My Diary
Out at last.
27/05/10
Common Tern at Stodmarsh.
A week in doors recovering from my Hernia op has felt like a month, (well so my wife reckons) and this afternoon after the rain cleared and the sun broke through the cloud cover, I made my way to Stodmarsh, and spent an hour on the bench half way down the Lampern wall, hoping to catch site of the Purple Heron, which Tim Gutsell managed to get some excellent shots off last Sunday, and can be seen at
(click here for Tims flickr site) An excellent find by Tim and Andy whom was with him at the time. I did not manage to catch up with the bird, but 5 sightings of distant Grey Herons, flying low over the reed beds caused the heart to beat a little quicker for a second or two, as a Purple Heron would be a first for me. Not too sure if there were 5 different Grey Herons, as 1 or 2 could have been seen more than once. Where I sat, a Cettis Warbler continued to scold me, obviously not taking too kindly to me invading its privacy, as I sat and watched the Common Terns out on the main lake, about 30 in total. I was looking into the sun, but occasionally one would cross the wall and start fishing in the dykes that run through the reed bed on the Eastern side of the Lampern wall, allowing a few photos. Plenty of Swifts, but only 2 Swallows and no Martins seen at all. I did note several Reed Warblers, out numbering the Sedges, and pair of Reed Buntings was to and throw with food for hungry chicks. Two Cuckoos were heard, with one seen flying over the Alder wood, and after 30 minutes 5 Hobbies appeared from nowhere, with one landing in a small tree out in the reed bed, but took of 5 minutes later, all of them disappearing as quickly as they arrived. 4 Marsh Harriers were seen hunting over the reed beds, 2 Males and 2 Females, and also 2 Pochard and 4 Tufted Duck flew high over the Lampern wall. On the way back to the car park, Blackcap, Wren, Garden Warbler and Common Whitethroat were all heard, and a Lesser Whitethroat was rattling away on the junction to the reed bed hide, but deep in the undergrowth. Not that exciting, but good to be back out again.