Monday 13 February 2017.
After an early awakening at 04:30, we arrived at RSPB Lakenheath Fen just before 07:30. 7 Roe Deer were immediately on show from the entrance track, with another 3 frolicking in the woods near the start of the reserve trail.
We made our way to Joist Fen viewpoint in the hope of seeing some Cranes. A Great White Egret dropped in, and after a while 2 Crane put in an appearance, followed by another 3. They put on a superb aerial display when another 4 took to the air, with a total of 9 Cranes on show at the same time - spectacular!
Another Great White dropped in, shortly before the aforementioned bird took to the air again and headed across the river. A male Kingfisher also showed in the reedbed here, with a minimum of 5 Marsh Harriers quartering Joist Fen.
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| Kingfisher - phonescoped |
Content with our views here, we headed west along the Little Ouse and after a relatively short walk caught up with 3 GWEs giving obscured views across the river, bringing the morning total to 4. Little else of note was discovered on the walk back to the car park, with 2 drake Pintail present on the flash across the Little Ouse. After 3 hours on site, we headed to the next destination of Santon Downham, where we had reasonable views of the target species for the site - Brambling, with Coal Tit and Nuthatch also present around the car park.
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| Brambling - Santon Downham |
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| Eristalis tenax - Santon Downham |
We arrived at the final destination of Lynford Arboretum at 2pm. A slow walk to the Hawfinch roost site produced a couple of Bullfinch and good numbers of Brambling and Siskin.
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| Siskin |
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| Bullfinch - phonescoped |
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| Brambling - Lynford |
Shortly after arrival Hawfinch started dropping in which was a great spectacle to watch, albeit at distance.
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| Hawfinch |
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| Hawfinch coming into roost |
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| Hawfinch coming into roost |
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| Hawfinch - phonescoped |
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| Hawfinch - phonescoped |
With small groups of between 1 and 7 Hawfinch steadily streaming in, this was a good opportunity to practice my in-flight photography ready for the spring and autumn vismig, with some poor record shots obtained! 1-2 Crossbill as well as quite a few Brambling also flew over, with circa 30ish Hawfinch in the roost by the time we departed this area at 15:50.
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| Hawfinch - a bit distant for the 150-500mm |
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| Hawfinch - the more you look the more you see! |
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| Brambling flyovers |
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| Crossbill |
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| Hawfinch conifers |
There are certainly some impressive Hawfinch numbers at Lynford at the moment with peak counts of around 70 recently - are they continental birds or have they originated from elsewhere in Britain? Your guess is as good as mine. A quick look at Lynford gravel pits produced 2 Goosander (adult and 1w drake), a drake Goldeneye with a small group of Tufties and a single Kingfisher.
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| Drake Goosander |
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| Drake Goosander |
We left at dusk and began the journey home after a successful day, thanks Howard for arranging it.
The Brecks are a really nice area in general and I'm sure I'll be back soon...
Happy birding,
Max.
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