Thorpeness......................................................................................... Gi Grieco

Field Trip Reports

Gi Grieco

Thorpeness

4th September 2016 Leader: Gi Grieco

We had a bright if somewhat breezy day for this SOG trip to look for some autumn migrants and seabirds. A new trip leader (yours truly) was drafted in, as David Walsh was unable to attend, busy leading an Ornitholidays trip to the Cantabrian Mountains that included wolves, brown bears, wildcats and Wallcreeper – unfortunately species not on the agenda for this day in Thorpeness! Heading north up through the allotments we found a partly sheltered sunny spot that a number of birds were favouring, although they quickly disappeared into the scrub. With patience we saw Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Whitethroat and a couple of smart Lesser Whitethroats, along with a tit flock moving through. Carrying on to the open grassy area we saw one male Wheatear and a couple more Whitethroats in some bramble. A bit of a sea-watch was then undertaken, though after 20-30 minutes we decided that it was time to move on as it was pretty quiet – a tally of six Little Gulls and a similar number of Gannets, although these were all more distant. Checking the north end of the caravan park, again a partly sheltered spot, we found a similar array of warblers and the tit flock this time had a Coal Tit amongst the more typical Long-tailed and Blue Tits. A recce of the beach found it to be very quiet and the sea was still, although we did pick up a Grey Seal. We meandered back through the old caravan park picking up a couple more Lesser Whitethroats on the way and overhead a lone Swift. Back down towards the village we stopped to look at some buddleia that had attracted butterflies including painted lady, red admiral and small white as well as a couple of large hornet mimic hoverflies that caught our attention. Blythburgh Back at the cars we watched some House Sparrows bathing in a puddle and were discussing where to go next when a timely Suffolk BINS message came through to say that the Ospreys were still present on the River Blyth, so we headed up there next. The tide was high so few waders were present; those on the uncovered bits of bank were Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit and a couple of Common Sandpipers. We walked east towards the bird hide when Marion called out that she’d found one of the Ospreys. We were treated to great views, including diving for a fish, which the Osprey had trouble taking off again with. The bird managed to flap to a nearby spit, partially hidden by reeds. At times we could see the Osprey flapping, trying to fly, then it would be out of sight behind the reed fringe. Eventually after five minutes the Osprey flew off minus its catch and flew past us upriver. Other raptors in the area were Buzzard and Marsh Harrier and we added Curlew and Oystercatcher to the wader list.

Westwood Lodge Our next port of call, to finish off the day, was Westwood Lodge. On the approach road were many Pheasants including quite a number squashed by cars. Parking up we scanned across the reedbeds and woodland and our raptor afternoon continued with several more sightings of Marsh Harrier and Buzzard along with a Red Kite and Peregrine, as well as sightings of Little Egret and Grey Heron flying over the reedbeds. In the woodland we heard both Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker. An enjoyable day, with a bit of migration and some fantastic raptors, although a shame that we couldn’t have added wolves and bears to the list.

As a P.S., David Walsh’s Ornitholidays Spain tour was very successful: 3 wolves, 2 sightings of brown bear, 6 of wildcats and 101 bird species including Wallcreeper, Alpine Accentor & Rock Thrush.