14 May 2026 Lynford Arboretum, Nunnery Lakes and Lackford Lakes

We left the cottage and parked at the Sheperd’s Baa and walked down the arboretum track as far as the bridge. It started to rain heavily so we dropped into the cafe again to dry off and use the loos before getting into the car. We decided to try the picnic site at Santon Downham.

We drove through the forest to Santon Downham but when we got there we discovered that the car park was pay and display but it had to be paid for online or via an app. Since neither of us had a phone signal we couldn’t  do either so we gave it a miss and decided to drive on to Nunnery Lakes.

We parked up at Nunnery Lakes and by that time the weather had greatly improved. We did the usual walk. See the attached map. We got a range of the expected birds but the best individual sighting was a Sedge Warbler atop a reed head, singing loudly. This was a year tick. As we walked along the path a cuckoo was calling frequently. Wrens, Robins, Blackcaps and Willow Warblers were all singing. A Jay also crossed the path right in front of us. On the way down the track we were looking for the reported juvenile Purple Heron but we had no luck and none of the people we met had seen it. At the platform at the end of the track we could see on the islands various birds: Tufted Duck, Shelduck, Little Egret, and so on. The weather held out for our almost two-mile walk. We got back to the car park and took the road towards Halesworth via Diss, where we stopped off for a walk before the rain started again.

Before arriving at Jane and Will’s, we stopped off at a site we had never been to before, Lackford Lakes. There seemed to be no one manning reception but the word loads and an honesty box for the £3 per person fee for a day visit to the site. We only had time to do the shortest of the available routes, which would take us about 45 minutes. Pretty much as soon as we started on the track, we heard loud singing from a bush to our left. As we looked at it the bird flew out across the field and landed on the other side but still, with binoculars  we could get very good views of a Lesser Whitethroat singing loudly. This was a year tick for us.

As we walked round the track, there were a couple of hides from which we could get good views of one of the lakes. There were a few Avocets, Shovelers, Mallards, Mute Swans, Canada Geese, Tufted Duck and a Little Egret, but the best views were of the birds flying above the water including a few Common Terns. We also had close views of three Hobbies and, best of all, we managed get sight of  Cuckoo that had been calling loudly as we walked down the track. We saw it fly into a tree but we kept looking as it flew out and then flew right out in the open diagonally across the lake. A Chap we were talking to just at that point managed to get a very good photo of it which confirmed the id.

We headed off to T & J’s where we were staying the night.

Year Ticks for the day
Lesser Whitethroat
But worth noting the great views of Cuckoo, often heard but seldom seen!

Bird Sightings : 14 May 2026 Nunnery Lakes Thetford

Species	No
Blackbird	2
Blackcap	2
Blue Tit	2
Buzzard	1
Canada Goose	4
Carrion Crow	20
Chiffchaff	2
Coot	2
Cormorant	6
Cuckoo	1
Great Crested Grebe	1
Great Tit	2
Grey Heron	2
Greylag Goose	6
Jay	1
Lapwing	1
Little Egret	1
Magpie	4
Mallard	8
Moorhen	1
Mute Swan	4
Pheasant	2
Robin	2
Sedge Warbler	1
Shelduck	1
Song Thrush	1
Tufted Duck	4
Willow Warbler	1
Woodpigeon	6
Wren	2

Bird Sightings : 14 May 2026 Lackford Lakes

Species	No
Avocet	3
Black-headed Gull	8
Canada Goose	8
Common Tern	4
Coot	2
Cuckoo	1
Egyptian Goose	1
Hobby	3
Lapwing	2
Lesser Whitethroat	1
Little Egret	1
Mallard	12
Moorhen	2
Mute Swan	6
Reed Warbler	2
Shelduck	1
Shoveler	4
Swift	4
Tufted Duck	4