February 2023 has been a month in which spring and winter was battling it out to be the most dominant. Some days it has been rather chilly with misty morning scenes and even a few gusty days, in which I witnessed bearded tits trying to hang on to reed heads as they attempted to feed while being blown around like a cowboy riding a rodeo horse.
But despite the winter trying to linger on, it has been rather spring like with plenty of sunshine. There's blossom on the trees, the birds are starting to sing and insects such as butterflies are beginning to stir. Though more about that later. With all this sunshine, the trails had been drying out. However, due to some recent rain, the fen trail that leads to Tower Hide was very slippery and muddy as of Monday 27th. So please bring your wellington boots and take care if venturing as far as Tower Hide.
We begin February's highlights with a mega bird. Perhaps one of the biggest birds to ever visit Strumpshaw. On Feb 19th, there was a lot of excitement as a white-tailed eagle was spotted from reception soaring over the reserve. It was identified as an individual from the Isle of Wight reintroduction project thanks to the tags on its wings. These birds are so massive with an enormous wingspan that they are often described as flying barn doors, so it was hard to mistake it for anything else.
It is known that these birds tend to roam many miles from where they fledged for the first few years of their life. This one had already visited Hickling and Potter Heigham before showing up here. This is also likely to be the same bird that had been seen in North Norfolk early on this winter and possibly the same one that was believed to be at Surlingham last March. Could it visit us again? Keep your eyes to the sky and you will never know.
Not to be overshadowed by the eagle, on the same day, 32 Bewick swans were seen flying east from Buckenham Marshes. And that's not all from this reserve as a pair of cranes have been making frequent visits this month. They've been seen flying in from the direction of Strumpshaw and have been landing on the marshes themselves. Some keen eyes around dusk have also seen woodcocks feeding beside the edge of the marshes beside the railway track. Other highlights from Buckenham include a merlin on the 7th, a raven a day later and the first green sandpiper returned to the marshes since Feb 19th.
Sadly, there has been no confirmed sightings of Taiga bean geese. It seems they've been spending their winter mostly at Ludham this year. However, the Tundra bean goose from last month continues to hang out with the white-fronted geese, so it isn't all bad news from the bean goose side of things.
Meanwhile, over at Rockland marsh, a short-eared owl had been a regular sighting this month. On Feb 7th, there had been a report of one (perhaps the same bird) apparently visiting Strumpshaw very briefly.
Though it seems to have been too warm for snow, Strumpshaw still appears to be covered in the stuff. A closer look later reveals small displays of snowdrops everywhere from in front of the reception building and around our woodland trails. Enjoy them while you still can, as they are starting to pass their best. Daffodils and primroses, on the other hand, are only just beginning to flower and we've seen the first blossom of the year emerge around the middle of February.
Take an even closer look at the woodland floor and the keenest of eyes may find drops of blood red on mossy logs and sticks. These are scarlet elfcap fungi and they have also been rather noticeable of late. If you turn left from after the Gnarly Oak, carry on down the trail beside the ditch until you reach the first bench. Directly behind the bench, you will find the largest scarlet elfcap we've found so far on a stump. You can't miss it!
The first butterfly of the year was seen on Feb 20th. In fact, there were plenty of reports that day of brimstones and I also had to rescue a small tortoiseshell that was trying to escape the inside of the reception hide after stirring from its winter torpor.
Up in the canopy, the siskins and redpolls continue to make a noise with a cacophony of twittering as they feed on the cones of alder trees. And they are not the only ones to make some noise. There's been drumming woodpeckers, trilling display calls of spiralling treecreepers, bullfinches, redwings , fieldfares and even the nuthatches are letting themselves known after months of going silent.
Keep an eye out up in the sky too as our marsh harriers are already performing their sky dancing displays, in which the males go as high as possible before stooping down and gliding back up again like a yo-yo. An impressive sight if you've never seen it before. They've also been seen pairing up with some mating behaviour already. We hope 2023 will be another excellent breeding year for this species.
Out on the reserve, we've been noticing a rise in wildfowl numbers. I have been counting 20+ shelducks from Tower Hide, several hundred greylags (all over the place) and 30+ gadwall outside reception along with 2 Canada geese and 10-20 coot. The place is coming to life! And as for otters, they've been an almost daily regular from reception. Kingfishers, meanwhile, have been providing mostly a fleeting glimpse, but are around. Same goes with bitterns, which have been seen flying by on occasions, and one was heard clearing his throat on the evening of 26 February, we still wait for the first boom.
We have some wonderful spring events planned, set your alarm clocks, fill up your flasks and head down to Strumpshaw Fen! You won't want to miss this chance to join our experienced and knowledgeable leader Drew Lyness on an early morning stroll to experience the serene beauty of the reserve at dawn. This is a fantastic opportunity to immerse yourself in the magical acoustic performance of a dawn chorus alongside our expert, who will help you pick out and identify the soloists performing in this bird orchestra (and learn more about bird song in general). To book your place follow this link: events.rspb.org.uk/browse?filter[schedule]=2083
We hope the springtime weather continues into March along with the first migrants to arrive back from Africa. Keep a look out for those sand martins, garganeys and swallows and your ears open for the sound of booming bitterns. See you next time!