Trimley Marshes

The day started well with what could only be described as a rush of birds in the garden after the relative quiet of late. Some Redpoll took up residence on the niger seed and were subsequently joined by a solitary goldfinch. A coal tit buzzed around, two male blackbirds constantly chased a female and two blue tits were in and out of a nest box - is it spring already?

Anyway, once we got beyond the enjoyment of garden birdwatching, we packed the car and headed down the the Suffolk Wildlife Trust reserve Trimley Marshes, which is situated right next to the huge Felixstowe container port. This is a fantastic reserve, but you do have to walk two miles to get from the car park to the actual hides. The bonus of this is that you can actually imagine that you have done some exercise once you've seen all the reserve and got back to the car!

Not much to be seen on this initial walk, but it was nice to see that some serious investment has been made initially improving the surface of the path and then also some substantial re-profiling work around the reserve itself - should be great come the Spring.

So, to the birds. We got there and went straight up to the riverbank to see what was being pushed up the bank by the incoming tide. Delighted to see a good size group of Avocets alongside Shelduck, Wigeon, Redshank and Black-Tailed Godwit. Then, from the fields on the other side of the river, there was an eruption of Brent Geese of which I managed to get a very bad photo of some of some of them.



Brent Geese at Trimley Marsh SWT, December 2011

From here we headed down to the Reservoir Hide where we were greeted by literally hundreds of waterfowl and gulls. There were Mallard, Gadwall, Shoveler, Wigeon, Teal, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye, Coot, Little Grebe and Great Crested Grebe. Oh, and also Barnacle, Greylag and Canada Geese. For me, the most impressive sight from this hide was the number of Common Gulls, literally hundreds (actually living up to their name!) alongside the Herring, Great Black-Backed and Black Headed Gulls. We also saw this little chap just outside:

Muntjac Deer, Trimley Marshes SWT, December 2011

After finishing in this hide, we decided to head to the furthest hide and work backwards. From here there was not a huge amount to see other than more waterfowl (in nowhere near the same numbers) but it did include Pintail. Then from nowhere a pair of Marsh Harriers took to the air and headed in separate directions much to the dislike of a few hundred Lapwing and a rather disgruntled Curlew. As we left the hide a Kestrel was further down the path sitting in state on a fence post.

Back up to the riverbank to be greeted by a female Common Scoter, the first I have seen at close quarters which was a massive bonus! Unfortunately she didn't hang around for a photo. Back down to the path and we disturbed some Goldfinches and Reed Buntings and saw a Little Egret further up. The rest of the hides offered very few new species, but did give some more excellent views of Pintail and a small flock of Dunlin.

For the whole time we were visiting there was almost a constant stream of Cormorants overhead; must have been hundreds over the course of the day! Other birds of note were half a dozen Golden Plover, a Snipe and a Grey Heron. However, the final bonus of the day was some truly amazing views of a pair of Bearded Tits. We had good views of them earlier in the day next to the gate to the Reservoir Hide and thought it would be a while before we got any better views. But when the pair of then came close enough to get a good photo, I was delighted!



Bearded Tit, Trimley Marshes SWT, December 2011

Dad and I agreed that it was probably one of our most enjoyable birding trips for quite a while!