Tuesday 28 August 2012

Ransomes Europark

Whilst I was surveying today I found several new Wasp spider colonies and good numbers of Long-winged and Short-winged Coneheads.
Female Wasp spider

Long-winged Conehead

Monday 27 August 2012

Ransomes Europark

I was out surveying this morning for a few hours and noticed that there were lots of fresh Red Admirals on the wing.  I also found some Dark Bush-crickets.
Red Admiral on nettle

Red Admiral sunning itself 
Dark Bush-cricket (male) 

Sunday 19 August 2012

Trimley Resere


The Trimley Round up   Number 10     Week ending 18th August. 
By Anna Alam

The best things in life are free’  

 On Monday 13th August a fantastic summer morning at 5am,when the sun had not yet risen and in the lovely dawn light, 2 young stags just stood and watched me from a short distance. So quiet and with such fragile elegance they glanced and walked back into the trees.  Experiences such as these are hard sometimes to even imagine and they leave forever a lasting memory.

Summer has at last arrived and it appears to be staying for a while.  The grazing cattle and their growing calves are at last enjoying some well-deserved heat and dry weather here at Trimley.

It’s been a good few weeks on the reserve for birds and as migration has started we wait again for our new arrivals, however short their stay on the Trimley reserve.

During the past few weeks there have been some excellent sightings.  Little Egrets have been visiting in increasing numbers and on 12th August Dave and Ernie counted 39, a fantastic sight to see.  The lovely Black- tailed Godwit, in the region of 50+ have been seen during the day.  However certainly this number increases to over 300 after dark and at roost. This was certainly the case on Wednesday 15th August.

Other notable sightings include Wood Sandpiper and Ruff and Paul Oldfield early on 18th August saw 3 Juvenile Spotted Redshank, 2 Greenshank, 4 Green Sandpipers, and 3 Common Sandpipers.  During the week there have been up to 10 Green Sandpipers, 12 Greenshank, 4 Ruff and 5 Spotted Redshank.  

Out on the reservoir hide some of the Lesser-black backed gulls and black-headed gulls we ringed in June can be seen on the rafts where they hatched and where they call ‘home.’ They certainly have grown and now really look like gulls in their juvenile plumage. It is hoped we can keep track of their movements via their rings.

The Swans and Cygnets are doing well and their black juvenile plumage is actually good camouflage in the Trimley waters. They can actually be quite difficult to see even on a sunny day. 

There appears to be quite a ‘hustle and bustle’ going on if you walk to many of the hides. The Greylag Geese and Canada Geese have finished their moults and can now fly to the reserve after being in the refuge of the estuary. After a few weeks of what seemed a very quiet reserve their honking and cackling are back with us, which is a very welcome, and reassuring sound. 

Waders and Gulls however are not the only birds to mention, Passerines are also busy with preparing for migration.  Sedge and Reed Warblers are now making their long journeys back to Africa. Unfortunately Trimley has experienced its lowest number of these species for many years Let us hope that the juvenile birds we ringed this year come back to us again.  Last month – July 15th we were excited to see another ringed Reed Warbler this time from Lisbon. In April we were lucky to have another from San Sebastian. These are such exciting events and the importance of the reed beds are vital for their survival.

Other birds in very good numbers on the reserve or on the edge of the reserve are Goldfinches and Yellow Buntings with their very distinctive calls. We have also seen some lovely Bullfinches, Whitethroats, Blackcap and Lesser Whitethroats, which has included a good number of juvenile birds.

Over the next week if you come down to Trimley look out for Stonechat and Whinchat who are now making their journeys back to Africa. Also look out for mammals including Water vole and Otter.

Thank you to everyone who visits the reserve and contributes to the observations.



Monday 13 August 2012

Trimley reserve

There was a Wood Sandpiper this morning; other highlights include 30 Little Egret, Spotted redshank, 4 Greenshank, 3 Common sandpipers and 7 Green Sandpipers.

Sunday 12 August 2012

Out and about

Two hours spent on Lower Hollesley in lovely sunny weather proved to be very rewarding.  There were several Grayling flitting over the heather; I checked a Dartford Warblers nest, which had previously held eggs but now had three young but were too small to ring.  I was then shown a Skylarks nest, my first ever built in pure heather.

It was then off to the coast to a Corn Bunting hotspot, where at least six males are on territory.  The first nest was on the ground in grass and had three young birds and a second nest was built about twelve inches from the the ground in a thick cover of wheat and held two eggs.
Two Grayling

Skylarks nest built in heather

Young Skylarks

Skylark chick

Corn Bunting nest with two well marked eggs

Tuesday 7 August 2012

Surveying

I was surveying all day today on private land locally to Ipswich.  The weather was unpleasant at times but nevertheless it was a very enjoyable day. Below are two wildlife photos taken today.
Slow Worm

Betony

Friday 3 August 2012

Birding

Very early start on thursday surveying in rain at Brandon where I had a brood of Grey Wagtails, juvenile cuckoo and a Kingfisher.  By lunchtime the weather conditions improved, the sun came out and it was pleasant for a change.  Surveying at Fornham where I had two more juvenile Cuckoos.

In the evening I was ringing at Levington into the early hours of Friday, 0300 hrs in fact.  Not too many birds caught but we had a good variety of species; a few more Redshank were individually colour ringed, other species ringed included Dunlin, Common Sandpiper, Golden Plover, Oystercatcher, Curlew Sandpiper and a most unlikely bird to have in the net was a Grey Heron.
Curlew Sandpiper still in summer plumage