It's certainly been an interesting week for weather, though we've escaped the deep snow drifts and freezing weather that have caused chaos through much of the country. That's not to say that it's been mild here. Far from it. The north-easterly wind has been bitter, made all the worse if you were caught out in one of the many snow, sleet or rain showers that have passed through. Then today we have wall to wall sunshine and less wind, making for a lovely late winter day. Don't you just love the British weather!
One of the highlights of the week has been the sighting of an almost white stoat, bar a few remaining brown markings around the face and the distinctive black tail tip. White stoats, or ermines as they are usually know, are scarce in southern England, where less snow cover makes white fur more of a disadvantage. I've never managed to spot one, so I'm very envious of this fabulous photo by Tommy Evans.
There have also been several sightings of more typically coloured stoats, while up to three otters continue to be seen occasionally at both Bittern Hide and Island Mere.
Despite the cold weather, our volunteer guides are still enjoying pointing out a couple of adders that are basking beneath the sand martin bank, including the popular black adder.
The most exciting bird news concerns the first grunting bitterns of the spring, and brief visits from both common crane and spoonbill at the start of the week - a sure sign that spring is just around the corner. Similarly, we had a count of 65 avocets last weekend, though numbers have quickly dropped back to two or three as they wait a bit longer on the estuaries before returning to breed. Perhaps more surprisingly, one of our volunteers counted an impressive 18 oystercatchers on the Scrape yesterday, which is an unusually high count here (photo below).
Elsewhere on the Scrape, there remain good numbers of ducks, including wigeon, gadwall, teal, shoveler, shelduck and pintail, as well as lapwings and up to seven species of gulls. The pick of the latter were Caspian and Mediterranean gulls. Other waders include a few ringed plovers, dunlins, black-tailed godwits, curlews and turnstones, plus flocks of lapwings. Four whooper swans were still present this week, too.
Up to five snipe continue to feed in front of Island Mere Hide, sometimes alongside a water rail. On the mere, both little and great crested grebes are displaying and a few tufted ducks are often feeding among the small flock of coots. Marsh harriers are busy displaying and Cetti's warblers can be heard form within the reeds, but the bearded tits are being quite elusive at the moment. The barn owl is often seen hunting late in the day, too.
Up to four Dartford warblers and several stonechats are in the dunes, while the common scoter flock offshore from Dunwich sometimes contains a handful of velvet scoters.
Finally, in the woods keep a look out for flocks of tits, which often include one or two treecreepers or goldcrests, and listen for calling nuthatches or drumming great spotted woodpeckers. Both of the latter are often seen around the feeders too.