Stodmarsh NNR 9-1-2012

Yesterday Stephen had a day off work so we decided to check out Stodmarsh NNR where the Glossy Ibis had been seen. The weather was overcast all day, so apologies for the grainy photos, a high ISO helped a little, but not much. Stephen had already seen a Cetti’s Warbler before my arrival. We decided to walk anti-clockwise around the reserve starting off with the nature trail but it did not reveal anything other than the call of a Pheasant, but once beyond it a scan of distant trees with the scope revealed a large flock of Fieldfares, which were also using nearby telephone wires alongside a Starling and a Chaffinch, the only bird nearer was a Blue Tit or two moving through the nearby trees.

Mute Swan - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

The stroll to Marsh Hide was fairly uneventful, Long Tailed Tits were about us and large numbers of Carrion Crows in the distance. We had a couple of brief glimpses of a Sparrowhawk as it flitted across the path ahead of us, disappearing behind a tree, re-appearing with something in its talons before disappearing behind the trees again.

Marsh Harrier - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

We reached Marsh Hide where there was a fair amount of activity from a small number of Water Pipits pottering about on mud mounds, constantly on the move, one eventually came slightly closer than the others to get a half decent photo.

Water Pipit - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

A little Egret was feeding here as was a Redshank and two Ruffs. Patient scanning revealed a couple of Marsh Harriers, and then I spotted a ringtail Hen Harrier over by the river disappearing as soon as I saw it, it then reappeared less than a 100 yards in front of the hide before disappearing off to the East. How it had got from the river to us in so short a time baffled me and it must have been very low to get so near undetectcted.

Redshank and 2 Ruffs - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

Walking from Marsh Hide towards Grove Ferry we came across a Stonechat which was happily posing, so I took advantage of its generosity. Further along the footpath we climbed up to the Stour bank where we found Blue Tits and a Great Tit, also a Kestrel showed well in a tree.

Stonechat - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

We ate our lunch in the Bus Shelter at Grove Ferry where we could see skittish Lapwings take off from the viewpoint lake, on one of these flushings smaller waders could be seen in their mist, and on another occasion instead of settling again as normal, the whole flock kept climbing until almost out of sight, we assumed to get above a specific predator – but we did not see any ourselves. Whilst sat here a couple of Ring-necked Parakeets flew past behind the shelter (sadly unseen by Stephen).



Turfted Duck (Feast Hide) - Canon 400D + 100-400mm



After lunch we checked out the feeder at Grove Ferry where a couple of Dunnocks and a Robin were enjoying themselves. Next we walked up on to the ramp which gave us views of a large flock of Lapwings and about 50 Greylag Geese, a few Starlings were amongst them as were about 5 White Doves; Teals and a couple of Pintail Ducks were in the water along with a pair of Mute Swans, I also saw a Great crested Grebe on my first sweep of the lake, but it disappeared and was not seen again.

Little Egret (Marsh Hide) - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

The next stop was Feast Hide, however the only birds present were some Mallards (including two which were crossbreeds with something, probably a Domestic Duck), Teal, Tufted Ducks and some Gadwalls, I tried for some photos but the light was waning fast and this is the best I could get.

Pair of Gadwalls - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

Leaving the hide we saw another Kestrel. We walked back along the river, scouring the water meadows, but no joy with the Ibis, however of interest were a large number of Pied Wagtails, there were more than 30 of them feeding on one small patch. Small groups of Jackdaws flew overhead as dusk approached ever closer.

We reached Tower Hide where we had good views of large numbers of Cormorants, Shovelers, Pochards and Teal with a smattering of Gadwalls and Mallards also a solitary sleeping Great Crested Grebe. A Great Black Backed Gull was in the water towards the SW of the lake. The walk back to the Car Park was uneventful with Wrens and Cetti’s Warblers calling but both remaining hidden. Throughout the day we had seen Cormorants flying overhead, small flocks of Fieldfares on the move, larger flocks of Lapwings being disturbed and Blue Tits wherever there were a few trees, Coots were in most of the Water courses we had passed as were Moorhens though not in quite as many as the Coots and Carrion Crows were in all parts of the reserve. Others sighted and unmentioned above include Wood Pigeon, Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Magpie and one Heron we had seen in flight.

Mute Swan - Canon 400D + 100-400mm

It had been a good day despite the bad light, I make it 43 sightings each (if you include the Doves) with a total of 44 seen and 2 heard (Wren and Pheasant).

Stodmarsh NNR

Last week I was lucky enough after a lull of a month to go out walking 4 times and 2 of those specifically for birding. A great time was had on each occasion. Each report will sadly be short but will contain a full sighting list. This is the third of the 4 reports, a day at Stodmarsh with Stephen on 18/11/2011 .

Sadly there are no pictures with this post, it was a lovely day, I didn’t even put a coat on until 2.45pm, but all birds were too far away or skittish for photography.

Our first port of call was the Reedbed Hide, sadly though all activity was in the far distance which was soon to be seen far closer from the footpath which turned out to be quite active, first off a couple of Cetti’s Warblers were heard from the nearby reeds, then a small russet bullet flew between two sets of reeds, one of the singing Cetti’s. Then we overlooked the lake from which large flocks of Teal, Tufted Duck and Shovelers could be seen, interspersed among them were some Pochards, Mallards and Gadwalls and a couple of Great Crested Grebes.

Further along the path we could see across to the far side where Cormorants were sat in the trees, there were some Mute Swans and a couple of Heron by the bank. A solitary goose behind the island remained asleep and unidentified, though its size suggested Canada Goose (we did not count it); we also thought we had a Scaup among the Tufties and were checking the books frantically for verification features when the whole lot lifted, but no sign of a predator, and no sign of the suspect Tufted when they landed. In the trees around us were numerous small birds, most of which remained unidentified, however a Greenfinch stayed still long enough for identification as did a Chaffinch a little later. A Green Woodpecker flew off to a nearby tree, however a large number of branches helped it hide from my camera.

Tower Hide had nothing new to see, however of interest were a couple of owl pellets on a window ledge when we opened the shutter. It’s the nearest I have been to an Owl this year! We made our way up to the river and followed it towards Grove Ferry. Coots and Moorhens called up from the reeds and occasionally showed briefly, as did a Reed Bunting; as we moved down the river a number of thrushes shot across the river, I was certain they were Redwings, and I eventually managed to get one in the scope as proof. The riverside walk was alarmingly quiet, even a piece of wetland to our right which earlier this year had been teeming with birdlife held only a few Pied Wagtails. A half dozen Starlings, flew overhead, otherwise it was quiet, the river especially so.That was until we got within a couple of hundred yards of Grove Ferry when the trees came alive with a few Goldfinches and larger numbers of Blue Tits and Great Tits. A Kestrel was seen hunting nearby, and just as we were giving up hope of seeing one a Kingfisher shot past, very colourful against the dark river bank.

We ate a late lunch in the Bus shelter at Grove Ferry overlooking the fields of what should have been Fieldfare, but only contained Carrion Crows, Wood Pigeons and a few Rabbits. In the far distance a Buzzard was seen hunting high in the air. We moved on to the ramp to see a few Greylag Geese, hundreds of Teal and a Redshank. As it was getting late we missed out Feast’s Hide and Harrison’s Drove Hide and walked on to Marsh Hide in hope of seeing the Glossy Ibis, however it was a no show and dusk was fast approaching. “En route” we did catch a small flock of Fieldfare, their blue-grey rumps showing well. At Marsh Hide we did get good views of a Little Egret feeding nearby and of a Marsh Harrier which not only spooked what we can only deduce was a Snipe about 20 feet away (all eyes were on the Harrier), but large numbers of Lapwing and Teal as it skimmed over the Marshland. From here we also saw large numbers of passing Brent Geese. A Sparrowhawk also made a couple of very brief appearances just before and after we left the hide. We made our way back to the car park passing through the nature trail where both a Robin and a Wren were nosing around in the underbrush. Also seen during the day but not mentioned above were Blackbirds, Shelduck, Magpies, Great Black Backed Gulls, Herring Gulls and Black Headed Gulls, and a pair of white doves.

An excellent day in excellent company with 46 spots.