Dec 12th Buckenham Marshes and Strumpshaw Fen

Buckenham Marshes

I was hoping to go see the parrot crossbills at Santon Downham this week. However, the weather had other ideas as it has been horrible for the last two days straight. Snow and rain has not only been preventing me to go anywhere, it has also driven the crossbills into hiding as they haven't been reported since Saturday. Today is a much nicer day, but unfortunately it also happens to be extremely icy this morning. Mum was not willing to travel all the way to the Brecks in these slippery conditions. So we made a compromise and decided to visit Buckenham Marshes instead.









Canada Geese

When we arrived at Buckenham and we were greeted by a sudden drop in temperature. It was absolutely freezing! The landscape was carpeted in a layer of frost and sheets of ice sealed the surface area of any ditch or pool of water. Only the river Yare was ice free. On the marshy fields, Chinese water deer were grazing in pairs and they were joined by gaggles of geese. There was no sign of any bean or white-fronted geese, but there were several greylag, Canada and a few feral barnacle geese instead. Large numbers of wigeon congregated to the icy pools surrounding the only hide on the reserve adjacent to the river. A marsh harrier spooked them all up at one point, though even our presence was enough to get them airborne. I was sad not to see the peregrines that usually sit on the gate posts or trees today. A peregrine would have made the visit more worth while, but it wasn't to be. At least there were some stonechats hopping from stem to stem to put a warm smile on my face on this bitter cold morning.

Barnacle Goose

Chinese Water Deer

Wigeon

Lapwing

Mute Swan

Stonechat

Icy scenes at Strumpshaw Fen

We made a brief stop at Strumpshaw for a very short walk around the woods before making our way home. Not that there was much to see. The majority of the reserve was completely frozen over. The best of the action was at the feeders where cold and hungry birds were frantically flying to and fro onto them. Even the blackbirds were hungry enough to feed from them.

Blackbird

Blue Tit

Marsh Tit