A Trip To Suffolk and a Couple of Rarities...

 

I recently had the opportunity to visit Suffolk, including the famous RSPB Minsmere. One of the star species of the reserves reedbeds is the Bearded Tit, something I have seen but never got a good photo of before. 

Whilst walking around the reserve, I was almost constantly hearing the distinctive 'pinging' call of Bearded Tits but it was only until the last day I managed to see one well. I was walking along the edge of a reedbed when I noticed something moving out of the corner of my eye - a female Bearded Tit was hopping from reed to reed, eating seeds and insects. She was soon joined by a male who stayed down nearer the base of the reeds only coming up to the top once. I stood watching them for over half an hour; what superb little birds!

The female Bearded Tit was frequently coming up right onto the top the reed stems, giving brilliant views. 

Bearded Tits are really quite interesting little birds though they're not really a member of the tit family, they have a family all to themselves - Panuridae, which no other bird is a member of! Their real name should be Bearded Reedling, but not many people have adopted that name. Also, the males don't really have a 'beard' more like a moustache, so all in all, they are completely wrongly named!

I still think they are fascinating and really beautiful birds all the same.

Another bird that RSPB Minsmere is famous for is the Bittern, a large, heron sized bird which is notoriously illusive, always skulking in the reeds out of sight. It's a case of waiting and watching, hoping for one to suddenly fly out from the reedbed, only to drop back down a little further away. I was very lucky as this Bittern flew slowly right in front of one of the hides, giving brilliant views, my best yet. There were no shortage of Bittern sightings that day though; I counted 5 different individuals! 

From the same hide, this Great White Egret was perching on top of a shrub - I usually see them flying or wading through the water, so to see one perched like this was great. 

Moving on a different reserve now, RSPB North Warren, just 10 minutes down the coast from Minsmere. It was early morning when I noticed an Emerald Damselfly perched on a plant stem, it was there for a while, warming-up. They are a fairly common species in Suffolk though where I live in Herefordshire, they are found a lot less.

As I watched the Emerald Damselfly, I noticed a Red Deer stag (male) and a hind (female) out in the reedbed, probably foraging for food. I've never seen Red Deer before and was surprised about how large they were! 

RSPB North Warren has a whole range of habitats - woodland, reedbed, pools, grassland and scrub. The RSPB also own a section of shingle beach, which I was walking along when I saw a large flock of 50+ Ringed Plover feeding. 

Ringed Plover are in their winter plumage at this time of year; when in their breeding plumage you would see and orange bill, tipped with black and a more distinct black and white pattern on their face.

Ringed Plovers are resident birds in the UK though at this time of year their numbers are swelled with this years juveniles also foraging with the adults. 

There was a single Dunlin among them who was feeding with them on similar creatures. I really love Dunlin - this is the best photo I have ever been able to get of one. 

A little way along the path, I noticed a Rock Pipit was perching on a barbed wire fence very close by. There were many other Rock Pipits flying around, but this was the first time this trip I had seen one up close. 

My last reserve on the trip was Dunwich Heath, a heathland owned by the National Trust and managed for wildlife. I had heard quite a few Dartford Warblers doing their very distintive 'churring' call, and had just seen one fly into a patch of heather scrub. I waited on a nearby bench hoping it would come out. Eventually it did, perching really close by on a tuft of heather. I really like the colours in this photo; the pinks and oranges of the heather and the green trees and shrubs in the background.

I had a really great time in Suffolk and had seen some great species. I also saw a Yellow-browed Warbler at Dunwich Heath which I didn't manage to get a photo of though it was fantastic to see. Only around 350 birds pass through the UK every year from Siberia, stopping off for a few weeks. 

A brilliant end to a great trip away, though this blog post isn't over yet!

Read on...

In late September this year I was extremely excited when I heard a report of a Red-necked Phalarope at Brockhall Gravel Pits, a local gravel pit in Herefordshire. I made my way to the area of the pit where it had been seen and there it was, swimming around in the water. I was surprised how small it was, around the same size as a Pied Wagtail! 

I sat on the muddy bank and watched it swim around, only a few meters away from me, snatching insects of the surface of the water. It was truly brilliant to be able to be so close to a bird without it minding me at all, making this one of my favourite wildlife encounters to date. 

I'm not sure if this works or not as I've never tried it before but I've included a slightly shaky video of it...

The Red-necked Phalarope is a rare bird in the whole of the UK, with only around 30 birds passing through the UK every year. Very small numbers breed on the Western and Northern coasts of Scotland, only around 10 pairs. To see one this far inland in Herefordshire is extremely rare. 

Unlike most other species of wader, Red-necked Phalaropes have lobed toes, enabling them to swim very well. They also feed in a interesting way, swimming around in circles, disturbing the water and picking off any insects that appear on the surface. Unlike many bird species, the female Red-necked Phalaropes is more brightly coloured than the males who spend their time incubating the nests, rather than the female. Females will compete for nest sites, choose a male and then defend him against other females! Once eggs hatch, the female leaves the male to raise them on his own.

I really enjoyed watching the Red-necked Phalarope, a fascinating and beautiful bird.

My last photo this post is a Collard Pratincole taken a few days ago at WWT Slimbridge. I had seen online reports of this at Slimbridge and, as I was going there the next day, was very excited. When I arrived at the hide it had been seen from, it was absolutely packed with people watching it.

This is the best photo I got; the light wasn't fantastic and it was fairly distant.

Unlike most other wading birds, the Collared Pratincole usually hunt their insect prey on the wing, like a swallow. To see a Collard Pratincole in the UK is very rare; when they are seen they are usually sighted on the coasts, so to see one inland is even more special. 

I hope you enjoyed reading this rather long post, it has been an eventful month!