Once again, yesterday found me at Minsmere on my day off. I came along with my wife, son and in-laws for a lovely day of spotting wildlife, with a bit of celebrity spotting and product testing thrown in. It was also the perfect opportunity to try out our new 70 species to spot challenge for myself. (OK, I know I put this together, but I hadn't actually had a chance to road test it before it's launch over the weekend.)
Our challenge got off to a great start as I watched an antlion larva catching its prey right outside the visitor centre. I saw catching its prey, but it actually "caught" a piece of plant material that had blown into its burrow. Antlion is one of the target species, but we don't mind whether you spot an adult (unlikely), a larvae (or at least its pincers) or simply the larval pits, which confirm the presence of these unusual insects.
Next stop was the pond, where we took the opportunity to sample the superb new Swarovski BTX range. Swarovski were at Minsmere as part of the launch tour of this innovative new high powered telescope with dual eyepieces.
Thomas looked far too comfortable with the BTX. (Note to Father Christmas - can we have one please?). Photo by Lindsey Barthorpe
As you'll have seen in Amy's blog, The One Show and Springwatch presenter, Mike Dilger, was at Minsmere yesterday to help launch the BTX, and he was pleased to hear that Thomas was a budding young naturalist.
Thomas and Mike Dilger chatting about eagles on Mull. Photo by Lindsey Barthorpe
Whilst at the pond, we tried in vain to add water vole to the checklist, but did, instead see a couple of tiny water shrews buzzing around like clockwork toys on steroids. We also ticked sand martin, rabbit, gorse and alder for the list, and close by a treecreeper was another addition to the list.
In North Bushes were listened to whitethroat and blackcap, and I heard a brief snippet of lesser whitethroat song, but sadly the stone-curlew was not on view meaning another blank on the checklist - for now, at least. we did add lapwing here though. With a chill breeze blowing across the North Wall the bearded tits remained silent too, but we did hear reed, sedge and Cetti's warblers.
East Hide was our next stop, and here the list quickly filled up. As well as ticking off common terns, a single little tern, black-headed and Mediterranean gulls, avocets, black-tailed godwits, shelduck, mallard and teal from the list, plus a little egret in the ditch approaching the hide, we wrote down a number of species that were present. Other gulls included common, herring, lesser and great black-backed, but we couldn't locate the Caspian gull that was reported earlier. A large flock of Sandwich terns roosting on one island contrasted nicely with the smaller common terns and tiny little tern - a good chance to compare them. (A black tern had been present on Sunday too.) Duck numbers are now much reduced, as many have migrated back to northern breeding areas, while others may already be nesting within longer vegetation. Unfortunatley we left the hide shortly before four goosanders dropped in - a very unusual record for early May.
While gulls and terns may have grabbed most of the attention at East Hide, from the Public Viewpoint it was waders that stole the show. Our visit coincided with the second day of a good passage of Arctic-bound waders, many in the full breeding plumage, and we enjoyed excellent views of several bar-tailed godwits, ringed and grey plovers and dunlins, plus four beautiful knots. Large numbers of common gulls and kittiwakes were present too, the latter busy collecting nest material to take back to their nests on the outfall rigs from Sizewell power station.
Breeding plumage bar-tailed godwit by Jon Evans
As we wandered along the dunes we added stonechat to the 70 species list, as well as spotting several linnets then a lovely wheatear or two. Swallow quickly joined the list. A quick detour to Lucky Pool in search of the singing grasshopper warbler was sadly unsuccessful, but we did see another nice mixed flock of waders plus a grey heron for the 70 species list. It was only later in the day that we learnt of the sighting of a hoopoe a few hundred metres south from here - Thomas was even tempted to return in the hope of spotting this rare visitor. We didn't, which is perhaps just as well since it couldn't be relocated. We did, however, get a bonus of our own when I spotted this gorgeous broad-bordered bee--hawkmoth feeding on a Spanish bluebell in the Sluice Bushes. This is a much sought after moth by some of our regulars, and is more usually seen in early June or around the buddleias in August, but even then it can be tricky to spot.
A broad-bordered bee hawkmoth - the similar hummingbird hawkmoth is one of the 70 species to spot later in the year
By now, lunch was definitely calling, but a quick detour into Wildlife Lookout added shoveler for the checklist, as well as the drake mandarin for Thomas's growing year list. Sadly he missed both the bittern and whimbrel that we saw flying over the reedbed though.
After lunch we returned to the pond in search of water vole. Again no luck, but again the water shrews were present, and Thomas's ran off to alert Mike Dilger who was very excited to watch them zipping about - he'd only seen two water shrews before! Thomas even located their nest hole.
Water shrew by Steve Everett (for more images of these amazing animals see here)
We could have stayed here all afternoon, but Island Mere called, so we headed off through the woods. Unfortunately, by the time we reached the mere, the wind had picked up, so although we added marsh harrier and hobby to the list, we didn't manage to find any bitterns, bearded tits, reed buntings or otters for the list. We couldn't here the Savi's warbler either, but that has been heard again this morning. We did spot great crested grebes, a hundred or so sand martins and a cormorant too.
Our return walk to the visitor centre was productive too, with both green and great spotted woodpeckers ticked off for the challenge, as well as sightings of orange tip and peacock butterflies and another wheatear.
Our day was not yet finished though, as we stopped on Westleton Heath for a quick walk in search of turtle dove. Sadly no luck here, but we did hear a nightingale and find a knopper gall on an oak tree to take us to 35 species for the challenge (37 for my wife and I). Half way there in one visit certainly seemed like a good start, especially given the species we missed. We will, of course, need to return throughout the year so that we can try to add the rest - including beewolf in July and fly agaric in October, so there's plenty more opportunities to complete the list.
I know Mike Dilger wa shoping to see 100 species in a day, but his Swarovski commitments and the cool weather may have counted against him. I managed an impressive 85 species though - not bad on a family day out.
Don't forget to pick up your challenge sheet on your next visit.