April 17th Strumpshaw Fen

A warm, sunny, yet hectic day at Strumpshaw today. It is the second week of the Easter break and the families are pouring into the reserve to take part in the Easter activities. I left them in the capable hands of my colleagues. For me, it was the wildlife that kept me busy.

Kingfisher

I arrived early for my pre-shift walk like normal and you couldn't ask for a better way to start it. A kingfisher flew over and perched on one of the perching posts right in front of the Reception Hide as I was getting my camera and binoculars from my bag, ready for another wildlife watching session. It was a female and I had a few seconds to admire her before she was gone. At Fen Hide, there was another smile on my face as I saw my first green sandpiper of the year fly over the reed beds that made up the centre of the reserve. I was pleased to also hear the return of the sedge warblers announcing their arrival with their energetic, scratchy warbling songs.






With just enough time to spare, I made a quick visit to Tower Hide. Sadly, the garganey from last week has moved on. At least the bitterns were booming around this part of the reserve. As I was walking back from the hide, I managed to spot one make a short flyby before plunging down into the reeds. The sound is truly amazing to experience. Each low note of each boom reverberates right through you. They sound pretty close but could actually be some several metres away. We think that there are possibly at least two booming males at Strumpshaw. Let's hope that there are more females out there to make up the numbers and have a successful breeding year so we can have more bitterns.

Mediterranean Gull

Back at Reception Hide, the day was getting warmer and lizards were basking out on the ivy covered stump in front of the hide. I was showing visitors them while also keeping one eye out for ospreys. There have been sightings of these birds passing through the Yare Valley, flying between Rockland Broad and Strumpshaw throughout this week. Unfortunately, not today. However, I still wasn't disappointed as I was lucky enough to see my first Mediterranean gull at Strumpshaw. That's right, I've never seen one here before. It was blending in with the flock of black-headed gulls around the reedy islands. Its head was more jet black than its slightly smaller cousin, whose heads are more chocolate brown than black. Its red bill was also more prominent and its wingtips were pure white, which meant, once you got your eye in, it actually stood out from the crowd.

Mallard with ducklings

I also saw two more green sandpipers, plenty of butterflies (peacocks, orange-tips  and brimstones) 9 mallard ducklings, the odd swallow, shelduck, marsh harriers and buzzards. By the way, that buzzard nest from last week was just a crow's nest that caught the buzzard's curiosity. There was no buzzard activity on that nest the morning sadly.