One of the advantages of living close to the Suffolk coast is that it's easier to spot some wildlife, see the sea, and enjoy some welcome fresh air during your local walk, and there were certainly a few people doing just that during the lovely sunny weather over the weekend. It was great to see that social distancing was being adhered to at all times, and family groups were not mixing at all as visitors took advantage of our nature trails remaining open (don't forget that the cafe, shop and reception are now closed for the duration of the second lockdown).
For those who did visit Minsmere, there were some exciting birds to look for, although the most unexpected sightings were made just a few miles to the north at our Dingle Marshes nature reserve, between Dunwich and Walberswick.
We don't often mention Dingle Marshes in these blogs as there are now visitor facilities there. It's definitely a reserve for the more adventurous nature lovers, as a visit involves a long hike north along the shingle ridge from Dunwich to view the saline lagoons, reedbed and grazing marshes: the full circular walk, returning via Dunwich Forest, is about five miles. It's worth the effort though, as the views are superb, the wildness is soul-enhancing, and there is usually something more unusual to see.
That was certainly the case over the weekend, with not one, but two rare birds present, and a good supporting cast. The most unexpected bird present was a gorgeous, and very obliging (once you'd hike over a mile on shingle) greater yellowlegs. This is a North American wader, very similar in appearance to a greenshank, but with bright yellow legs - hence the name! There had only been two previous Suffolk records (including one at Minsmere), so lots of local birdwatchers were quite keen to see it. Fortunately, the wide shingle ridge meant it was possible to watch it whilst remaining safely socially distanced from other birdwatchers, and my family and I enjoyed amazing views on Saturday as it fed alongside a more familiar redshank.
Greater yellowlegs
The second rare bird was actually two birds: an adult male and a first winter eastern yellow wagtail. Very similar in appearance to our yellow wagtails (now known as western yellow wagtails), from which it has recently been separated into a new species, these two birds arrived a week or so ago. The adult is probably the same bird that spent a few weeks feeding in the same pools last autumn. Our familiar (western) yellow wagtails are summer visitors and have already left for Africa. The eastern species breeds in Siberia and usually migrates south to southern Asia, but a few have started arriving in the UK during recent autumns. Both birds very obliging fed in the same pool as the yellowlegs when I was watching them on Saturday!
There were also several scarce but more regular birds seen at Dingle Marshes over the weekend, including great white egret, snow bunting, short-eared owl and merlin, as well as more familiar birds such as redshank, dunlin, wigeon, teal, marsh harrier and skylark.
Another rare visitor from Siberia was also seen here at Minsmere on Saturday when a Pallas's warbler was found by one of our volunteers during his daily exercise. Pallas's warblers, like the closely related yellow-browed, dusky and Radde's warblers that I've mentioned in recent blogs, are tiny olive-green warblers. They are, however, more colourful than the other species mentioned above, having a bright lemon-yellow rump, two yellow wingbars on each wing, broad yellow supercilia (eyebrows) and a yellow central crown stripe. All these yellow stripes and bars earn them the nickname of seven-striped sprites.
Pallas's warbler by Tom Williams
The Pallas's warbler was seen several times over the weekend in the Sluice Bushes, often feeding in close company with an even smaller species, goldcrests. It could, however, be elusive, so patience and luck were required to see it.
Other more unusual birds seen at Minsmere over the weekend included goosanders on the Scrape, Caspian and yellow-legged gulls in the gull roost and a short-eared owl in the dunes. The first three Bewick's swans of the winter arrived on East Scrape today, and a barn owl was seen near East Hide this morning. There have also been sightings of kingfisher, green and great spotted woodpeckers, bearded tits, peregrine, sparrowhawk and otter over the weekend, and several pipistrelle bats were still hunting midges at dusk on Saturday. And all of this, without the need to visit a hide.