With winter now firmly established, the long-staying birds have settled down and will brave the elements that the winter weather will provide. However, we are very lucky at Titchwell Marsh RSPB as we generally have something on offer to show our visitors, no matter if it is a bright, clear, sunny day or hammering it down with rain. Our only limitation might be on a thick, foggy day.
December has thrown us a variety of weather, but the birds have still put on a good performance. However, the most popular bird that our visitors wanted to see was the ringed Black-winged Stilt, albeit an escapee. Whatever its provenance, it is still a nice bird to admire, reminding us of ‘Sammy’, the Black-winged Stilt that frequented Titchwell many years ago.
Black-winged Stilt (escaped) Photo Credit: Sue Bryan
Most of the other birds on the reserve, were birds that we expected to see at this time of year. More notable birds on the Freshmarsh included a Little Gull on 8th with five Spoonbills and a Spotted Redshank on 13th. Golden Plovers numbered 102 on 4th along with 46 Lapwing and 9 Shoveler. A Barnacle Goose was also seen here. Twenty-six Marsh Harriers were seen to come out of roost from the reedbed and flew around the Freshmarsh and reedbed along with a ringtail Hen Harrier on 16th. Ten Avocets continued to be present for most of the month. Wildfowl are still present including Teal, Mallard, Shelduck, Wigeon and Gadwall.
Teal Photo Credit; Sue Bryan
The Reedbed Pool continues to attract some scarcer birds including pipits. However, it takes a trained eye to sort out Rock Pipits from the 2 or 3 Water Pipits, which were reported at the beginning of the month, from the more usual Meadow Pipits which often frequent this area. Other birds seen here included: Bittern, Kingfisher and a Goldeneye.
Our Tidal Pool attracted: Spotted Redshank, Goosander, Goldeneye, three Spoonbill, 85 Curlew, Greenshank and a Kingfisher this month.
Sea-watching continued apace during the month and the beginning of the month saw records of Slavonian Grebe, Velvet Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Great Northern Diver as well as the more usual Common Scoter. By the 8th and 9th the weather was grim with gale-force winds but our hardy sea-watchers were on their game and put in the time to record 19 Little Auks, 15 Kittiwakes, three Little Gulls, a Sooty Shearwater, two Mediterranean Gulls and a Great Skua as well as a Purple Sandpiper on the beach. A few days later, three Shag, Black-necked Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, and 22 Snow Buntings were recorded.
Great Northern Diver Photo Credit: Marcus Nash
Along the Fen Trail our Tawny Owl was still present along with a Siberian Chiffchaff, Chiffchaff, eight Woodcock and a few Brambling, which were seen intermittently during the month.
Out on the grazing marsh and Thornham Marsh, Barn Owl, Short-eared Owl, Water Pipit and Spoonbills were all recorded with a Lapland Bunting seen at Thornham Point.
A few flyover birds were either seen or heard too. These included three Bewick's Swans, Peregrine, Hen Harrier, Snow Bunting, Kingfisher, Merlin and Shorelarks along the beach.
Very sadly after 13 ½ years working for the RSPB this will be my last sighting’s blog that I will write for Titchwell Marsh RSPB, as retirement beckons, which means I shall have more time for birdwatching! However, as I will miss you all, I shall volunteer when needed and wish everyone a very ' Happy New Year'. Keep up the good work! It's been a blast!