My stay in Suffolk continued and Sunday 21st April was dry with occassional sunshine but a continuing chilly wind as I headed over to Chantry Park again for a walk. It was still all samey samey with very little change but a distant Red Kite drifting overhead was new. The 2 Whitethroats were still having a sing off, a Grey Wagtail was busily feeding along a tarmac road out of the wind, there were now 8 Canada Geese on the pond and a Green Woodpecker was seen yaffling away up in a bare tree.
Mum's clinic appointment on Tuesday 23rd April didn't go quite as planned, the cast came off the foot but another one was then put back on and my planned return to Plymouth on Thursday 25th April was therefore postponed.
The day of my supposed return to Plymouth was sunny but still unseasonably cold and instead of heading off to the train station I headed over to the Park for a walk instead. This time there was a little bit more variety on offer with the highlight being a singing Reed Warbler in the reeds around the main pond.
Other highlights were a Swallow overhead, 5 singing Whitethroats (up from 2 birds on my last visit), 2 Little Egrets along the River Gipping and the ever vocal Green Woodpecker yaffling away in the continuing search for a mate.
Terrapin
Leaf-hopper
Gooden's Nomad Bee
Friday 26th April was forecasted to be dry and sunny and so I headed out on the bus to Alton Water, a reservoir not far from Ipswich and again somewhere I used to visit on my bike back in the day. When I used to visit it was a large expanse of open water surrounded by open grassland, now it is surrounded by trees and scrub and it looks smaller but very natural. It has certainly changed since 1986 when I left Suffolk and has been very well managed by Anglian Water, becoming a great place for wildlife.
Alton Water
Highland Cow, Alton Water
Highland Cows
After stepping off the bus I checked out some nearby cereal fields and was amazed to find 24 Brown Hares present along with 6 Red-legged Partridge, both firsts for the year. A singing Lesser Whitethroat in the nearby hedgerow was another surprise and along my walk I also heard another one singing but unfortunately they both refused to show themselves.
Brown Hares
It was lovely to hear 3 Nightingales singing away, they weren't present here back in the 1980's, and even better was getting good views of 2 of them, 1 of which had a yellow ring on its left leg. 3 Garden Warblers were also heard with just 1 showing itself while a Reed Warbler was heard only. Blackcaps and Whitethroats were also very vocal and showy and Chiffchaffs were heard yammering away too.
Nightingale
Yellowhammer
Out on the reservoir there were Greylag Geese, Tufted Ducks, Great Crested Grebes, Coot, Mallard, Shelduck, Mute Swans, Tufted Ducks and Black-headed Gulls along with 3 bathing adult Lesser Black-backed Gull. A few Swallows were also seen skimming over the surface of the water along with distant hirundines over the treetops. Greylag Geese were nesting on floating bird rafts along with Black-headed Gulls and I thought I saw some very distant Common Terns around a raft too but I couldn't be sure without my (broken) telescope.
Greylag Goose
Great Crested Grebe
Tufted Ducks
I checked out some corrugated sheets of metal laying on the ground and found 3 Bank Voles and 7 Grass Snakes underneath them which was a very pleasant surprise although I think the Voles and Snakes were even more surprised than I was. A few Green-veined Whites were also seen flitting about too.
Grass Snake
Grass Snake
Grass Snake
It was cool and wet on Saturday 27th April but I headed out in the afternoon for a short walk over at the Park during a drier interlude. Things were still much the same but a singing Lesser Whitethroat was a surprise and I even managed a 2-second view of it before it disappeared back into cover. A singing Reed Warbler by the River Gipping was much more showy while the love sick Green Woodpecker was heard continually yafflling away in the background.
Muslin Moth (male), A14 Underpass
Sunday 28th April was even cooler and wetter and windier but I headed out to Bobbits Lane anyway for a walk, sheltering under trees and buildings along the way when the heavy showers rattled through. It was fairly quiet birdwise in the grotty conditions but I did hear 2 Lesser Whitethroats singing and managed a brief flight view of one of them, they certainly seem to be present in good numbers around here. Not to be outdone 2 Whitethroats were also seen and heard along with 2 Cetti's Warbler and the usual Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps. A flock of 30+ Stock Doves feeding in a ploughed field along with Woodpigeons and a Buzzard were a surprise and 3 Yellowhammers added a splash of colour on a drecky day.
Monday 29th April was a beautiful sunny day but cool and breezy and so I headed off on the train to Trimley Marshes for a look about. The nature reserve was created back in the 1990's to offset the loss of marshland when the docks at nearby Felixstowe were built and it has become a very interesting place indeed. I've visited twice before but in the winter time so to visit on a fine spring day was quite a contrast and quite a revelation, it felt very like Minsmere but on a smaller scale and with further good management from the Suffolk Wildlife Trust it can only get better as it continues to mature.
Trimley Marshes
Trimley Marshes
Trimley Marshes with Felixstowe Docks in the background
There were many highlights including :- singing Cetti's, Sedge and Reed Warblers, Lesser Whitethroats, Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and Whitethroats; my first 7 Swifts of the year hawking overhead; nesting Avocets; a quartering female Marsh Harrier causing panic amongst the birds on the marsh while a speedy Peregrine dashing through low over the ground seemed to pass by unnoticed; 7 Black-tailed Godwits, 3 Whimbrel, 2 Greenshank, a Ringed Plover, Redshanks and Lapwings representing the waders; good numbers of Dark-bellied Brent Geese still present with Canada and Greylag Geese and an Egyptian Goose; 2 Hobby dashing by high overhead and having regular aerial altercations with each other as they went; a male and 2 female Pochard with Tufted Ducks, Mallard, Gadwall, Teal and Shoveler, Little and Great Crested Grebes and Shelduck; and 2 flyover adult Mediterranean Gulls in smart summer plumage giving themselves away by constantly calling.
Greylag Goose with Goslings
Marsh Harrier
Marsh Harrier
Brent Geese
Sedge Warbler
Pheasant
A Green Hairstreak was a joy to see and the warm weather meant there were Peacock, Orange-Tip, Small, Large and Green-veined White and Small Tortoiseshell on the wing too. A Seal was attracting attentions from Gulls as it munched on a fish at the waters surface out on the River Orwell, it looked like a Common Seal but was too far away to confidently call, while out on the Marsh there were surprisingly showy Chinese Water Deer in equally surprising numbers.
Green Hairstreak
Green Hairstreak
Green Hairstreak
Small Tortoiseshell
Chinese Water Deer
I spent the morning at Alton Water with my Dad on Tuesday 30th April, it was warm with occassional sunny spells and we spent time admiring the Highland Cattle while a Nightingale sang nearby and 2 Common Tern wafted around over the water.
Alton Water
With Mums cast due to be finally removed on Friday 3rd May plans were arranged for me to return to Plymouth on the 2nd May with my cousin Claire very kindly coming to stay with Mum overnight prior to its removal. The train tickets I had bought previously had been altered once for free but no further alterations were allowed and as the tickets were non-refundable they ended up in the bin and I had to purchase new ones but never mind.
The train fare structure was ridiculous though, a single fare from Ipswich to Plymouth cost £180 but a single fare from Manningtree to Plymouth cost £70. Manningtree is 10 minutes away by train from Ipswich with a single ticket costing just £7 so I ended up buying 2 tickets for exactly the same trains and saved over £100, absolute madness and frankly a bit of a rip off.
My last day, Wednesday 1st May, was a scorcher, 20+°c, sunshine and no breeze and so I took a short walk to the Park for one last time. There was sadly no sight nor sound of the Lesser Whitethroat but there were now 3 Whitethroat singing away in the same spot and the Green Woodpecker was still giving it welly too. A Muntjac Deer was a surprise as it nibbled away at Blackthorn leaves before slinking back into cover and there were plenty of Butterflies on the wing again including Holly Blue and Orange Tip.
Large White
Longhorn Moth
And so my stay in Suffolk finally came to an end, a mixed bag of emotions for me as I often struggle on trips back home but it was nice to spend time with Mum and Dad and to catch up with family and friends that I rarely see. Local birdwatching was a joy and revisiting places from my birding youth was interesting, some changes here and there and some things the same but all being slowly encroached upon by expansion and development. It certainly seems warmer and drier here in the East compared to the South West and also more fecund but that could just be the recent weather conditions or that I've just been getting out more than usual or that I'm just not used to being in such a suburban/rural setting as I have been while staying at my Mums.
My train journey back to Plymouth was uneventful, I saw lots of Red Kites in the air between London and Westbury and also a surprise sighting of a flyover Marsh Harrier and a single Swift. The train was also 26 minutes late into Plymouth and so I can claim £17 back on the ticket price, silver linings I suppose.
