Strumpshaw Fen Review of the Year 2022
A lot has happened in 2022. Queen Elizabeth II dies, Russia invaded Ukraine and we had three prime ministers within a span of 12 months. It has been quite a year for Strumpshaw, too. Now that we have entered into 2023, I make my first ever end of year report as we look back on the challenges and results from our survey teams at Strumpshaw and along the Mid Yare Valley in 2022.
Wild Weather
2022 was a year of extreme weather conditions. In January, Strumpshaw was submerged by one of the worst floods in living history (measuring depths of 1.40m!) and was swiftly followed by a battering from Storm Eunice in February that had the strongest winds ever recorded in the UK and we were very lucky that the damage was only a few fallen trees (one in which thankfully fell in the opposite direction and missed our reception building). And, during the summer, the UK hit temperatures reaching around 40°C as Strumpshaw endured one of the worst droughts in decades. The rains did arrive by the time autumn rolled in and, of course this led to the return of flooding (though not as bad as those from early on in the year) and muddy paths. In December, the year ended in temperatures dropping below zero and a landscape completely frozen over for at least a week.
Covid & Bird Flu
In May, after just over two years closed off to the public due to Covid-19 restrictions, the reception hide was finally open again. The booth that was built by the doorway was taken down and we were very happy to welcome you all inside once more.
However, a new disease has been causing havoc across the UK. This time it is avian influenza (or bird flu). Here at Strumpshaw, we have yet to have confirmation on suspected cases, but even so, it is surprisingly low compared to elsewhere. If you do find a sick or dead bird, please do not go near or touch it and do report it to a member of staff.
Wildfowl, such as swans and geese, seem to be the most vulnerable in the Yare Valley and with species such as pink-footed and white-fronted arriving for the winter, all we can do is cross our fingers and hope things don't escalate too much.
Highlights of the Year
Though 2022 had been challenging, there were a few rewards to come out of this year as well. Here is what the Yare Valley had to offer...
Strumpshaw Fen: Glossy Ibis (Feb 22nd flew over briefly before spending a week at Rockland), ring ouzel (April 6th & 23rd), Russian white fronted goose (April 2nd), turtle dove (June 12th), wood sandpiper (Aug 6th) Mandarin duck (Aug 20th) raven (Aug 20th & 22nd), female hen harrier (Dec 30th)
Buckenham Marshes: Glossy ibis (March 14th), spoonbill (May 6th & 8th & June 26th), white stork (April 18th), ring ouzel (May 9th), sanderling (May 29th), wood sandpiper (July 18th - 21st), little stint x2 (most of late Feb - early April & Sep 9th), PECTORAL SANDPIPER (Oct 1st - 17th), whooper swan x8 (Oct 11th), cattle egret (Oct 23rd - 24th), dark-bellied brent goose (Nov 18th), waxwings x4 (Dec 1st)
Surlingham Broad: Possible sighting of White-tailed eagle (March 28th) from Surlingham flying towards Strumpshaw Fen.
Winter (Jan-Feb)
5 Taiga bean geese were present at Buckenham until Jan 20th, just 2 days later from last year.
We also counted 3351 pink-footed geese, 134 white-fronted geese, 4705 wigeon, 680 golden plover, 5390 lapwing, 644 teal, 15 pintail and 357 black-tailed godwits between January and March at Buckenham and Cantley this year. The odd water pipit was also seen on and off at the marshes.
At Strumpshaw, 25 marsh harriers had been recorded coming into roost.
Spring
The first singing chiffchaffs were heard between late February and early March, while the first few sand martins arrived on March 22nd. Garganey were arriving from March 15th and we had an exceptional spring with these migratory ducks. There was a maximum of 11 seen at Tower Hide alone in April.
Other notable spring-time firsts include...
Butterfly (a brimstone - Feb 23rd), Blackcap (March 18th), swallow (April 2nd), swift (April 25th), Sedge warbler (April 5th), willow warbler (April 10th), Grasshopper warbler (April 12th), Cuckoo (April 18th), whitethroat (April 13th), reed warbler (April 14th), common tern (April 17th), hobby (April 27th), spotted flycatcher (May 9th), coot chick (April 18th), greylag gosling (April 23rd), swallowtail (May 12th), dragonfly (April 30th).
Breeding Birds
Marsh harrier - 17 nests this year across our Yare Valley reserves. Only 6 of them were located at Strumpshaw, just one extra from last year's total.
Bittern - The first booming bittern was heard on March 16th, but there were only 2 of them. Just like last year, only 1 nest had been discovered.
Bearded tit - 24 first brood nests. Just a slight decline from last year's count of 26 nests, but they are still doing relatively well despite this.
Grasshopper warbler - 11 males singing around Strumpshaw.
Cetti's warbler - 44 territories (28 in 2021).
Spotted flycatcher - 2 pairs. One of which raised one brood successfully and went on to successfully rear a second!
Barn owl - 1 nest with 3 chicks.
Mid Yare Valley Waders
Lapwing - 55 nests (63 in 2021)
Redshank - 58 nests (49 in 2021)
Snipe - 9 drumming males (6 in 2021)
Avocet – 8 pairs
And while it seems like there's an increase in some of these species, the truth is that they have all been on a massive decline every year in the last 5 years. A trend that is seen across the UK.
Cranes & Egrets
2022 has been the year of the crane at Strumpshaw. There had been many sightings of at least 3-4 individuals flying over the reserve since February and this continued into the summer months. They've even been seen landing on the marshes at Buckenham. If these magnificent birds ever decided to make a nest anywhere on our reserves, it would be the biggest story in the history of Strumpshaw Fen and Buckenham Marshes!
Meanwhile, great white egrets have become part of the furniture now at Strumpshaw. There's been constant sightings throughout the year and in increasing numbers as 6 were seen together on July 18th. It seems these large white herons are here to stay.
For two days on Oct 23rd - 24th, a cattle egret paid Buckenham a visit. This could be the next egret species to establish themselves along the Yare Valley.
Summer & Autumn
Strumpshaw was dried up by the start of August due to July's heatwave and the exposed mud attracted many waders, including greenshanks, little ringed plovers and even a wood sandpiper. The water returned later that month and replaced the waders with wildfowl including 5 garganey that stayed until mid-September.
Ospreys started visiting the reserve since August 14th, though sightings were few and fleeting. These sightings continued into mid-September. However, in November, when you'd expect these birds to be in Africa by this point, there was one last unexpected sighting over Strumpshaw.
There had been several sightings of honey buzzards this summer. The earliest being on May 14th, then again on June 9th and twice in August on the 6th and 20th. Was this the same individual? We don't know. A pair had been breeding successfully in the Brecks, so maybe it came from there for a visit?
In October, due to being blown over the pond by Hurricane Ian, Buckenham was graced by the presence of an American wader; a pectoral sandpiper! Normally these birds would be breeding in Arctic Canada before heading south to South America, but instead, this individual was here on our marshes until Oct 17th. We don't get many American species visiting the Yare Valley, so it was without doubt one of the highlights of the year for us.
For returning migrants, here's a quick rundown...
Pink-footed geese (Sep 19th - same day as the Queen's funeral), siskin (Sep 1st), brambling (Sep 20th), water pipit (Oct 18th) redwing and fieldfare (Sep 21st).
On October 19th, an easterly wind spurred birds from Scandinavia to arrive in huge numbers. As a result, for that day alone, we had counted 25,170 redwings and 2,270 fieldfares. Siskins, bramblings and lesser redpolls have also been steadily rising in large mixed flocks.
Winter (Nov-Dec)
Over at Buckenham and Cantley, the Taiga bean geese did not return before the new year. However, geese numbers are growing as of now with at least 85 Russian white-fronted geese (Dec 11th) and 1,950 pink-footed geese so far (though most counts have been 400-500+). There's also a growing number of wigeon (2,670), teal (1,620) and golden plover (160).
4 waxwings were briefly at Buckenham on Dec 1st. They weren't there for very long, but it is always great to have these fantastic birds on record.
28 marsh harriers have been recorded on Nov 26th, the largest total for this winter so far. And on top of that, around 3,000 starlings had been coming into roost at the front of reception, the first time we've had a roost there for 3-4 years.
Little Terns
A quick shoutout to our little tern team. They've been spending the summer in a small section of Winterton beach guarding and monitoring these vulnerable, rare sea birds and have recorded one of the most successful breeding seasons ever recorded there. From 320 pairs, around 700 chicks fledged. That's an incredible number despite all the challenges they've faced. Well done, team!
Swallowtails & Other Insects
After the terrible year we've had last year (due to a lengthy wintery spell last spring), our swallowtails have bounced back. As this spring was very warm, they emerged about a week or so early than usual with the first swallowtail at Strumpshaw being seen on May 12th. As it was an extremely hot summer this year, there was a very good second wave that lasted from July to August.
We are very pleased to have beaten last year's record of 108 larvae with a count of 123. It is still just below our intended year target, but it is still pretty good. As for adults, we recorded 10 adults on the swallowtail transect plus a further 9 on the 'all species' transect.
In other butterfly news, it was another good year for silver-washed fritillaries in the wood. Just like the swallowtails, they also emerged much earlier than expected. Wall brown butterflies had one of their best seasons at Strumpshaw as we've had plenty of sightings from various areas of the reserve.
Butterfly count results have suggested that the most recorded butterfly species throughout this year were peacocks (121), meadow browns (120) and small tortoiseshells (91). However, one notable species absent from these results were common blues. Once very common across the reserve, not a single one was recorded. Very concerning indeed.
Hummingbird hawkmoths had been attracted by the extreme heat this summer as one or two had been seen on the buddleia.
It has been a decent year for dragonflies, too. Though nothing out of the ordinary, our scarce chasers were very showy this summer as were Norfolk hawkers and many other species Strumpshaw had to offer. The willow emerald damselflies continue to spread and I'd be surprised if they haven't conquered all four corners of the reserve by now.
Moths
Our warden Ben Lewis managed 5 trap nights in 2022 but logged 260 species, 7 of which were new for the reserve.
The seven included;
Fen Raft Spiders
Finally, to update on our fen raft spider project. It has been ten years now since we released 900 of these endangered native spiders (one of the UK's largest species)from countless test tubes into the wild at a secret location. And they've been doing very well since. However, this year, they may have emerged much earlier than usual, before our survey team started their transects, as we recorded fewer numbers than in previous years. This is not as bad as it sounds as even further from their original release site. We are confident we will have these spiders on Strumpshaw (and into other sites) in the near future.
And that is how 2022 on the Yare Valley was like for our wildlife. Of course, the otters and kingfishers were doing very well with many sightings throughout the year (though more otter sightings than kingfisher sightings) and we had plenty of reports of weasels (with kits!), stoats, Daubenton's bats and water voles (sightings peaking in May) and we found many brilliant fungi such as green elfcup, upright coral and crystal brain.
These reports wouldn't happen without you, our visitors. We thank you for telling us your stories of your visits and coming back into reception to report what you've seen. I wish you all a very happy new year and look forward to providing our first monthly recent sighting report in a couple of weeks.