Oct 3rd Strumpshaw Fen

It was quite an eventful walk to Strumpshaw this morning. Getting off the train at Brundall station, I made my way through a short cut down a road passing fancy houses and gardens. Sometimes I scare rabbits that see me approaching here, but today, something larger ran out of one of the gardens. Make that two large things, because I saw a muntjac deer and its fawn, which was half the size of its mother. The pair of dashed away from me and towards the main road. Just a short distance away, I saw them again running in panic in the more built up area that was once an old cricket ground. The mother deer then turned back the way it came, rushing pass me down the pavement on the opposite side of the main road. Following shortly after was the youngster, which chose a more dangerous route into traffic on the road. Thankfully, it avoided collision and ran to a more safe spot, I hope.

Chinese Water Deer

When I got to Strumpshaw, the rest of the morning was not as exciting or dramatic. However, I did get to see my second Asian originated deer of the day as I saw two Chinese water deer grazing the reed stubble from Fen Hide. I waited in the hide a while to see if anything else turned up, but nothing did. So I gave up and decided to check out the Tower Hide quickly. It wasn't long though until I was stopped in my tracks. The route along the river was partially flooded. Refusing to get my walking boots wet, I had no choice but to return to Fen Hide to kill the remainder of my free time. At least this second visit to this hide was more interesting as I saw a few more things than two deer. This included a large flock of bearded tits hiding in the reed beds. Though views were fleeting, the cocophony of pinging calls resonating to my ears made me estimate that there were at least 30-40 birds were hiding away amongst the reeds. A reassuring revalation as we thought they were close to being completely wiped out from the 'Beast from the East' earlier this year at this reserve.

The route to the Tower Hide

Flooded jetty

Mallard

Pheasant

Stock Dove

Dark Bush-cricket

Shoveler

At Reception Hide, the broad had plenty of ducks on it. But suddenly, they all disappeared making a mass exidous into the sky. An otter was around somewhere. One of my collegues managed to spot it before me, but the otter was gone as soon as it was spotted and I had missed it completely. It took a lengthy amount of time until the ducks returned back to their original number before the otter scare. Most of them were gadwall and mallard, as well as coot, but there were also a few shovelers, teal and a couple of wigeon. A family of mute swans were constantly harrassed by Cobber the black swan, which kept chasing them around the broad, and I also saw a kestrel, a buzzard and a few marsh harriers. Meanwhile, a flock of redwings flew over, replacing the swallows and house martins that are now long gone. Winter is approaching and the signs of change are clear to see now.

Teal

Gadwall

Mute Swan

Coot

Moorhen

Marsh Harrier