On Saturday I met Alan at the entrance to
Grove at 5.30am and although a little foggy, it was not as bad as it had been yesterday
(Friday), a distant Cetti’s Warbler called out as we put on our boots and as we
approached the viewing ramp a Water Rail squealed from within the reed bed. A
Tawny Owl called out three times while we waited from the light to improve and
from here we noted Teal, Lapwing, Shoveler, Gadwall and Mallard plus, 3 Tufted
Ducks, 2 Pochards and 46 Wigeon. Six Marsh Harriers were noted with a couple of
small flocks of Fieldfare moving north and 1 Snipe, 1 Dunlin and 1 Redshank
were all seen. The Feast hide added only another8 Tufted Duck and 3 Pochards
and Harrison’s Hide was virtually empty as usual, save for 3 Teal and a
Greylag. The Skylarks were in fine song, getting ready for the spring and as we
watched a total of 49 Mute Swans leave the reserve they were accompanied by a
party of 17 Bewick’s Swans. Down at Marsh Hide things are more quieter than of recent
weeks with just 2 Little Egrets and 3-4 Water Pipits although A Ringed Plover
was a new bird for the year and fly over Peregrine scattered the lot.
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| Male Marsh Harrier |
Ben Ring
joined us for a spell having flushed a Bittern on his way in. Back at the Feast
hide we met up with Mr Ashton where we added Little Grebe, although Steve had
seen four together and had seen a Bittern, 1 Sparrowhawk and from the ramp as
we left there were 4 Pintail including 1 drake and 1 Shelduck.
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| Little Grebe |
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| Teal |
Sunday,
It wasn’t raining when I got up and made my
way over to Grove without a hint of any water droplets on the windscreen
despite the forecasters announcing the day would be a wash-out. As the light
started to improve I could see there were fewer birds from the ramp this
morning with 2 Shelduck, 27 Wigeon and smaller numbers of Gadwall, Teal,
Shoveler etc etc and less Lapwings. It didn’t take long, however, for the rain
to come so I made my way to the Harrison’s Drove Hide where I could get a more
all round view of the reserve and still keep out of the rain. From Harrison’s
there were 9 Pied Wagtails, several Skylarks in fine voice, 1 Kestrel, 1
Bittern and 2 flyby Tufted Ducks. At 6.45am I was watching one of the 6 Marsh
Harriers I’d seen when I caught sight of a Great-white Egret flying east out of
the reserve. It flew over the Boathouse and descended below the tree line
landing in or around the Little Stour beside the pumping station 800yards east
of the Boathouse. Although 46 Mute Swans left roost this morning I didn’t see
any Bewick’s today but after deciding to do the circuit via the river which,
was the lowest I’d ever seen it (must have been a very low tide) lots of muddy
banks that are not normally viewable, I encountered 4 Black-tailed Godwits, 8 Ruff
and 7 Dunlin on the Water Meadows along with at least 9 Water Pipits and by the
time I’d reached the Jungle I added 3 Bullfinches, one a very smart male, and a
female Merlin that flew through the trees
and out over the northern edge of Stodmarsh lake out towards Collard’s
lake. On Stodmarsh lake there were 42 Tufted Duck, 20 Pochards, 3 Great-crested
Grebes and a lot less of the regular Duck species. Nearing the Alder Wood a
ringtail Hen Harrier flew over the Lampen Wall disappearing behind the wood
while in the wood the only birds were a small flock of a dozen Goldfinches.
Passing through the Alder Wood onwards past the fishing ponds towards the Marsh
Hide a single Ring-necked Parakeet flew over scalding the air it was flying in
while Marsh Hide itself had little to offer and no sign of yesterdays Ringed
Plover. Arriving back at Harrison’s Drove I met Steve and Tim coming from the
hide where they’d had a brief view of the Great-white, and we made our way to
the Feast hide where again there was a single Little Grebe plus a few Teal,
Tufted Duck and a Shoveler or two. I had a little wander back to Harrison’s
Drove hide to see if the Egret was on show, it wasn’t, but the 8 Ruff and 7
Dunlin I’d seen at the Water Meadows were on the back edge with a single
Redshank and as well as 2 Mute Swans, 5 Teal and 2 Greylags it is the most
productive I’ve seen this pool since the work done last October. A look at
Collard’s Lake on the way out held only 52 Tufted Duck, 2 Pochard and 6
Great-crested Grebes, not a single Wigeon strangely, while at Cow Corner there
was a Little Egret and 2 Canada Geese and close by a very blue looking Pheasant.
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| Cock Pheasant in a dapper shade of Blue |
