With ducks and herons often dominating the reports from our guides at the moment, it's nice to hear of regular sightings of some of our smaller birds too, and it's one of these that is the focus for this week's species of the week blog. The bird in question is the Dartford warbler; a bird typically associated with heathland but that has become a regular feature along the dunes.
Dartford warblers are distinctive birds with dark slaty upperparts and deep wine-red underparts, a red eye ring and a typically cocked long tail. They are birds of heathland, being almost exclusively seen around gorse and heather. Unlike most warblers, they are resident in the UK, remaining all year round and rarely wandering far from their favoured habitat.
Dartford warbler by Ben Hall (rspb-images.com)
As recently as the early 1980s they were considered very rare birds in the UK, having declined due to habitat loss and a succession of cold winters, and were then confined to the heaths of Dorset, east Devon and The New Forest, including RSPB Aylesbeare Common and RSPB Arne. Careful habitat management and milder winters helped the population to slowly increase in the early 1990s, and in 1996 they recolonised the Suffolk coast after an absence of almost 50 years. This return happened at the same time as the arrival of antlions at Minsmere and breeding little egrets on the South Coast, and indicates that they may have arrived from the near Continenet, rather than southern England.
Dartford warbler by Chris Gomersall (rspb-images.com)
Wherever they arrived from, Dartford warblers were back to stay. Their initial return was on the neighbouring National Trust Dunwich Heath, but they soon spread to RSPB Minsmere and Westleton Heath, then later to other heathlands along the Suffolk coast that had been carefully managed by the RSPB, Suffolk Wildlife Trust and other conservation organisations as part of a project to restore the Sandlings heaths to their former glory.
Westleton Heath and Dunwich Heath remain good places to look for Dartford warblers: they were regularly seen from our red deer viewpoint on Westleton Heath during the recent rut, along with other heathland specialists such as woodlark and stone-curlew. Birdwatching wisdom says that to find a Dartford warbler you should first find a stonechat as they live in similar habitat and the latter typically perches prominently on exposed bushes while the warblers furtively among the heather. That may be the case elsewhere, but at Minsmere I often think it's as easy to spot the warblers first, especially once you know their sharp calls and scratchy songs, both of which are similar to the closely related whitethroat.
For the last few weeks, however, it has not been necessary to head out to the heaths to spot these delightful little birds, as at least two can be seen in the gorse bushes among the dunes between East Hide and the Sluice. In fact, a pair nested successfully in the dunes for the first time this summer, and it's presumably this pair or their offspring that visitors are seeing regularly right now. They can be elusive among the sometimes impenetrable gorse, but that's where the birdwatching wisdom comes into play as they are likely to be accompanying up to half a dozen stonechats. Look out, too, for meadow pipits, reed buntings and linnets in this area.
Male stonechat by Jon Evans
Whilst walking along the dunes, it's also worth spending a bit of time checking offshore - though a telescope is definitely a help to spot more than herring and great black-backed gulls and the occasional grey seal. Other sightings over the sea this week have included great, Arctic and pomarine skuas, gannets, red-throated divers, common scoters and brent geese - plus a black-throated diver this morning: the latter is a major rarity on the Suffolk coast.
On the Scrape, the dominant birds are teals, with more 1400 now present. Among them are several hundred each of mallard, wigeon, gadwall and shoveler, a dozen or so shelducks and up to three pintails, as well as a couple of lingering avocets, 30 or black-tailed godwits and lapwings and a few snipe. For those who take the time to check the gulls carefully, the rewards have included one or two yellow-legged and Caspian gulls, as well as a few common gulls.
Bitterns are showing very well at Island Mere, often feeding among the newly cut reeds in front of the hide. As wardens will be cutting the reeds at Bittern Hide on Thursday, and have already cut some patches in North Marsh, these areas could also be good to check for bitterns. Otters have also been regular at Island Mere, where up to three great white egrets continue to show every day and a cattle egret usually comes in to roost in the evenings. Bearded tits and marsh harriers are also often seen around the reedbed, but the starling roost is not yet reliable in the evenings.
Bittern by Jon Evans
A few migrants have been on the move this week too. The first whooper swan of the autumn was at Island Mere yesterday, small parties of redwings and siskins are often reported flying over, and a few late swallows have flown south int he last couple of days. Goldcrests and flocks of tits are frequent in the woodland areas, but the last report of a yellow-browed warbler was several days ago. Similarly, it appears that our ferruginous duck may have moved on as it was last reported on Thursday.