After the weekend gales and surge tide did their utmost to damage the vulnerable east coast, the week started with pleasantly warming sunshine on Monday. I even felt it burning my face as the sun reflected off the water at Bittern Hide during my lunchtime walk.
Winter has returned with a vengeance today with sub-zero temperatures leaving most of the wetland areas frozen under a thick layer of ice. On the Scrape, hundreds of ducks rested on the islands, or splashed lazily in the few open patches of water.
The flocks were numerically dominated by teal, accompanied by large numbers of wigeon, shoveler, gadwall and mallard, plus about 20 shelducks (it should be possible to identify mallard, gadwall, teal and shelduck in this photo). Not surprisingly, given the ice, waders were limited to a couple black-tailed godwits, dunlins and snipe on South Scrape, with the lapwings feeding on surrounding fields, including the Minsmere Levels.
I did, however, take the chance to experiment with a few photos of reflections on the ice. You can see more of these photos on the RSPB Suffolk page here.
The ice didn't seem to deter the birds at Island Mere, with excellent views of bittern and water rail during the day, plus two Bewick's swans and at least 700 common gulls. The great white egret continues to roam the reedbed too. A small flock of white-fronted geese on fields to the south of the mere, viewable from Whin Hill, include two birds wearing green neck collars. We think these collars were fitted in Russia, but I'm awaiting further details.
One part of the reserve that wasn't affected by the ice was the sea, and the calm conditions made for excellent seawatching. A flock of 600 common scoters fed offshore from the sluice, often diving beneath the waves. Good numbers of great crested grebes and red-throated divers were seen too, some very close to shore. Other highlights offshore included a red-breasted merganser, two goosanders, a guillemot and a glaucous gull that flew north at lunchtime before returning south a few minutes later.
A consequence of the storms over the weekend has been a major reprofiling of the beach, resulting in many stalks of sea kale now standing bare and exposed as a stark reminder of the power of the sea.
With the cold weather, our smaller woodland birds have been very busy too. Redwings and blackbirds are turning over the leaf litter int he woods in search of grubs. Long-tailed tits, treecreepers, goldcrests, siskins, lesser redpolls and bullfinches can all be spotted, and a nuthatch was seen near Canopy Hide today. Don't forget that we're making bird food and feeders this weekend at our Big Bird Bake Off event, as we get ready for the Big Garden Birdwatch on 28-30 January. You can download your survey Big Garden Birdwatch pack at www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch.
Even in wooded areas, the ice made some fantastic patterns in the puddles.