We started the day reasonably early and we were going to head south to Suffolk for the day to try and see some of the target species we had set ourselves to see. Our first stop off of the day was at a reserve called May Day Farm which I believe is in Suffolk. When we arrived at May Day Farm we were greeted by fantastic views of a male Blackcap singing in the wood. We then headed off directed by The Finch (Derek Charlton) to where he had the Woodlarks last year, after searching the area we drew a blank. However me and Stew had cracking views of a Green Woodpecker. Stew headed back to the car for a drink whilst Andy and The Finch headed off in search of Woodlarks elsewhere on the reserve. I later went to go and find The Finch and Andy, when I found them they were walking toward me clearly indicating they had not seen a Woodlark, even though when I looked up high in the sky above us there was a Woodlark in song flight. I looked at them and pointed into the sky and alerted them there was a Woodlark practically above there heads. We had good views of them as the flew around the general area as well as good views when they were sitting on the ground looking around and about. Sadly Stew didn’t see any but enjoyed the Green Woodpecker.
(Woodlark - Derek Charlton)
We then headed to a top secret Stone Curlew (CurlStonew – if you are daft like me and the lads I went with) to look for the elusive waders. The site is so top secret we drew a blank; however I had good views of a Green Woodpecker on site. With this failure we headed onto Lakenheath fen to look for the Golden Orioles. On arrival the very friendly man in the visitor centre told us what was about as well as where we could look to see the birds present on the reserve. My target bird was the beautiful but highly elusive Golden Oriole, we heard one male and spent about 2 hours staring at Poplars and getting highly frustrated as we had no sign all day but we did hear their beautiful fluty calls as they laughed at me and the other 30-40 birds looking. Other birds seen on the reserve included at least 2 fantastic Hobby’s and a brave Cuckoo who sat next to a Hobby as they eyed each other up, I don’t think they were sure of what to make of each other. It was fantastic to see the Hobby flying about and hunting, one of my favourite birds without a doubt! We also saw a few Marsh Harriers that were dotting about the place.
(Hobby - Derek Charlton)
(Cuckoo (left) and Hobby (right) sitting in a large tree at a distance - Andrew Kinghorn)
From the Oriole agony we headed onto Weeting Heath (NWT), we had fantastic views of Stone Curlew from the hides as well as chicks. There were loads of rabbits about as well as a few Lapwings and plenty of Jackdaws about the place. The CurlStonews were somewhat elusive at times but occasionally came out in the open as they foraged for food for their balls of fluff they call their chicks, and themselves. The West Hide was a treat as the local Spotted Flycatcher sat on the barbed wire fence just outside the hide and showed excellently. It was by far the best view of the species I have had; in fact it was only the second view of the species I had ever had. After Weeting Heath we tried a place called Croxton Farm to see if we could see Turtle Dove, however we drew a blank and there was no sign at all of any.
(Stone Curlews - Derek Charlton)
(Stone Curlew - Andrew Kinghorn)
Life List Updates
241 – Woodlark
242 – Stone Curlew
Year List Updates
191 – Woodlark
192 – Hobby
193 – Cuckoo
194 – Stone Curlew
195 – Spotted Flycatcher
Day 3 - Coming Soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment