How did you get on with your Big Garden Birdwatch counts over the weekend? I had a very respectable (for my garden) eleven species yesterday. The biggest surprise was a brief visit from a wren - a species that I haven't seen int he garden for months despite hearing them locally most mornings. Although our starlings, goldfinches and blackbirds all put in an appearance, numbers were down on the norm. Frustratingly, I saw a record count of 11 goldfinches from the window, but they remained resolutely in next door's garden, with only three deigning to cross the fence!
Although we didn't actually count the birds on our feeders at Minsmere, we did see a good variety, including great spotted woodpeckers, marsh tits, coal tits and magpies. The sparrowhawk made an unsuccessful hunt. One of our volunteers, however, was lucky enough to spot a ringtail (female-type) hen harrier over the car park on Saturday morning too. While I missed this increasingly scarce bird, I was treated to flypast by another ringtail this morning as it hunted over farmland on my way into work.
That, however, was not the biggest surprise of the day. That honour goes to a winter plumage slavonian grebe that was feeding in the channel north of the North Wall sluice this afternoon. First reported as a red-necked grebe, our site manager went to check it out and confirmed the identification as a slavonian grebe. This is a very rare bird at Minsmere, with almost all records on the sea, so most of the staff quickly headed out to see it.
Slavonian grebes are rare breeding birds in the UK, confirmed to the Strathspey area of northern Scotland, and winter in small numbers around our coasts. In spring and summer they are gorgeous black and white birds with golden plumes on the side of their head. In winter they are mainly black above and white below, with bright white check patches. They also retain a lovely red eye - though that's not visible in the record shots that I managed to take.
Today's slavonian grebe by Ian Barthorpe
The grebe probably arrived on the strong winds of the latest storm to hit the UK this winter. These winds brought good numbers of seabirds close to shore too, including red-throated divers, gannets, great crested grebes, guillemots and a fulmar. A great northern diver was spotted on Saturday too.
On the reserve itself, there were a few signs of spring over the weekend, including the first oystercatcher on the Scrape, an avocet also on the Scrape, drumming great spotted woodpeckers. and increasing volume of birdsong. An adult Mediterranean gull on the Scrape today was another hint at the coming of spring.
Our wardens have been busy preparing for spring, and today the sand martin bank was steepened in preparation for their return in mid March. If I was a sand martin, I'd certainly welcome this clean fresh sandy cliff, free from encroaching bushes.
The newly steepened sand martin cliff
Elsewhere on the reserve, at least one firecrest remains in the Rhododendron Tunnel/Scotts Hall area, and a chiffchaff remains near Bittern Hide. The six whooper swans commute between Island Mere and the Konik Field, and a flock of Bewick's swans sometimes visits if disturbed from their feeding area near Leiston. A peregrine is regular on the Levels, and both yellow-legged and Caspian gulls were again seen on the Scrape today.
Our Birdwatch included a bird of prey for the first time ever - a beautiful kestrel made a landing! Chuffed? You bet.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.