A Trip to Suffolk

Due to health issues and family problems I needed to travel to Suffolk (also a Tier 2 area) for a few days and so Friday 4th December saw us driving up to Ipswich. It was a cold day and there was snow in the distance on the moors as we drove around Marsh Mills roundabout in Plymouth and there was also snow on the ground and on rooftops along the A12 in Suffolk.

Red Kites showed well along the drive between Stonehenge on the A303 and the M25 with at least 15 seen soaring over the carriageways along with Buzzards and Kestrels. 

We stayed in a hotel across the road from where my parents live in order to follow the Tier 2 COVID rules as much as possible and it was a pleasent stay and quite convenient although a little weird.

Saturday 5th December and we managed to get out for a walk at RSPB Lakenheath Fen on what was a cold and still day with occasional sunny spells and there were still patches of snow on the ground around the reserve.

RSPB Lakenheath Fen

Lakenheath Fen

We only had a short time (90 minutes) but I did manage to see some good birds. The highlights were a pair of Bearded Tits which showed very well and very close before "pinging" off deeper into the reed beds, a distant female Marsh Harrier perched on top of a small tree amongst the reeds, a lone Whooper Swan sleeping on the lake and looking a little poorly and 2, possibly 3 Great White Egret (a distant bird flying over the reed beds and later a bird flying away downriver with another bird feeding around the lake).

Whooper Swan

Great White Egret

A male Reed Bunting, Gadwalls, 2 Shelduck, a squealing Water Rail heard from deep in the undergrowth and a male Brambling on the bird feeders at the visitors centre were also noted.

Brambling and Blue Tit

Sunday 6th December and we managed to get out for a walk again, this time to Snape Maltings on the River Alde. A Tundra Bean Goose had been reported in the area with 11 European/Russian White-fronted Geese but I only managed to find 5 of the White-fronted Geese which did show very well in the sunshine. 

White-fronted Geese, RSPB Snape Marshes

White-fronted Geese

2 Avocets out on the mudflats amongst the feeding waders and a small group of noisy and mobile Bearded Tits in the reed beds were also seen.

We also had a quick look around at nearby RSPB North Warren near Aldeburgh and out on the marshes in the fading light were a large mixed flock of White-fronted Geese and Barnacle Geese along with Pintail, Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler and Greylag Geese.

Heading back to Plymouth on Monday 7th December and it was cold and very foggy and so there were no Red Kites seen this time but it had been a nice trip away despite the strange circumstances and weird COVID times.

Iceland Gulls Galore in Iceland - 12th - 16th March 2015

March 12th and we headed off to Terminal 1 at Heathrow for our flight to Reykjavik in Iceland. Terminal 1 is closing in June and it was very quiet and quite empty but it is still linked to the new Terminal 2 so we wandered over there to have a look around as our flight was delayed due to bad weather in Iceland.

I have always wanted to visit Iceland and had originally planned to visit a few years ago in the summertime but the Icelanders had recommenced whaling and so I decided to go elsewhere. I did e-mail the Icelandic Minister for the Enviroment to voice my objections and reasons why I would not visit Iceland but received a standardised response.

I had the same reservations last year before visiting Malta due to their continued spring hunting of birds against EU law. However the TV presenter Chris Packham headed an excellent campaign last year to raise awareness of this issue resulting in a referendum being held in Malta this year. He had advised against boycotting Malta, arguing that birders should visit to promote birding tourism to help convince the Maltese that not shooting birds would be more lucrative. And so it is with whaling in Iceland - if tourists go to see whales it provides alternative income to hunting whales. And so I decided I would go and see things for myself.

Hallgrimskirkja - the view from one of our hotel room skylights



Reykjavik - the view from the other hotel room skylight and where we saw the Northern Lights



Unfortunately the weather in Iceland was Shite and it was Shite with a capital S. I wasn't expecting it to be great but it was bad, even the locals were saying it was bad, and as a result all whale watching excursions were cancelled each day we were there which was a big shame.It was also very sad to see so many restaurants in Reykjavik quite openly advertising whale meat on their menus, all of which we avoided like the plague.

We did visit a new exhibition on the whales of Iceland in a warehouse on the quay in Reykjavik which had life sized models of whales and dolphins found in Icelandic waters and which was quite interesting if a little expensive.

 Blue Whale with Bowhead Whale and Sperm Whale in the background

 Sei Whale

Blue Whale



Despite all this Iceland was great - stunningly beautiful and eerie with a slight feeling of dangerousness and lots of snow and ice. The weather changed hourly and for 2 nights we had hurricane/gale force winds which were not condusive to sleep when your hotel room is in the eaves of the roof - very noisey, rattley and a little disconcerting with images of the roof blowing off in the back of my sleep deprived mind. Flights were cancelled, tours were cancelled and our 2 day car hire was changed to just 1 because of the wind. But it was still great!

 Icelandic Wilderness

Gullfoss Waterfall



Bird wise I saw 24 species, not bad considering the weather and the time of year. Whooper swans on the lake in the centre of Reykjavik were very tame like mute swans are in the UK and with a lone pink footed goose, greylag geese, wigeon, mallard, tufted duck and red breasted merganser on show too I returned on a number of occasions to have a look at them. Just outside the harbour in Reykjavik a large congregation of birds would hang around close to shore where an upwelling of water appeared at regular intervals instigating a feeding frenzy and allowing great views of Iceland gulls along with glaucous gulls, common gulls, herring gulls, kittiwake, lesser- and greater black backed gulls, black headed gulls, fulmars, eiders, black guillemots, shag and cormorant. I'm not sure what the upwelling was, maybe natural thermal upwellings or probably sewage!

 Tjornin Lake, Reykjavik

Whooper swans (one with a crinkly neck)



Whooper Swans

 Whooper Swans

Whooper Swan

Pink Footed Goose , Tjornin Lake, Reykjavik

Iceland Gull



 Male Eider

 Black Guillemot

 Juvenile Glaucous Gull with Iceland Gulls

Glaucous and Iceland Gulls

 Iceland Gull

Congregation of birds along Reykjavik Waterfront

 Gulls and Fulmars

Juvenile Iceland Gull





Ravens were seen everywhere, even in the icy wilderness far from human habitations, and I saw 2 small flocks of snow buntings flying overhead as we drove around the snowy wilderness. In Reykjavik I saw a few starlings and a male blackbird, the starlings had unusual sounding calls and song, presumably an Icelandic accent and not a Janner one!

Colourful graffiti, Reykjavik



And so to the Northern Lights - we saw them! Pretty jammy considering the weather but see them we did. Our booked night time boat trips out of Reykjavik to look for the Lights were cancelled every night due to the bad weather and it was pretty cloudy most of the time but our hotel reception guy (nicknamed Mr Chuckles due his slightly offish and grumpy demeanour) told us that the sky would be clear at 2am on the 15th and we should look out of our North facing window to see the Northern Lights. I set my alarm for 3am but was awake at 2:30 and on looking out of the window it was mostly clear and we saw what we assumed were the Lights, a thin and wavery line across the sky like a band of green tinged fog that we could see the stars through. We got dressed and walked down to the waterfront where a couple of guys were taking photos, we had a look at what they had taken and it was quite clearly the Northern Lights, the photos being much better than what our eyes could discern in the huge amount of light pollution being made by the city lights. The lights came and went as did the clouds and on heading back to the hotel due to coldness and tiredness we saw the Lights right over the hotel, again a thin, green tinged, wavery line difficult to see due to the light pollution. However on getting back in our room the Lights really kicked off and gave a great display, twisting and turning and merging across the sky before the cloud rolled in again - amazing to see despite the light pollution, if we had been out of the city it would have been a fantastic sight. We had been very lucky but it has just made me want to see them properly even more!

 Northern Lights from our hotel room  - the smudgey, greenish streak in the middle (crap photo)

Northern Lights - more smudgey green streaks - another crap photo



And so Iceland was amazing - cold, wet, windy, icy, snowy and tiring but with some great views of some birdlife and the Northern Lights - feeling totally flat now I am back in the UK and back to work but I have had a wonderful experience. Hopefully whaling will come to an end soon in Iceland too.

Rose Coloured Starling and Whooper Swans

A grey, misty, dull, mild and breezey day and so I headed off to Penzance in Cornwall by train with 3 target birds to see for my year list. Arriving in Penzance at 10:15am and I headed off towards Marazion by foot, taking the road route rather than the seawall path as one of my target birds has been showing around the Sainsburys/Morrisons/B&Q car parks along this road. Just as well as the seawall path is closed in places due to repair work being done following the winter storms earlier in the year.

I had a scan around the area for target bird number one, a rose-coloured starling, that has been showing in the area recently. I had a good look at any starling that flew over or perched on a lamp post but with no luck and so I headed off towards Long Rock Pool at Marazion to look for target bird number two, a garganey, which had been showing here for the past few days. Unfortunately it was also a no-show but I did see 3 little grebes, 11 moorhen, 1 coot, 1 cormorant and a lesser black backed gull bathing amongst the herring and black headed gulls. I had a look around Marazion Marsh in case it had moved to there but with no luck again, seeing 3 juv/female teal, 1 little grebe, 5 little egrets, 1 snipe, 1 grey wagtail and a flyover great spotted woodpecker. It was quite a surprise to see how low the water levels were at Marazion Marsh after a very dry September.

Deciding the garganey was a bust I headed off back to Sainsburys for another go at the rose-coloured starling, again checking out all the starlings flying around. It looked like it was going to be a bust too but I eventually saw a large flock of starlings perched on wires by the road opposite B&Q  and scanning through them I eventually found the rose-coloured starling amongst them, sticking out like a sore thumb with its pale, buffy plumage compared to the dark starlings. I tried to get closer views but the birds all took off and the rosy starling disappeared off towards Penzance. A few minutes later it returned and gave some nice views for around 20 minutes as it dozed perched on the wires amongst the starlings before they all took off and headed off towards Marazion.

 Awful photo of Rose Coloured Starling (centre) with Starlings

Rose Coloured Starling (right)



I then jumped on the bus to St.Erth before walking down to the Hayle Estuary where target bird number 3 were showing, 6 beautiful whooper swans which arrived here 2 days ago. I had some really nice views as they fed, preened and slept on the mud flats although they seemed a little nervy and didn't rest for any long periods. I had seen them distantly from the train earlier on my journey to Penzance, they seemed nervy then and I had expected them to maybe have left by the time I returned and so I was very pleased to see them still present.

 Whooper Swans, Hayle

 Whooper Swans

Five (+1)(Whooper) Swans a Swimming



I also had some good views of 3 grey plover, 4 ringed plover, 2 turnstone, 1 oystercatcher, 2 greenshanks, 3 bar tailed godwits, 3 lapwing, curlew and dunlin. 8 Sandwich terns were diving for fish on The Carnsew Pool, 2 were juveniles and as usual very noisey. Mediterranean gulls were very much in evidence, maybe 50+ birds, I have never seen so many together before and in a range of plumages. The adults in winter plumage were especially stunning in flight despite the gloomy light. 6 redwings flying over were a hint of winter yet to come.

Heading home before the showers arrived and I felt exhausted but very pleased to have seen 2 of my target birds, with my year list now on 197 birds (!).