Trip reports
Car Trip to the Brecks area
Starling, RSPB Images
Sunday, 13 December 2009
14 members met at Barton Mills for a tour of several sites in the Breckland area. Walkers Snack Bar were particularly pleased to see us again, as we did our bit to help them fight off the ravages of recession!
It was a 'mixed bag' weather wise, with occasional bright sunshine but also several, often heavy, showers. Although on the plus side, this combination did produce some superb rainbows.
Highlight of the day? Take your pick! Maybe, 300 Brambling from the car park at Santon Downham. Good views of Crossbills at both Santon Downham and Lyndford Arboretum. Excellent views of a Kingfisher. Great White Egret at RSPB Lakenheath. Or perhaps, tens of thousands of Starlings performing a spectacular aerial display, before dropping into their overnight roost in the reedbeds, at Lackford Lakes.
52 bird species were recorded:
Cormorant, grey heron, little egret, great white egret, mute swan, greylag goose, Canada goose, Egyptian goose, mallard, shoveler, sparrowhawk, buzzard, kestrel, peregrine, red-legged partridge, pheasant, moorhen, redshank, common gull, black-headed gull, herring gull, lesser black-backed gull, great black-backed gull, woodpigeon, kingfisher, green woodpecker, great spotted woodpecker, wren, robin, blackbird, fieldfare, redwing, mistle thrush, goldcrest, marsh tit, blue tit, great tit, coal tit, nuthatch, treecreeper, magpie, jackdaw, rook, carrion crow, jay, starling, chaffinch, brambling, siskin, lesser redpoll, crossbill and bullfinch.
Information on the sites we visited can be found at:
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/eastengland and http://www.suffolkwildlife.co.uk/nr/sites/lackford.html
Thanks to Barrie and Mike for leading this walk for Phil.