April 10th Strumpshaw Fen

Garganey

Spring migratory birds are starting to flood into the UK in great number. A hoopoe was seen at Winterton for much of this week. Though I would love to go see it, my back would probably disagree with me. However, there is also a steady influx of garganey arriving into Norfolk and there happens to be one or two at Strumpshaw. So this morning, I made my way over to Tower Hide to see if I could find it. I had no idea if this summer visiting duck was or had been seen at this hide or not, it was a complete guess. And what a lucky guess it was! As soon as I opened the hide's window flap, it wasn't long until I found it snoozing on the water.

With its bright white stripe (or supercilium) above its eyes was a big give away and indicated that this was a handsome male. Along with this obvious white marking, the rest of his plumage is made up of an intricate patchwork of chocolate brown and grey patches full of black and white streaks and spots. His plumage could easily be put onto a canvas and placed on display in an art gallery. This individual was extremely sleepy as he spent most of his time with his head tucked under his wing. Thankfully, a passing marsh harrier woke him up as it soared over where he was sleeping, startling the other wildfowl in the process, giving the opportunity to him awake and appreciate him even more before he went drifted off to dreamland once again.


Swallows were swooping over my head as I made my way back from the Tower Hide. It was nice to see them again as they refuel themselves with some tasty flies after their long journey from Africa. At Reception Hide, I saw my first set of chicks of the year. The coots that were nesting in the reeds close to the hide were now showing their 5 tiny, bald-headed chicks where to find food. On the far side of the broad, I noticed that a pair of buzzards were taking some interest in a nest along the treeline. Maybe we will see plenty of buzzard activity in the near future as well as some buzzard chicks?

The Easter school holidays are now underway and the reserve was attracting a lot of families that were arriving to do the activities that Strumpshaw's staff has set up for them to do. The Reception Hide was an extremely busy place and full of very excited young children. I was equally busy showing them and other visitors the wildlife that they could see from the hide, especially a snipe that was continuously playing hide and seek in the vegetation close to the front of the hide. However, the main highlight of the day happened when the children weren't around.

Otters

I was scanning the broad before the crowds started to show up when I suddenly saw some splashing in the far left corner. I then saw a tail poke out of the water like some freshwater dolphin, but much thinner, covered in brown fur and lacked the flukes that a dolphin has. It was an otter! Two otters! I presumed it was a mother with a cub from last year. They were patrolling the far edge of the broad and even came onto land amongst the reeds for a brief moment before I eventually lost sight of them heading down the far right channel. What an exciting few minutes that was! A shame that I wasn't able to share it with the children in time.