The day before the clocks go back and its gone bitterly cold to remind us that winter is just round the corner. We were well rewarded in our walk around Eastville Park by the sight of 2 grey herons, 2 kingfishers and a grey wagtail – oh and a cup of coffee and a bacon butty in Park One Café on the way home.
Click below for gallery of photos from this morning:
Another beautiful day. We had a trip to see if we could see the deer rutting at Dyrham Park (National Trust) and were lucky to get a few glimpses of them before heading off for our walk and our picnic.
Following a walk in Stoke Park we dropped down to come home via Eastville Park.
Stoke Park
With the benefit of the keen eyes of our young companions we spotted a kingfisher. As this was a non-birding walk (i.e. I didn’t have a long lens with me) I tied to capture its beauty with the wide angle that I had with me.
It’s always a soul lifting moment to see this beautiful creature.
Not really a birding day today: we had a trip to Southwold and then a walk down to the pub for lunch and back along the River Blythe. Sorry about all the boats but I’m sure the river comes under the category of “nature”.
We haven’t seen many redshank this week
My close up photos always make little egrets look quite large
The gull gives it some perspective
As it does with the gull and the turnstone
The ferry is very busy with the closure of the foot bridge further along
A visiting ship through the sand dunes on Walberswick beach
Male house sparrow
Female house sparrow
Male house sparrow
Starlings scarpering
Bath time
Meadow pipit
Maybe the same redshank
Honeysuckle and blackberries
These flowers are very popular in local gardens
Click below for gallery of today’s photos:
It was another beautiful autumn day in Suffolk today but slightly fresher in the morning than previous days and certainly a much cooler wind in the afternoon.
We made another trip to RSPB Minsmere and the day started well with a beautiful pheasant in full sunlight in the fields and a muntjac deer in the dark shade of the woods.
A common sight in the countryside of East Anglia at this time of the year
Muntjac deer
We walked out to the Island Mere in the hope of seeing larger birds and were rewarded with good displays of marsh harriers, great white egrets, grey herons and just one bittern; but all a bit too far away to satisfy me as a photographer.
Marsh harriers
Great white egrets
Cormorant
Grey heron
We then visited the North bushes and woodlands in the hope of seeing some smaller birds but saw absolutely nothing. Perhaps the earlier ringing activity had frightened them all away.
Not much bird life but plenty to please the eye
The woods at RSPB Minsmere
Before coming home we went back to Westleton Heath and saw a stone curlew, a stonechat and some distant red deer.
Westleton Heath
The very secretive stone curlew
Red deer which attract lots of visitors to Westleton Heath to see the stags rutting at this time of the year.
Another beautiful morning and we just had time (before entertaining friends) to have a brief walk around the village of Walberswick and the nearby marshes on the Suffolk coast. There wasn’t much in the way of bird life to report but I would like to record how this favourite destination of ours has got even better with the construction of a new bird hide just a few hundred yards from where we stay.
The hide has been mainly conceived and provided by local resident Pat Lancaster in memory of her husband Tony who passed away recently. The hide is a superb facility which looks north over the marshes from the village of Walberswick towards the river Blyth and beyond towards Southwold. This week we have visited the hide on a couple of occasions and the main attraction has been large flocks of Canada and Brent geese but Pat Lancaster has already recorded over 90 species from the hide.
The new bird hide taken (from the ferry to Southwold) earlier in the week
View westwards from the hide
View from the hide towards the River Blythe with Southwold in the background
The hide is comfortable, bright and well equipped.
Definitely a bucolic scene from the hide today
Large flocks of geese (seen earlier this week) are regular visitors.
Our walk this morning took us along the sand dunes behind Walberswick beach and then through the marshes.
Looking back towards Southwold
The only bird life we saw were three mute swans which took off from the river which runs through the marshes towards Dunwich, although we did hear bearded tits.
It’s been an amazing day in Suffolk today; not so much for the birds but for the wonderful weather which has been hot (well into the 20s) and sunny all day. In fact it has been quite hard work traipsing around with heavy camera equipment. Not that I am complaining as we were treated to the sight of some very secretive birds – stone curlews.
We had looked for them on Westleton Heath on Sunday in dismal conditions but had had no success. We returned again this morning and found that we had been looking in totally the wrong place. This time we could see at least seven. However, it was very difficult to get decent photos as we were looking directly in to the sun.
Stone curlews in to the sun
We then went on to RSPB Minsmere where we had probably the least productive time in all of our numerous visits to this great reserve. The only real success was seeing 2 bearded tits (no photos), the first winter ferruginous duck and a quick glimpse of a stonechat.
The ferruginous duck when it wasn’t diving
A rear view of a stonechat
The stonechat makes its exit
Brent geese chased by cormorants
Brent geese
Shelduck
Wigeon
Grey heron
On our way home we decided to return to Westleton Heath for the stone curlews as the sun would have moved around. Full of anticipation we arrived in perfect conditions only to find that the stone curlews now wished to camouflage themselves as well they can. Who said birding was easy anyway?
Our view of the stone curlews in the afternoon sun!
On closer inspection
Click below for gallery of today’s photos:
It was good to be back at RSPB Minsmere. The forecast for today was not at all promising but we managed dry weather until mid afternoon and it was surprisingly warm with very little wind (very different from the stormy weather as we left the West Country the day before) and although generally dull there were a few patchy bright spells.
We only managed to do the tour out along the North Wall to the East Scrape and then on to the Sluice and back via the South Hide. The bitterns and marsh harriers will have to wait for another day!
There was less bird life than we are used to here but certainly enough to keep us entertained.
Some of the birds we saw (in the order we saw them):
Female pheasant
Lapwing
Green sandpiper
Teal
Avocet
Shelduck
Wigeon
Black-tailed godwit
Mallards in flight
First winter Mediterranean Gull (which have been breeding at Minsmere)
Robin establishing its territory
Robin
Brent geese
Stonechat
Blue tit in flight and a Dartford warbler in the bush
Blue tit
I nearly missed this stonechat in flight
Ferruginous duck (a first for me)
Ferruginous duck
Konic ponies
Click below for gallery of my photos from today:
Not really worth a blog but I had a quick stroll across to Stoke Park at about 6 pm and saw 8 beautiful long-tailed tits – one kindly posed high up in a tree in the last rays of sunshine on an amazing day for October when the temperature reached 22 degrees centigrade.
PS I found a few more birds when I reviewed the photos I had taken.
Blue tit
Mallard
Moorhen
I was sitting quietly beside the small pond at Duchess Pond watching a stonechat and a meadow pipit when two women with 16 dogs arrived. The dogs surrounded me (and ruined my tranquility) and then the women started throwing balls in to the pond for the dogs to retrieve which ruined the tranquility for all the wildlife around.
I moved on and managed to follow the stonechat in to the reeds.
Over the park I saw two ravens.
There were just a few moorhens on the big pond and one very smug cormorant who had the whole lake to himself.
That is until another dog walker arrived with a small pack and started throwing balls in to the pond. The cormorant flew off and I went home; both of us were a little disgruntled.
We returned to the Hayle Estuary by taking the train from St Ives just along the most beautiful piece of coast to Lelant Saltings. It was then just a short walk along the road to the Old Quay Inn where good views of the estuary are to be had. By walking just a few more yards along the road we came even closer to the birds, especially teal, curlew, oystercatcher and common redshank.
The Hayle Estuary from beside the Old Quay Inn
We then had lunch in the Old Quay Inn (it would have been rude not too especially as the landlord had been flagged on the web as birder friendly). We then caught the train back to St Ives where it seems we always see turnstone.
Teal
Oystercatcher
Curlew
Common redshank
Wigeon
Little egret
Black-headed gull
Canada geese in flight
Immature gull
Turnstone
Click below for photo gallery from today:
Normal service resumed: still a lovely sunny day but a sweater needed as we walked around St Ives.
Not too many birds around but enough to provide some entertainment photographing them.
Turnstone
Turnstone
Turnstone
Great black-backed gull
Great black-backed gull
Immature gull
Starlings
And then I was distracted by these chaps:
Martin's Bird Blog & Nature Photos 