Down by the River Deben

 

 

Sutton Hoo (installation inspired by helmet)

We have enjoyed some waterside bird-watching recently at NT Sutton Hoo. These are our sightings (and 'listenings') so far. Merlin, the Cornell bird ID app has helped us along the way. We have found the app pretty reliable, though I suspect it is designed for users in the US. The bird recorded as a 'White Wagtail' was probably a Pied Wagtail.

 

 

3 March

• Avocet (a)
  
• Dunnock
  
• Lapwing
• Long-tailed tit
• Oystercatcher (b)
  
• Treecreeper
• Shelduck (c)
  

9 March

• Buzzard
• Curlew (d)
  
• Goldfinch 
• Great spotted woodpecker
  
• Great tit
• Pied/White Wagtail 
• Pheasant
  
• Redshank (e)
  
• Siskin
• Wigeon
• Plus: (a), (b) and (c)
  

17 March

• Blue tit
  
• Chaffinch
• Magpie
  
• Robin
• Plus: (b), (c) and (d)
  

30 March

• Blackbird
• Carrion Crow
  
• Chiffchaff
• Green woodpecker
• Herring gull
  
• Jackdaw
  
• Rook
  
• Skylark (f)
  
• Wren
• Plus: (b) and (c) 

We also saw a Muntjac:

 

The Oystercatchers in the next photo were on this rampike.

 

1 April 

• Black-backed gull
• Canada goose
• Mallard
• Mute swan
• Song thrush
• Teal
• Plus: (b), (c), (e) and (f)
  

 

36 species in total so far since 3 March. Those with a letter, such as (a), have been seen on more than one occasion. 

 

*

There were quite a few ladybirds, mainly but not exclusively 7-spots, on the Sutton Hoo site and a few butterflies: we noticed Peacocks, Small Tortoiseshells and Red Admirals. We saw a beefly on Saturday, and two shieldbugs this afternoon on the gorse. 

Spring Signs at Home and at Snape Maltings

Snape: Aconites and Snowdrops

Snape: Aconites

This small clump of Cyclamen taking over the delapidated decking at home

Our first 2023 Iris, probably Iris Reticulata

Snape, looking from the reedbeds to the Maltings

Snape: wonderful to see so many Avocets, albeit at a distance.

Stonechats, male and female

Snape, looking to Iken Church and Iken Cliffs on the right

The female Stonechat

Wing beats: two Mute Swans overhead

Snape: Iken Church through the rampike

And finally, back at base, a quick peep at the toad house. I so hope a toad finds it in the weeks to come.

 

Blue Skies at Snape, the Calm before the Storm

It is always a joy when the first spring flowers appear, and these bright yellow Aconites at Snape this afternoon were the first ones I have seen in 2020.

The reedbeds were shimmering in front of the poplars...



...and large swathes of the sandy soil had been ploughed.

This was the view, looking back to the Maltings, with its cafes, shops and famous concert hall.

I saw one tiny fish in the water and a couple of flies or midges above it, but it was really the reed reflections that caught my eye.

The gulls were out in force.

There were a few small waders and some Shelduck in among them.

This is St Botolph's church, across the water at Iken.

These small flecks of green must indicate new growth in the reedbed.



I wonder who will find these remaining rosehips.



The land here is very flat, and I love the marked bands of colour - green, gold, blue, more green and more blue - that can be seen.

We stopped to listen for birds, but apart from the cooing sound of some distant Wood Pigeons, we heard very little above the sounds of an aeroplane overhead, some traffic in the distance and what was probably the motor of some kind of farm machinery.

There may not have been much sound on the marsh, but the view from the boardwalk is always rather special, with these stark trunks. Robert Macfarlane called these skeleton trees 'rampikes' on his Twitter feed on 24 September 2019. I always thought that trees like these had been struck by lightning, but I believe these ones may have been damaged by flooding.

On the east coast of the USA, stands of waterlogged trees are known as ghost forests. You can just see Iken church through the bare branches.



I'm guessing a Muntjac has been making its way through the reeds on a fairly regular basis.

There was a last shimmer of light as we took a last look at the poplars.

The moon rose over the water...

... as our shadows began to lengthen.

Postscript
Gusts in the high 60s (mph) are predicted for our area tomorrow (i.e. for Sunday 9 February). Do check the forecast if you are out and about.