Hello everyone,
I'm handing over to our Conservation Volunteer, Ryan, again this week as he tells us about the recent bird sightings at Titchwell and Snettisham. Over to you Ryan:
Hi everyone and welcome to another roundup of all the amazing birds that have been spotted on our reserves at Titchwell and Snettisham in the past few weeks.
With the last few migrants of the autumn having moved through, there is a distinctly wintery feel to the reserves. At Titchwell, the woods around the visitor centre are alive with the sounds of tit flocks and finches including still decent numbers of brambling and siskin. A woodcock has been spotted back in its favourite spot just off the junction of Fen Trail and Meadow Trail – worth noting that there is still a one-way system in place, so please be respectful to other visitors. The winter vibes continue on Fresh Marsh with wildfowl taking centre stage – the biggest highlight being a stunning black brant - a rare American visitor, that has been spotted several times in a flock of brent geese that also includes a pale-bellied brent.
Black brant with dark-bellied brents spotted from Titchwell village before it dropped into Fresh Marsh, 06/12/20 by Ryan Doggart
In addition to this there have been regular sightings of Bewick’s swan, normally the same single bird identified by the unique yellow pattern on its bill, however on the 6 November a group of three dropped in after being spotted by our Warden, Lizzie, flying east over our Snettisham reserve. Some lucky visitors have also spotted small groups of whooper swans briefly dropping in to rest on their journey further west. Numbers of teal and wigeon are also starting to build, perhaps encouraged by the higher water levels on Fresh Marsh. On the sea, although quieter than normal for this time of year, several great northern divers have been seen, as well as two black-throated divers and a Slavonian grebe.
Two of three Bewick’s swan that dropped in to Fresh Marsh early morning, 06/11/20 by Ryan Doggart)
Staying at Titchwell, the winter marsh harrier roost is starting to slowly build up, with around thirty-plus birds most days, these are often joined by a ringtail (female) hen harrier who is often spotted flying over the eastern reedbed. Several wing-tagged marsh harriers have been noted, including several orange and one green tagged birds. For all the wildlife photographers out there who fancy a challenge, it would be great to try and get photos of the codes on these tags, as it allows us to feed into the monitoring of these birds and learn about their history. Sticking with birds of prey, a beautiful female merlin has been regularly spotted on Thornham Point, several sparrowhawks have also been seen hunting blackbirds and a stunning barn owl has been seen at dusk hunting around the grazing marsh and Patsy’s Pool.
A surprise glossy ibis on the 23 November was spotted flying south along the West Bank Path before heading west towards Thornham Village.
At Snettisham, the final visible wader spectacular took place on the 18 of November and featured tens of thousands of swirling knot and other wading birds, with extra excitement added by three hunting peregrines and a sparrowhawk causing carnage as they flew amongst the huge flocks of birds. Other highlights from the past few weeks include several sightings of a white-tailed eagle (a juvenile from the reintroduced Isle of Wight population) hunting over the mudflats and an over-wintering adult little stint which has been seen every day for over a month.
Thanks for reading.
All the best,
Ryan