A bird that some of us heard, or initially thought so, was a Bearded Tit. The typical ‘ping’ of that species pricked our ears, until we realised it was a Reed Warbler singing with mimicry included, although it was the first time we could recall it mimicking Bearded Tit. At Joist Fen viewpoint we had a welcome stop for a drink in the hot weather and scanned the reedbeds ahead. Initially half a dozen Hobbies were noted but in all over 20 were counted. Other raptors included a fly over Buzzard, a distant Kestrel and a number of Marsh Harriers, some flying by wonderfully close. Just a few members were lucky to be looking in the right direction at the right time to see a brief Bittern fly in to the reeds. Bittern were also heard booming faintly by some too. We continued to search, hoping to see another star bird, Common Crane, but had no luck although we were told later on by fellow SOG members, Barry and Dawn, that we missed them by about 20 minutes when two Cranes flew in. A Common Tern flew over the reeds and the same or another was seen hunting along the river on our way back. Amongst the Mute Swans along the riverbank was the Whooper Swan that we had seen last year, still present due to a broken wing, but at least able to survive. Back at New Fen we indulged in further fantastic views of the Red-footed Falcon before heading back to the car park for lunch.
Phil Brown
Stone Curlew’s recovery falters? Having achieved over 25 years of almost unbroken year-onyear increase in the numbers of Stone Curlew breeding pairs in England, over the last twelve months this species’ recovery may prove to have faltered.
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THE HARRIER – June 2013
Lackford Our next port of call was the Suffolk Wildlife Trust reserve at Lackford where upon arrival we were greeted by a Nightingale singing by the car park and a couple of Hobby’s overhead. Whilst scanning the sailing lake we were lucky to see a mass emergence of Common Blue Damselfly, all lacking in their vibrant blue colour, as they took their first flights and to land on nearby vegetation. On the Slough a number of ducks including some Gadwall and along the muddy shore a Little Ringed Plover was picked out. A casual stroll along the tracks visiting other hides resulted in coming across several Blackcaps in the scrub and a variety of ducks and geese out on the water including a male Red-crested Pochard. We returned to the centre to the sound of screeching of Swifts, both from the skies above and from the artificial Swift nests on the side of the centre, which are used to entice the Swifts to use them as a nest site. All agreed that it was a great day with some good birds and that the superb Red-footed Falcon would be long remembered. Singing Nightingale
