Weather: Overcast but bright, trying to rain. From 10am.
A late Spring return to Minsmere, I was tempted into the long drive by the recent sightings reports & to see the summer terns & warblers.
From the carpark: Goldfinch in large flocks in the trees; a Pheasant on the ground casually feeding; Woodpigeon, Black-Headed Gull & Chaffinch; Linnets in a very large flock with other finches; a close-up Greenfinch singing from a gorse bush, & Magpie.
On the visitors' centre feeders: Blue Tit, Great-Spotted Woodpecker & Great Tit.
On the path to North Hide: Blackcap singing in the trees; Sand Martins coming & going from the sand bank next to the pond; Mallard overflying & Coot on the pond; Dunnock, Wren, Chiffchaff, Robin & Whitethroat all also singing from the trees along the path; a Kestrel also overflew the area before the hide.
From North Hide: Canada & Greylag Goose both with youngsters; Redshank active & apparently breeding in the long grass around the scrapes; Avocet, Common Tern, Tufted Duck & Moorhen scattered all over the scrape; Barnacle Goose in large, apparently feral flocks; the first Marsh Harrier of the day overflew & was enthusiastically mobbed for its trouble. Also first views of Little Tern, then I picked out smaller numbers of Gadwall, a lone Ringed Plover & a Little Egret.
Leaving the hide to head to the beach, along the section of the path that adjoins the heath: a couple of Nightingale, very bold along the path, one hopping about like a thrush; another marsh harrier quartered the heath which flushed Green Woodpecker, & it was then mobbed by an Oystercatcher.
Continuing along the path to the beach through the reedbed area for good views of singing Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler & Reed Bunting. Once on the beach just Herring Gull & feeding terns were picked out, the seas were empty otherwise.
From East Hide: Shelduck & Cormorant; leaving the hide a loud Cetti's Warbler song from very close quarters was heard so, primed from breaking my dipping out jinx in Spain I felt confident of seeing it for the first time in Britain, & there it was, low in the undergrowth into which I poked my head.
Following the path from the hide along the beach took me past the fenced off little tern breeding area & there I diverted onto the beach for better views of the lively & noisy colony coming & going. Rejoining the path towards The Sluice: whitethroat, reed bunting & linnet again; a male Stonechat amongst the gorse; a lively Meadow Pipit in song flight; a few Swallow flying over the fields & Skylark singing high over the fields; cetti's yet again, apparently now I've seen one there's no stopping them from showing!
From South hide: Mute Swan, Little Grebe & Swift over the reedbeds.
From West hide: Jackdaw & Crow. Also during the walk from the south hide I was stopped in my tracks by a deep bass noise emanating from the reeds that could only be bittern, the first time I had heard them 'booming'. Once in the West hide I was scanning the horizon when a distinctive bow-winged & heavy-looking bird casually flapped heron-like above the reeds: my first Bittern. Only a glimpse from distance but enough to verify a new species.
After a brief chat with another birder about good views of bittern from the Island Mere hide I decided to go straight there skipping the Bittern hide but along the way: blackcap, Blackbird & Long-Tailed Tit.
From Island Mere hide: immediately another Bittern flew into the reedbeds behind the hide; a couple of Great-Crested Grebe busy around their nest; Grey Heron & House Martin flying over the further reedbeds; a lone Teal also made a rapid flight away from the hide; finally yet another bittern flew across the water in front of the hide before flopping into the reeds - a good, close view of a usually elusive bird.
Heading back to the visitors' centre: Wren & Willow Warbler in the scrub along the path.
Another excellent day at Minsmere & this time a new species to go along with one of my most productive days. The famous bitterns didn't disappoint & I was very pleased to see this keystone species which has a stronghold in East Anglia after many years of birding in the region.
63 species, 1 new.
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