cliftonbirding: Weekend in Suffolk Day 2

Saturday 2 June 2012

Weekend in Suffolk Day 2

A few of us were up before breakfast and we had a little look around Westleton Common, there were quite a few Garden Warblers and Nightingales singing but as usual remained hidden, we flushed a Little Owl along a little track and a Wood Lark sang from telephone wires but not a lot else. After breakfast we all trooped off to Minsmere where we spent most of the day, we walked the loop around the main part of the reserve for the first part of the day, a pair of Stone Curlew are breeding on the reserve this year and could be viewed from the North Wall but were very distant, the rest of the walk round didn’t produce anything out of the ordinary highlights were a small flock of Common Scoter close in on the sea, Common and Little Terns performing well, two or three Little Gulls plus Marsh Harriers and Hobbies hunted overhead and a couple of Green Hairstreak Butterflies were seen. We had lunch back at the visitor centre and then took a stroll out to Island Mere Hide where several Little Egrets and a Bittern showed well in flight, a Cuckoo flew across right in front of the hide and several Bearded Reedlings flitted over the reeds. It's a really good reserve and we had a very enjoyable walk round seeing some good birds although at this time of year you always hope something special might turn up but unfortunately not that day. Late afternoon we headed over to nearby Dunwich Heath and were suitably entertained by three or four Dartford Warblers and a couple of Stonechats then after dinner it was back out to Westleton Heath where a couple of young Long Eared Owls were calling and a Nightjar churred but none were seen.