Suffolk has had its fair share of rain over the last couple of weeks, this isn’t necessary a bad thing, the water levels on Hollesley scrape have risen considerably creating a wildfowl heaven. This month we have had top counts of 450 Teal, 36 Pintail, 1500 Wigeon on the scrape and in the surrounding fields, 100 Graylags, 400 Canada geese, big numbers of Brent and even 7 White-fronted geese today (24/11) which is a first for the scrape. Waders are also looking good with top counts of 320 Lapwing, 220 Black tailed godwits, 36 Redshank, 17 Snipe and a sneaky water rail can often be heard. Our star species of the month however is a Dusky warbler which was heard in the scrub by the viewing mound. He stuck around for a few days from the 20th
Hollesley is not the only place looking attractive to birds, Boyton is looking fantastic. Boyton is a great place to see geese feeding out in the wet fields, teal, wigeon and pintail on the scrape and lapwing and godwits wading in the mud. If you have the patience or are just having a lucky day Boyton is a great spot to see an otter. They are seen fairly often scurrying from one ditch to another, or swimming along the borrow dykes alongside the reserve.