March 19th Sculthorpe Moor

Sculthorpe Moor today

When you thought spring was here to stay, along comes the return of the snow. Though it was no where near as bad as the 'Beast from the East', it did snow on Saturday. And while most of this snow can still be seen across the Norfolk countryside, it was the chilly temperatures that was the real issue today. It was absolutely freezing this morning on our visit to Sculthope Moor. Extra layers was necessary, but was still not enough to really keep the cold out. Parts of this reserve was still dusted from snow or frozen into a sheet of ice. It felt like the Arctic! Strangely though, this was not enough to deter people from visiting. In fact, the place was packed with people! This was due to a huge birdwatching group and they pretty much made it difficult to find space in the hides.


Animal prints in the snow

Pheasant print

Scarlet Elf-cap

Soay Sheep



Bullfinch

Bullfinches were perhaps the star of the show this morning with nearly every feeder and bird table on the reserve attracting small groups of them. The males seemed to be redder than usual in this near white, wintery landscape and were not shy to approach these man-made resources of food. I think I managed to take more photos of these birds than I've ever had before.







Bullfinch with Blackbird

Bullfinch with Reed Bunting



Muntjac Deer with Pheasant and Mallard

These feeders and bird tables also attracted the majority of my other highlights that I saw today. From the Whitley Hide, not only did the two bird tables here attracted bullfinches, reed buntings and a host of other common woodland birds, it also drew in a water rail and 2 muntjac deer to feed from what was dropped down to the ground below them. Meanwhile at the Canopy Hide, the feeders here were constantly visited by a large mixed flock of siskins, goldfinches and redpolls (a mixture of mealy and lesser), while the table right in front of the hide's windows lured over at least two bramblings. It may appear that I had a good day of birdwatching, but however, with the hides being quite packed for the most part, it was pretty hard to enjoy these birds without fighting for space to see them properly. This reserve just seems to be too small to cope with this many people.

Muntjac Deer

Water Rail

Brambling

Mealy Redpoll

Lesser Redpoll

Siskin

Great Tit

Goldfinch

Blackbird

Reed Bunting

Chaffinch

Mallard

Mallard on ice!