Hi-
I'm planning a day trip to Mins- May 28th- will be fun to compare with my trips at same time of year in the 70's and 80's.
Anyone care to tip me off on the best areas to photo Nightingales, Cetti's, Beardies, etc?
S
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I hope you have a lovely day - I don't know how you've managed to stay away for so long as I would be incapable of doing so!!
The best place to spot beardies is at the Island Mere hide - I went just last week and there were plenty of sightings there. Limpy got some lovely snaps of a Cetti's near the Bittern Hide recently so it's certainly worth keeping your eyes open there. We haven't seen any nightingales but I think someone said that they were being heard around the entrance to the car park.
Keep your eyes open for the raven, by the way - there have been several sightings alone the coast.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.
Should be a good day for you :-) There's a Cettis nesting near Bittern hide and can be seen regularly and easily from the hide (hopefully it'll still be around by the end of the month). As Clare says, Island Mere for Beardies and Nightingales near the car park entrance or the North bushes - but check at reception on the day as that's still a couple of weeks away.
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tx for all that-:)
I'll probably be in b4 reception opens
Compared to Titchwell, Mins has been a bit of a zoo for years
Hi- I've been!
Report and impressions to be added soon
I hope you had a great time.
arrived at about 10am and explored the new ( to me) visitor centre. It's family rather than birdwatcher friendly- looked very National Trust- the book section wasn't very extensive- the scarf section was almost as big. Took a wander to Island Mere hide- found Woodlark en route and then had Bittern, Marsh Harrier, Cetti's , Beardies etc. Garden Warblers were singing which was a bonus. Wandered to the Sluice Bushes and watched a Red Backed Shrike- a bird I'd seen on my first trip here in 1977. To make it a level playing field I didn't take my scope- used Swaro 8x32's - in 1977 I had Swift Newport 10x50s.
There are a lot more trees than in the 70's and 80's which is fine but I heard no Nightingales or Redstarts.
The biggest surprise was the scrape- it's so overgrown, and seemed a lot smaller than I remembered. The only wader of note was a Bar tailed Godwit. ACTUALLY it was almost the ONLY wader on there apart from Avocets . The list of species on the scrape was low- Mallard, Shoveler, Shelduck, Sandwich and Common Terns, Black-headed and Herring Gulls ( a flock of Kittiwakes was a pleasant surprise).
Total spp 61 in 5 hours.
Checking my log for 28 May 1977 I had:
38 Gadwall, 20 Shoveler, 100 Redshank, 200 Sandwich Tern, 80 Common Tern, 7 Knot, 1 Wood Sandpiper, 2 Sanderling, 1 Grey Plover, 3 Blackwits, Redpoll and Spotted Flycatcher, 4 Marsh Harriers, 2 Cuckoos, 2 Bitterns, Wheatear, Meadow Pipit, Yellow Wagtail as well as the afore-mentioned Shrike ( also a female).
Total Spp 75 in about 5 hours.
Interesting
Waders on the scrape seem to have been more limited in the last couple of years, with them preferring Lucky Pool or the area south of the sluice trail instead (from what I've seen). Not sure why, unless they're simply fed up of the noise the BHGs make!
Hi WJ-
no waders in those areas either apart from odd fly-over Ringed Plover and Redshank which I assumed were local breeders.
Hi
I might compare a Titchwell May 28th or similar if I can find one in my journals
I believe that the water levels on the scrape are better suited to dabbling ducks than waders. Even so, Minsmere has attracted some very good waders at times this autumn, including little stint, wood, green, and curlew sandpiper, as well as godwits, common sand and spotted redshank. However, the ducks may be seen as a higher conservation priority. Hopefully the improvements in water level management and the changes to the scrape planned for the next few years may even the balance out a little and allow management for both groups. Maybe someone from the staff will comment.
First an apology - I missed this thread when it was first posted in May as I was in France at the time. I'll try to summarise the issues raised as succinctly as possible.
Water levels on the Scrape are carefully managed to attract different species at different times of year. Spring levels are perfect for breeding avocets, gulls and terns, with distinct islands surrounded by shallow water. While May is a peak month for spring wader migration, numbers and variety vary between and even during individual days, as well as annually. The early spring meant that much of the passage was finished by late May this year, whereas it continued well into June in 2013. Just a few days before your visit we were still seeing knot, sanderling, dunlin, ruff, greenshank, wood and common sandpipers, for example. Little stint and curlew sandpiper were seen a couple of days later too, so you may just have been a bit unlucky.
It's also worth remembering the Springwatch footage, with the disturbance and predation due to the badger accessing the Scrape - this reduced numbers of breeding gulls and waders this spring. Work starts on Monday to construct a new fence, so we hope this will prevent the badger from causing such disturbance again.
Summer and autumn 2014 saw the best wader migration on the Scrape for several years, with nice muddy margins attracting up to 20 species per day.
Winter is a time for ducks, not waders on the Scrape at Minsmere, with higher water levels helping to suppress vegetation growth.
You mention the vegetation on the Scrape in May. The warm spring accelerated growth this year, here as everywhere else, while years of droppings have left many islands with richer soils. Over the next few winters we plan a phased programme of reprofiling the islands to return them to their bare state.
Also, remember that comaparisons between reserves need to be treated with a touch of caution as the habitats and management regimes are different. Titchwell, for example, benefits from its close proximity to the Wash and the extensive sandy beaches of the North Norfolk coast. Minsmere is most isolated for major estuaries and sits on a mainly shingle coast.
I hope this helps to address your questions.
Hi- I'm probably going to re-visit next year about the same time and compare again- it wasn't a question as much as a comparison for myself and other interested parties
:)
going back again - probably on May 28th or 29th
Let us know what you see. Our volunteer guides will be around to help you to spot more of Misnmere's wildlife too.
started at Island Mere and moved around through the hides to north wall getting Marsh Harrier, Cetti's, Little Gull , Kittiwake, a single Black tailed Godwit, 3 Bitterns in flight and a briefly singing Nightingale . The Pop Up café was great- we visited twice!
total spp 71 including Dunwich heath ( Stone Curlew, Stonechat, Red Legged Partridge, Mistle Thrush)
On the way home dropped in to Weeting heath for more Stoneys, Wheatear, Wood Lark, Firecrest, Spotted Flycatcher and Yellowhammer.
For our next days birding see- http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/wildlife/f/1920/t/10093.aspx?pi2132219858=3
the annual pilgrimage to Mins is planned for May 12th and I might even bring a scope this year!
Any regular forumites about?