Leave Minsmere for a week at your peril, especially in spring. Luckily it doesn't seem that I missed any real star birds last week, but I certainly returned to some goodies over the weekend. With so many exciting sightings already this week, I can confidently say that spring is here, and migration is hotting up - even if the glorious weather of the last fortnight looks set to end tomorrow!
There can only be one place to start this week, though, and that is with news of one of the UK's most bizarre-looking birds, black-winged stilt. For those not familiar with this recent colonist, the following might help. Think of an avocet, paint its legs bright pink, add at least half as much length again to the legs, straighten the bill and you're not far off. The head, neck and under parts are white, while the wings are black - as per the name. Males have a black hindcrown and hindneck, too.
Black-winged stilt with black-headed gull by Clare Carter
Black-winged stilts are rare, but increasingly regular, visitors to the UK, mainly in spring, and several pairs have bred in recent years. They are widespread in southern Europe, southern Asia and Africa, and are one of several species that are spreading their range northwards as a result of our warming climate. They are not yet annual visitors to Minsmere, so it was very exciting to hear that two had been spotted on the Scrape on Monday morning. They took a bit of tracking down, though, as they moved between various parts of the Scrape, the South Levels and the Konik Field throughout the day, and sometimes went missing for an hour or so. I did eventually see them - at the second attempt.
For those who had other plans over the bank holiday there was a second bite at the cherry on Tuesday, as both stilts continued to lead birdwatchers a merry dance around the reserve. Things started to get really exciting during the afternoon when they were watched mating, but that was as good as it got as there were no sightings at all today - until one was seen at 4 pm.
Mating black-winged stilts by Trevor Burch
The stilts were certainly not the only birds of note on the Scrape, though. Wader migration showed a noticeable upturn with counts of 40+ bar-tailed godwits over the last few days. They even outnumbered the usually much commoner black-tailed godwits from some hides! The first two common sandpipers of the year were spotted on Monday, too.
After a slow but steady build up in numbers of Sandwich terns, they have arrived en masse this week. I thought yesterday's count of 165 on East Scrape was impressive, but this morning there were an incredible 500+ terns present. Quite a sight! Common terns have begun to arrive too, and I counted 57 on South Scrape this afternoon, while an early little tern was spotted on Monday. Not wanting to be outdone, the Mediterranean gulls have also been present in impressive numbers - 150+ on East Scrape, 20+ on West Scrape, for example.
Despite all the excitement over the stilts, it was perhaps one of Minsmere's most elusive birds that stole the show yesterday. Grasshopper warblers (known to many birdwatchers as groppers) are usually incredibly difficult to see as they skulk in low scrub around the edge of the reedbed. Luckily they have a distinctive song, often likened to a fishing reel being wound in - hence the song is known as reeling. Our grasshopper warbler perhaps hasn't read the textbooks (a familiar theme with Minsmere's wildlife) as it spent most of yesterday posing and performing for crowds close to the path about midway between South Hide and Wildlife Lookout.
Grasshopper warbler by Les Cater
A very close relative of the grasshopper warbler is the even rarer Savi's warbler. Only a handful of pairs nest in the UK each year, and Minsmere is perhaps one of their most regular nesting sites. One has been heard intermittently at Island Mere since early April, but a second bird has now arrived and they are consequently singing more frequently. The song is more buzzy than the gropper, but still distinctive. Although they are singing from the far side of Island Mere, if you are patient enough then you should hear one of them. You may even catch a glimpse of one, but given the range it takes a bit of faith and an excellent telescope to see any plumage details.
In fact, most of our warblers have now arrived, with chiffchaffs, blackcaps and whitethroats singing from any scrubby areas and sedge and reed warblers around the reedbed. Lesser whitethroats have been heard around the North Bushes and near the Chapel Field and willow warblers in the North Bushes.
Our other songbirds are in full voice, too, including at least two firecrests around the North Bushes and car park entrance, several goldcrests and marsh tits in the woods, and both stonechat and linnet along the dunes.
Linnet in full voice by Ian Barthorpe
Other migrants are streaming in too. Several nightingales are singing on Westleton Heath (please only listen to them from the obvious tracks and paths to minimise disturbance). A superb male common redstart was found on Whin Hill this afternoon. A lovely female ring ouzel has spent a couple of days on the field north of the North Wall, where several wheatears and yellow wagtails were also seen.
Even more exciting is the news that a pair of stone-curlews has returned to this field and can often be seen from the North Wall viewpoint. Our volunteer guides will often be present in the mornings to help you spot these tricky to find birds - please ask for details at reception and only watch from the designated area.
Several people have already been lucky enough to see and hear cuckoos, though they've eluded me so far, while at least two hobbies are hawking for insects over the reedbed. There's a lot of sand martin activity around their nesting colony, and several swallows have been seen.
Numbers and variety of insects are on the increase, too. It's always a joy to see orange tip butterflies flitting around the wetlands, while other butterflies to look out for include speckled wood, small copper, brimstone and peacock. The first large red damselflies have already been spotted, and there's a good selection of bees and wasps around the reserve.
Adders have become harder to spot around the Adder Trail but visitors have reported regular sightings of grass snakes, slow worms and common lizards this week (including a rare black variety of the latter). Otters are still regularly seen at both Bittern Hide and Island Mere (as, of course, are bitterns and marsh harriers), but my personal highlight of the week was my long overdue first sighting of a Chinese water deer at Minsmere. In fact, I spotted two on the South Levels during a family walk on Sunday.
With so much to be seen, now is a great time to join our volunteer guides for a guided walk. The next walk is with Phil and Derek on Sunday morning, and you can book by following this link. You can find a full list of dates at www.rspb.org.uk/minsmere.
Finally, it's great to see the bluebells beginning to flower in the woods. If you'd like to learn more about Minsmere's wild flowers, why not join Steve Massey for his flower ID course. Steve's knowledge is incredible and his enthusiasm is infectious, so you're certain to come away with a fresh insight into our plants. The course runs over four dates, starting on 10 May. Book your place here.