Summer Of The Spider

 July 1st Strumpshaw Fen

A nice day but a little breezy. The Lackford Run was still muddy in places, lucky I had my wellies on. There wasn't too much of note here today other than a few scarce chasers. No sign of the swallowtail caterpillars at the boardwalk, sadly.

At Tower Hide, possibly 100 or so mallards (basically, lots of ducks) and that's about it. At least I had a couple of common terns fly over the river and a grasshopper warbler was singing briefly by the Sandy Wall, so at least the walk wasn't a total waste of time.

Hare & Spoonbills (July 8th)
Hobby, Grasshopper Warbler,
Silver-washed Fritillary & White Admiral (July 8th)

At Reception Hide, there was a flock of at least 6 bearded tits darting between the reedy islands and reedbeds. I also saw marsh harrier fledglings and a brief kingfisher and another common tern as well as a heron and many mallards on the far side of the broad.

July 7th Cley

Back at Cley for the second weekend in a row, with both parents this time. Nothing out of the ordinary, but I had the chance to be inside the central hides unlike the week before (which had a herd of cattle outside them).Avocets, black-tailed godwits, lapwings, an oystercatcher, a little ringed plover, bearded tits, marsh harriers and, the highlight of the day, a hare that gave us a great view of it in front of one of the hides. From East Bank, 3 spoonbills, sandwich terns and then we got soaked by the rain as soon as we stepped onto the beach! Not a fun way to end the visit! 

July 8th Strumpshaw Fen

A much nicer day than the entire weekend and a good day at Strumpshaw. At Fen Hide, a hobby posed from a bush before moving to another bush further away. Then, I went to the meadow trail. I got to the bridge over the ditch and looked down. Scanning the aquatic vegetation, I was taken aback when I discovered something big with many legs resting on a lily pad poking upwards. It was a fen raft spider! My first encounter at Strumpshaw! This endangered arachnid was much darker than your average fen raft spider and lacking the yellow stripes. When I saw it, I thought I was looking at the Spider-Man logo. These spiders were reintroduced to a secret location in 2012 and this is now the 2nd year in a row that they've been seen at Strumpshaw. A huge success!

I then walked to the pumphouse and saw a grasshopper warbler reeling in the tall grass behind the toe-dipping platform. In the woods, two silver-washed fritillaries and two white admirals amongst other butterflies were feeding on the bramble patch.

From Reception Hide, I saw three hobbies having an aerial scrap, a brief fleeting glimpse of a swallowtail, bearded tits, marsh harriers and many dragonflies such as Norfolk hawkers, scarce chasers, small red-eyed damselflies, emperor dragonflies and more (though no lesser emperors).

July 15th Strumpshaw Fen

I was walking to Strumpshaw, when a fellow volunteer, Liz Dack, pulls up and takes me the rest of the way to the reserve. When we got there, Liz immediately points out a pair of cranes flying in the distance outside Reception Hide. I then decided to put my wellies on and check out the meadow trail (which was rather empty and boggy). While trying to search for plants, the pair of cranes flew over me! They ended up at the sluice gates along Fen Trail, where I caught up with Liz who had just seen the chick cross her path, grown to the point of  almost being ready to fly. I was to see the cranes a few more times during my shift at the Reception Hide throughout the morning. 

Cranes & Grass Snake (July 15th),
Oystercatcher (July 21st) & Kingfisher (July 29th)

While heading out from the meadows to see them at the sluices to see the cranes, I was walking up the ramp that connects the meadow trail to the Sandy Wall, when I spooked a large grass snake that was basking on the railway sleeper border. All I saw of it was a tail slithering down into the undergrowth. On my return from the sluices, I walked slowly to keep my footsteps as quiet as possible and scanned the sleepers, hoping it had returned. It did! It was big! A snake of that size means that it was a female. She lounged flat and straight as she basked in the sun to warm up her cold blooded body. I managed a few photos before she eventually noticed me and slithered back into the undergrowth yet again.

At Reception, other than cranes, I had a kingfisher, bearded tits, marsh harriers, swallows, house martins, a heron, many eclipsed-phased mallards and a lot of dragonflies, including my first willow emerald damselfly of the year.

July 21st Titchwell

This weekend has been a scorcher! At least Sunday was a cooler day than yesterday, but only just. As it was Sunday, my parents and I decided to visit Titchwell. The pools had plenty birds on it, mostly avocets, a few plovers (little ringed, common ringed and lapwings), 2 spoonbills, a few common terns and the odd godwit.

It was far cooler on the beach and the tide was out. Oystercatchers, godwits and turnstones were feeding by the shoreline and I watched 2-3 terns plunge into an exposed pool in the mud, successfully catching small fish or shrimps. However, the downside of this visit was a plague of horseflies that kept attacking me on the way back from the beach. They just kept biting my legs despite spraying repellent on them! They were attacking me so badly that I made a dash to the safety of the car.

July 22nd Strumpshaw Fen

An even cooler day. To combat the horseflies, I was wearing trousers and my RSPB fleece. It did the job nicely. No bites! I went down the rather dewy Lackford Run, though there wasn't much about. At least the path wasn't boggy than usual, until the very end that is. I popped into Tower Hide, seeing a load of ducks, a heron and a great white egret.

Leaving Tower Hide, I was navigating around a minor muddy patch of the Fen Trail, when I heard a crash of branches to my left. I turned and in the shade of some trees, an otter was bounding away from me! I've never gotten this close to one on land before! After that, I went to Fen Hide briefly finding 3 flowering rushes in bloom and a lizard along Sandy Wall.

The Reception Hide didn't produce too much other than many mallards, dragonflies, a heron, swallows, house martins and a common tern.

July 29th Strumpshaw Fen

A scorcher! A very hot day and I'm walking in trousers and my fleece. What was protecting me from biting insects was uncomfortable in the scorching heat. Thankfully, once my walk was done, I had a pair of shorts to change into. The walk itself was through the woods, seeing a couple of spotted flycatchers at the far end. I also spotted a green woodpecker, a kestrel, the odd muntjac, many dragonflies and butterflies and a lot of sweat!

From Reception Hide, the highlight was a kingfisher that made a couple of visits, perching right in front of the hide. I also had a heron, 2 swans with 4 grown cygnets, swallows and many, many dragonflies, including emperors, 4-spot chasers, brown hawkers, common darters and black-tailed skimmers. However, try as I might, I could not spot a lesser emperor.

Aug 5th Strumpshaw Fen

Stepping onto the boardwalk, I was instantly greeted by the sight of a large green caterpillar of a swallowtail butterfly clinging to a branch of a milk parsley. Then I found another one! They were really big, close to pupating for the winter and emerging as butterflies next year.

After an uninteresting walk along the Lackford Run, the Tower Hide provided views of a great white egret in a tree, a heron, a few shovelers, gadwall and mallards. I then had a flash of a kingfisher along the river as I made my way to do my shift. From Reception, two more great white egrets, a little egret, swallows, house martins and many dragonflies, but still no lesser emperors.

Aug 12th Strumpshaw Fen

My parents and I had a week off from work this week, but I still wanted to do my Strumpshaw shift. So, they took me to the reserve and went for a walk with me. Mum only went as far as Fen Hide, but Dad and I continued on to Tower Hide. It was the hottest day of the year so far and I guess the wildlife was feeling the heat and was in hiding as there wasn't a lot of activity. From Tower Hide, mallards, a few gadwall, teal and shovelers were looking drab and brown, a marsh harrier was sitting in a tree seeming to be suffering in the rising heat, a heron, a little grebe, Then we popped into Fen Hide, where only a family of swans could be seen. Lizards and dragonflies were the only things enjoying the hot temperatures along the Sandy Wall.

Swallowtail Caterpillar & Snail (Aug 5th),
Emperor Dragonfly & Chinese Water Deer (Aug 14th),
Migrant Hawker & Fen Raft Spider (Aug 19th)

My parents then left me as I did my shift at Reception Hide. It was fairly quiet, but at least it was cooler inside the hide. Other than great white and little egrets, a heron, swallows, house martins and more plentiful, yet drab looking eclipse-phased ducks and dazzling dragonflies, it was just too hot for anything like kingfishers to turn up and make things more exciting to lift the tiring mood.

Aug 14th Carlton Marshes

Another hot day, though not as hot as at Strumpshaw. My parents decided to take me to Carlton Marshes, a place I've never been before. This was my first ever visit, but my mum has been here before to use the new café as meet up place with her sister. Mum was here today for the same reason, but Dad and I went out onto the reserve to check the place out.

It wasn't to be my favourite reserve, sadly, as I just thought the walk was a bit too long with not a lot to see. However, we did see a pair of kestrels, swallows, house martins, linnets, a willow emerald damselfly, emperor dragonflies, brown hawkers, common darters and a large pool with several little egrets and spoonbills and Canada geese on it. We also had a staring contest with a Chinese water deer.  An ok haul, but I felt hot and tired by the time our walk was over. 

After a late lunch, I went to a spot where I was told fen raft spiders could be found. I squeezed through a section of reeds to a pond dipping platform where a group of people were looking at something. It was thanks to this group that I was able to find a spider sitting on a frogbit pad. In fact, I then found a couple of smaller ones on my own nearby it after the group left. I was able to get Dad over and see them for himself. He has now seen his first fen raft spider and was impressed.

Aug 19th Strumpshaw Fen

A much cooler day and it started with a kingfisher at Reception Hide. I then went through the meadow trail, up to pumphouse and into the woods with not much of note other than migrant hawkers, enchanter's nightshade and meadow pipits.

Back at Reception, there were plenty of kingfisher action including two having a territorial dispute. There were also a great white egret and 2 herons and a marsh harrier.

Between hours of my shift, I went to check out a fen raft spider at the first sluice gate. After a bit of scanning, I was able to find a female with an egg sac on some reeds dangling over the water. She was beautiful! The fact she had an egg sac filled me with hope for this rare spider at this reserve. Also had a couple of lizards basking along the Sandy Wall.

Aug 26th Strumpshaw Fen

Today was a bank holiday and as my dad had the day off, he took me to Strumpshaw and went on a walk to Tower Hide and Fen Hide with me. Not the most memorable of walks, but we did see 3 kingfishers together on the opposite side of the river, a few lizards along Sandy Wall, a selection of ducks at Tower Hide (though the sun was blinding me to identify any of them as a garganey) and a great white egret on a bush at Fen Hide.

Back at Reception, it was another good kingfisher day. One was darting between perches and posts around the broad throughout the morning. This delighted visitors that came here hoping to see one. A water rail also made an appearance as well as swallows, house martins and marsh harriers.

Stuck In The Mud

 May 5th Mousehold Heath

Today is International Dawn Chorus Day and Dad and I got up at 4am and went to Mousehold Heath to enjoy this year's chorus. To me, it was a bit subdued, not the best one I've experienced over the years. Normally, I hear drumming woodpeckers, plenty of willow warblers, treecreepers and song thrushes here, but today it was lacking all of these. Just one willow warbler, one or two song thrushes and one woodpecker that refused to drum for us.. What we did hear were wrens, blackbirds, robins, blackcaps and chiffchaffs and, at St James' Hill, we had house sparrows.

May 6th Strumpshaw Fen

Bank holiday Monday and I spent a bit longer at Strumpshaw than usual. In the morning, I walked through the woods and pumphouse hearing a firecrest and saw a pair of spotted flycatchers. At Fen Hide, a bittern was booming loudly. During my walk, I also heard meadow pipits singing their display song and a distant cuckoo. 

From Reception Hide, I had a crane fly by, swallows, hobbies, marsh harriers, great crested grebes and a lot of greylags. I then visited the dell looking for plants, spooking a hare and a frog. I found many new plants including wild strawberries in the courtyard area.

After my shift, I walked to Tower Hide and the Lackford Run. I found some lizards, marsh marigold and at the hide, a great white egret. The Lackford Run was a muddy waste of time. Also saw hairy dragonflies, large red and variable damselflies, holly blues, peacocks, orange-tips, brimstones and some solitary wasp with white antenna and a white spot at the tip of the abdomen.

Spotted Flycatcher, Meadow Pipit,
Wasp Beetle & Unknown Wasp (May 6th),
Sedge Warbler & Avocet (May 11th)

May 11th Cley

Went to Cley with Mum. Not a memorable visit. Had a good view of a sedge warbler and a whitethroat near the car park, avocets, redshanks and shelducks, swallows and sand martins on the reserve, sandwich and little terns out on the sea and spoonbills flying over East Bank. Couldn't find the glossy ibis in the centre of the reserve. Needed a scope to see it, I bet.

May 13th Strumpshaw Fen

A really hot day that felt like July than May, perfect weather for the swallowtails to emerge. At least that was what I was hoping for. However, the first swallowtail wasn't seen until after my shift today. What a shame!

This morning, a cuckoo was calling by the river somewhere and a bittern was booming near Fen Hide. Foxgloves are beginning to bloom and banded demoiselles were out beside the river looking beautiful as ever. I also had a common tern over the river and a hare on the fields on the way to the reserve. From Reception, there was plenty of marsh harrier action, hairy dragonflies, a kestrel, swallows, a pair of great crested grebes, greylags, Canada geese, coots, gadwall, a shoveler and mallards.

May 20th The Great Orme

I'm on holiday in Wales! My parents and I have travelled to Stoke on the 19th and popped by some football stadiums of Stoke City and Port Vale. Today, we left Stoke and drove into Wales, visited Wrexham's stadium and then made our way to Llandudno to go up the Great Orme via tram. We got to the top of this coastal mountain-like rock formation and had great views of the town below and found some interesting plants, but not much else. I did hear some rock pipits though.

May 21st South Stack & Newborough

A glorious day and we travelled to Anglesey. After a stop at Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (the longest place name in the world), we visited RSPB South Stack. It was very busy but we eventually found a parking spot. I got out of the car and heard a chough. I looked down the cliffside and saw it flying to a distant field.

We walked down to the observatory and got a good view of the seabird colony below. Guillemots, razorbills, kittiewakes and fulmars created a lot of noise from a crowded cliff. Thousands more were out on the sea, including at least two puffins. On towards the South Stack lighthouse, we had 3-5 more puffins on the clifftop by their burrows.

Guillemots, Razorbill,
South Stack Ragwort, Chough,
Puffins (May 21st)

While at the observatory, I had another chough beneath the observatory wall, a much closer view. I also had a rock pipit, a wheatear and a few South Stack ragwort, an endemic species of ragwort found here and nowhere else in the world.

Moving on from South Stack, we travelled back south to Newborough, where I was hoping to see a red squirrel in the pine forest by the coast. However, apart from the coastal view of the beach, sea and mountains, the best we got was a wood warbler singing its loud trilling song from the pine trees, though it was impossible to locate for a photo. The song was breathtaking and made up for the lack of red squirrel.

May 22nd Conwy

A horrible day! The weather has changed to a continuous downpour that was to last for two days straight. It ruined our plans of exploring the moors of Wales to look for black grouse and other things. Instead, we went to check out an RSPB reserve near Conwy. It had several hides, pools, reedbeds and a wooded area and there were views of Conwy castle. We didn't get time to explore all of the reserve, plus the weather being awful didn't help matters, but it seemed like a decent reserve.

What we saw was nothing out of the ordinary, but we did see curlews, little and great crested grebes, oystercatchers, swallows and house martins, the odd gadwall, shelduck and families of moorhens, Canada geese and mallard. It was a nice place, but I would expect it would be better on a nicer day.

May 27th Strumpshaw Fen

It is another bank holiday. I got a lift in to Strumpshaw and decided to look around the now open meadow trail. What a mistake that was! Especially without wellies! My feet got a soaking and had to walk around in boots and socks for the rest of the morning. I did find some interesting plants though, including quaking grass.

Walking off the meadow trail and along the river, a cuckoo was calling from it's traditional favourite tree on the other side. I stopped at the bench on the platform at the top of Sandy Wall to take off and wring out my socks and dry them a bit, not that it made any difference. There wasn't much time to dry them completely, but I waited barefooted anyway. As I waited, there was a water vole below me. I could see movement in the reeds before it finally swam in front of me. As I walked back to Reception, I found a lime hawkmoth and lizards along the Sandy Wall, heard a bittern booming and a twayblade was in flower at the spot we protected.

Common Twayblade, Norfolk Hawker,
Swallowtail & Quaking Grass (May 27th)
Marsh Cinquefoil & Bog Bean (June 3rd)

I was on full alert for swallowtails this morning and managed to eventually find one on the flag irises outside Reception Hide. It seemed to be there for over an hour and made many visitors happy. I got a few photos of it despite it being very mobile and often obscured by reeds.

Other than swallowtails, there were a few other highlights too. A pair of distant cranes flew over the tree line in the horizon, a hobby over the broad, ichneumon wasps, silver-y moths and a Norfolk hawker in the nectar garden and also gadwall, swallows, house martins, swifts, marsh harriers, herons and I heard a garden warbler in the woods.

June 3rd Strumpshaw Fen

I had learned my lesson after last week and I brought my wellies with me this time. I decided to walk the Lackford Run and the wellies came in use as I looked for more plants to draw later. There were plenty of new things including common spotted and southern marsh orchids and, best of all, marsh cinquefoil by the boardwalk. Never seen the latter before. It was such a beautiful crimson red flower with very delicate petals. I also heard a cuckoo and a bittern and I stopped by at the Tower and Fen hides, seeing very little.

At Reception, it wasn't that sunny for swallowtails today, but we had a bearded tit popping in and out of the reeds where the swallowtail was last week. I also heard cranes bugling and a cuckoo showing itself in one tree in particular as well as swallows, house martins, great crested grebes and a very brief otter sighting.

After my shift, I decided to put on my wellies once again and head into the meadow trail. It was mostly grasses than flowers, but I did find one special flower in the form of a bog bean. A truly beautiful plant with a fuzzy set of flowers. It has been a few years since I last seen one here and only one was in bloom. Dragonflies were patrolling the ditches (Norfolk hawkers, hairy dragonflies and 4-spot chasers) and I found a 4-spot chaser trying to exit its exuviae. I also heard spotted flycatchers in the woods.

June 10th Strumpshaw Fen

Walking onto the meadow trail with wellies on, a barn owl welcomed me as it flew over the grassy fields before the rain arrived. A meadow brown butterfly took one last flutter before taking shelter. It became a wet and miserable place after that. After a pointless and soggy walk around the meadow and along the river, I entered Fen Hide. I was actually wetter inside the hide though as the wind blew the rain into my face through the windows.

Reception Hide was a drier place and while the rain poured harder and relentlessly, there was something outside that made coming to Strumpshaw today worth while. An otter! It arrived from the far right corner of the broad before making it onto land with a fish. It had a couple of bites before discarding it. After a short swim in front of us before vanishing behind the islands of reeds.

Reed buntings, common terns and a brief flight of a kingfisher entertained us in the rain after that. And then a heron showed up and was interested in the discarded fish. The heron picked it up, revealing it was the head of a pike. But then something made the heron spooked and jump to a nearby stump. The otter had returned! It came back to the fish but showed no interest in eating it before swimming around the broad again, testing the patience of a grumpy swan along the way.

The otter then disappeared and so did the rain. The weather improved by the time I left for my train home. Typical! Still a good day all the same.

June 17th Strumpshaw Fen

A very traumatic day! It started fine as I walked through the wet Lackford Run after a weekend of rain, I saw a cuckoo, Norfolk hawkers, sedge warblers and at Tower Hide, I heard a bittern and saw a common tern. And at Reception Hide, I had several swallowtail sightings, swallows, house martins, a heron and a great crested grebe.

However, between my time at the two hides, I explored the meadow trail with wellies on. I was looking for plants. I crossed the bridge and followed a D-shaped mowed path around a gate by the ditch. I thought I'd cut through the D to backtrack and head back to do my shift at Reception. That was a bad idea. It was a boggier section than I expected and my left boot sank and got stuck in the mud! Then my right boot did the same!

I tried to wiggle out, but my foot flew out of my left boot and into the mud and it sank up to my knee! My right foot did the same but I fell and landed on my right knee. I was kneeling with my right leg and my left leg was submerged deep in mud. All the while I was stuck, I was trying to contact the office and my mum with my phone and yelling for help as loud as I could but with no reply or response. I managed to crawl out towards the gate where the ground was more stable to stand up. I also managed to get my right boot out, but the other was well and truly stuck.

Eventually, a couple walking from the pumphouse heard me, but was approaching me casually, not rushing, just walking and looking at things along the way. They thought I found something rare!! The man had a pole and got me out. Then he crazily went to get my stuck boot and after a few tugs, he managed to rescue it without getting stuck himself! He really didn't need to do that! After about 15-20 minutes out there stuck in the mud, I was very wet, muddy and was in a state of panic. Thankfully, I had a pair of shorts to replace my trousers and my walking boots to replace my wellies, but no socks. I had no choice but to go barefoot inside my walking boots. Mum called back and after my shift came to pick me up and give me a change of socks and shoes. So all well that ends well!

June 24th Strumpshaw Fen

A really hot day, a very pleasant one. I walked through the woods and through the meadow trail (without any problem this time). Between that though, I sat at the toe-dipping platform near the pumphouse and had a grasshopper warbler reeling away in the tall grass behind it. I managed to get a few glimpses of the bird, but no photos.

At Reception Hide; swallowtails made brief flybys, bearded tits were constantly moving about in the reeds in front of the hide and a kingfisher made a brief appearance. However, it were the dragonflies that entertained me the most as I had many species across the broad including Norfolk hawkers, scarce chasers, 4-spot chasers, emperor dragonflies and black-tailed skimmers.

Once my shift was over, I was dropped off at Brundall station to catch my train home. However, a train arrived earlier than scheduled to the platform. It wouldn't let me on at first, but eventually the driver opened the doors and let me in. Apparently, this was not the scheduled train and had stopped because there was a problem with the points or something further up the line near Norwich and we had to wait for a while. We then had to move to the next platform at Brundall Gardens as the next train was arriving behind us. After being stuck in the mud a week ago, I was now stuck on a train! Some time passed and we weren't going anywhere. 

Four-Spot Chaser leaving exuviae & Bearded Tit (June 3rd),
Otter (June 10th), Scarce Chaser (June 24th)
Marsh Harriers & Swallow (June 29th)

Eventually the driver told us that the train was now cancelled and was to head back to Lowestoft. Some passengers didn't want to do that and wanted to get off. I joined them and I found myself  in an area with a bad signal, but somehow I got hold of Mum and she had to come pick me up. I made my way down to a shop on Cucumber Lane, but she was lost and somehow passed me about three times until she finally found me and took me home.

June 29th Cley

A hot summer's day and Mum took me to Cley. It was a great day for marsh harrier watching as a family of them were showing well as the young had just fledged and were exploring the reserve, getting close to us at times. A herd of cattle were in front of the main hides, so we visited Bishop's Hide and saw bearded tits, avocets, shelducks, oystercatchers, a little ringed plover and mallards with ducklings, which made my mum nervous with the harriers around.

We then went to the East Bank and to the beach, seeing sandwich terns, a distant cattle egret amongst a group of little and 2 great white egrets, a ringed plover on the shingles and plenty of flowers including yellow horned poppy, yellow stonecrop and ragworts. Also seen today was a spoonbill that we could see feeding at a pool as we had a scone and a Danish pastry from the visitor centre.  

Has Spring Really Sprung?

 April 8th Strumpshaw Fen

After a week off due to Easter and football, I returned to Strumpshaw. However, there was a train strike going on and I had to get a lift to the reserve and back.

I walked through the woods and it was greener than last time I was here with leaves covering the trees and new plants such as garlic mustard, lords and ladies and common chickweed. Along the river, I heard a bittern and my first grasshopper warbler of the year. I also saw my first willow, sedge and reed warbler, too.

At Reception Hide, I saw my first swallow, a heron, a great crested grebe, coots on nests, a kestrel, gadwall, marsh harriers and lots of ducklings. There were plenty of butterflies also, including brimstones, peacocks, commas and green-veined whites.

Willow Warbler, Coot &
Mallard Family (April 8th),
Redshank & Mandarin Duck (April 14th)

With time to kill before my lift, I wanted to walk to Tower Hide. But news suddenly reached me that the river had burst its banks and the paths were underwater. I got to the now closed gate blocking the path and a man was wading through the water. He had walked to the hide when it was fine and when he left, he discovered it had flooded with the water up to the lower half of his legs!

I ended up doing the same route as my morning walk but reversed. Lizards were basking along the Sandy Wall and I sat and listened to the bitterns booming from the sculpted bench by pumphouse. I added Herb Robert and the first bluebell to my list (not many though). At a usual spot near Reception, I found the leaves of common twayblades. They usually get eaten, so I hope they get protected this time.

April 14th Cley & Kelling Water Meadows

A lovely day out at Cley with my parents. Though, we only visited the 4 hides and not to the beach this time. There were mostly avocets and black-tailed godwits, a few dunlin, the odd ruff, common and little ringed plover and a pair of marsh harriers building a nest. Amongst the godwits, though, was the long staying long-billed dowitcher sleeping beside them. This American wader has been in North Norfolk since October 2022!

We tried to get a better look of it at Bishop's Hide. But it had disappeared by the time we got there. The best we could find was a snipe and a little ringed plover.

After lunch, Dad and I decided to go to Kelling Water Meadows for a quick walk. A male mandarin duck was probably the highlight, but I also saw plenty of butterflies including speckled woods, holly blues and green veined whites as well as marsh marigolds.

April 15th Strumpshaw Fen

Mum told me she'd drop me off to the reserve this morning as powerful winds and heavy rain was forecasted. It didn't seem that way as I got to Tower Hide with no issue, seeing many sand martins and swallows flying around, some tufted ducks, a pair of great crested grebes, a few little egrets and heard a bittern booming. Then I went to the pumphouse and still nothing. But then, as I was leaving the woods, it started to rain.

By the start of my shift in Reception, it really hammered it down and a 40mph winds shook the building. Sunshine did peek through between the outbursts, but it was not to last. The highlight was seeing a crane fly in, landing behind the treeline. Maybe it was visiting it's partner on the nest? Also about were shelducks, another pair of grebes, greylags, Canada geese, gadwall, mallards, swans and a bank vole that was scurrying beneath the benches.

April 22nd Strumpshaw Fen

I decided , no, was determined, to walk down the Lackford Run this morning. After months closed due to floods and mud, it was open and I really wanted to find plants. It started well as I found bog myrtle and marsh fern by the boardwalk. But then it was just a slog through undried patches of mud. Eventually, I reached the Tower Hide (hearing a bittern, bearded tits and a grasshopper along the way), where a pair of great crested grebes were on a nest and saw greylags, gadwall and not much else.

Blackcap, Lizard &
Grey Wagtail (April 22nd), Great Crested Grebe,
Pink-footed Goose with Greylags & Garganey (April 29th)

Moving towards pumphouse, I heard a pair of cranes bugling over the sound of a tractor ploughing a nearby field with a squeaky wheel that sounded very similar to them. There was a lot of air traffic this morning and it made me not enjoy my walk very much. There wasn't a lot to see anyway, not even a plant for me to add. Bluebells were in short supply also.

At Reception, I saw the odd swallow, a grey wagtail, coot with chicks, another pair of grebes busy mating and rebuilding a nest, a shelduck, greylags, Canada geese, marsh harriers, gadwall, a shoveler and a mallard family being harassed by a territorial coot.

April 29th Strumpshaw Fen & Hickling Broad

A nice day after a weekend of rain. The path to Tower Hide was boggy in places. Wish I had my other boots on now! The grebes were on a nest with 4 eggs in it and a crane flew out of the reedbeds. There weren't many other highlights besides greylags, gadwall, marsh harriers and many warblers singing.

After an uneventful walk along the river to pumphouse and into the woods, I was a little late to start my latest shift. There were plenty about at Reception Hide today. A crane was circling really high in the clouds, a hobby was catching insects in the air before perching in a couple of trees. But my bird of the day was a pink-footed goose out on the broad. It was an injured bird, but the fact it was here was a surprise to me as I've never seen one on ground level at Strumpshaw before. They usually fly over during the winter.

Once my shift was over, I waited for former Wednesday Reception Hide partner Tricia to arrive. I was going on an outing to Hickling Broad. It was a bit windy, but at least it was nice enough to check the place out. We started at the pools where most of the birds were, including a garganey. I managed to spot one male before he vanished within some green reed shoot patches. We also had teal, tufted ducks, shoveler, marsh harriers, greylags with goslings and 2 cranes flying by in the distance. Other highlights included my first common tern, hairy dragonflies and cuckoo calling somewhere.

A Few Surprises

 Feb 5th Strumpshaw Fen

I was on the hunt for plants. My mission for the year is to find as many plants at Strumpshaw and draw them, while also plotting out where about they are and how abundant they are. My plant ID knowledge is still not very good, but I wanted to try anyway. Cherry plum blossom and hazel catkins were out, giving us a hint that spring was around the corner. Snowdrops were now covering the woods as well as clumps of soft rush and I discovered probable male ferns. Walking along the river, I failed to see the barn owl in its box this week and the red-throated diver that had been spotted on the river in recent weeks. I did however, see buzzards, marsh harriers, a heron and 2 Chinese water deer.

At Reception Hide, a snipe was the real highlight of the day as I had to constantly find it for visitors as it moved about amongst the open area of cut reed stubble to the right of the hide. It was sometimes easier to spot when it was bobbing, but other times it made itself difficult to spot while it was sleeping. Other than the snipe, there were greylags, mute swans, a coot and marsh harriers.

Snipe (Feb 5th), Red-breasted Goose (Feb 10th),
Weasel (Feb 12th), Cranes,
Otter prints & Witch's Butter 

Feb 10th Cley

It was feeling warm at the coast today. I felt kind of overdressed in my coat as Mum and I visited Cley.

We started our visit at the hides where hundreds of unsettled lapwings took to the air, swirling around like a shaken snow globe accompanied by an almost deafening chorus of "pee-wit". There were also smaller numbers of avocets, godwits, ruff, redshank, teal, shoveler and shelducks.

After spending some time in the hides, I then split up with Mum and made my way to West Bank to look for some twite and a red-breasted goose. When I got there, the twite had gone and the goose had moved to North Scrape. So, I had to make my way there across the beach and to the blind that's overlooking the scrape in question. Before I got there, a kind man gave me an early peek at the goose through his scope from the beach. It stood out amongst the large gathering of brent geese on the scrape. I managed to get a few photos from the blind before it took off with the brent. I was so lucky! Also seen were several pintails, the odd curlew and a little egret.

Feb 12th Strumpshaw Fen

A chilly start, but warmed up to be a nice sunny, spring like day. I arrived around 7:45am and was greeted by the sight of an otter out the front of Reception Hide swimming away from me. I had to get round a flooded section of road to get to Strumpshaw this morning. So I was really worried that the reserve was also flooded. Though Fen Trail to Tower Hide was closed, the Fen Hide wasn't. The only flood issue here were a few puddles leading to the hide.

My morning pre-shift walk wasn't that interesting. Not even any new plants to draw. However, when I got back to Reception, I noticed a couple of men looking at something by the pond behind the feeder area. It turned out to be a weasel!! It poked its head out of a hole a few times before making a dash to a log pile nearby. In 2016, I tried to get a photo as part of a Strumpshaw challenge but failed. It wasn't until a year later when I managed to get a slightly blurry photograph of one. This time, I was much happier with the results. Weasels are tricky animals to get a photo of.

Also today was a snipe, 8 coot, 28 greylags, a Canada goose, 4 mute swans, a few marsh harriers and buzzards at Reception, a heron at Fen Hide and a great white egret on the way to the reserve.

Feb 19th Strumpshaw Fen

I managed to get a lift in to Strumpshaw this morning and once I got out of the car around 7:30am, I was greeted with the sound of bugling cranes! I could hear them as I went for a walk in the woods. I also found one clump of primroses in flower for me to draw up later. As I made my way to the pumphouse, I was able to see a barn owl in its box. When I reached the pumphouse itself, I noticed two large birds flying over the river heading towards Buckenham. Cranes!!! I wonder if they will nest at Strumpshaw again?

At Reception Hide, I got back after a sudden rain shower and didn't see much out of the ordinary other than swans, greylags, a pair of Canada geese, some coots, mallards, marsh harriers and buzzards. I went back into the woods to show two visitors the witch's butter and scarlet elfcap fungi and heard treecreepers, siskins and song thrushes. I also saw a great spotted woodpecker and reed buntings.

Feb 26th Strumpshaw Fen

Floods were on the road for a 3rd week in a row and two of the three hides were closed off due to the paths being underwater. After getting another lift in, there weren't many places to walk around this morning. All I could do was walk down Sandy Wall, along the river to pumphouse and into the woods.

I started my way down the Sandy Wall when a woman showed up behind me from nowhere, pointed out a barn owl flying over the meadow and then she left the same way she came from. So random. The owl, though, hung around a lot longer. It even perched on a post very close by to me beside the path. The bushes were obscuring my camera's view for a perfect shot and it seemed to be obscuring the owl's view of me also  as I managed to creep to within a few metres from it! I still failed to get a photo by the time it saw me and took off, sadly.

Heading up to the pumphouse, I couldn't believe my luck again as I saw two large birds flying over the woods. Cranes! Again! They were more distant this time, but were heading towards Buckenham just like the week before.

The rest of the morning wasn't quite as interesting. Staff were working outside the Reception Hide in the reedbeds and in the far channels at the other end of the broad was a strange machine that's like a floating digger, called a Truxor, which was digging up the reed edges. So it was rather empty on the broad besides a few coots and marsh harriers. I went to look for plants, but couldn't really find much.

March 4th Strumpshaw Fen

Misty start, but at least everything is back open again, so I decided to go to Tower Hide while the mud was still hardened up by the cold. It was still bad and it really wasn't worth it. However, I did get to hear two bitterns booming (well, one booming, the other grunting). This was possibly the earliest I've heard them do so in all the years I've volunteered here. I also heard the drumming of woodpeckers and saw great crested grebes on the river and one at Reception Hide.

There was more work going on outside reception as the Broads Authority were using the Truxor to dredge out the edges of reedbeds much closer to the hide. The broad was almost quiet of birds due to it. However, above them, the sky was full of birds of prey (about 20+ of them) including 2 red kites and many marsh harriers and buzzards. It was quite a spectacle.

As I wanted to check on a few things, I went for a short walk along Sandy Wall. First, I found one Clark's mining bee by the start of the path. Then I noticed a kestrel hovering above the path and dived down and perched on the path's wooden border, clearly catching something. And then I found what I wanted to find, coltsfoot in flower. They were in bud earlier due to the mist and as they react to the sun and that it was now sunny, a few of them had opened their yellow flowers in response.

Returning from my walk, I went to check on the content of the trays of what a school group had caught during their pond dipping session. The children were very excited when I picked up a newt from a tray and held it in my hand. They wanted to hold it too. I obliged and they were more than happy.

Truxor (March 4th), Waxwing,
Sanderlings, Bar-tailed Godwit
& Brambling (March 13th) & Great Crested Grebes (March 18th)

March 6th - 7th

I was preparing for work when a sudden pain emerged in the left side of my abdomen. It was a kidney stone! My second ever and my first in 6 years. It wasn't quite as bad as my first one, but still painful as hell. I managed to keep myself fully medicated with pain killers that I was able to keep myself away from the hospital until the next morning. After nine hours in hospital, waiting around for a scan and taking my first ever suppository to numb the pain (a weird experience, that), the small stone came out naturally on its own I was able to go to work on the 8th, though feeling rather bruised and in pain down there afterwards. 

March 11th Strumpshaw Fen

It was my 38th birthday and it was a dull, gloomy day for it. The best thing I could muster as a birthday highlight was hearing the boom of a bittern near Fen Hide and woodpeckers drumming in the woods. There was a large flock of siskins feeding on the cones of alder trees and daffodils were in flower. From Reception Hide, it was rather quiet, though I did see a great crested grebe, coots making nests, a sparrowhawk, marsh harriers, greylags, Canada geese, a shelduck, 2 gadwall, a few mute swans and mallards.

March 13th Titchwell

I had a week off from work to celebrate my birthday and as both my parents were both off on this particular Wednesday, we decided to visit Titchwell. When we got to the entrance, we discovered that there was a crowd along the drive into the reserve. We had to dodge the photographers to get in. But what were they snapping photos of? WAXWINGS!!

We parked the car and walked back to join them for a better look. There were 6 of them and sat in the trees right above our heads! They were beautiful and didn't seem that bothered by us, despite what an RSPB volunteer says as we got told to stand back from them, even though it was these birds that decided to perch above us. So, whatever. I got my photos and left.

Leaving the waxwings, the rest of the reserve had nothing else that could really top them. There were plenty of black-headed gulls, a few Mediterranean gulls, avocets, black-tailed godwits, redshanks, dunlin, brent geese (a large gaggle of them), teal, curlew, grey plovers, 3 pintails (2 males, one female), oystercatchers and pied wagtails on the pools and saltmarshes. Marsh harriers and a red kite in the air. And on the beach, the tide was really far out and Dad and I walked on this old peat bed full of un-rotted bits of trees covered in mussels. By the shore, bar-tailed godwits, sanderlings and turnstones.

We had a late picnic by the feeders when we got back, where a brambling showed up. Then I ended the visit by checking on the tawny owl that was still asleep beneath the same ivy covered tree as last time I visited in January.

March 18th Strumpshaw Fen

The bitterns were booming, the woodpeckers were drumming and the birds were singing. That included chiffchaffs and blackcaps, which I heard for the first time this year. It was a nice day and it felt like spring was here to stay. A lizard was sunning itself along Sandy Wall to prove how nice it was.

During my walk, there was a lot of bird and insect activity. Bearded tits were pinging, a green woodpecker perched on a tree in front of me along Sandy Wall, around 40+ fieldfares flew over my head and then over the river and meadow pipits were doing their parachute song flight displays in the meadows. There were many marsh harriers sky dancing also and nomad bees were investigating mining bee nest holes to lay their own eggs inside. Lesser celandines were in bloom in surprising numbers across the reserve (I thought they were buttercups) and I found a few sedges with tufts poking out.

At Reception, a pair of great crested grebes were displaying to each other. They'd face each other and mimic one another's movements from head flicks to back preening and eventually, they would press up breast to breast, standing upright on the water to give me a real show. Sometimes bits of weed was used. Coots were also building their nests and I saw brimstone butterflies flying around. 

It was a good day until I left for home when a pain in my left kidney started hurting. Another stone! This time, it was much smaller and not quite as painful as the one a couple of weeks earlier and I still went to work the next day. Thankfully, I still had plenty of meds from last time to help numb the pain and the stone disappeared by the end of my shift at work.

Chinese Water Deer, Muntjac,
Barn Owl, Tufted Sedge,
Snipe & Great Crested Grebes (March 25th)

 March 25th Strumpshaw Fen

Another good day. Bitterns were still booming, a barn owl was hunting by its nest box near the pumphouse, a red kite flew over my head, bearded tits were peeking out of the reeds at Fen Hide and I had two very close encounters with deer, one a muntjac and the other a Chinese water deer. These deer didn't seem to know I was there and came near me to within a few metres until they eventually saw me and ran. I also noticed that there were lesser pond sedges (at least I think they are) everywhere and I found some very pretty tufted sedge beside the toe dipping platform.

The grebes were displaying outside Reception Hide again as were marsh harriers and buzzards. There was also a little grebe, a snipe, 4 gadwall and I found my first forget-me-not of the year.

Ice & Storms

 Jan 8th Strumpshaw Fen

It has been three weeks since my last shift at Strumpshaw due to floods, Christmas and football. So I was glad to be back. However, it was a freezing cold return complete with sleet and hail. There wasn't too much around either to get excited about during my early morning walk.

The weather did not improve as the morning went on. At least it was a little warmer under the heaters inside Reception Hide. The highlights of the day were mostly outside the hide's door and by the feeders (which I filled up only to discover that they were half empty by the end of my shift, which suggest the birds were really hungry). This include a mixed flock of siskins and goldfinches with the odd redpoll amongst them. Also seen were pink-footed geese, marsh harriers and mute swans.

Redpoll (Jan 8th), Brent Goose,
Spotted Redshank, Brambling,
Sun Reflection On Beach & Snipe (Jan 14th)

Jan 14th Titchwell

The first big outing of 2024. My parents and I went to Titchwell and discovered and we discovered their 50th anniversary. I thought it would be fun idea to find 50 birds to celebrate. Amazingly, I managed to do so.

The highlights included a velvet scoter amongst a floating group of common scoter on the sea, bramblings on the feeders and a tawny owl hiding in a tree covered in ivy fast asleep. The other 46 were; brent, greylag and pink-footed geese, pintails, wigeon, a female goldeneye, tufted ducks, teal, mallards, coot, shovelers, gadwall, shelducks, a water pipit, bar-tailed godwits, dunlin, turnstones, common redshanks, a spotted redshank, curlews, linnets, herring, black-headed and great black-backed gulls, goldfinches, a snipe, reed buntings, red kite, marsh harrier, robins, dunnocks, blue, great and long-tailed tits, oystercatchers, grey plovers, little grebe, water rail, sanderlings, cormorant, moorhen, blackbird, magpie and carrion crow. A great day, though a very cold one!

Jan 15th Strumpshaw Fen

Another freezing cold day with ice and frost covering some parts of the reserve first thing. There must have been a high tide recently as the Fen and Tower hides were closed off due to flooding. My morning walk was reduced to just the woodland trail (which had many trees blown over due to Storm Henk) where I saw a treecreeper, found the first few snowdrops and spooked a large flock of bramblings, redwings, fieldfares and blackbirds. The rest of the morning was uninteresting except for a bittern making two appearances.

Jan 17th Cley

Yet another chilly day and as I had a week off from work, my parents (Dad also had a week off, while Mum had the day off) decided to go out in it to Cley. When we got there, Mum and I went to the three main hides and there were many birds out on Pat's Pool, including many wigeon, shovelers, teal, a pair of pintails, avocets, black-headed gulls, the odd shelduck and a couple of dunlin. The pool itself was a bit icy. From another hide, we managed to spot a couple of snipe hidden in the grass.

While at lunch at the visitor centre, a red kite and a buzzard flew by the windows. After lunch, Dad and I made our way to the sea via East Bank, seeing a kingfisher fly past me along the way. The highlight though was finding a grey seal on Arnold's Marsh. Never seen one there before. It seemed happy enough hunting for fish in the shallow water. Also seen were stonechats, a heron, a little egret, lapwings, wigeon and two buzzards.

Jan 18th Buckenham Marshes

I went to Buckenham with Dad and as we were travelling up to the reserve, it began to snow! A light dusting of it covered the already frozen reserve. It made birds like snipe stand out like a sore thumb, and there were a lot of them. Also in the snow were a few thousand wigeon, a few lapwings, some teal, a marsh harrier, the odd swan and quite a few Chinese water deer. We also saw a hare on the drive over. The snow then started to disappear by the time we returned to the car.

Snowdrops (Jan 15th), Dunlin &
Grey Seal (Jan 17th) Snow At Buckenham,
Wigeon & Their Footprints In The Snow

Jan 27th Norwich

Due to a very strong storm, I was advised to stay away from Strumpshaw on the 22nd. That meant I had no opportunity to go out to do much other than work. Thankfully, this weekend was the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch, an annual national census on the UK's garden birds. As I don't have a garden of my own, I went to my parent's house to do the hour long survey. My parents were out visiting one of my brothers, so I had the place to myself. I started the survey just after 9am and I counted 3 blackbirds, a robin, a dunnock, 2 blue tits, a great tit, 2 long-tailed tits and, a big surprise, a male blackcap, which visited twice!

Jan 29th Strumpshaw Fen

It was still dark on my arrival to Strumpshaw, but it was to be a spring-like day. A barn owl was flying over the reedbeds and the river. After an almost pointless and very muddy walk to Tower Hide (though I did see shelducks, marsh harriers, Canada geese, mallards, swans and a heron), I made my way to the pumphouse and found the owl again peek out of an owl box fast asleep. I also spooked up a few snipe and saw a couple of Chinese water deer in the meadows as I was walking along the river.

During my shift, there wasn't too much about other than a coot (which I haven't seen on this broad for quite some time), marsh harriers, more swans, a heron, a water rail, a female reed bunting, a few gadwall and some mallards and not too much else. As it was the last day of the Big Garden Birdwatch and no one has done an hour here yet, I decided to do the survey of the birds visiting the feeder area. During the hour, I recorded roughly 5 great tits, 8 blue tits, 3 marsh tits, a coal tits, 4 chaffinches, 3 dunnocks, 2 robins, a blackbird, a woodpigeon, a pheasant, a jay and a grey squirrel.

Goodbye 2023

 Dec 4th Strumpshaw Fen

After a week away from Strumpshaw due to heavy rain and flooding, I returned and the weather was still lousy, but at least it stopped raining by mid-morning. It was a dull, grey day, but at least the floods resided.

I was given a lift to the reserve and the rain was at its most persistent, so I spent a good hour at Fen Hide. The marsh harriers were emerging from their roost with one looking rather soaked perched on a bush. I also saw a great white egret and a few pink-footed geese flying over and heard bearded tits.

Otter & Heron Eating Eels (Dec 4th)
Grey Seals & Pup (Dec 10th)
Dawn Rainbow & Sunrise (Dec 18th)

The weather improved but was still gloomy by the time I started my shift. It was the wildlife that provided the light in this dull scene in the form of a heron and an otter. The heron had managed to catch an eel in an open area of cut reed to the right of the hide. It then dropped and lost it after a few attempts in swallowing it down. Some time later, an otter appeared on the scene and found the eel a short distance behind the heron and took it away to eat a little further near the far side of the same area.

The otter took quite some time munching on it before swimming off again. However, it didn't end there. Near the end of my shift, the heron caught another eel. A real monster of one, far bigger than the one eaten by the otter. It became an epic battle of life and death between predator and prey. The heron kept stabbing at it until it managed to get its bill stuck within the eel's body. Eventually, it freed itself and attempted to swallow it whole. But even then, it struggled to swallow due to the eel still putting up a fight and wrapping its tail around the bird's head and bill. It took about 4-5 attempts to finally get the eel down its gullet.

The broad's edges were fringed with sheets of ice where many ducks took shelter when the otter was around.. This included a pair of gadwall, a shoveler, a teal and seven swans. I also saw a great spotted woodpecker on the feeders.

Dec 10th Horsey Gap

This morning, Dad took me out to see the seals at Horsey. The most recent count in pup births here (from Dec 7th) this year so far was 3224 and 3608 adults on the beach. Not as many as there were at Blakeney Point, but at least I'm guaranteed in ticking another spectacle off my list. It is also a lot easier to get to than at Blakeney, so at least I didn't have to walk that far.

Every winter, thousands of grey seals arrive to this beach to give birth and to mate. The beach didn't seem that packed from the viewing area, but all I saw was just one small section. Along the coastline from Horsey to Winterton, these seals were practically everywhere. Amongst them were their pups of various ages (most still in their white coats) guarded by their mothers. 

Big bull seals were also on the beach and I witnessed a few matings, which seemed rather forceful with a lot of biting involved. Up on the dunes, a few females had given birth and raised their pups where the public were, away from the other seals. One mother and pup had forced the path beyond closed off completely, preventing us to go any further. It ended up being a shorter visit, but still a good one all the same.

Dec 11th Strumpshaw Fen

A much nicer day than last Monday, though Tower Hide was closed off due to flooding. So I went to Fen Hide and had an otter swim around in front of it for a short while and saw marsh harriers, a great white egret and heard bearded tits. At Reception Hide, I spotted a water rail, another great white egret, swans, a few mallards and marsh harriers and a great spotted woodpecker on the feeders.

Dec 18th Strumpshaw Fen

A fantastic dawn sky welcomed to Strumpshaw. Walking to the reserve, it was still dark but pink-footed geese and rooks and jackdaws were leaving their roosting sites by their thousands. By the time I got to the Sandy Wall, there was a little bit of a drizzle in the air, but that wasn't enough to dull the bright and colourful sunrise over the meadow trail. Behind me though, on the opposite side of the reserve, an enormous rainbow sitting atop of some glowing clouds stretched across the orange-pink sky. Colours were bleeding into one another. It was like looking into heaven. It was absolutely breathtaking!

Inside Fen Hide, I watched the rainbow fade away. The scene outside was rather empty without it. There was one surprise in the form of a green sandpiper which flew right in front of the hide, calling away with its loud piping voice. This bird should be in Africa by now, but as winter has been on the mild side, which could be why it hasn't really migrated south yet. Also seen today were pink-footed geese, marsh harriers, siskins, possible redpolls, a great white egret (flying briefly), a treecreeper, a great spotted woodpecker on the feeders, greylags, mute swans and heard bearded tits.

Dec 23rd Cley

My last visit to Cley of the year and the last outing before Christmas. It completes a whole year of monthly visits to the reserve. It was a short visit though as I had to get to Carrow Road in the afternoon.

Mum and I made our way to the central hides. We were a bit cautious as an enormous high tide had already made Strumpshaw almost completely underwater the day before and we wondered if the paths at Cley were the same. Thankfully it wasn't. However, though Pat's Pool was full of birds, it wasn't to be that memorable of a morning. A mass of gulls, godwits, lapwings, teal, shovelers, wigeon and a few shelducks, avocets and a turnstone were constantly spooked up into the air by a couple of marsh harriers, erupting like a snow globe. A large flyover of hundreds of pink-footed geese, an arrival of a smaller number of brent geese on the pool and a kingfisher were the other highlights of the morning before heading back to watch Norwich beat Huddersfield 2-0 beneath a bright red-orange sunset.

Dec 30th Welney

After spending Christmas at Hadleigh round my brother's place and seeing red kites fly over my head while escaping the tantrums between my nieces over toys for a few minutes and the remainder of the week going to work, it was time for one last outing for 2023. I met up with former Reception Hide partner, Tricia and we made our way to Welney in the hope of seeing the whooper swan roost, which is my final spectacle to tick off remaining.

Welney Swan Feed, Whooper Swan,
Cattle Egret, Pochard
& Scaup With Tufted Duck (Dec 30th)

We arrived around midday, so plenty of time to kill. Tree sparrows were our first target of the day. I managed to spot one amongst a flock of house sparrow visiting the feeders at the visitor centre, though it took some time later for Tricia to see one herself. In the area behind the feeders, a flooded pool had our first whooper swans of the day. Behind them, fields with sheep and around 12-14 cattle egrets following them.

Crossing the bridge over the road to the main hide, we discovered a talk was going on with a warden out in the water with a wheelbarrow of seed feeding the many pochards, mallards and the odd mute swan. Only a few whoopers though. Amongst the ducks, however, we did manage to spot a male scaup between dives and, away from the feeding frenzy, goldeneyes, wigeon, teal, a pintail, a spit of land full of lapwings, black-tailed godwits, a few dunlin and curlew and a spotted redshank.

We waited after dark for the whoopers to arrive in what I hoped in large numbers. Sadly, it was just a smaller number than expected (about under 100 or so) that came in to roost. Not the mass gathering I was hoping to see. It appears that the water was too deep for them this year, meaning they could not feed . Apparently they've been roosting elsewhere this winter. It left us feeling a little disappointed, but it was a good day nonetheless. Goodbye, 2023.

Submerged

 Nov 6th Strumpshaw Fen

I was in for a surprise when I neared Strumpshaw this morning. As I was making my way from Brundall station, I was just a few hundred yards or so from the reserve when I noticed a lot of water seeping across the road just before the car park entrance. Luckily, the raised centre of the road made it shallower than either side and I was able to walk through it, though a jeep did pressure me from behind while I was midway through. 

The reserve itself was just as bad. The pond behind the feeder area was up to the seat of the bench next to it, the broad outside Reception Hide was up to the hide's wall, both Fen and Tower hides were inaccessible as water covered the paths leading to them and there was a section of Sandy Wall where water was seeping under the wooden borders that were meant to keep the floods out. Even the sand cliff area (which is not even close to anywhere with water) was like a large pond. The only places left that were unaffected by the floods were the paths leading to the pumphouse, the path from pumphouse to the woods and the entire woodland trail.

My investigation of the flood took up most of my time during my pre-shift walk. I was more concerned about the path conditions than to look for wildlife. But once I was away from the floods, it felt more like a normal walk. I used my Merlin app to record the birds and it picked up a flock of crossbills and a few lesser redpolls. Not sure how accurate the app's ID was and I didn't really get to see them to confirm it. I also spooked a hare twice as I was walking back to the Reception Hide.

The view from Reception Hide was rather empty for the most part. It took most of the morning until about 20 mallards decided to show up. There was also marsh harriers, buzzards, a red kite and a great white egret flying over in the distance, but that was about as exciting as it got.

Flood (Nov 6th), Snow Bunting
& Curlew (Nov 11th), Rainbow (Nov 13th)
Whooper Swans & Starling Murmuration (Nov 20th)

Nov 11th Cley

It was a bit disappointing for this month's visit to Cley. Though there was a kestrel by the visitor centre, the reserve itself was very quiet. The pools produced mainly ducks in the form of teal, shovelers, wigeon and shelducks with a small number of dunlin, black-tailed godwits and gulls (mostly black-headed gulls), 2 avocets, the odd marsh harrier, a little egret, some mute swans, 4-6 brent geese and one pink-footed goose flying over. The best highlight was on the beach with 8-10 snow buntings on the shingled embankment. I also had close views of curlew and a couple of pintails can be seen from the East Bank.

Nov 13th Strumpshaw Fen

A really horrible morning, but improved by midday. I got soaked walking along the river looking for the red-throated diver that had been seen for the past week or so, but not today. On a positive note, at least the floods receded.

There were rainbows showing from Reception Hide, but other than marsh harriers, buzzards, a great white egret, a few mallards and 7 swans, that was about it. By the end of my shift, the rain had been replaced by very strong winds.

Nov 20th Strumpshaw Fen

It was a nice day for once and I brought my brand new bridge camera with me to try it out. I went for a walk with Liz Dack (a Strumpshaw regular) to the pumphouse and found a chiffchaff in one of the trees along the river. We also had fieldfares, redwings, a nuthatch, a treecreeper and some interesting fungi in the woods. At Reception, it was another quiet day, though I did see an otter, marsh harriers, a heron (briefly), some mallards, greylags and a couple of gadwall.

After my shift, I went to Tower Hide to check out a male goosander that had been reported during the morning. Once I navigated the mud and got to the hide, I could not find it. However, I was surprised to see that there were four whooper swans instead. I've never seen these birds actually on the reserve before. They usually just fly over. I also found a lizard basking in the November sun along Sandy Wall as well as a few common darters and red admirals which are also making the most of this unusually warm day for this time of year.

Returning back to the Reception Hide, I waited for dusk and for the starlings to arrive to roost. It took until around 3:30pm for them to really get going. A few visitors stayed on to watch the spectacle with me as the small number of starlings grew with every minute as they swirled around the broad. In the end, I estimated that 5-6 thousand birds and they were still arriving after the main group poured into the reedbeds in front of the hide. Sparrowhawks and marsh harriers flew in to try and grab one from the reeds for an easy meal as the light continued to fade.

This ended up being my last outing of the month as the weather turned awful and at Strumpshaw, there was a huge high tide and the river flooded again. This time, it was really bad. The reserve closed completely and I made the decision to skip my final shift of the month. It just wasn't worth it. It was raining anyway. Torrential rain. I doubt I'd see any birds at all.