'The restless cuckoo absent long
And twittering swallows chimney song’………..
...so wrote one of our renowned English poets John Clare. The month of May brims with promise, lengthening days and the anticipation of so many birds arriving or just passing through. Titchwell is one of the premier reserves where those who enjoy the delights of spring can come and listen to the Cuckoo (image far right: Phill Gwilliam) and possibly see one. The female lays her eggs in poor unsuspecting smaller birds' nests, who have their eggs supplanted by her, whilst Swallows (image right: Phill Gwilliam) twitter overhead.
Car park, Visitor Centre, woodland and picnic area
The month started with 2 Ring Ouzel that were seen on 3rd by a member of staff in the staff car park as he arrived for work. An excellent start for his day! This was followed on the 8th by another member of staff who was called out to the path leading to the picnic area by a visitor who thought she had seen a Spotted Flycatcher. This was indeed the case as the bird remained elusive high up in the trees and took some time to show itself. It remained until the 9th. A former volunteer heard a Garden Warbler singing in the car park on 25th.
Reedbed
Great White Egrets were seen intermittently on 2nd, 3rd and 13th whilst Bitterns were also heard and seen intermittently throughout the whole month. Most Water Rails are winter visitors but were visible from 3rd until the last report on 9th. There were two occasions when the reedbed produced some excitement when a Great Reed Warbler was heard by a member of staff by the West Bank Path. It took a short while until it was seen, delighting many visitors who then came to see it. A Pochard was seen with 8 young in one of the borrow pits alongside the West Bank Path too on 24th.
Freshmarsh
The Freshmarsh is always the area where most visitors head for when they visit Titchwell, as this is an area where they can either watch from a bench on the West Bank Path or sit in one of the hides and relax and take in the stunning views of the birds as they go about their business. On 2nd, 3 Wigeon still lingered accompanied by a Spotted Redshank that stayed until 5th. They were also accompanied by 76 Turnstone, an amazing record that stayed until the following day. Four Little Ringed Plovers were also counted this day and 2 were seen again here on 30th by a guided walk group which delighted them all. By the 3rd of the month a Spoonbill was seen which was also noted on 12th when 3 were seen and a single bird again on 17th. The 3rd also produced 3 Little Terns the first of the year, rising to 6 on 8th. As the month progressed a Green Sandpiper appeared on 5th. Little Gulls were not to be outdone as 4 appeared on 7th and were seen on and off until 27th.
The Freshmarsh also hosts Yellow Wagtails as they arrive on passage and two were seen on 11th. Great excitement took place on 15th when a ‘thunbergi’ Yellow Wagtail (Grey-headed) arrived, which remained until 16th (image below: Sue Bryan). On 17th a Garganey was seen and it was reported on several dates until 27th.
Waders are always well represented on the Freshmarsh, it is a wetland after all, and they were represented by a Wood Sandpiper on 15th and 18th, a Ruff on 17th, 40 Black-tailed Godwits flying over on 21st (image below: Cliff Gilbert), a Temminck’s Stint on 23rd, a Little Stint on 22nd, with 3 on 25th and 2 on 27th. A Greenshank completed the set on 27th.
Not to be outdone, a member of staff counted 88 Brent Geese on 25th when most flew off heading directly north a few days later.
Our final count of Avocet nests for the month was 68.
Beach and sea
Eider were seen on 3rd, 14th and 27th along with 10 Razorbills on 28th. There was an exceptional record for the time of year when a volunteer saw a summer-plumaged Long-tailed duck at Thornham Point on the sea on 14th and again on 19th. Peregrines always delight birdwatchers but probably not the other birds when one flew along the beach on 5th. A Stonechat was seen near the beach with 3 fledged young on 19th.
Tidal Pool
There were few records from Tidal Pool but they included a Whimbrel and a Wood Sandpiper on 3rd. A Hobby flew over on 2nd and a Greenshank was seen on many dates throughout the month.
Fen Trail
Garden Warblers are usually one of our last migrants to arrive but there was an early record by our new pond (Irene’s Pond) as a member of staff saw one on 3rd and again on 11th. Bullfinch were seen all month on and off along the trail with a Willow Warbler singing here on 3rd to 28th.
East Trail, Patsy’s Pool, Old Tank Road area
Warblers arriving and singing are always welcome by the birdwatchers as they listen to the hedges come alive with song. So a Lesser Whitethroat on 2nd, a Grasshopper Warbler on 9th and 10th and Garden Warbler on 28th was welcome by many keeping a year list. A Great White Egret was seen in this area on 11th. Other notable birds included the intermittent sightings between 10th and 27th of a Cuckoo and many intermittent sightings of a Turtle Dove on 11th, 13th and 23rd.
Willow Wood
A Cuckoo was seen flying out of the wood on 8th with a Spoonbill carrying a stick flying towards the wood on the same date. These were joined on the 12th by a Red Kite.
Grazing Meadow
Often an excellent place to look, the grazing meadow has produced some good records over the years and a Ring Ouzel on 1st, a Whinchat on the same date and again on 8th added themselves to many year lists. Short-eared Owls have been in short supply this year but a lucky sighting was seen on 5th. A Hobby was also seen on this date. The star bird was a Red-backed Shrike which was spotted by two volunteers on 26th. Sadly it did not linger.
Thornham Point
A volunteer had an wonderful count of 51 Tundra Ringed Plovers on 5th which rose to an incredible number of 106 birds on 8th. This must be a record for this area. Sanderling numbers were also high with 105 counted on 8th. A Spoonbill was also seen here on this date. Short-eared Owls were seen at the point on 11th and 18th.
Flyovers
Many birds fly over the reserve and do not necessarily land. Some can cause huge excitement as bird watchers run to see them before they disappear from view. Other birds which some years are reasonably common but some years are more difficult to see can also cause excitement. An Osprey on 1st is always a good bird to see as one was seen by a volunteer and another on 10th was seen by many members of staff and visitors. Two Lesser Redpolls which flew over were good to see on 5th. Hobbies were seen on 12th, 18th and 19th and a Grey Wagtail on 18th and 24th. However they were all eclipsed by a fantastic view of 14 Glossy Ibises flying over the reserve on 24th, an incredible sight by those lucky enough to see them.
Other Wildlife
The end of spring sees the emergence of many insects. These included a Green-veined White Butterfly seen on East Trail on 2nd, a Hairy Dragonfly on 4th (image below left: Lance Fisher), Azure Damselfly on 10th and a Four-spotted Chaser (image below centre: Cliff Gilbert) on the same date.
Three Water Voles were noted on 11th in the borrow pits alongside the West Bank Path (image far below: Cliff Gilbert).
Written by Sue Bryan.