26 MARCH 2026 – IN THE BRECKS

It was a sunny cloudless morning that saw us (John, Mike, and me) setting off at 0815 hrs to the Brecklands of Norfolk and Suffolk, although it was deceptively chilly, with a moderate North Westerly, which could well have an influence on what we might see. John had his Landrover Discovery back from the garage, following necessary repairs.

Our first port of call was Lynford Arboretum, but right from the start it seemed somehow rather depleted of birds, with only a pair of Crossbills being the highlight here. Also, the usual array of snowdrops and daffodils had gone over earlier than one might normally expect, so it wasn’t in such pristine condition, although this was compensated for in no small way by the elegant, tall beeches (just coming into leaf), interspersed by aged oaks and conifers; it is such an impressive environment. After a welcome coffee at the Shepherd’s Baa, we moved off to Mayday Farm, near Thetford.

Over the years Mayday Farm (owned and operated by the Forestry Commission) has been an excellent site for birdwatching, with its extensive areas of both deciduous and coniferous woodlands interspersed with wide, open areas of scrub, suitable for many species of birds, and is renowned for less common birds such as Woodlark; Nightjar; Goshawk; Long-eared Owl, and Crossbill, despite or even because of the way the land has been managed. But, like so many of our inheritance of beautiful landscapes, the charge of modernity has shown itself here too with the introduction of parking meters, which were being installed as we arrived. One might hope of course that the proceeds go towards the upkeep of the forest, so maybe it’s not such a negative measure.

After a longish walk along an often-stony track, we came across a small trackside pool, where a couple of birdwatching photographers had set-up their cameras, waiting for birds to come down and take a drink. We were advised that Siskins; Redpolls and Crossbills had been seen throughout the morning, so we stopped awhile in the hope of getting some good close views ourselves. We didn’t have long to wait.

There was a tall conifer overlooking the pool, with a mixture of bramble and broom (or maybe gorse) and other shrubs, so there was plenty of cover. The pool was quite small in area - approximately 2 metres square - and was illuminated with bright sunlight throughout the time we were there.

The first birds to appear were Siskins (both sexes) followed by Redpolls (again, both sexes); a Goldfinch or two; a Chiffchaff; a Robin; a Blue Tit; a Chaffinch; a Great Tit; a Coal Tit, followed by a single female Crossbill, then another; then a male Crossbill; then a male and female Crossbill together; and then a lovely male Brambling. And finally, John spotted a juvenile Crossbill right at the very top of the conifer - the first juvenile either Mike or I had ever seen. What a treat!!

As the time was getting on (it was about 13.00 hrs by then) we moved off along the track hoping to get a glimpse of a Goshawk (which Mike had observed here earlier in the year) but we were to be disappointed in that that regard. But there were quite large numbers of Redpoll and Linnets along the trail, with the odd Chiffchaff and Chaffinch, although John did see a Yellowhammer too. With nothing else of note other than a female Minotaur Beetle and a lone Peacock Butterfly, we headed back to the car, with a brief stop back at the drinking pool - which was in shade by then, with few birds drinking, and headed off to Weeting (a few miles away), hoping to see Stone Curlews.

The reserve at Weeting is no longer operative as such, but the hides are still open to the public. Regrettably, there were no Stone Curlews on view either from any of the hides or indeed on the fields opposite, so it was assumed that either they hadn’t yet arrived, or the species no longer occurs there; though with little if any breeding success in recent years, it isn’t looking hopeful. The only birds present and likely to breed were several pairs of Lapwing. But scoping the fields John picked up a pair of Mistle Thrushes and a lone Fieldfare (both of which, unbelievably, were new to me for the year); then scoping more distantly, picked up a pair of Stonechats, and an early migrant female Wheatear.

To end the day, we called in at RSPB Lakenheath hoping to see a drake Garganey which had been recorded lately; but although we failed to find it, we did see a lone adult Whooper Swan; a Great Egret; a female Western Marsh Harrier and a pair of Marsh Tits. John also picked up a Little Egret and a probable Merlin, both of which Mike and I missed.

Overall, a reasonable day’s birding, with the undoubted highlight being the stunning mix of finches, and other species at the drinking pool at Mayday Farm.

REDPOLL

REDPOLL

SISKIN (M)

SISKIN (M)

SISKIN (M)

RED CROSSBILL (F)

RED CROSSBILLS (F)

RED CROSSBILL (M)

RED CROSSBILL (M)

MALE AND FEMALE RED CROSSBILLS with SISKIN

JUVENILE CROSSBILL 

BRAMBLING (M)

BRAMBLING with SISKINS and REDPOLL

COAL TIT

GOLDFINCH

MINOTAUR BEETLE (F)

8 JANUARY 2026 – ABBERTON RESERVOIR

This was our first birding trip of the new year and right from the start it seemed from forecasts that we were going to be fighting the weather - the first part of the day being still extremely cold, with light winds, drizzle and fog, followed by heavy rain and strong southwesterlies from about 14.00 hrs. possibly turning wintery by late afternoon - early evening; all courtesy of storm Goretti. So, we set off from mine shortly after 08.00 hrs expecting that we’d likely back home by mid-afternoon.

We had no problems on the road with traffic, but a detour around Coggeshall, meant that we were forced to approach Abberton Reservoir from the Layer de la Haye concourse as opposed to the Layer Breton concourse which was our intended route.

Straight away it was absolutely apparent that the reservoir south of the road here was almost entirely frozen, with hardly a bird on it, except for a couple of Great Egrets and a Carrion Crow, whereas the northern sector was less frozen with isolated groups of Goosander; Wigeon; Tufted Duck; Teal, with the odd Great Crested Grebe; Goldeneye and Pochard. There were a couple of Redshank; Black-tailed Godwits, and Oystercatchers  on the eastern bank, but not much else of note. John picked at least three Red Crested Pochard in his scope and a couple of distant Bewick’s Swans. But we missed out on Black-necked and Slavonian Grebes which had been observed in recent days.

On the way round to the Layer Breton concourse, we looked in at one of the hides at Billet’s Farm, but views of birds were restricted by fog that seemed to be becoming denser by the minute. Regrettably, we just missed a Long-tailed Duck, but there wasn’t a great deal on show here, although once again John came to the rescue with a singleton Mediterranean Gull and a drake Pintail. A female ring-necked Pheasant; a flock of about ten Dunlin, and a flyover Golden Plover helped boost our year lists too.

At Layer Breton virtually the first bird we latched onto was a stunning drake Smew, a species I hadn’t seen here for several years, and despite swimming and diving over a wide area, it kept a reasonable distance from the birders watching it.  There was a lot of activity here as it wasn’t as extensively frozen as from the southern section at Layer de la Haye, but there were many Mute Swans and Egyptian Geese interspersed with Grey Lags; Tufted Duck; Wigeon and other duck species, including a Red-head Smew (a female) which I found near to the left bank, initially ‘hiding’ beneath a fallen tree and which seemed very reluctant to come out at times. A Eurasian Buzzard was seen flying over the frozen waters and was something of a surprise. The southern part of the lake was almost entirely frozen with hardly a bird on it save for Black-headed and Herring Gulls, and I think at least one Mew (Common) Gull. But although there were a few Great Egrets, we saw absolutely no Little Egrets or Cattle Egrets (all of which had bred here); obviously the conditions were too harsh for them here, and they’d moved out to outlying fields; streams and rivulets.

After speaking to a fellow birdwatcher, John discovered that there was a ‘permissible footpath’ nearby where Tundra Bean Geese and White-fronted Geese had been observed of late, so we made a beeline for that, almost immediately connecting with a large flock of 80 or so Egyptian Geese on open fields, and behind them the three Bean Geese. Quite a bit further along, we connected with a large flock of wary Grey Lags with some Canada Geese, interspersed with the Whitefronts - where John scoped at least 14, with a good 100 or so Canada Geese further away. A pair of Stock Doves flew over, and good numbers of Redwings were seen flying out of Hawthorn bushes that lined the path.

We returned to Layer de la Haye concourse - where Mike and I spotted what we initially thought was a second drake Smew swimming around ice-free areas of water - although we soon discovered that the drake at Layer Breton was seen to fly north, so was almost certainly the same bird.

Later, we visited the Visitor Centre and the bird hides there, without seeing much more of interest due to the lack of birds on frozen waters, although two more Bewick’s Swans; a Sparrowhawk; an obliging Green Woodpecker on a wooden fence, and a few small passerines such as Titmice and Starlings were seen. By this time the whole reserve was shrouded in a truly dense fog, which virtually obliterated views of the birds and everything else.

After a welcome Cappuccino we left for home arriving at mine at 15.00 hrs in extremely dense fog, fortunately without experiencing the forecast heavy rain and high winds ………….which came after darkness fell.

A ritual that most of us ‘birders’ partake in is keeping a list of birds seen in any one year. Some are arguably a tad over-zealous in this regard, but I’d like to think that we three don’t take it that seriously. That said getting our lists off to a good start for the year is something probably most birders who keep lists adhere to well, almost religiously - and we are no different.

We achieved up to 32 ‘year ticks’ between us which we all felt was quite an exceptional tally, given the adverse weather conditions - indeed, none of us could recall seeing so much frozen water at Abberton previously, and I’m certain that helped us to some degree.

DRAKE GOLDENEYE

GOOSANDER (F)

GOOSANDER (M)

GREEN WOODPECKER

KERRY (?) SHEEP (near the 'permissible footpath)

SMEW (DRAKE)

SMEW (DRAKE)

 SMEW (DRAKE)

SMEW (FEMALE or REDHEAD)

EURASIAN WIGEON

9 SEPTEMBER 2025 – TEDNAMBURY and THORLEY WASH

I’d heard about Whinchats being seen locally, so having seen the species previously at Thorley Wash (though not since September 2017) I thought I’d visit Thorley Wash in case one had found its way there. But as soon as I got off the bus at Spellbrook, instead of heading north along the Stort towpath, I headed south towards Tednambury, as I remembered I’d seen Whinchats there too in the past.

It started well with sightings of a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Green Woodpecker (both of which had been hard to see at Thorley Wash this year), but after a relatively short distance along the towpath I heard a ‘cronking’ sound and when I turned around, I saw a large ‘crow-like’ bird alight atop of a radio mast a couple of hundred metres or so away. The knew the ‘cronking’ was that of a Raven but the bird I was seeing was too far away to be sure, although binocular views when the bird bowed to show a large crop, I was certain in my mind that it was indeed a Raven; I mean its whole demeanour screamed Raven, and anyway Crows don't 'cronk'!!

I took several shots through the camera using my 100-400 mm telephoto - and in the screen when enlarged I could see the bird well enough to know that my conclusion was correct. But I couldn’t leave it there - I needed to get closer, to try and get better photographs if possible. So, I retraced my steps along the towpath, to get into the field where the radio mast was situated. I might have been trespassing (something I wouldn’t normally do) but access to the field was from an unrestricted pathway, so maybe I was okay; but up the hill I was luckily undercover of trees and bushes, and when I reached the mast I had no option but to leave the cover in order to view the top of the mast - but of course as soon as I did so, the bird saw me and took immediately to flight - joined by another equally large bird - both ‘cronking’ continuously. I had to act quickly, so trained the camera on the two birds, and tracked them as they flew, with just four or five shots taken before they were too far away to matter. They both flew around and away to land in a distant oak, where another - equally large - bird was perched, together with a kestrel which was diminutive in comparison. I looked at my shots, and could see the birds’ massive bills, and in one photo the wedge-shaped tail; so, I was happy I’d identified the Ravens correctly - indeed, I was over the moon at the superb views I’d had. Later, I enjoyed another sighting as a Raven flew high over me - ‘cronking’ all the time - and when I could see the wedge-shaped tail more clearly, although, unbelievably, I sort of forgot to use the camera!!

Along the towpath, I found a juvenile Little Grebe hiding amongst the reeds along the Stort. This was quite a surprising record, as normally Little Grebes are seen here (and at Thorley Wash) in the winter months - occasionally in good numbers, my best being fifteen individuals. But could this one be a locally bred bird?? I also saw a distant Red Kite and a Cormorant fishing in the river.

As for chances of seeing a Whinchat, well they were non-existent, as the marsh was virtually completely devoid of any birdlife - no Whitethroats; no Reed Buntings - absolutely nothing. But it would have been difficult to see any bird anyway as the marsh was completely covered in Himalayan Balsam, which was clearly rampant here; a scene completely different to the last time I visited the site some months ago. I turned back at that stage, and made my way back along the towpath, with no further views of Ravens, although I did get some quite lovely shots of the Little Grebe, before two canal boats disturbed the waters.

As I approached Thorley Wash Reserve along the towpath alongside Walbury Estate, I found a couple of pairs of Western Spreadwing damselflies (previously known as Willow Emerald damselflies) and the briefest glimpse of a Kingfisher flying high over some Willow trees.

A walk around the northern section of Thorley Wash Reserve produced little in the way of birdlife, and the number of Western Spreadwing damselflies was disappointingly small - indeed, I don’t think I’d ever witnessed the reserve so quiet. This quietude was exemplified by the sighting of a small herd of Water Buffalo that were lying down, sheltering from the warm sunshine beneath Willow trees. It had been warm, with unrelenting sunshine throughout the day, but cloud was increasing from the south, and by mid-afternoon showers were threatening. I did see several Hornets hovering over an Ivy bush, but it was almost impossible to get decent photographs because they were all entirely unpredictable and constantly on the move.

A few more Western Spreadwings were seen on my way north along the towpath - although they were incredibly difficult to photograph without risking falling into the river - and the Kingfisher was seen again, this time skimming the surface as it flew rapidly upstream. A few dragonflies were seen - a single Brown Hawker; several Common Darters (most in tandem with a mate egg laying); a couple of Common Blue Damselflies, and rather a lot of Migrant Hawkers - a couple of which I found ‘perched’ on stems of reeds and were photographable. Further along, I found a species of Cricket which I believe was a Brown Bush Cricket - an entirely new species for me.

I guess it hadn’t been exceptional bird-wise, but even as I write this, I still cannot believe I’d seen Ravens at such close quarters; and of course, the sighting of a Kingfisher was memorable because it was the first siting of the species anywhere this year.

RAVEN (the first view - vastly enlarged)

RAVENS

RAVENS

LITTLE GREBE

LITTLE GREBE

LITTLE GREBE

COMMON DARTER

MIGRANT HAWKER

WESTERN SPREADWING

WESTERN SPREADWINGS IN TANDEM

WATER BUFFALO

MUTE SWAN

HORNET

BROWN BUSH CRICKET

 

 

 

 

 

 14 MAY 2025 – SPARROWHAWK IN THE GARDEN

I’ve observed Sparrowhawks in the garden on many occasions - indeed forty individual sightings in or from the garden since 2006 - but never like the one I witnessed today. Indeed, the only photographs I’d managed to achieve were through the kitchen window. But this time I was actually ‘on the spot’ when the Sparrowhawk flew in.

I was in the back garden spraying some unwanted weeds (around 9.40 a.m.) when suddenly I became aware of a commotion of birds’ distress calls, and stood up only to have a ‘dark’ bird literally brush my scalp, and land at the bottom of the garden beside the birdbath, with a screaming juvenile Starling clutched firmly in its claws. It was a Sparrowhawk - a male.

I rushed into the house to grab my camera, and when I got back, I was able to fire off a few shots - just for ‘insurance purposes’ - in case the Sparrowhawk flew off. But it didn’t. So, I pushed my luck and attempted to get closer and closer - with the camera and 100-400 mm telephoto lens poised accordingly - until I was within a mere few feet of the bird, with the Starling still very much alive, and flapping its wings vigorously, trying to get away from the hawk’s iron-grip.

The Sparrowhawk didn’t seem to know what to do with the Starling, and in fact it was only towards the end of the observation that the hawk began to pluck the poor Starling’s feathers; but throughout this time the poor thing was very much alive, occasionally flapping its wings vigorously in a vain attempt to escape, whilst calling distressfully. Normally, I would have assumed that the bird was maybe a first summer male, and inexperienced in dealing with prey; but it was in full summer plumage, so was very probably an adult male - so maybe it was confused because of my presence.

The hawk made several unsuccessful attempts to fly off with its prey, until eventually it managed to do so, and flew into my neighbour’s garden and into dense bush cover, and out of sight.

I was initially under the impression that the entire episode (from start to finish) lasted about 20 minutes, with sixty-five images taken, but the EXIF details on the images themselves, indicate that it was a mere 8 minutes in total. Quite unbelievable!