Trip reports

Coach Trip to Minsmere

Sunday, 15 June 2008

Our final event of the spring, a coach trip to the RSPB's flagship reserve, proved to be a fitting finale to another great season of outdoor meetings. Most of us had good views of Minsmere's special birds (Bittern, Marsh Harrier, Bearded Tit) and during the day we recorded an amazing 103 bird species, a club record for an outdoor meeting! Particularly impressive was the view from the East hide, where Kittiwake, Mediterranean and Little Gulls, Common, Sandwich, Little and Arctic Terns, Spoonbill and Spotted Redshank could all be seen in amongst the commoner species, and a rare Lesser Yellowlegs put in a brief appearance on the far side of the scrape. A Cetti's Warbler behind the hide put in an appearance for some of us as we arrived! The full list of species (which includes those seen en route) is as follows:

Avocet, Bittern, Blackcap, Blackbird, Bullfinch, Common Buzzard, Reed Bunting, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coot, Cormorant, Crow, Cuckoo, Curlew, Collared Dove, Stock Dove, Tufted Duck, Dunnock, Little Egret, Gadwall, Black-tailed Godwit, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Barnacle Goose, Canada Goose, Greylag Goose, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Greenfinch, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Greater Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Little Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Marsh Harrier, Heron, Hobby, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Kittiwake, Lapwing, Skylark, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, House Martin, Sand Martin, Moorhen, Nightingale, Barn Owl, Oystercatcher, Grey Partridge, Red-legged Partridge, Pheasant, Feral Pigeon, Wood Pigeon, Pintail, Meadow Pipit, Ringed Plover, Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Robin, Rook, Green Sandpiper, Shelduck, Shoveller, House Sparrow, Sparrowhawk, Spoonbill, Starling, Stonechat, Swallow, Mute Swan, Swift, Teal, Arctic Tern, Common Tern, Little Tern, Sandwich Tern, Song Thrush, Bearded Tit, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Marsh Tit, Treecreeper, Pied Wagtail, Cettis Warbler, Garden Warbler, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Willow Warbler, Whitethroat, Wigeon, Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Wren, Yellowhammer, Lesser Yellowlegs.