Westleton Heath Wonders

As a Football Manager might say, the 10/11 May weekend was a game of 2 halves. Saturday was virtually completely birdless for me (May so far, has been a very lacklustre month for me birdwise- let's hope it changes very soon, the omens are good with strong Easterly winds  and bad weather forecast for the coming week) failing to connect with Hobbies or indeed anything else around the Ashby/ Waveney Forest area, yet again I failed to see Adders.

Sunday, by complete contrast, was just sheer bliss. A trip to Westleton Heath was an instant success with a fairly tame Wood Lark running around the car park. 2+ Nightingales were seen singing and showing in bushes in a nearby wood and the main object of the trip, 2 fine Broad- bordered Bee Hawk Moths feeding actively from the purple blooms of a Lilac bush, looking for the world like exotic diminutive Hummingbirds! The Lilac flowers also hosted feeding Red Admiral, Peacock & Comma butterflies. A Cuckoo calling constantly from nearby Pines was glimpsed occasionally in flight.

While nearby a male Linnet sang from a nearby bush and a couple of Dartford Warblers flew around the heather bushes on a distant ridge, hopefully the Magpie seen nearby hadn't gorged itself on their young.

Shakespeare & the "Long Purples"

Early Purple Orchids are starting to flower locally in the Gunton area of Lowestoft with at least one plant in Gunton Wood and around 20 along the edge of a local tourist attraction.

Actual numbers of this Orchid seen so far are well down on previous years, hopefully more will flower soon. They are very late in flowering though due to the colder winter weather we experienced this year.

Early Purples are the first (together with Early Spider Orchids) Orchids to flower in Britain.

They are even referred to by Shakespeare in his famous tragic play Hamlet where he refers to Early Purple Orchids as "long Purples" and he also states "but unlike cold maids do Dead Mens Fingers call" referring to another old country name. other country names refer to them as the "Adder plant" and the "Cuckoo plant" referring to the first sighting of both these species after emerging from hibernation and migrating back from their winter quarters in Africa respectively.

Lesvos Magic!

Jenny & I are just back from a holiday to the magical Greek island of Lesvos.

Being one of the eastern most islands (just west of Turkey) and the third biggest Greek island, Lesvos is well situated to attract a wide range of migratory birds.

We were not disappointed, as the island was teaming with birdlife. I would say that arguably this has to be one of the best places in Europe to witness bird migration and probably the best for bird photography with many of the birds being very confiding ( I can personally vouch for this having filled up 5 memory cards!!).

With all this avian activity, the island particularly around Skala Kalloni in the south with its saltpans and extensive wetlands in the south attracts many admiring birdwatchers especially tour groups led by companies such as Steve Dudley's Lesbos Birding, Avian Adventures, Heatherlea, Bird Tours and Limosa Tours which lead large birdwatching parties.  Steve is to be congratulated for running an excellent website, which he regularly updates nightly, on news of the most exciting birds and migrants. This spirit of co-operation of spreading the news to a wider audience as possible is to be applauded (thanks also to Avian Adventures and Heatherlea who were generous with sharing information too) and the leaders of the last 2 tour parties on the list please take note!

Personal highlights for me were the close views of a Kruper's Nuthatch, a gorgeous lemon yellow headed male Citrine Wagtail, a soaring Levant Sparrowhawk overhead, singing male Cinerous Buntings, a Little Bittern feeding just a metre away from me! a roosting Scop's Owl,a family party of confiding Golden Orioles, a flock of 80 Ruff feeding just a few metres away from the car, a trio of soaring Black Storks, 400 Greater Flamingo's feeding on the Saltpans and Sombre Tit along the Makara Track and the numerous photographic opportunities that were available.

So prolific that it will be a while before I can load up some of the pictures for you to see.

I was also really pleased to see 8 species of Orchid including a Late Spider Orchid, Provence Orchids, Tongue Orchids, Violet Bird's Nest Orchids, Loose- flowered Orchids, Green- winged Orchids and a group of tiny Dense- flowered Orchids which had finished flowering in the shade of a Pinewood as well as the bell-shaped Green Wild Fritillaries.

Butterflies were very thin on the ground but including 2 sightings (but sadly no photo's) of the beautiful False Apollo butterflies as well as the more familiar Mediterranean Scarce Swallowtails. As the temperature soared during the last couple of days, foot- long Balkan Green Lizards and Persian Squirrels (like a Red X Grey Squirrel hybrid perish the thought!) were seen.

The island is developed enough to have an extensive road system, so access to places is relatively easy, but there are a lot of dirt tracks to navigate in order to reach some of the best wildlife sites.

Lesvos, is in short a magical place, with pristine habitat which attracts an incredible amount of wildlife. I for one will be booking up again for next year! 

 

No hide, no seek

A trip to Benacre Broad today and the weather couldn't have been more different from the fog shrouded Broad last week, the area was bathed in bright sunshine but the downside was a very fresh cold northerly wind. A walk across the cliffs revealed several Swallows and a group of 15 Sand Martins flying around the cliffs. A Spoonbill was seen trying to hide behind some reeds. This bird is larger than a Heron, with white plumage and a white head crest (in adults) and a very distinct spatular shaped bill. However, it spent most of its time asleep with the bill safely tucked under its wing! Spoonbills breed mainly in the Mediterranean but the nearest breeding colonies are in Holland and it is hoped that they may breed in Suffolk one day.

Also on the Broad were 2 fine Red-breasted Mergansers, a male and female. These sawbill sea  ducks feed on the sea. They breed along coasts, archipelagos and inland waters in mountain taiga areas in Northern Scandinavia and Northern Europe including Scotland. Both bird also sport particularly shaggy head crests and are very colourful. It won't be long before they head north to breed, but I was particularly grateful they stayed for a further week as I missed them in the fog last week. A pair of marsh harriers also quartered the reeds.

The Hide which overlooks the Broad will need to be moved before extensive sea erosion, which has already washed away large section of the beach and the cliff edge nearby washes it away. 

I have been told the landowner of the area refuses to site it a few hundred yards inland. This is a great shame, as the hide is used daily by birders, nature lovers and the general public, it really will be a return to the bad old days if the hide is taken away from this site. Benacre Broad needs its hide, please e-mail English Nature (who lease the site) if you would like to see the hide retained and hopefully we can persuade the owner to rescind her decision. Removing the hide from the area will, I think be counter productive, for both the owner and leaseholder, irresponsible people will trespass in order to get better views of the Broad and will inevitably lead to further disturbance to the wildlife.

Built-in Air Conditioning!

No wonder Wood Pigeons are increasing rapidly in numbers. Here is a clear example of how this species have successfully changed from nesting exclusively in woods and other arboreal habitats to suitable places in an urban environment.  You can clearly see an opportunist pair of Wood Pigeon that have made their nest near Gorleston Library between an outside air-conditioning unit and outside wall.

I first spotted this nest as I walked past during my lunch break today. I could see the tell-tale signs of a nest secreted behind; because there were twigs sticking out beneath the units. Maybe we'll see Wood Pigeon fledglings in the car park in a few weeks time, a la Collared Dove fledglings? (see 8 April post)

Fog on the Oval & Fisher Row clarification

A pre- work quick visit (7.30 to 8am) to the Lowestoft Oval revealed a very fog shrouded Oval with the cricket pitch hosting a group of Wood Pigeons and a fine White Wagtail. Both the newly arrived Blackcaps and Willow Warblers were very vociferous this morning, 3 of each were heard and 2 male Blackcaps were also seen.

Having conducted some research on the flood alleviation project at Fisher Row. The work is being done to undertake riverbank strengthening and erosion and protect the area from future flooding and reduce the risk of bank breaches. The Broads Authority awarded the contract to Broadland Environmental Services Ltd and they extensively consulted with wildlife organisations including the RSPB and the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. 

Some soke dykes have been created there is one running parallel to the river which will eventually provide additional habitat for species such as Water Voles. I have been assured that uncommon species such as Water Vole will be trapped and sensitively released nearby so they won't be affected by the work. 

The muddy area "desert" that I alluded to earlier is only temporary and will soon revert back to marsh. So I have been reassured on certain points but I am still mystified why the work couldn't be done outside the breeding season and why the remaining trees had to be cut down?

Fogbound Migrants

Whilst, checking the Lowestoft Oval, I was pleased to see the adult female Ring Ouzel was still feeding near the white cricket screen and continued to show well until a "considerate" motorised hang-glider owner decided to start the motor on his glider. Fortunately, I was able to show this bird to my friend Norman who was delighted to see it. Initially the hang-glider pilot didn't flush the Ring Ouzel until he promptly flew his hellish machine directly over the Oval, which flushed everything at 12.30pm including the Ring Ouzel which flew over to the trees by Flycatcher alley.

I received a message stating there was a Spoonbill at Benacre Broad, and within 40 minutes I was sitting in the hide staring out over a very foggy Broad.

We could see very little due to the fog covering most of the Broad, save for a fine displaying pair of Great Crested Grebes. But as the fog "waxed and waned" we were finally able to see the Spoonbill, preening itself with its spatular shaped bill.

Early evening saw me searching the bushes round the River Hundred on the Benacre side and we were eventually rewarded with views, of the object of my quest, a fine migrant Wryneck perched up on a bare twig. It soon dropped down never to be see again! The picture of the Wryneck was taken on Scilly last October. Nearby a 1st year male Ring Ouzel flew left from a field and perched in a bush to the left of the track. A fine bird, with dark- brown plumage a faint gorget on its breast and prominent silvery wings and lemon-yellow bill.

A fitting avian conclusion to the Easter bank Holiday!