Levington

Levington, bright and sunny for a change but still bitterly cold in the wind plus we had a few snow flurries. No migrants but twice, a well marked male Mash Harrier put in an appearance, we also had female Sparrowhawk and there were a few Linnets about, singing from the tops of the gorse bushes.

Trimley Reserve

17.03.2013

Trimley Reserve: Drake Scaup, Bittern, water Rail and 68 Snipe on the summer flood (Ernie Lucking).

Trimley Reserve

March 15 2013, Trimley Reserve
I was birding at Trimley today; still good numbers of wildfowl about but the best bird of the morning for me was a female Hen Harrier hunting over the marsh, the Peregrine Falcon put in an appearance as did two Buzzards.

Levington Lagoon

March 12 2013, Levington Lagoon

We were wadering at the Lagoon last night.  The local forecast was for high winds up to 20 k/hour. In exposed places like saltmarsh this would be way to high to net but in my garden at 4pm there was hardly a breath of wind.  

If we took note of the local weather forecasts we would never be out ringing; by 7pm our nets were up, conditions were perfect, by their absence the waders did not know that, it was a cold night, a spring tide, no moon, cloudy and hardly a breath of wind until after midnight when we also had a snow shower.

We were on the Lagoon for eight hours for only four birds but these species are hard to catch for a variety of reasons.  Wadering at night is so unpredictable but whatever the catch the information collected is useful and the whole experience is so rewarding. The time flew by.

In the region of 400 Brent were with us all night and as the tide made they fed within 25 metres of us, pushed by the tide there were several thousand waders at roost on the opposite bank of the creek.

We caught four birds two Dunlin, one Lapwing and a female Teal.

Levington Lagoon

We arrived at first light on a ebb tide, the first of the muddy saltmarsh fringes were being exposed for returning waders to feed. There was a variety of species, which included Black-tailed Godwit, Redshank, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Grey Plover, Dunlin and Lapwing. Several Fallow Deer fed in the grassy fields opposite the creek and two Buzzards were seen over the nearby wood.

Ringing was slow; we had a female Sparrowhawk perched up and hunting through the site, inevitably due to its fast, low hunting mode of flight it soon found one of the nets. However, it did not stay in there for long; they are so long legged and powerful they are seldom caught. We did catch the wintering Dartford Warbler.

David and Ernie birding at the Lagoon (SWT volunteers)
(All photos by Anna Alam)

Trimley Reserve

After a frosty start, the sun came out for a while; then the morning turned out to become the mildest so far this year. Once again, despite calm conditions, not many birds were caught, the best being a re-trap female Cetti’s Warbler.  Birding was good with observations including 45 Snipe (Ernie Lucking), 3 Ruff, c450 Lapwing, Marsh Harrier and two Buzzards.  There were also several hundred Black-headed Gulls on the reserve and we also saw a Water vole in a willow nibbling the bark.

Cetti's Warbler

BTO Bird Migration Blog: Spring migration 2013 has begun!

BTO Bird Migration Blog: Spring migration 2013 has begun!: With some parts of the UK experiencing a small amount of spring-like weather it is not too surprising that, although it is still very early,...