Red Deer and Dungeness

To start with this time, the Red Deer at Minsmere RSPB reserve. It's that time of year again for the stags, and they are to be heard all day every day at the moment. I have been lucky enough to get some great views. The rut will determine which males will take control of the various harems that roam the reserve. There are around 500 of these animals on total around the reserve, so spotting them is not too tricky! This magnificent stag was certainly the pick of the bunch, and in fading sunlight was stunning to watch as he made himself known.

Red Deer, Cervus elaphus

It is possible to tell the age of a Red Deer by how many points it has on its antler; they shed every year and add a new point the following year. So by my reckoning this stag is 10 years old. It wasn't just the large males getting active, the younger ones were also practising, ready to one day try to win themselves a territory.

Red Deer, Cervus elaphus

This weekend I was at Dungeness, and caught up with some of the birds that appear to be becoming a regular fixture now. There were five Great White Egret, four Black-necked Grebes, a Raven, Stonechat, and a Glossy Ibis amongst the numerous wildfowl. A very pleasant way to spend a few hours on one of my favourite reserves. Below is a fairly poor record shot of two of the four BNG, one of the five GWE that was in a fishing frenzy with c30 Cormorants and a few Grey Herons and Little Egrets and the Glossy Ibis. Glossy Ibis and GWE are certainly heading the way of the Little Egret, and it shouldn't think it will be long before they are a far more common feature of wetland reserves around the country.

Black-necked Grebe, Podiceps nigricollis

Great White Egret, Ardea alba

Glossy Ibis, Plegadis falcinellus

A Reserve First!

Not a new bird, but a new reserve for me this weekend; RSPB Minsmere in Suffolk. It was a glorious weekend and I can whole-heartedly recommend a visit! As the weather was spring-like, so were the birds, with Blackcap, Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff and Sedge Warbler all present and in full voice. Some rather more unusual spring sounds were heard in the form of squealing Water Rails, a singing Nightingale and booming Bitterns, the latter of which seemed to be present all day and with the boom capable of travelling over 5 km audible wherever you are on the reserve. Not only were the Bitterns noisy, they were also visible, and I was awarded cracking views on two occasions; one evening was spent watching an individual hunting for around 20 minutes, never further than 30 metres away!

Eurasian Bittern, Botaurus stellaris

Eurasian Bittern, Botaurus stellaris

Continuing further with the spring theme, Bumblebees were out in force and these Great Crested Grebes were beginning their elaborate mating ritual.

Bumblebee, Bombus spp.

Great Crested Grebes courting, Podiceps cristatus

There were also plenty of passing migrants around with Arctic Tern, this sub-adult plumage Little Gull, two Spoonbill and a Ferruginous Duck all present on the Saturday.

A pair of Spoonbill, Platalea leucorodia

Little Gull, Hydrocoloeus minutus, with Black-headed Gull, Chroicocephalus ridibundus for comparison

Ferruginous Duck, Aythya nyroca

What a weekend, I left with the feeling that spring had well and truly been welcomed in, and I couldn't wait to get back to the patch and see what had happened while I had been away!