The fantastic autumn migration has continued apace this week with hundreds more goldcrests arriving, as well as the first significant arrival of redwings and fieldfares. With them have come more starlings, helping to boost numbers gathering for the evening murmuration over North Marsh.
Finches have been passing through in good numbers too, with large flocks of linnets, goldfinches, siskins, chaffinches and greenfinches noted this morning. Several bramblings continue to feed outside the visitor centre, while six twites flying high over the dunes this morning were a very notable Suffolk record these days.
Perhaps the most significant arrivals this week have been great grey shrikes, with at least two different birds seen at Minsmere being just part of a large fall along the east coast. The first one arrived around the red deer viewpoint on Westleton Heath on Wednesday last week, and was also seen at nearby Mount Pleasant over the weekend. Another arrived near the Minsmere sluice over the weekend, and could often be seen perched on the Scrape fence as it searched for insects, small mammals and perhaps even tired goldcrests to eat. As is typical of shrikes, and excess food will be impaled onto share thorns, creating a larder for later consumption, earning the family the nickname of butcher birds.
A great grey shrike, drawn by Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)
Over the last two days, great grey shrikes have been seen both along the edge of North Marsh and along the footpath from the sluice to Eastbridge, though it's difficult to know if these records relate to one bird or two - or whether it's the same bird that was at the sluice.
Great grey shrikes breed in northern and eastern Europe, moving south to milder parts of central and southern Europe for the winter. A few spend the winter in the UK every year, but this year looks set to be one of the best for a long time if some of the recent arrivals linger.
Another bird that breeds in Scandinavia and heads to our shores in small numbers each year is the rough-legged buzzard, and sure enough one of these large birds of prey was spotted flying over the reserve this morning. Like the shrikes, it is probably escaping the recent cold weather in northern Europe.
This wasn't the only notable bird of prey sighting this week either. Yesterday there were sightings of two ringtail (female-type) hen harriers and two peregrines over the Levels, and a short-eared owl over the dunes. There are also the usual marsh harriers, sparrowhawks, kestrels and buzzards to be seen, but there haven't been any hobbies reported for a couple of days.
A ringtail hen harrier by Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
Despite all these winter visitors, the warm autumn sunshine today has seen good numbers of migrant hawker and common darter dragonflies and harlequin ladybirds on the wing as well as a few red admiral butterflies and several swallows.
Other highlights this week have included a curlew sandpiper, four spotted redshanks and six avocets on the Scrape, several stonechats along the dunes, regular sightings of bearded tits and bitterns, and the water vole in the pond again. Perhaps the rarest birds, though, were two penduline tits seen at Island Mere on Sunday evening. There was just a brief sighting of one yesterday morning though, so it doesn't appear that they have stayed around.
Two penduline tits at Minsmere, photographed last year by Dene Carter