A fine mainly sunny week with temperatures rising up to near t-shirt weather and a very spring like feel .
The bright sunshine had certainly caused the birds in the woodland to up their volume, today this included a very fine chorus from the redwing, this is usually a rare occurrence as they migrate North before properly singing. Other species which have been added to the woodland chorus over the past week include chiffchaff and blackcap, the woodpeckers have upped their tempo and the drumming has certainly increased along with the short but perfectly formed treecreeper song now ringing out all over the woodland.
The fen has seen increased harrier displays with talon grabbing and sky dancing becoming a daily occurrence. 19 marsh harriers were seen going into the roost on Tuesday and also two hen harriers were seen over the reedbed in the evening.
Male reed buntings are now in fine voice in the reedbed, these charming black white and brown species are easiest to hear right now as their subtle song can be lost in the cacophony of reed and sedge warblers later in the year.
Another of our favourite characters who is also gearing up for their ‘singing’ season are the bitterns, they have begun to ‘grunt’; this is essentially where the birds are building up their throat muscles so that they can perform their loud booming, this clearly takes a lot of effort.
Two cranes were seen around the fen Monday to Tuesday with four together on the ground at Buckenham on Tuesday afternoon, what a site and sound!
Cetti’s warblers are just entering their most showy period of the year, these are usually nearly impossible to see well, however at this time of the year they are singing to get noticed. This means with luck and patience very good views can be obtained of this illusive of reedbed bird.
A pair of garganey were seen sleeping at Tower Hide on Sunday afternoon, these wet grassland and reedbed ducks are usually some of the first long distance migrants to arrive.
The wet grassland has seen increases of passage waders such as dunlin and ruff where on Monday there were 109 and 60+ respectively. Shelducks have increased in number and the first returning avocets have graced the marshes, while the soundtrack of displaying lapwing and skylarks ring through the air. Another migrant of note was a little ringed plover from Buckenham Hide on Wednesday evening, there have also been at least two short-eared owls present.
The warm weather has produced our first butterfly sightings of the year with small tortoiseshells being the most abundant at present, these will soon be taken over by brimstones which have just started emerging. Three other species have also been recorded this week including peacock, red admiral and comma, taking the weeks tally up to five butterfly species.
A small number of grass snakes have also been seen in the woodland area, these will begin to be increasingly common if the weather continues.
In the coming week I would expect to have the first reports of sand martins, possibly even a swallow, there should be a large arrival of chiffchaffs very soon and blackcap numbers should also rise, there is also the possibility of a wheatear or two at Buckenham. There is an easterly wind for the weekend which will mean lower temperatures, this may slow the migration a little but it may well bring in something interesting from the East.