A sudden drop in temperature was enough to get many birdwatchers' hearts racing as we anticipated potential new arrivals. It may already be February, and some of our wintering ducks may soon be preparing to start the long migration back north and east, but others are still moving west, pushed onwards by the advancing cold. One such species is the smew, one of our prettiest ducks, but also one of the scarcer species to visit the UK each winter.
And sure enough, right on cue, a beautiful pair of smews arrived this morning. In the past, the first smews often arrived in early December, as cold weather pushed them south, but a series of milder winters has seen birds make the final leg of the migration, choosing, instead , to remain in Holland or Denmark for the winter. In winter years, those that have arrived here have done so later, and later.
Last year, when the first smew finally arrived on 7 February, we had almost given up hope that they would come at all. Given that late arrival, hopes were high that our had hadn't gone yet this year, and almost exactly a year on, the first ones have finally arrived.
Drake smews are simply stunning birds. Mainly white, with a black bandit mask and pale blue-grey bill, they're patterned with a series of delicate black and grey markings. The females, whilst completely different, are equally attractive. They are mainly pale grey, with bright cheeks and a chestnut cap that earns them the nickname of redheads. They are members of the sawbill family; fish-eating ducks with serrated bills for catching fish underwater. They are closely related to the much larger goosander and red-breasted merganser, but only a hundred or so visit the UK each winter.
A pair of smew in flight by Jon Evans
Our smews have been a bit tricky to spot today as they've been extremely mobile. One minute they are on West Scrape, then East Scrape, then on the freshwater pools west of North Hide or in a ditch near South Hide. Luckily, I was rewarded with excellent views earlier today. Hopefully they'll become more settled and linger for a few weeks - they were still present in mid March last year.
Of course, there's much more to spot too. In excess of 1000 lapwings were on the Scrape this morning, most later moving onto the South Levels. All of the typical duck species - wigeon, gadwall, teal, mallard, shoveler and shelduck - are present in good numbers, as well as the odd tufted ducks. A few black-tailed godwits, dunlins and turnstones have been joined by the first oystercatchers and ringed plovers - it won't be long till the avocets and black-tailed godwits begin to return to the Scrape.
Marsh harriers are displaying much more above the reedbeds, and bitterns and water rails are still taking the opportunity to pose more often than the fieldguides suggest they should. Five Bwick's swans flew north over the Scrape this morning, and up to 14 have roosted on Island Mere on recent evenings.
The woodland is a good place to look for birds such as redwings, goldcrests, treecreepers, bullfinches and siskins, as well as red deer, muntjacs and grey squirrels. Another bird that many people struggle to spot these days is the song thrush, but up to four of them can often be seen searching for worms close to the start of the North Wall (stand near the stone-curlew watchpoint sign and look north to spot them).
A song thrush searching among the mole hills this afternoon
Yay, Nick! Limpy and I saw them from the same hide today - though they didn't stay for long.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.
I was Lucky to spot the pair of Smew when I was in the Wildlife Hide this afternoon.
My Flickr. Photos link HERE