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.

Westleton Common

entering Minsmere

Common Terns performed well

the North Wall

view towards Dunwich

the Coastal Path

a small flock of Common Scoter were close in

more Common Terns

feral Barnacles

one of the Little Gulls

Woodland too

view from Island Mere Hide

a Bittern dropped in

more Common Terns

and Little Egrets

Stonechat and Dartford Warblers on Dunwich Heath

they even waved at me

Minsmere from Dunwich Heath car park

Weekend in Suffolk Day 1

Last Friday Me and Andy along with Mike Williams went on the York Bird Club Weekend trip to Suffolk. Plan A was travel down via Herefordshire but as a certain Cream Coloured Courser decided to depart early we had to revert to Plan B, the Brecks, we visited a new reserve for all of us first, Lackford Lakes, a Turtle Dove and a couple of Nightingales were singing near the car park when we arrived, we spent some time with the latter as the main reason for visiting the reserve is the number of pictures of this species photographed here, alas there were none posing that morning maybe earlier in the day/season would be better, we may have had some brief views of them flitting through the bushes but that was it. We then took a walk around the rest of the reserve, there were several Egyptian Geese as to be expected and Marsh Harriers and half a dozen Hobbies performed overhead but it was generally fairly quiet, the main highlight being a Muntjac wandering about quite oblivious to our presence. After lunch we headed to nearby Cavenham Heath, a site given to us as an alternative to Weeting for Stone Curlew, it was a superb bit of Heathland but the Stone Curlew still took a bit of finding although when we did pick one out we got pretty good views although still too far for photography, also Green Woodpecker showing well and Wood Lark singing. We finished off at Lakenheath where we took a stroll out to the far wood where a Golden Oriole was singing away and after a bit of a stake out Andy managed to pick it out on the edge of the wood and got the scope on it so we all got a rare sighting of this superb songster. We returned along the river bank and several Hobbies put on a good show and a scan over a piece of marshland found two Common Cranes feeding their two youngsters although the vegetation was so high you could only see their heads then with time getting on we hightailed it over to the Crown in Westleton where we were staying and joined the rest of the group for dinner.

Egyptian Geese at Lackford Lakes

A couple of Lackford Lakes scenics

a good few Hobbies hunted overhead

confiding Muntjac

distant Stone Curlew in the heat haze at Cavenham Heath

injured Whooper Swan at Lakenheath

a couple of Hobbies put on a good show

you can just see the head of one of the youngsters on the right hand side of this picture