Sculthorpe Moor Community Nature Reserve

Mixed flock of bramblings and chaffinches

We visited a new place today, thanks to several suggestions: Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve, run by the Hawk and Owl Trust.

It was unbelievable; within our first five minutes, at the viewing panel closest to the entrance, we had seen bramblings (my first ever - and five of them altogether!), bullfinches (both male and female), a water rail, a great spotted woodpecker, a nuthatch and more greenfinches and chaffinches than I had ever seen in one place before. It was heard to tear ourselves away from such an interesting gathering, but after a good length of time, and several conversations with other birders about what we'd missed elsewhere, we decided to explore the rest of this magical little wildlife haven.

Water rail

We made our way along the boardwalk, starting with the woodland loop which leads to the first hide. On our way to the woodland hide, I became distracted by rustling in the dry leaf litter and a fast, well camouflaged shape shooting from one tree to another, almost faster than we were able to keep up. Patience paid off here, we watched and waited and eventually were graced with good and quite close up views of a weasel (I think... it lacked an obvious black tail, you can see a video of it here). This was a real treat, I've only ever had fleeting glimpses of these small mustelids before.

Weasel?

The woodland hide gave us stunning views of another great spotted woodpecker, as well as huge densities of chaffinch and greenfinch and a few blue-, coal- and long tailed tits. We left the hide to the cheerful song of a wren part way up the closest tree, and continued through the woodland to eventually reach the Whitley (Fen) hide. Here, we saw more bullfinches as well as a reed bunting and many more chaffinches. Finally, we headed to the scrape, but unfortunately saw nothing from the hide here. However, on the walk to these hides, there was a sudden explosion of small birds from the Fen hide which flew over the pathway; they had been spooked by the kestrel circling overhead; a perfect silhouette against the bright sky. Luckily, it didn't spook another treat for us as we re-entered the woodland; a marsh tit and a tree creeper both making their way up the bark on the same tree.

Common frog

Our final reward of the day was provided by one of the friendly volunteers at the reserve who pointed out scarlet elf cap fungi that was evident either side of the board walk, then took us to the likely location of a nuthatch nest. They had nested in this particular hole last year and had been seen this morning inspecting it again. On our way out of the restricted area, we also saw our first common frog of the year! Looks like spring has arrived!

It's always lovely to discover new places to explore through like minded people, but even better when it turns out that the new place is as full of wildlife as this small reserve seems to be. We'll definitely be making this a more visited area of our 'local patch' of Norfolk!

Nuthatch

Coal tit

Great spotted woodpecker

Male bullfinch

If you go down to the woods today...

... you might get blown away!

We were the only people around the entire of Foxley Wood yesterday, not another soul to be seen. Although it seemed like the trees themselves were possessed in the wind, creaking and rattling together like nothing so much as bones. We were mindful to try to keep away from the hanging branches; so many had snapped in the strong winds and were drooping down to the floor, held on by only a strip of bark.

It was far too blustery to see any birds of prey, and the woods were eerily quiet, barely any birdsong or evidence of any animal, although our keen eyes, now trained to look for hints of animals passing as well as the animals themselves, picked out a few tell tale signs.

I picked out the white rumps of two bullfinches as they flew away from the sounds of our approaching footsteps or the sight of our approaching silhouettes. Against the white, blanket cloud covered sky, I also picked out the dark silhouettes of several tree creepers flitting from tree to tree, their relatively streamlined shapes helping them in their efforts against the wind. My hunch was further clarified by finding two of these 'little brown birds', which I had only a fleeting glimpse of, and watching them wind their way up the swaying tree trunks.

As we delved further into the woods, we could hear the chinking alarm calls of blackbirds that we had accidentally disturbed, and could make out the occasional bird; wood pigeons sitting at the tops of trees silently waiting, then clattering off when we approached, or they had seen some phantom predator. The occasional miniature flock of blue and/or great tits trying to keep in the cover of the canopy, rather than risk being blown off course in the open. My husband spotted deer tracks in the mud, probably a roe deer, and I spotted the footprints of a large bird (probably a gull).

Not the greatest wildlife spotting adventure, but you don't always need to see 'them' in the flesh to enjoy a walk through the woods, and know that they are there somewhere, probably watching you from their far more sensible hiding places than walking through the woods, out in the open, blundering through a gale.