Unexpected Ticks

 May 1st Strumpshaw Fen

It is International Dawn Chorus Day and Dad and I were up before sunrise to experience it at Strumpshaw. I've done it twice here before and both times were magical, full of mist that gradually melted away in bright sunshine while bitterns boomed and barn owls hunt in the illuminated gloom. This time, however, wasn't quite as amazing as it was overcast, providing no grand sunrise, and the bitterns didn't really boom and there were no owls in sight.

With it being overcast, the darkness just slowly dimmed into daylight like using a dimmer light switch. And though it was lacking in bitterns, it was still an interesting dawn chorus with a slightly different cast of songsters than previously. We arrived at the reserve at 4:20am and the reedbeds were already alive with sedge, Cetti's and grasshopper warblers, cuckoos and greylags. The grasshopper warblers and cuckoos were definitely the stars of the show for this morning's chorus as I could hear them everywhere.

Grey Wagtail (May 1st), Wall Butterfly (May 2nd)
Ring Ouzel (May 9th), Black-winged Stilt (May 14th)

Walking around the reserve and as the morning progressed, more and more birds joined in. Blackcaps, willow warblers, chiffchaffs, shelducks, redshanks, marsh harriers, greenfinches, stock doves, song and mistle thrushes, whitethroats and even redwings were just some of the birds we heard from all over the reserve. While walking back from Tower Hide, a lesser whitethroat surprised us with a brief appearance by alerting us with a short and very quick song outburst. We also came across a stoat, the bluebells in full display, pochards, several black-head gulls and a great crested grebe building their nests at Tower Hide and, at Reception Hide, a female grey wagtail was the best way to end the walk on.

On the way home, though, disaster struck when the fan belt in my parent's car came off not too far away from home! It made this year's dawn chorus a memorable one for all the wrong reasons.

May 2nd Strumpshaw Fen

It was a bank holiday Monday and I wasn't sure about bus times and with the car out of commission, so I decided to walk from home to Norwich train station. I ended up doing a LOT of walking today. Walking to Tower Hide and back was a bit of an overkill. However, I did see a cuckoo, marsh harriers, pochards, wigeon, shovelers, gadwall and redshanks, so wasn't all bad. And on the way back to Reception Hide, I had a wall brown butterfly fly around me on the Sandy Wall.

At Reception Hide, I saw my first hobby of the year, a kingfisher, a grey wagtail (that was the star of the show), swallows, bearded tits, ducklings and cygnets, a pied wagtail and many black-headed gulls.

After my shift, I was offered a lift back to Brundall station by Strumpshaw regular and friend, Liz Dack. We had a quick detour as we stopped at an area of trees where little owls were known to frequent. We managed to hear one and then a very brief glimpse as it flew into one of the very leafed trees. Still counted for me and it took me to 143 bird species this year.

May 9th Strumpshaw Fen & Buckenham

A group of hares chasing a female in a field greeted me as I made my way to Strumpshaw for another week. It was a great start and it got even better when I added a garden warbler to my year list. It was providing some good views as it sang in an almost leafless tree along the river as I was heading to Tower Hide. Sadly, I couldn't get any photos as I was having trouble locating it with my camera.

The sky was full of hobbies, but I still couldn't find any swifts yet. It wasn't until a day or two later when I saw these aerial screechers on the way to work. On the nectar garden log, red mason bees and various other bees and wasp species that target their nests were very busy. Butterflies were everywhere, including orange-tips, holly blues, speckled woods, peacocks and brimstones and there were even a few dragonflies and damselflies on the wing too. The bluebells were in full display still in the wood, but despite being reported, I couldn't find the spotted flycatchers that were apparently in the area. I also heard a grasshopper warbler, seen the odd bearded tit, swallows, marsh harriers, herons, sedge, willow and reed warblers and blackcaps.

Before heading home, my Reception Hide partner for the day, Barry, took me to a sandy, rabbit hole ridden pit in a paddock not far from the Buckenham Marshes car park to see a male ring ouzel that had suddenly been reported. It didn't take long to spot it hopping around at the top of the pit providing the best views I've ever had. You could see the white breast patch very clearly. Finally! I could finally tick one off my list at long last! I even got a few photos for my bucket list challenge.

May 14th Hickling Broad

Hickling was becoming a hive of activity recently with all kinds of things showing up. This included black-winged stilts and swallowtails. It was the perfect excuse for an outing there with my parents and seek them out.

Brendan's Marsh was the place to be. The place where the stilts and many other interesting waders were being seen at. Arriving to this part of the reserve, we instantly got a male stilt and very close views too. It's black and white body appears to bounce around on its long, gangly red legs that create its characteristic movements as it searched for food amongst the short submerged grass. I ended up seeing possibly another 1-3 others throughout the morning, which made me wonder if these scarce birds would breed here this year.

We explored these pools for the rest of the morning and I added a yellow wagtail and a wood sandpiper to my list. There were many ringed and little ringed plovers, a few dunlin, redshanks, a spotted redshank, common sandpipers, the odd godwit and plenty of goslings. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the ring ouzel, Temminck's stint or even the bittern that were also around while I was there.

After lunch, we went for a walk to the hides and to search for swallowtails that had recently emerged. It started well with a kingfisher at Cadbury Hide. But, it was along the path towards the Observatory Hide where things got exciting. Not one, not two, but 4-5 swallowtails ended up flying around us here (though not all at once). Disappointingly, not a single one landed to pose for a photo.

We also saw many hobbies, a few common terns, some low flying marsh harriers, dragonflies and butterflies everywhere, heard cranes bugling, a bittern booming, bearded tits pinging, a cuckoo calling from somewhere and we ended the trip getting passed some Konic ponies that were blocking our way.

May 15th Norwich

A black redstart had been reported at Anglia Square on the day I was out at Hickling. Thinking that it could still be there, I left my flat and walked down reasonably early in the morning while the traffic was fairly quiet and there weren't too many people were around. Before I even reached the car park, I could hear it singing from some distance away. And as I arrived at the car park, there it was, singing from the roof top. Climbing up the stairs to the next level, where the abandoned cinema is, I managed to get better views. This was to be my 150th bird and what a funny and ironic location to get it, above the place I work at!

Kingfisher & Konic Ponies (May 14th)
Black Redstart (May 15th), Scarce Chaser (May 16th)
Swallowtail & Ichneumon Wasp (May 30th) 

May 16th Strumpshaw Fen

I had a list of things to look for before my latest shift was over. First up, searching for spotted flycatchers in the woods. I got to the den building area and found a pair fairly quickly. A few yards later, and another pair by the bluebells. Two pairs not far from each other, I couldn't had asked for anything better. They posed on branches as they normally do, but as soon as I tried to get a photo, they moved to the next branch. Not getting a photo was my only regret to what was a great encounter to my 151st bird.

Next up, I sat by the meadow gate pond and had a couple of glimpses of a water vole. I hadn't seen a water vole at Strumpshaw for years. It was very surprising as there's still a mink problem at the reserve, but with so many water vole sightings recently, it is very reassuring.

When I got back to the Reception Hide, it suddenly got a bit stormy as a thunderstorm appeared. Thankfully, it was only a couple of rumbles and a short, sudden shower that didn't lead to much. However, it may had been enough to delay the swallowtails at Strumpshaw as none were seen. 

So no swallowtails, but I did get a scarce chaser dragonfly, which was an immature male as it was orange with a black line down the abdomen. Also seen was a kingfisher, hobbies, swallows, common terns, muntjac deer, red mason bees and ruby-tailed wasps, though I missed out on a pair of cranes flying over the reserve while I was helping someone answering a bird question.

May 22nd - 29th The Spanish Pyrenees

This is an adventure that I will talk about next time. Look forward to it.

May 30th Strumpshaw Fen

After a week in Spain, I arrived to Strumpshaw and noticed a few changes that happened while I was away. The booth attached to the Reception Hide was gone! The hide was open to the public after over 2 years since it was forced to close due to Covid-19 restrictions. Inside, I noticed that my drawing that I did to celebrate my first 10 years as a volunteer and for the reserve's 45th anniversary was hung on the wall behind the desk. 

Another change was that the meadow trail was open. There wasn't much around at the moment, but I did hear a grasshopper warbler nearby. Meanwhile, at the Fen Hide, I watched a female marsh harrier collect nesting material from right in front of the hide. I also heard cuckoos, bearded tits and Cetti's warblers.

At Reception Hide, it was a great morning for swallowtail butterflies. At least 2-3 were flying around the surrounding area of the hide. Of course, as of previous years before the lockdowns, many people were seeking for them and were having a good time watching them pose for them as they drink the nectar from the irises and other flowers nearby. I also saw a hobby, swallows, house martins, swifts, some kind of ichneumon wasp and a heron.