Lackford Lakes and Heathands

- April 07, 2018

The day promised to be one of blue skies and sunshine so at 9am we set off for the Suffolk Wildlife Trust nature reserve of Lackford Lakes hoping for a good day of birdwatching and photographs. An hour later we parked and entered the visitor centre where we bought coffee and cake and sitting by the window we were immediately rewarded by sightings of Redpolls at the feeders - First tick off the list! The warden told use where we might see various birds and what the routes were like- we were glad we bought our wellies!

We decided to make a quick stop off to some feeders down the lane where it was reported tree sparrows had been seen but sadly not today although we were delighted to see a pair of Bullfinches in the hedge beside which was another new one for the year.

Walking along the path we soon came across a photographer baiting a fallen tree stump with seed - he assured us that within minutes the log would be alive with little birds. However two fairly tame mallard ducks had other ideas and took advantage of a free meal! Not be daunted, the photographer pointed to a log behind us and said there were some very bold bank voles who were keen for an easy meal too and started to shake out some seed . Sure enough within minutes the tiny furry creatures appeared scurrying back and forth and seemingly quite unaware that we were standing only a metre away!

The ducks having had their fill, soon left and as predicted, there were soon blue tits, great tits, coal tits, marsh tits, robins and dunnocks flying back and forth to the bird seed, Another tick for the Marsh Tit.

We left the logs behind and wandered on to the lakes and hides. Quite a lot of activity with the usual ducks and geese - extras for my list included Egyptian Goose, Cormorant, Shelduck and Teal. An Oyster catcher was also spotted settled on a small island.

Walking back an hour later the bank vole was still evident - the photographer should have got some good shots in all that time!

Next stop was Cavenham Heath where we had heard there were stone curlews and heathland birds. We found the spot and started walking - we soon saw a group of birders with their tell tale binoculars and made our way towards them. To our delight a colourful Wheatear suddenly appeared to our left and perched on the heather providing a good photo opportunity and another new bird for this years list.

In conversation with the other birders we learned that there were definitely some stone curlew about although they hadn't been seen so we joined them scouring the landscape with our binoculars. Suddenly a shout went up - one had been spotted so we all trained our binoculars on the area and sure enough the clear white V on the wings was evident although unfortunately not the whole bird and too far away for photographs, Another tick for my list.

On our way home we decided to go via Weeting Heath where Stone Curlews were also know to be present. After paying our £3.75 entrance fee we made the short walk down to the hide - Nothing!!! So we started walking down to where we were told there were some more bird feeders. Then a call from a birder behind told us the stone curlews had been seen standing up so we hurried back - sure enough there were two birds - clearly stone curlews but too far away for anything but a rather blurry photograph - the haze from the warmth didn't help.

We then walked on down to the feeding station and were rewarded by lots more little birds who were also enjoying the little pool of water just in front of the feeders. Whilst watching a Yellowhammer appeared beneath the feeders and a Goldcrest made a fleeting visit to the nearby branches. Apparently during the last hour a woodpecker and nuthatch had also been visiting but didn't appear whilst we were watching.

It was time to make our way home so I was pleased to have added another dozen or so birds to my list bringing my total so far to 63.