In last week's blog I described some of the beautiful passage migrants that had been seen that day, including Red-backed Shrike, Pied and Spotted Flycatchers and Redstart, and celebrated having been able to spot them all in the Chapel Field.
The very next day, and even rarer migrant was spotted in the nearby Sluice Bushes, where it remained until Monday. A Wryneck. Amazingly, a second bird was spotted along the entrance road yesterday.
Despite being streaky brown and black birds - the archetypal "Little Brown Job" - Wrynecks are beautiful birds, but are typically difficult to spot, being very well camouflaged when feeding on the ground, and supreme skulkers in bushes. Like the Red-backed Shrike, they used to breed throughout southern England, but have suffered huge population declines due to land-use and climate changes and are now only seen here as scarce migrants.
Wryneck by Jon Evans (a library image)
Wrynecks are unusual in many ways. They are the only migrant woodpecker in Europe (although a proportion of Scandinavian breeding Great Spotted Woodpeckers will migrate south in winter.) After breeding in European woods and orchards, all Wrynecks migrate south to spend the winter south of the Sahara, returning north again the following spring. Therefore, small numbers can often be found along the east coast - and even more rarely inland - in late April/early May, and again in August/September, when suitable weather conditions force them further west than usual.
They also have an almost unique ability to turn their necks almost full circle - hence the name. This can give them an almost snake-like appearance, and acts as a good defence against predators.
As well as the Wrynecks, there has been a steady stream of other migrant songbirds this week, including Wheatears and Redstarts in the dunes, Whitethroats, Lesser Whitethroats and Willow Warblers in scrubby areas and Sand Martins and House Martins overhead. For those lucky enough to see it, a Wood Warbler in the Sluice Bushes yesterday was a real treat - this rapidly declining warbler is very rarely seen at Minsmere nowadays. A juvenile Cuckoo has also been spotted several times near Bittern Hide, and the first Firecrest of the autumn was near the Work Centre.
Juvenile Cuckoo
Birds of prey have also proved popular this week, with Kestrels continuing to catch crickets and grasshoppers in the North Bushes and along the dunes, and several Hobbies hunting dragonflies over the reedbed and woodland edge - who'd be an insect? A female Sparrowhawk is regularly hunting on the Scrape, while Buzzards and Marsh Harriers are regularly seen, and a few lucky visitors have spotted Peregrines chasing waders, too.
Although wader migration is past it's peak, there is still a selection of species to look out for, including Black-tailed Godwit, Ringed and Little Ringed Plovers, Green and Common Sandpipers, Dunlin, Knot and Ruff. Numbers of Snipe and Lapwing are increasing as birds arrive for the winter, but almost all of our Avocets have now moved off to the estuaries.
Great Egrets and Bitterns continue to put in regular appearances around the reedbed, with Great Crested Grebes, Pochard and Tufted Ducks still on Island Mere. Small flocks of Bearded Tits are increasingly regularly seen at Island Mere, around South Hide and along the boardwalk to East Hide.
Male Bearded Tit by David Naylor
Water Voles remain popular at the pond, and numbers of Red Deer are increasing on the heath as they prepare for the annual rut. If you haven't booked your ticket yet, there are still spaces left on some of our 4x4 Red Deer Rut Safaris - you can book yours at www.events.rspb.org.uk/minsmere.
Finally, if you are planning a visit this week, please note the Visitor Centre, Shop and Cafe will be closed all day on Wednesday 18 September for stock-taking and an all staff meeting. Diggers are also returning to the Scrape this week to complete the habitat enhancement work that had to be abandoned last October due to extensive flooding - this shouldn't cause any disturbance to wildlife, as they quickly get used to the machinery.