Minsmere

On Sunday 12/05, me, Dave, Katie and Jon headed to Minsmere for the day. It was a flippin early start but had had lots to see! We arrived at about 08:40am and firstly had a look for Stone Curlew along the entrance track. Sure enough a very distant pair were eventually found along with the added bonus of a nearby singing Woodlark.

After that we set out first to look for a reported singing Savi's Warbler near to the west hide. Initially we heard nothing so set about scanning the scrapes.
As to be expected the place was full of birds. Highlights were a brief Whimbrel, 2 Little Tern, 2 Sandwich Tern, 2-3 1st summer Med Gulls, a Bar Tailed Godwit, several Kittiwakes, lots of feral Barnacle Geese, a couple of booming Bitterns, a couple of Marsh Harrier, Avocets & a Common Sand.

Once we'd finished there we headed back down to the Savi's Warbler and we were in luck. While we didn't see it, it did give several loud bursts of song very close to the path. It just wouldn't give itself away! Also here was a brief Hobby overhead and nearby in the woods, a roosting Tawny Owl very high up in a pine.

We then went up to Dunwich Heath, enjoying a fly-over Peregrine close to south hide and a singing Nightingale in bushes close to the North Wall. There was a bit of a wind and while several Dartford Warblers did show on the heath, they were pretty dam elusive! Also there were 2-3 Hobby, a pair of Stonechat and a Cuckoo.

Next, after a couple of very tasty sausage rolls at Dunwich lighthouse, it was back down to the reserve. Walking along the beach we managed to see my first ever Harbour Porpoises with at least 3 cruising along. Also seen were a few Kittiwakes and a Hobby over the sea. Below is a great capture of one of the Porpoises by Jon Philpott.

Back on the scrapes we had another scan, revealing much of what we'd already seen, plus 3 Turnstone & around 20 Black Tailed Godwit. We all then walked further along to the south levels, viewing a 1st summer Spoonbill, singles of Whimbrel, Bar Tailed Godwit and Greenshank. We finished with visits to Island Mere and Bittern Hides. Best things seen were a few Bearded Tits, great views of at least 7 hunting Hobby and further goods views of a male Marsh Harrier (both  captured brilliantly by Jon Philpott below).

Finally we had one more try for the Savi's Warbler in the pouring rain and a after a bit of a wait in the rain, it reeled it's head off for a while before falling silent. The rain was just getting heavier so we decided to call it a day and make the long journey back home.