Suffolk Birding (1 Viewer)

[Jonny Rankin]

Marsh Wobbler

Pair within county have reportedly got three young off. A top addition to the breeding avifauna.

No idea of location but a reliable record...

Anyone fancy a sweep stake on location? An RSPB flagship?

Cheers,

Jonny

 

[lostinjapan]

Hi all

Just thought I'd post sightings for the village (alderton) near Bawdsey.

Good numbers of young House Martins and Swallows, with the odd Swift still around too.

A few chiffies, willow warblers and a couple of Yellow Wagtails over the garden.

The only surprise was a Goldcrest along with a roving tit flock.

Must keep an eye out for Willow Emeralds as they are along the Deben now.

More reports with better birds to follow I hope.

Sean

 

[GiG]

Went with a mate up to Minsmere after work on Thursday. Little on the scrape except ducks which were flying in and included a group of pintail with up to 6 pale coloured ones - could be some domesticated breeding going on?

There were storm clouds looming all around which gave the sea a wonderful colour, shades of green and the light visibilty was very good, so three close in common scoter were a treat, details on the head and bill great to see. A few drops of rain and we ran for cover in East Hide. A large black cloud mass looking inland had a funnel underneath and while watching with bins developed in to a tornado, we could see dust swirling at the base of the spike.

Back out again and an artic tern that flew overhead out/south while out to sea the scoter again, a total of four gannets - one adult looked radiant in the conditions and 3 little gull. A lightning storm out to sea added to the meteorological spectacle. It would have been nice to see other seabirds when the viewing conditions were so good, we did see two further scoter and some kittiwakes along with a number of sandwich tern.

At the south levels a few waders including greenshank and dunlin, a hobby flew along the beach towards us then low inland over the levels. At the sluice bushes a bird flicking up proved to be a pied flycatcher, then while watching realised there were two present - cracking birds. Several whitethroat about and a smart willow warbler too.

Gi

 

[GiG]

Hi all

Just thought I'd post sightings for the village (alderton) near Bawdsey.

Good numbers of young House Martins and Swallows, with the odd Swift still around too.

A few chiffies, willow warblers and a couple of Yellow Wagtails over the garden.

The only surprise was a Goldcrest along with a roving tit flock.

Must keep an eye out for Willow Emeralds as they are along the Deben now.

More reports with better birds to follow I hope.

Sean

Nice to get yellow wagtail over the garden! A good likelihood of willow emerald, present over the river for the second year now and I also had some at Bromeswell last year which are present again this year too - a mate had at least 20 there recently.

I haven't been down to East Lane lately - likely to visit now autumn migration is on the way!

Gi

 

[Jonny Rankin]

Went with a mate up to Minsmere after work on Thursday. Little on the scrape except ducks which were flying in and included a group of pintail with up to 6 pale coloured ones - could be some domesticated breeding going on?

There were storm clouds looming all around which gave the sea a wonderful colour, shades of green and the light visibilty was very good, so three close in common scoter were a treat, details on the head and bill great to see. A few drops of rain and we ran for cover in East Hide. A large black cloud mass looking inland had a funnel underneath and while watching with bins developed in to a tornado, we could see dust swirling at the base of the spike.

Back out again and an artic tern that flew overhead out/south while out to sea the scoter again, a total of four gannets - one adult looked radiant in the conditions and 3 little gull. A lightning storm out to sea added to the meteorological spectacle. It would have been nice to see other seabirds when the viewing conditions were so good, we did see two further scoter and some kittiwakes along with a number of sandwich tern.

At the south levels a few waders including greenshank and dunlin, a hobby flew along the beach towards us then low inland over the levels. At the sluice bushes a bird flicking up proved to be a pied flycatcher, then while watching realised there were two present - cracking birds. Several whitethroat about and a smart willow warbler too.

Gi

Sounds spectacular :t:

Nowt that exciting in the west of the county *yet* but defo hotting up...

 

[Jonny Rankin]

Osprey...

Osprey over Newmarket... as per BINS website...

Lark Valley bird returning or Needham Mkt bird?

Both site faithful last two autumns.. I'll be keeping an eye out these next few weeks :t:

 

[lostinjapan]

Hi Gi and others

The weather has been peculiar with downpours, lightning and the like..but no twisters where I was. I heard there were others.

Had one or two possible Willow Emerald at Bromeswell today, with a couple of hours to kill before my train at Melton. Couldn't nail them and weather conditions were less than ideal, though not as spectacular as yours . More positive damsel/dragonfly sightings were 1 Small Red-eyed Damselfly, 10+ Blue-tailed Damselfly, 1 Broad-bodied Chaser, 2 Emperor Dragonfly and 2 Common Darter.

On the river had 3 Greenshank, 4 Common Sandpiper, 1 Turnstone, 10+ Redshank, 4 Curlew, 3 Blackwit, 6+ Lapwing and a single Teal...before being disturbed by a guy who insisted on throwing a shoe into the river for his 2 dogs.

In the surrounding fileds and ditches also had moulting Reed Bunting, Kestrel, Green Woodpecker, Willow Warbler, Turtle Dove (single bird) and a tailess Whitethroat.

East Lane would probably be worth a look tomorrow and I'll be doing my best to get out there at the end of August and then from mid-September onwards when time allows.

Sean

 

[GiG]

Hi Gi and others

The weather has been peculiar with downpours, lightning and the like..but no twisters where I was. I heard there were others.

Had one or two possible Willow Emerald at Bromeswell today, with a couple of hours to kill before my train at Melton. Couldn't nail them and weather conditions were less than ideal, though not as spectacular as yours . More positive damsel/dragonfly sightings were 1 Small Red-eyed Damselfly, 10+ Blue-tailed Damselfly, 1 Broad-bodied Chaser, 2 Emperor Dragonfly and 2 Common Darter.

On the river had 3 Greenshank, 4 Common Sandpiper, 1 Turnstone, 10+ Redshank, 4 Curlew, 3 Blackwit, 6+ Lapwing and a single Teal...before being disturbed by a guy who insisted on throwing a shoe into the river for his 2 dogs.

In the surrounding fileds and ditches also had moulting Reed Bunting, Kestrel, Green Woodpecker, Willow Warbler, Turtle Dove (single bird) and a tailess Whitethroat.

East Lane would probably be worth a look tomorrow and I'll be doing my best to get out there at the end of August and then from mid-September onwards when time allows.

Sean

Nice to see you saw a turtle dove, a bit of a rare sight these days - I've only encountered turtle dove three times this year on the patch.

Shame about the willow emeralds, I have seen emerald there too but haven't managed small red-eyed and always a good place to see emperor.

Shame about the disturbance - earlier this year I was watching a med gull when two dogs came raring along the path and straight in to the river scaring everything - no owner in sight. In the last two years more small boats/canoes have come up river which has caused disturbance as this is the main high tide roosting spot this end of the river.

Gi

 

[lostinjapan]

East Lane

Garganey 2
Teal 4
Shoveler 1
Tufted Duck 10
Little Grebe 8 (3 juv)
Coot 20 (1 juv)
Moorhen 5 (1 juv)
M Swan 7 ad 4juv
Grey Heron 3
Common Sandpiper 3
Curlew (call)
Sparrowhawk 1 male
Kestrel 1
Wheatear 1 imm
Whitethroat 6
Willow Warbler 2
Sedge Warbler 3+
Reed Warbler 10+
Linnet 20+
Greenfinch 10+
Goldfinch 50+


Bawdsey Cliff

Gannet 39S
Common Tern 108 S
Sandwhich Tern 3S 1N
Cormorant 1 ad N
Arctic Skua dp 1 S
Common Scoter 6N
Teal 5 S
Shelduck 7 ad S
Whimbrel 1N
Med Gull 2 1st W N
Ringed Plover 3 S
Wader sp 9 S

Sean

 

[Jonny Rankin]

Ring-necked Parakeet Trimley St Mary

Hi All,

Friends over in Trimley St Mary sent me the attached pic of a Ring-necked Parakeet that visited their garden this afternoon.

A great record. The only Suffolk R-n Parakeet I've seen was further up the coast in Reydon / Southwold.

I also dropped a quick note over on the French thread about a few days I had over in the Loire - if any Suffolk birders are interested it can be viewed here:

France local patch thread

Cheers,

Jonny :t:

 

[lostinjapan]

No rare skua's for me, but a nice stream of terns with bizarrely some 40 Common Tern and 15 Sandwich Tern along with 6 species of gull.

Here is a list of all birds seen:

Grey Heron 4
Cormorant 2
Little Grebe 7
Mallard 30+
Teal 4
GARGANEY 4
Shoveler 1
Gadwall 1
T Duck 9
Pochard 1
Coot 10+
Moorhen 5+
Knot 5 S
Grey Plover 1 ad summer
Ringed Plover 11 S
Common Sand 2
Oik 1
Gannet 1S
Arctic Skua 1
Common Tern c200
Sandwich Tern 23
Arctic Tern 3
Med Gull 1 ad winter
BH Gull 400+
LBB Gull 40+
GBB Gull 10+
Herring Gull 10+
Woodpigeon
Collared Dove
Stock Dove
Pheasant 2
RL Partidge 8+
Pied Wag 14
Yellow Wag 2 imm
Skylark 1
Blackbird*
Wheatear 1 imm
Swallow 100+
H Martin 50+
Sand Martin 3+
Lesser Whitethroat 2
Whitethroat 3+
Willow Warbler 3+
Sedge Warbler
Reed Warbler
LT Tit 10+
B Tit
GT Tit
Chaffinch
Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Linnet
Bullfinch
Wren
Dunnock
Robin
Jackdaw
C Crow
Magpie
Rook
H Sparrow

cheers

Sean

 

[GiG]

Nice selection of birds there. That's a good number of garganey, mate saw three there the other day.

Went to Southwold after work, pretty quiet for the 1st hour then a bit of activity with eventually 8 artic skua and two bonxie and a probable long-tailed skua that was just too far out to be 100% certain. A few gannets, juvenile med gull, large flock of scoter on the sea, common seal and harbour porpoise.

Gi

 

[lostinjapan]

Made it out twice today, but the morning was a wash out...

Still highlights were:

East Lane

Garganey 4
Green Sandpiper 1
Dunlin 2
Lapwing 2
Whimbrel 5
Med Gull 1 1st winter
Wheatear 1,
Whinchat 1 juv
Yellow Wagtail 2

and along the clifftop a bunting that briefly popped up in front of me and all I can say it wasn't Reed, Yellowhammer or Corn.

Shingle Street

Marsh Harrier 1
Barn Owl 1-2 hunting around 6.30
Wheatear 1
Redstart 1 female
Golden Plover 1

out to sea not much movement with jus a few Common Terns and Sandwich Terns.

Hope to get some of those birds from Southwold soon ..a nice haul there Gi.

Sean

 

[GiG]

Made it out twice today, but the morning was a wash out...

Still highlights were:

East Lane

Garganey 4
Green Sandpiper 1
Dunlin 2
Lapwing 2
Whimbrel 5
Med Gull 1 1st winter
Wheatear 1,
Whinchat 1 juv
Yellow Wagtail 2

and along the clifftop a bunting that briefly popped up in front of me and all I can say it wasn't Reed, Yellowhammer or Corn.

Shingle Street

Marsh Harrier 1
Barn Owl 1-2 hunting around 6.30
Wheatear 1
Redstart 1 female
Golden Plover 1

out to sea not much movement with jus a few Common Terns and Sandwich Terns.

Hope to get some of those birds from Southwold soon ..a nice haul there Gi.

Sean

Nice selection again Sean, I still haven't ventured down to East Lane/Shingle Street yet.

Am leading a trip next Saturday with SOG starting at Dower House for a seawatch, then around Aldringham Walks and Thorpeness caravan park which I'm hoping for good migrant weather for. Last year was quiet early on but in the afternoon we did manage a couple of sooties from Sizewell!

Waders have been building up on the Deben at Melton, now over a hundred ringed plover, more dunlin including one with yellowy green legs that got me confused - thread on id section on here - also ten greenshank and singles of barwit and spotshank.

Gi

 

[GiG]

Hi All,

Friends over in Trimley St Mary sent me the attached pic of a Ring-necked Parakeet that visited their garden this afternoon.

A great record. The only Suffolk R-n Parakeet I've seen was further up the coast in Reydon / Southwold.

I also dropped a quick note over on the French thread about a few days I had over in the Loire - if any Suffolk birders are interested it can be viewed here:

France local patch thread

Cheers,

Jonny :t:

Hi Jonny,

You did well in the Loire considering the time of year - I'd bet you get more in Spring! I always like going on boat trips when I can so getting ospreys would be awesome.

I've only seen one ringed-necked parakeet in Suffolk and that was in the early nineties when I played footie for Sproughton and during a match I heard then saw this bird fly over! Needless to say I momentary lost interest in the game!


Gi

 

[GiG]

Made it out twice today, but the morning was a wash out...

Still highlights were:

East Lane

Garganey 4
Green Sandpiper 1
Dunlin 2
Lapwing 2
Whimbrel 5
Med Gull 1 1st winter
Wheatear 1,
Whinchat 1 juv
Yellow Wagtail 2

and along the clifftop a bunting that briefly popped up in front of me and all I can say it wasn't Reed, Yellowhammer or Corn.

Shingle Street

Marsh Harrier 1
Barn Owl 1-2 hunting around 6.30
Wheatear 1
Redstart 1 female
Golden Plover 1

out to sea not much movement with jus a few Common Terns and Sandwich Terns.

Hope to get some of those birds from Southwold soon ..a nice haul there Gi.

Sean

Hi Sean,

Just had a look at the BINS site and it says an icterine warbler was discovered by the martello tower at Shingle Street yesterday evening.

Gi

 

[lostinjapan]

Hi Gi

Yes I saw the news on BINs. Alas I didn't look round the Martello Tower and only had 30 mins at Shingle Street . A bit surprised at the numbers of Whinchat and Wheatear, maybe they came out with the sunshine.

I may have a look at the Deben this weekend.

Saw your thread on the odd Dunlin. They are incredibly variable.

Will have to join SOG, as now moved to Alderton.

Unfortunately my job takes me away a lot, as I am surveying seabirds in the North Sea, but hope to get out most mornings on my bicycle.

Let me know if a Broad-billed Sandpiper or some other goodie turns up among those Ringed Plover

 

[GiG]

Hi Gi

Let me know if a Broad-billed Sandpiper or some other goodie turns up among those Ringed Plover

Will do - here's hoping! Have seen curlew sandpiper the last five years on passage so hoping to again this year. The over-wintering bird along with the little stint turn up later.

Gi

 

[Duke Leto]

Yippee ortolan bunting at landguard today missed a photo by seconds.....

 

[lostinjapan]

Congrats on the Ortolan Steve .

Well a decision not to go to East Lane/Bawdsey early morning cost me a Pied Fly and a Wood Warbler.

So a late afternoon visit produced the following:

Hobby 1
Sandwich Tern 2
Common Tern 1 juv
Yellow Wagtail 2
Wheatear 1
Coal Tit 2 (Bawdsey church)


lastly the bunting from yesterday was in the same area and gave 2 brief views in vegetation on the clifftop. It was a medium-sized greyish-brown bunting but not much more could be discerned...but Ortolan sprung to mind.

Sean