Minsmere

The RSPB's flagship nature reserve at Minsmere was conveniently close to our temporary home in Suffolk for the last few days so deciding what to do on our first full day was an easy choice. The bird life was plentiful if not spectacular, with the odd scarcity among the expected wildfowl.

A pair of Whooper Swan (#98) were on the flooded Konik pony field

A Redhead Smew was roosting on one of the scrapes...

...it later flew it front of the Island Mere hide

Shoveler (#99) were plentiful on the scrapes

Greylag Goose making it's first appearance on the blog this year (#100)

Ringed Plover ditto (#101)

Chiffchaff - a poor photo included solely for the purposes of grinding the photo year list on another meaningless notch (#102) - and in case I forget to post one later in the year

Despite seeing not much out of the ordinary, I did get one tick at Minsmere in the form of Bird's Nest fungus - named for how it looks rather than where it is found. There was a profusion of it on the boardwalk near the visitor centre but it was so small that I think we would have walked straight past it had it not been for someone else on their knees with a macro lens giving its presence away. 

The tiny and exquisite Birds Nest fungus

This picture gives some idea of scale

Marsh Harrier against the slightly incongruous backdrop of the Sizewell nuclear power station

This area is one of the strongholds of Marsh Harrier in the UK

There was precious little going on out at sea but a few Red-throated Divers (#103) were on the move

We stayed until dusk to watch to sun go down, and were rewarded with close views of feeding Common Snipe, a short Bittern flight, a couple of dozen Bewick's Swans coming in to roost and 3 Otter scudding distantly across the Mere.

The Whooper Swans dropped in to the Mere as the sun was setting



Common Snipe

24 Bewick's Swans flew in to roost just as we were leaving for home

Dusk is a good time to see Bittern (#104) - this one just caught the last rays of the sun



The extensive reedbeds at Minsmere catching the evening sun

Marsh Harrier

Otters

Sunset at Minsmere



Things are looking up

It's been a pretty grim week what with the weather, the end of the Christmas holidays, pet-related trauma and the dark mornings etc. So it was nice to have some good news this weekend: not just it being the weekend, but the acquisition of two new guinea pigs, Coulson and Fury, to replace the one which went to the great hutch in the sky earlier in the week. Not that he can ever be replaced, of course.

The new pets are named after characters in the TV series currently enjoying most favoured status in the Moore household: Marvel Agents of SHIELD. Fury, played by Samuel L Jackson in the TV series, is Director of SHIELD and mediates between the US Government and the random selection of superheroes who feature in the series. Coulson is his right hand man, an ice-cool spook whose 'powers', according to the Marvel encyclopedia which one of my sons had for Christmas, include 'excellent administrative abilities'. I have been trying to find a way to make my kids think that my job at the council could be cool, and this is as close as I've come.

Anyway, it was not just those things that were looking up this weekend: several thousand waders at Middlebere were too, keeping a watchful eye on the skies for hunting raptors. While Coulson and Fury were being procured from Yeovil yesterday, and groomed this morning, I was free to spend a couple of hours each day at Middlebere looking for them. There were plenty around in yesterday's low light - best of all Hen Harrier, but also Marsh Harrier and Merlin. In addition there was a Spoonbill, 500+ Avocet, a similar number of Black-tailed Godwit, 300+ Lapwing, and too many Dunlin to count. Not so many raptors this morning in perfect sunshine unfortunately but Merlin and Marsh Harrier put in another appearance.

Hen Harrier, Middlebere - a female seen here regularly this winter was ringed at Langholm Moor in Scotland.

Hen Harrier, Middlebere - species #34 on my photo year list

Hen Harrier

Hen Harrier

Marsh Harrier - a male (#35)

Marsh Harrier - female

A Merlin scattered the waders and pursued a Dunlin flock briefly but unsuccessfully (#36)

A female Bullfinch fed in front of the hide

Common Teal were present in good numbers (#37)

Great Black-backed Gull (#38)

Yellow-legged Gull is reliable at Middlebere

Two were present and their short flights would often disturb the roosting waders

Wheeling flocks of Dunlin were disturbed by passing raptors (#39)

Several hundred Avocet were present over high tide (#40)

Over 300 Lapwing were in the creek (#41)

Just time after the boy's football today (a 5-1 away win at Puddletown, Moore Jnr scoring with a header from a Joe Mitchell corner) to twitch a Bewick's Swan near Tincleton -it was nearly dark by the time we found it (#42)

Fury and Coulson: the Avengers Assemble





Magic Beans

Three Bean Geese turned up at Longham Lakes on Thursday, a rare bird in Dorset, but I couldn't get to go before Saturday morning, and even then I only had a narrow window between dawn and having to leave at 0830 for other commitments. What with geese being big and all, an attempted smash and grab still seemed worth the effort. Unfortunately, before I got there, these particular Magic Beans had performed a vanishing trick, and were nowhere to be seen. A pair of Bewick's Swan were some compensation, and they spent a while on the lakes calling to each other before heading off to feed on the nearby floods.

One of two Bewick's Swan at Longham Lakes

This shot shows the small size compared to Mute Swan