North Warren

I started the day intending to visit Minsmere, but after a quick look from the East hide and a very nice macaroni cheese in the café, I decided to have a look at North Warren, an RSPB reserve near Aldeburgh.

I ended up doing the circuit known as the Reedbed Loop, walking in from the Leiston road through a very nice area of heath and grassland.  At the seat which overlooks the reedbed I was surprised to see a Harris Hawk which flew past quite low, calling and then disappeared over the far side of the reedbed.  I understand that an escaped bird has been in the area for some time.




View over part of the reedbed

 

Cutting through the woods and turning left when I reached the old railway line I soon reached another viewpoint over the reeds where 3 Hobbies were putting on a fine display, and a Marsh Harrier was seen in the distance.  If I had continued on this path I could have visited Thorpeness Mere - the House in the Clouds was visible over the wet meadows on the right of the path.

 

 

 



I continued to follow the path around the reedbed,  through some woodland, and past some cottages, ending up on a boardwalk leading to a very nice new viewing platform.  A pair of Marsh Harriers were displaying here, and the Harris Hawk put in another brief appearance.




Marsh Harriers

The boardwalk continued through some areas of cut vegetation which looked very promising for later in the year.  I saw a few clumps of Marsh Marigold in flower, a bit of a rarity nowadays.

Marsh Marigold

All in all a very interesting walk, one I intend to repeat soon.

SWT Hazelwood Marshes

On New Years Day 2012 we walked The Sailers Path from Snape towards Aldeborough, and back.  We saw the sign for the marshes but did not have time to go any further.  So today we started from the Aldeborough end, parking in a small car park off the main road.

The entrance to the Hazelwood Marshes is about half a mile's walk along the Sailors Path which has recently been resurfaced.  The marshes themselves are managed by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust.

Sightings included small tortoiseshell and peacock butterflies, chiffchaff, blackcap and willow warbler.  From the Eric Hoskings hide we saw avocet, redshank, 3 greenshank and a big flock of godwits on the far side of the bay together with many smaller waders, probably mostly dunlin.  There were lots of shelduck in front of the hide, together with numerous teal and a pair of shoveler.

Bird of the day was a very obliging hobby which was hawking for insects low over the grazing meadow and ponds behind the hide.

1000 for 1KSQ

So now I have been tempted again!  To find 1000 species in a single square kilometre in one year - sounds a tall order you might think.  But we are talking species of any type of creature, plant, fungus, bugs and beasties.  And several people have reached 400 already.  To follow the latest stories or to join in see the blog:

http://1000for1ksq.blogspot.co.uk/


My square is TM3137 which includes my garden and fields north of Felixstowe reaching as far as Kings Fleet.  My total so far is 113, so quite a way to go!

Patchwork Challenge

I have signed up to the Patchwork Challenge http://patchworkchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/

 

 



King's Fleet & Felixstowe Ferry

 

 

The first task was to define the borders of my patch, which must be no more than 3km² in area.

It obviously had to include my garden, in Marsh Lane, and all the land in the Deben valley visible from the bedroom window.  I also wanted to include the footpath which leads from Marsh Lane to Gulpher Road, as this is a nice walk when time is short. 

King's Fleet made an obvious northern boundary , as did the River Deben to Felixstowe Ferry and the sea shore from the Ferry to the cliff top car park near the Golf Club.  The SW boundary follows Ferry Road back to Marsh lane.  On drawing this out using a mapping tool the area was calculated at 2.900km²- just right!

The rules state that  'The birds that contribute to your score must be within the boundaries of the patch (i.e. you don’t need to be), or, seen or heard while you are on your patch. So, heard only birds count, distant passing seabirds count, flyovers count, and birds flushed from the patch while you approach your site count.'

So this means that anything flying up the river, seen out at sea, or visible on the far side of the Fleet is still countable.

I am starting my patch list from today but also including the few interesting birds I had recorded earlier in January, which were basically Barn Owl and a flock of Linnets from a walk on 1st Jan and a Tawny Owl seen in Marsh Lane when I was driving home from work last week.  So today I will be recording all the garden birds and perhaps venturing out this afternoon to check the geese and swans visible in the distance from the house - weather permitting of course!


A Good Walk

How is it that nearly 6 months have gone since I last posted to my blog?  Lots has happened, not least that I am now living permanently in Suffolk.  I still have a base in Norfolk but visiting is restricted even more now as I am working full time.

Anyway, after all the excesses of Christmas, I felt in need of a good walk this afternoon, even though the weather was not particularly promising.

I walked down the lane to the river wall, and then headed upstream.  The tide was falling but not a lot to see on the mud.  A large flock of golden plover was put up by a small launch, the only boat seen moving on the river.  The Brent geese seem to be down in numbers this year, less than 500 on the fields today, some making the most of the flooded areas for a good wash.

View over the flooded fields towards the Ferry

I took shelter from the strong wind by walking on the narrow strip of salt marsh on the far side of the seawall.  I disturbed a small bird which looked dark enough to be a rock pipit, but although I sat down and waited it didn't return.  Further along were 4 turnstones and a little egret.




By the R Deben looking upstream.

I walked as far as the jetty used by windsurfers in the summer, then turned for home.  I followed the track behind the bank to keep out of the wind as much as possible, and was rewarded with the sound of bearded tits calling and a brief glimpse of one in flight over the reeds lining the dyke. 

I'd had a good walk, and although I had a head wind it was very mild, and by the time I got back the hat and gloves had come off, so hopefully burned a few calories. 



Newbourne Springs, Suffolk

Sunday 10th June 2012, 2-4pm
A walk around Newbourne Springs

Weather, overcast after a sunny start to the day

Bird highlights:
Song thrush, blackcap, nightingale -  all in full song
Many chiff-chaffs calling
A family party of blue tits, youngsters being fed
Great-spotted woodpecker calling

The meadow area was ungrazed and awash with Ragged Robin in full flower.  I have never seen such a good display before - full of bees.  At least one Common-spotted Orchid in bloom, probably a lot more not visible from the path. 

Tree bumble, B hypnorum, seen on newly opened bramble flowers.

New bees in the garden

My house in Swaffham has cavity walls, and when I had a new bathroon suite installed a couple of years ago an overflow pipe was removed, leaving a small hole allowing access to the cavity.  Last year it was used as a nesting site by a pair of blue tits, but this year it has been taken over by the hole nesting Tree Bumblebee, Bombus hypnorum.  These bees have been very active, collecting pollen in the garden and taking it back to the nest.  On warm days one or two bees station themselves at the entrance to the hole fanning their wings to increase ventilation.

Bombus hypnorum

B hypnorum was first reported in the UK in 2001, and has now established itself over most of the country.  They are distinctive little bees, with white tails and a rusty brown thorax.  They regularly form colonies above the ground, using various holes in trees, buildings, and often use bird nest boxes.  An useful information sheet can be found here: http://hymettus.org.uk/downloads/Info_sheets_2010/Bombus_hypnorum_infosheet.pdf

It is the first time I have seen these bees in Swaffham, but have since also identified them down in Suffolk.