Steve's Birding,Wildlife & Walking Blog: Suffolk,Saturday 11th & 12th July 2020.

Friday 17 July 2020

Suffolk,Saturday 11th & 12th July 2020.

A couple of days away staying near to Saxmundham in rural Suffolk was certainly a lovely introduction to the County and was Trace's first ever visit to the county.The following is an account of what we encountered,with a selection of photos and video from the trip.

Saturday 11th

An early start saw us heading south and 3+ hours later we arrived at our first destination,Minsmere RSPB reserve.
We walked through the reserve and up to Dunwich Heath covering lots of varied habitat.Bird highlights included one of our target species Dartford Warbler,with at least 10 birds being observed,which included 4 juveniles and 3 singing males,the juv's being lovely to watch and were my first observations of this age group in Dartford's.Other bird highlights included a Hobby and 3 juvenile Green Woodpecker.
A huge diversity of insects included such mouth watering goodies as Norfolk Hawker,Emperor Dragonfly,Silver Washed Fritillary and the amazing Bee Wolf,but i also managed to find two lifers as well.The first was a Six-belted Clearwing found along a heathland path,which i unfortunately didn't get a photo of and the second was Green-eyed Flower Bee.The latter were watched at their nest burrows in a sandy bank next to where we also watched the striking Bee Wolves.
After some very welcome info. from a local entomologist we visited an area of sandy fields to see target number 2 for the trip,in the form of a family of Stone Curlews.It was really great to watch this male,female and single chick as they panted in the heat of the midday sun.There is something really special about this species and Trace really enjoyed watching them.
A visit to nearby Southwold for a few hours mid afternoon,rounded off a cracking start to our trip.

Sunday 12th

I was up before dawn today heading again to Minsmere and following in yesterday's footsteps and walking up onto Dunwich Heath,to try and get some video of the Dartford Warblers i had seen the previous day.
To arrive here and have the whole reserve to myself,was pure bliss,listening to a distant Nightjar churring and watching as the sun began to rise.
More amazing sightings on Dunwich Heath included a pair of Hobbies doing a food pass,a family of Stonechat's and a single Med.Gull headed inland with a group of Black-headed Gulls,but it was the Dartfords which showed much more confidingly today,due to the lack of people as unlike the previous day.
At least 4 singing males and a family party were seen and i managed to obtain some nice footage.
On the way back to the car,i managed to find a cracking juvenile Cuckoo and watched it hopping around on the ground catching and eating Cinnabar Caterpillars,just fantastic to watch and a real privilege to see.
Another visit to see the Stone Curlew family on the way back to the B&B for brekkie,saw them showing much better and without so much heat haze,they really are stunning birds.
After the early start,we had a relaxing day visiting Flatford Mill,the scene of the famous John Constable Painting 'The Hay Wain' and we also visited Aldburgh and beautiful Thorpeness,the latter was a really pretty little village and one we will certainly visit again.
The final few hours of daylight were enjoyed wandering around Minsmere again as the sun set,gaining some amazing views of Muntjac,with other highlights on the reserve including a single Stone Curlew on the Heath and Spotted Redshank,Adult Med.Gull and stacks of Common Terns as they nested on the scrapes.
What a fantastic area we have found here and one we shall certainly visit again,that is for sure.