The weather this day was much better than the previous day when we had done so poorly at NWT Weeting Heath and RSPB Lakenheath Fen. In fact it turned out to be a really good day with forty-one species seen including three good year ticks – Garganey, Grasshopper Warbler and Stone Curlew
NWT Weeting Heath
This was a much less windy today and we headed off to try again for Stone Curlew at NWT Weeting Heath and after about 40 minutes (and with some help) we located a single Stone Curlew – a year tick in the UK. We also heard Curlew and saw Skylark. The weather was much less severe so we went on to the nearby RSPB Lakenheath Fen
RSPB Lakenheath Fens
We decided to go straight down as far as we go go on the reserve in the hope that we might get bitterns and Hobby. On our way down there were plenty of Warblers. Our first year tick of the day was a Garganey, seen on the water and then as it took flight we got good views as it flew over us.
At the far end of the reserve we didn’t really see anything though we heard Bittern booming. We also heard Grasshopper Warbler, another year tick. There were plenty of Hobby around and Marsh Harriers were frequently seen. The best part of the day, however, was on our way back down the track. We stopped to look at what looked like a couple of hawks having a scrap over a reed bed. Eventually both birds retreated to different trees in the woods nearby. It was only after a bit of thought that we realised that the birds we were looking at were not Sparrowhawks but two Cuckoos probably having a territorial dispute. As we imagined it they had both returned to their home trees with the dispute settled. This was our first sighting of Cuckoo this year but we have been hearing them quite often.
There were good numbers of other birds (listed below) and in all we got 41 species including 2 year ticks
Year Ticks
- Garganey
- Grasshopper Warbler
- Stone Curlew
Bird Sightings NWT Weeting Heath 28th April 2019
| Eurasian Stone Curlew | 1 |
| Eurasian Magpie | 1 |
| Sky Lark | 2 |
| Eurasian Blackbird | 1 |
| Common Chaffinch | 2 |
Bird Sightings RSPB Lakenheath Fen 28th April 2019
| Greylag Goose | 30 |
| Mute Swan | 4 |
| Gadwall | 2 |
| Mallard | 20 |
| Northern Shoveler | 9 |
| Garganey | 1 |
| Common Pochard | 1 |
| Tufted Duck | 10 |
| Common Pheasant | 2 |
| Little Grebe | 1 |
| Great Cormorant | 2 |
| Great Bittern | 1 |
| Grey Heron | 2 |
| Little Egret | 1 |
| Eurasian Marsh Harrier | 2 |
| Common Coot | 5 |
| Eurasian Oystercatcher | 2 |
| Northern Lapwing | 20 |
| Black-headed Gull | 8 |
| Common Cuckoo | 2 |
| Common Kestrel | 1 |
| Eurasian Hobby | 3 |
| Eurasian Magpie | 2 |
| Rook | 20 |
| Carrion Crow | 7 |
| Barn Swallow | 5 |
| Common House Martin | 2 |
| Great Tit | 4 |
| Eurasian Blue Tit | 1 |
| Long-tailed Tit | 1 |
| Eurasian Wren | 1 |
| Cetti’s Warbler | 3 |
| Common Chiffchaff | 4 |
| Sedge Warbler | 4 |
| Eurasian Reed Warbler | 10 |
| Common Grasshopper Warbler | 2 |
| Dunnock | 1 |
| Pied Wagtail | 1 |
| Reed Bunting | 4 |
| Common Chaffinch | 4 |
| European Greenfinch | 2 |