Minsmere RSPB

Today was a celebration of great British wildlife and the woes of the lamentable British traffic.

Standing outside the Island Mere hide, there were birds everywhere with at least six Hobby voraciously feeding on insects around the marshes.  A Bittern boomed distantly across the mere with another alighting from the dense reeds and flying past the hide where it was being harangued by an intolerant corvid.

Bearded Tits pinged from pretty much everywhere and Marsh Harrier were performing beautifully in the intense sunlight with a food-pass observed between a faithful pair of adult birds.

A single Cuckoo called persistently with another male bird nervously flying past.

The Savi's Warbler finally broke silence, reeling intermittently somewhere out in the expanse of the reedbed.  It would have been impossible to locate - but at least he was out there.

The scrapes were full of bird life.  Boisterous Black-headed Gull and decent numbers of really smart Meditteranean Gull.  A few pairs of Little Tern and Kittwake were settled on the exposed mud as were around six Barnacle Goose.

Wader numbers were relatively low with spring passage now pretty much over.  A small group of eight Black-tailed Godwit were present on the South Scrape, with a lone Ringed Plover on East Scrape and Avocet now in full breeding mode.

Other highlights were a Grass Snake that slinked across the steps toward the East hide, and a Small Copper that settled on the path while walking back from Island Mere.







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