird |
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| Robin |
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| Blue tit |
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| Green Hairstreak butterfly. We saw two of these. |
The sun finally put in an appearance this last Thursday, and we headed off to Minsmere with a picnic lunch. This small selection of photos will perhaps give an indication of the wide variety of species that co-exist on the site, despite the proximity to the new and controversial Sizewell C site.
We noticed our first Large Red Damselfly of 2024 in our garden yesterday. We didn't see any red ones at Minsmere, but we spotted this rather fine Blue-tailed Damselfly in the pond below the visitors' centre.
There were a couple of terns at the water's edge. Is this a Common Tern? I believe this is its breeding plumage; but, as ever, please correct me by leaving a comment.
It is always a joy to see the unmistakable Avocet, the bird on the RSPB logo.
I think this is a Sedge Warbler. The new boardwalk was alive with birdsong.
The photograph above (complete with Spider Crab, presumably the result of somebody's beach-combing activity) shows the seaward extremity of the Minsmere site, with the Dunwich Heath coastguard cottages up on the northern rise in the distance.
Yes, it's definitely breeding season!
We passed signs informing us that the Minsmere adders were waking up. We did not see any snakes on this occasion, but we saw a couple of Common Lizards. Just as we turned to head back to the Visitors' Centre, a Bittern flew over the reedbeds, too quick to catch on camera, but a joy to behold.
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| Birds galore |
David and I checked the forecast last Saturday, which didn't promise much in the way of sunlight, but we set off anyway. In fact, the early February weather, on the day after World Wetlands Day, was superb. There were plenty of ducks about on the scrape behind East Hide.
The structure above was hard to miss, with its distinctive yellow base. I assumed it was to do with the new and controversial Sizewell C. However, it turns out to be a Kittiwake Hotel (see here also) for Black-legged Kittiwakes.
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| We had a good view across to Southwold. |
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| Is this a Great Northern Diver in winter plumage? |
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| You can reach East Hide via the new boardwalk below. |
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| You can see some of the birds we saw and heard. |
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| It was almost balmy on the beach. You can see the coastguard cottages on Dunwich Heath. |
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| I wonder how this view will change ... |
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| We saw several Shovelers on the scrape |
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| Not all the ducks were so alert ... |
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| ... and neither were the Lapwing. |
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| It was a joy to watch this elegant Pintail ... |
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| ... and to see this pair of Shovelers. |
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| The light kept catching our eye ... |
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| ... and the clouds at sunset. |
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| By the time the rain began, we were heading for home. |
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| The first Robin |
We settled down this morning with binoculars, mugs of coffee, a pen and a recording sheet to do our bird survey.
It was a reasonable, fairly nondescript, January morning here in suburban Suffolk. Our bird feeder was hung about with fat-filled coconut, peanuts and sunflower hearts.
As ever, one or two of the 'regulars' failed to put in an appearance, notably the Great spotted woodpecker, Goldfinches and Wren; but never mind.
We spotted twelve species in the hour, which we felt was encouraging but not brilliant. Sadly, we hardly ever see Chaffinches, Bullfinches or Greenfinches in the garden these days.
These are our results:
We also saw a Jay (11.) and a Feral Pigeon (12.), though these species do not appear on the RSPB checklist.
I wonder how your count went. Perhaps you are still hoping to do one.
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| Blue tit, Starling, Great tit |
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| Blue tits, head to head |
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| The action! |
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| More Blue tits |
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| Seed-time |
We decided to revisit RSPB Boyton Marshes yesterday afternoon, a Suffolk nature reserve we have been to once, or at most twice, in the past. We had hardly left the farm, the cattle and the car park behind when we saw Avocets. We have watched these elegant birds a few times over here in East Anglia (and have even seen chicks at WWT Welney); but when I was a teenager in Norfolk, they were fighting for survival. Many of you will recognise the Avocet from the RSPB logo.
We saw some other beautiful birds on the reserve: Mute Swans, Teal, Curlew, Grey Heron and Marsh Harrier, to name but a few. We also had good views across to Havergate, Suffolk's only island. You can see the western end of the island in the photo below (you can click on the photo to enlarge it), with the spit of Orford Ness on the horizon in the far distance.
I love islands and was thrilled to locate this one. It is run by the RSPB for the benefit of wildlife. Visitors arrive on boats from Orford, bringing their own refreshments as there are no food or drink outlets. There are, however, a few hides to facilitate bird-watching activities.
David was able to show me how the island nestles behind the spit of Orford Ness, the green strip on the right in the map on his iPhone screen.
You can see one of the hides in the photo above. This was taken with my zoom lens extended in strange shadowy light. We had a mix of sun, showers and even a couple of hailstones. I hadn't even noticed this particular Curlew when I took the photograph.
We were delighted to see a variety of ducks on the mainland reserve. These were near the Avocets. The ducks we saw included the Shelduck, ...
... and the Shoveler.
During the course of the afternoon we encountered several Grey Heron.
You can see from the next photo why it is such an ideal landscape for ducks.
The area around Boyton Marshes is very varied, which means there are a number of different habitats within and around the reserve. I noted the following (and our total of 15 species of bird sightings, counted in about an hour in a casual kind of way):
The photo above shows the grassy bank to the right. On the left you can see that there are reedbeds and a watercourse receding into the distance. Butley Creek, a tributary of the river Ore (as in Orford), can be seen from the top of the bank, as shown in the next photo.
The ruined building above constitutes the scant remains of Boyton Dock. For a fairly short period in the mid-seventeenth century, substantial amounts of 'potter's clay' were loaded on to ships from this part of the estuary. Some of the clay was used in America and the Netherlands while some was used in the London Delftware industry. The mid-nineteenth century saw Boyton sending coprolite to Ipswich by barge for the manufacture of fertiliser. I spent a year of my life in Ipswich as a resident of Coprolite Street.
There are, in fact, several ruined buildings in this part of Boyton and its environs, many linked to defensive measures. The name 'Boyton' stems from 'Bay Town', the bay being nearby Hollesley. Boyton was one of the Suffolk locations picked for the filming of The Dig.
The photo below shows the view from the Dock, with some of the more distant ruins on the eerie spit of Orford Ness beyond the far bank (and over the water, which it hides).
I felt a few hailstones on my face as this Marsh Harrier flew high above our heads ...
We took a final look at Havergate Island and turned for home.
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| Our view of the creek once we had turned round. |
