Dunwich .......................................................................Gi Grieco

Dunwich

10th February 2013

Leader: Ashley Gooding

I’d been looking forward to this trip as I had not been out properly since the January 1st Bird Race. It was great to be out, although it was a shame the strong wind and dull light made the birding difficult. But at least the sleet stopped upon reaching the coast.

First the beach... At Dunwich, whilst awaiting everyone’s arrival, some of us did an initial seawatch using some shelter huts on the beach for protection to spot a few Red-throated Divers moving through with a Great Northern Diver close-in heading north. The group, ten in total, assembled and we headed towards Walberswick noting the odd Skylark along the grass and one each of Ringed Plover and Dunlin along the shingle, with Redshank and singles of Little Egret, Grey Heron and Grey Plover on the marsh. Reaching some open water, a number of ducks were present, predominately Mallard and Shoveler, with Teal and Wigeon too.

Further along, a Marsh Harrier braved the winds over the reedbed, as well as a Bittern, briefly. Another pool held a single Brent Goose that was busy feeding on some plant and did not mind a fairly close approach. Some photos were taken through the telescope, but with the low light and windy conditions it was very difficult to get a decent picture.

As this shot of the Brent demonstrates

Where the path goes through the reedbeds towards Dingle Hills there was no sign of any Twite, with only five Linnet and two Rock Pipits present. Up to three Marsh Harriers were seen towards Westwood Marsh, while the path back inland towards Dunwich produced a flock of finches, mostly Chaffinch, with some Greenfinch on feeders, as well as Blue Tits and a single Coal Tit. It was fairly quiet passing along the edge of Dunwich Forest and upon reaching the road and stopping to look along a ditch, a Goldfinch and a pair of Marsh Tit were present on one side, while on the other a Water Rail, emerged from the reed and crossed the ditch, characteristically traversing the water with its head down. Back at the car park we sheltered in the cars to have lunch.

...then inland to the river The decision was made to head to the River Blyth next and so, parking opposite the Blythburgh White Hart pub, we headed down the footpath to scan the river. There were lots of gulls present, including excellent numbers of Common Gull, along with Herring Gull, Great and Lesser Blackbacked Gulls, Black-headed Gull and a couple of adult winter Mediterranean Gulls among the throng and ducks included several Wigeon. As the tide was going out more waders appeared including Redshank, Curlew, Dunlin, Grey Plover, Lapwing, Black-tailed Godwit and an excellent flock of 45 Bar-tailed Godwit dropped in. Some Avocets were seen further down-river as was a couple of Marsh Harriers, while the assembled gulls at the top end erupted in panic, the cause of which was a Peregrine.

Walking along the path to visit the small hide several tracks and some spraint pointed to the presence of Otter, and nearby was a Redshank. Again low light and strong wind made photography difficult.