Can you believe it is the second anniversary since I took over writing these Strumpshaw highlight reports?! It is now my third January to write up and what a crazy month it has been. There's plenty to talk about, so lets get into it.
The weather has once again stolen the headlines. It has been a stormy, chilly and wet start to the new year. Three storms, Henk, Isha and Jocelyn, created a lot of damage to our woodland trails with many trees blown to the ground. Flooding also continued to be a problem. Keep an eye on our Facebook page for the very latest and remember to bring your wellies. You will definitely need them heading out on the Fen Trail towards Tower Hide in particular.
Temperatures dropped below zero and this made most of the flood water to freeze over and create a beautiful landscape of ice. A perfect excuse to visit for those into landscape photography, especially during one of the amazing sunsets we've been having this month. There was even a brief dusting of snow at one point, which I personally enjoyed during a visit to Buckenham which exposed all the snipe, making them easier to see than usual.
Dale Blakemore taken from Tower Hide
For those who endured the cold, a few birds of interest were spotted, not many, but there were some. Highlight of the month had to be on Jan 14th when a pair of hen harriers were seen soaring together over the broad in front of reception. A male and a female.
Ben Lewis - Hen Harriers photographed from Reception Hide
They look fairly different to our marsh harriers. Females are brown with an owl-like face, a white patch on their rump and lines across their tail which gives them their other name, 'ringtails'. Males are pale grey, almost ghost-like, but with wingtips black as if dipped in ink. Dusk is the best time to look for them as they often come into roost with the 20 or so marsh harriers.
A red-throated diver has been a few times this month since Jan 14th along the river between Strumpshaw and Buckenham. The high tides, floods and cold weather may have been the reason why this bird has strayed far from the coast and went up river. The last time we had one in the Yare was in November 2023.
Ali Nazimi - Red Throated Diver - taken from the river bank Strumpshaw Fen
While we did get the odd otter and bittern sighting, it were barn owls that has been entertaining those brave enough to venture into the icy conditions. Dawn and dusk are the best times to see these owls hunt over the meadow trail. During the day, they can be spotted snoozing in a nest box near the pumphouse. On Jan 3rd a short-eared owl was seen over the meadow trail.
Over at Buckenham, the bird numbers there have been rather impressive with thousands of wigeon, lapwings and many, many snipe as well as white-fronted geese (with 359 of them seen at Cantley on the 19th). The rook roost is also worth noting. Several thousand rooks and jackdaws can be seen gathering on the field beside Buckenham's car park before leaving as it gets dark into the trees surrounding the church.
While most of the reserve is flooded and frozen over, the best place at Strumpshaw to see anything at all was in the woodland trail despite all the storm damage. Up in the canopy, a mixed flock of siskins, goldfinches and redpolls have been regularly seen in the alder trees, while treecreepers spiral up tree trunks, woodpeckers are drumming and you may also spot goldcrests, bramblings, redwings and fieldfares.
If you head left after the Gnarly Oak, when you come across the first bench, look on the opposite side of the path behind it and you will find some scarlet elf cap fungi, which are showing nicely there and, as they are bright red, they are easy to spot.
This year, I want to give Strumpshaw's plant species a shoutout. I'm currently doing a challenge looking for plant species on the reserve and drawing them. I'm not an expert in plants and if you want to help me, feel free to let me know. So to start with, my plant highlight of the month for January has to be snowdrops as there is very plants in flower at the moment. The first snowdrops of the year started to appear around Jan 14th-15th and can be seen in small clumps by Basecamp and beside a pond in the woodland trail.
Finally, the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch happened over the weekend. How did you do? On Monday, I spent an hour recording the birds visiting the feeders at Strumpshaw. I managed to tally up 3 marsh tits, 5 great tits, 8 blue tits, 3 dunnocks, 4 chaffinches, 2 robins, 1 blackbird, 1 coal tit, 1 pheasant, 1 woodpigeon, 1 jay and a grey squirrel.
Hopefully, February will be a little bit warmer and the early signs of spring will start appearing. I will, of course keep an eye out for more plants, but also hope we get a few exciting birds to be put on the board. Until next time!
We have a whole host of events you can take part in to connect you with Strumpshaw and Buckenham wildlife. Take a look https://events.rspb.org.uk/strumpshawfen tickets are selling fast!