North Warren

Suffolk birdwatchers have been led on a wild goose chase this week, with North Warren very much to the fore as usual.

But this one was different, as it was possible to follow the movements of the said goose without even visiting the reserve! 

News broke on New Year's Eve that a lesser white-fronted goose from a Swedish reintroduction scheme, wearing a GPS-transmitter, had roosted on the Minsmere Scrape the previous evening…

Firstly an apology for not posting any news about North Warren for nearly a year. It's not that nothing's been happening on the reserve. Far from it as you'll see. But for one reason or another I've not been down to the reserve so far this year to see the amazing transformation that's been going on - until this morning.

For those of us that know the reserve well, North Warren needs no introduction…

After weeks of trying to locate a sizable starling flock on the Suffolk coast this autumn, we have finally tracked them down to the North Warren reedbed. Between 6000 and 8000 starlings were putting on an impressive display last night before settling to roost close to the reedbed viewpoint. This viewpoint is the best place to watch from, and is accessed from the old railway line. It's quite a long walk from any of the…

Blog by Annette, North Warren Warden

It’s turning out to be a good autumn for birds on the reserve. The rowan trees at Aldringham Walks are weighed down with red berries which have proved to be a real attraction for various thrush species. At least seven ring ouzels were seen one morning feeding on the berries. A few days later a flock of between 200-300 fieldfares were flitting between the rowans and the Scots pine…

Spring has arrived at North Warren! Over the past week the reserve has come alive with birdsong as the weather has improved and the migrant birds have returned to their breeding grounds. During a routine walk around the grazing marsh this morning chiff chaff, sedge warbler and whitethroat were all heard singing just off the footpaths. Another treat this morning was the nightingale which we heard singing in the blackthorn…

Well, that was short-lived. The large starling roost I reorted before Christmas sadly dispersed early in the New Year, with only a few hundred birds roosting at North Warren since. We don't knwo where they've moved to as we haven't located another roost on the Suffolk coast.

North Warren is looking great for geese, with a few tundra bean and pink-footed geese among the large flocks of white-fronted, greylag…

At last we have located a sizeable starling roost on the Suffolk coast this winter. It's in the North Warren reedbed. An estimated 15-20k starlings gathered on Sunday evening, settling to roost in front of the old railway line viewpoint. They usually gather first on the pylons and wires at Aldringham Walks, before heading to the reedbed where they put on an impressive display. A dusk visit to North Warren should also…

There was great excitement in Aldeburgh on Saturday when news broke of an Arctic redpoll feeding on the shingle beach just south of the town. As their name suggests, Arctic redpolls breed in the extreme northern extremities of Eurasia and North America. They are rare visitors to the UK.

As ever in birdwatching, though, it's not quite that simple. There are actually two different races of Arctic redpoll, which go by the…

Next time you are visiting North Warren, check out our new viewing platform, it is accessible from the old railway line and gives great views over the northern half of the grazing marsh. It was erected last week by Gilleard Brothers Ltd. This is the same company that have built many of the hides at Minsmere, including the new Island Mere hide last year. This new viewing platform will improve views of the wintering wildfowl…

The water levels on the southern half of the grazing marsh are being raised ready for the return of the winter wildfowl. Within a couple of weeks of the boards being put in the first white-fronted geese of the season had arrived – four were seen on the 30^th Oct with 2 more birds joining them for the following two days. Eight snow buntings were also seen on the beach at North Warren on Saturday 3^rd November; David…

Good news from North Warren! Sand Catchfly has flowered on the reserve this year for the first time in 10 years!

Sand Catchfly Silene conica is a nationally scarce plant which is found in just 59 10km squares in Britain (New Atlas of the British & Irish Flora, 2002). It last flowered at North Warren in 2002 when 271 flowering spikes were recorded. We were very pleased when it reappeared this year after its 10 year…

Over the past few months staff and volunteers from Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB (part of Suffolk Coastal District Council) have joined forces with staff and volunteers from the RSPB to transform areas of the North Warren RSPB reserve. Over the course of three days in January and February, the joint work party has tackled scrub in the fen, cut back reed from around an open pool, cut back areas of gorse on the heath, had…

A surprise visitor was spotted at North Warren on Wednesday. Grazing among the hundreds of wigeons on South Marsh was one of their cousins from across the Atlantic. American wigeons are scarce visitors tot he UK. A few turn up every winter, among their European cousins. Some of these return to the same place year after year, presumably migrating east to Siberia with the European wigeons, rather than trying to relocated…

As forecast, this morning dawned cloudy and windy, with rain threatening but the skies were clearing by the time I reached Aldeburgh to welcome ten visitors who were joinng me on the first of this winter's three Winter Wildfowl guided walks at North Warren. It was great to see several familiar faces among the crowd, including Steve and Angela who used to run the nearby Blaxhall Youth Hostel but were returning to Suffolk…

Autumn and winter are busy seasons at North Warren with much work to be done on the heath and in the reedbed in preparation for next year’s breeding season. The volunteer winter work parties have started up again and tasks so far have involved gorse coppicing and birch clearance on the heath as well as building a bridge over a ditch into the reedbed to allow easier access for the Truxor (see picture below).

It's not often that people get excited by spiders, but one particular species attracts admiring glances every autumn at RSPB Minsmere, and now it has been found for the time at North Warren. The species in question is a stunning black, white and yellow striped spider that has earned itself the perfectly apt English name of wasp spider.

Wasp spiders are relatively recent colonists on the Suffolk coast where they can…

This week I visited North Warren for the first time since the winter. It’s incredible how different one place can be at two different seasons. Gone are the vast flocks of ducks, geese and wading birds on the winter floods. In their place, long swards of grass grazed by a few cattle. Soon the wardens’ tractors will be out on the marshes topping the grass ready for the geese to return.

In summer, the star attractions…

This blog is from Luke and recounts his experience at North Warren over the breeding season.

 “When you’re laying on your front, stealthily hidden, binoculars to your eyes, surrounded by the sounds, sights and smells of spring, aiming to get a peek into the daily lives of lapwing at North Warren, you know you’re a part of something special. That’s a snapshot of my experience thanks to the opportunity I have…

This is the question on the lips of many of the visitors I meet on the trails at North Warren. The Konik ponies which graze on the marshes during the winter have now headed back to Minsmere to make way for the Suffolk Redpoll cattle which graze the land over the summer months. The ponies are often visible at Minsmere as they are currently grazing in the ‘Konik field’ which can be viewed from the scrape trail between south…

Sometimes circumstances combine to deny you your expected highs. Today was one such example.

I met ten eager visitors in Aldeburgh at 9.30 am hoping for another exciting winter wildfowl guided walk, but with poor visibility and a SE wind, my heart began to sink. It's always harder to find the geese when the wind is from the east, and the mist wasn't going to make it any easier. Four black-tailed godwits and two…

This morning's wildfowl walk at North Warren was a full house: 13 eager birdwatchers joined me on a windswept Aldeburgh beach for a three hour stroll in search of geese and ducks.

It started off so well, but turned into somewhat of a wild goose chase.

Scanning from the car park, we were treated to the usual array of dabbling ducks: hundreds of wigeons, good numbers of gadwalls, shovelers and pintails, but fewer than…

In my last blog I mentioned the record counts of geese at North Warren, and suggested that you join me for a guided to see them.

Well, if you had joined me last Saturday, you'd have had one of the best birdwatching experiences Suffolk has to offer. North Warren was at its awesome, magical best. Absolutely teeming with birds. If you missed it, there's two more chances to join me, on Sat 5 and Sat 19 Feb. Why not reserve…

If you've ever wanted to go on a genuine wild goose chase, there's nowhere better in Suffolk than RSPB North Warren in mid winter, and this year ha been exceptionally good.

A recent count (31 Dec) of 800 European white-fronted geese is not only a reserve record count, but the hightest count ever in Suffolk - by quite some way! It's likely that many have been pushed west from Holland or Denmark by the recent cold…

Winter is definitely the best time to visit North Warren for some high quality birdwatching - but don't forget to wrap up warm as any wind with north or east in it will whistle straight through you as it comes in off the North Sea!

We've moved the Suffolk redpoll cattle off the marshes now - they belong to a local grazier and went back to their home farm last week. So now we can raise the water levels ready for the…

Autumn. A time of change. Millions of birds are on the move, and North Warren's coastal location makes it an ideal place to find some of them.

One of the best places for migrants at North Warren is close to the reserve boundary on the old caravan site at Thorpeness - a short walk north from the village along the cliffs. The scrub here regularly attracts rare visitors. Highlights so far this autumn have included wryneck…