Hi again
A few days after I wrote my last blog, disaster struck at Minsmere. Two days of heavy rain over the Bank Holiday weekend meant that water levels in the reedbed rose by more than 40 cm. There was nothing we could about it, as the New Cut had burst its banks and there was nowhere else for the water go.
The consequence was that at least four of the five bittern nests that we had found so far this year were lost. The young either drowned or died of exposure. It was a similar story elsewhere on the Suffolk coast, with seven of the nine known nests lost.
This is a serious setback for the bittern recovery after a further increase to ten booming males at Minsmere this year, but it may not be all bad news. Here has been increased activity over the last few days, and several males are still booming, so it’s possible that at least some of the females may try again.
The only remaining nest at Minsmere belongs to V – our easily identified female with a kinked neck who has been breeding here since 1996.
Other reedbed birds don’t appear to have suffered so badly, with most of the 17 marsh harrier nests surviving, and the first young fledging on 7 June – very early. There’s still at least one purple heron around too, but it’s not showing as well now.
On the Scrape, we sadly lost several avocet and black-headed gull nests to the same flooding, but there are at least three pairs of Mediterranean gulls still with young.
On a more exotic theme, Paul Green, one of our wardens, heard a bee-eater today – the second one at Minsmere this year – and there was a golden oriole singing briefly last week. It’s always good to see these birds in the UK, but I’ve not been lucky enough to find either of them at Minsmere. Maybe I’ll come across one next week when I’m leading guided walks in the Alps!
Bye for now.