Trips away from SS15

From early evening 24^th May to early evening on 27^th May 2021, I had a rental car.

Although I used it to primarily get to and from medical appointments plus other things requiring a car, I was also able to have a couple of trips away from home.

As I posted here, after picking up my rental car in Chelmsford, I returned home via Hanningfield Reservoir in the hope of seeing my first House Martins and Common Terns of the year. I was successful with both species. There were large numbers of House Martins present, albeit much lower than the huge number of Swifts (100s and maybe 1000s), plus c.10 Common Terns on and around the nesting raft. 

The following day, I visited EWT Wrabness in the hope of adding Turtle Dove to my UK 2021 year list. This rapidly declining summer visitor (over 90% since 1970) can still be found at a few sites around Essex and EWT Wrabness is one of the most reliable. I was partially successful in that I heard the distinctive “purring” sound of at least 2 Turtle Doves although seeing them proved impossible in the dense scrub, bushes and woodland edges.

In addition to a range of common species, I also heard 3 singing Nightingales and saw 2 Chiffchaffs (plus 3 others heard), 1 Blackcap (plus 3 others heard), 2 Common Whitethroats, c.20 Sand Martins, a singing male Yellowhammer and a female Kestrel. The adjacent River Stour still surprisingly held c.50 Brent Geese plus a few Oystercatchers, Shelduck and Great Crested Grebes.

On the way home, I passed by Abberton Reservoir where there was a huge flock of Swifts which was considerably larger than that at Hanningfield Reservoir. They could be seen easily from both causeways without binoculars and then even greater numbers visible by looking through binoculars or telescope.

On my final day with the rental car, I drove up to east Suffolk to visit Westleton Heath NNR and RSPB Minsmere. I picked both these sites due to the good prospects of adding further species to my UK 2021 year list.

I left very early at 4:30 a.m. and I had already seen a Red Kite over the Essex/Suffolk border before arriving at Westleton Heath NNR.

The highlights at Westleton Heath NNR were 3 or possibly 4 male Woodlarks in display flight and 2 male Dartford Warblers, both easily located by their distinctive songs. Both species were additions to my UK 2021 year list.

The other notable species that I recorded were Cuckoo (1 seen and 1 heard), Nightingale (1 singing male seen and 1 singing male heard), Yellowhammer (a singing male), Stonechat (a male and female), Common Whitethroat (1 singing male), Blackcap (1 singing male seen and 1 singing male heard), Chiffchaff (2 singing males seen and 1 singing male heard) and Green Woodpecker (1 calling).

RSPB Minsmere was just amazing! I recorded 61 species in total, of which 9 were additions to my 2021 year list: Bittern (“booming” male heard only), Little Tern (5), Sandwich Tern (5), Kittiwake (c.200 presumably from the nearby Sizewell breeding colony), Sanderling (3), Turnstone (5), Common Sandpiper (3), Hobby (1) and Marsh Tit (1).

The other notable species that I recorded were Great White Egret (1), Little Egret (2), Grey Heron (2), Avocet (c.100), Black-tailed Godwit (c.20), Lapwing (c.10), Oystercatcher (6), Dunlin (11), Common Redshank (1), Gadwall (c.50), Mallard (c.50), Shelduck (c.50), Shoveler (c.10), Barnacle Geese (c.15 but presumably feral), Mediterranean Gull (1), Reed Warbler (heard only), Sedge Warbler (3 seen and others heard), Cetti’s Warbler (4 heard), Cuckoo (1 heard), Common Whitethroat (7), Blackcap (3 seen and others heard), Chiffchaff (1 seen and others heard), Swallow (1), Sand Martin (small numbers), Swift (large numbers), Marsh Harrier (2), Reed Bunting (3), Bearded Tit (heard only), Linnet (6) and Great Spotted Woodpecker (1).

The strangest record was a pair of Bar-headed Geese with goslings. This species is found in central Asia so somehow a pair of escapees from a wildfowl collection have successfully established themselves.

I returned home via EWT Wrabness to try again and see a Turtle Dove. On this occasion, I heard 4 “purring” males but also saw another both perched in a dead tree and in display flight. I also saw a similar range of species to my first visit but this time I actually saw 2 male Nightingales, one of which sang very visibly in close proximity to me with the background “purring” of a Turtle Dove. A perfect spring/early summer soundscape provided by 2 rapidly declining species.

So, my brief trips away from home resulted in 13 additions to my UK 2021 year list taking it to 128 species but still a long way off the 194 species for 2019 and the more normal 220 to 230 species in the years prior to the Covid-19 pandemic when there were no travel restrictions.

💚🦆 🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼 🌳💚

Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature