Strumpshaw Fen RSPB and Horsey Mere 4th May 2017
We checked out of our hotel in Halesworth and started out for Potter Heigham where we were spending the night. We stopped off at RSPB Strumpshaw Fen – a site we had never been to before – and in the reception we spoke to a couple of staff members who told us about the Cuckoo, the Ospreys etc. And we had reason to believe that there were also Garganey. However, our attention was diverted when they told us that they had had a juvenile White-tailed Eagle on the Buckenham marshes and that it had been seen already that morning. We felt that we didn’t have much choice but to head down there to take a look.
The only problem with that was that it was an hour walk away. Well, we decided that we should do it anyway and to our great disappointment we discovered that it had flown off and was now several miles away ! We had no choice but to trudge, empty-handed back to the main part of the reserve though, by the time we got back there we didn’t have enough time to look around the rest of the site which looked very interesting and which would undoubtedly have given us a better return for our efforts. On the plus side, we did get our first Swifts of the year.
We had to check in at Potter Heigham by 12:30pm at the apartment we were staying at which turned out to be a splendid place for £95 a night.
We still had the afternoon available for birding so we headed off to Horsey Staithe where we had booked a boat trip with Ross who we had used before and had a good time with. This time, though, it was pretty cold and windy so not the enjoyable trip we had had previously. On the plus side, we did see two Cranes, fifteen minutes apart, flying around and one in particular gave us splendid views.
Other than that, though, there were no new birds for us. We heard plenty of Willow Warbler, Reed Warbler and one Sedge Warbler and, of course, saw lots of Marsh Harriers. We also had a pair of Great-crested Grebes on an egg but by about 3:45pm it was very cold and windy so we headed back to our apartment which was the only thing that had worked out for us that day.
With the football to go in the evening it was looking pretty ominous !!!
Bird Sightings : Strumpshaw Fen RSPB
| Greylag Goose | 20 |
| Mute Swan | 6 |
| Common Shelduck | 8 |
| Mallard | 8 |
| Common Coot | 1 |
| Pied Avocet | 8 |
| Northern Lapwing | 4 |
| Common Swift | 6 |
| Common Kestrel | 1 |
| Eurasian Jay | 1 |
| Sky Lark | 1 |
| Barn Swallow | 6 |
| Long-tailed Tit | 1 |
| Cetti’s Warbler | 1 |
| Common Chiffchaff | 2 |
| European Robin | 4 |
| Song Thrush | 1 |
| Pied Wagtail | 1 |
| Common Chaffinch | 4 |
Bird Sightings : Horsey Mere
| Mute Swan | 2 |
| Common Shelduck | 4 |
| Gadwall | 2 |
| Mallard | 8 |
| Great Crested Grebe | 4 |
| Great Cormorant | 1 |
| Grey Heron | 1 |
| Eurasian Marsh Harrier | 5 |
| Common Crane | 2 |
| Common Sandpiper | 1 |
| Eurasian Curlew | 1 |
| Common Tern | 4 |
| Eurasian Jay | 1 |
| Eurasian Magpie | 1 |
| Carrion Crow | 4 |
| Barn Swallow | 4 |
| Eurasian Blue Tit | 1 |
| Cetti’s Warbler | 1 |
| Willow Warbler | 3 |
| Sedge Warbler | 1 |
| Eurasian Reed Warbler | 2 |
| Pied Wagtail | 1 |
| Reed Bunting | 1 |
