19th January 2014 - Waterbeach, Strumpshaw Fen and Buckenham Marshes

The plan was to get up early and buzz around Suffolk, seeing as many fun birds as possible.  We made a map and everything.  In reality, we overslept and didn't even make it to Suffolk, instead stopping off in Cambridgeshire and Norfolk.  Hmmm.

Coal Tit

The first stop was Waterbeach in Cambridgeshire, just off the Cambridge Resarch Park.  The Reasarch Park itself was full of Moorhen scooting around and a lovely Green Woodpecker flew low in front of the car.  We were hoping to see Taiga Bean Goose, which would be a lifer, but unfortunately they'd disappeared elsewhere for the morning.

Wigeon

It was then on to Buckenham Marshes, but as we weren't quite sure where they were, we ended up at Strumpshaw Fen, an RSPB reserve that we'd always meant to visit but had never quite got round to it.  We didn't have time to have a wander but had a great time at the feeders with both Marsh Tit and Brambling excellent sightings for us.  A Great Spotted Woodpecker popped in for a while and a couple of lovely little Nuthatch were feeding.  The lady at the hide told us how to get to Buckenham Marshes so it on round there for what turned out to be the last stop of the day.

Buckenham Marshes were full of Lapwing and Wigeon, which provided a lovely background sound to our walk.  We had planned for half an hour here but the round trip took 2 hours - oops!  We did well on geese though - Canada, Greylag, Egyptian, White-fronted (which was the reason we went), Barnacle (a lovely surprise, my favourite goose) and Taiga Bean Goose (a lifer!!!).  It was definitely worth missing the following planned stops I think.  A good sighting on the way back was a perched Peregrine pointed out to us by a local.  Lovely.

Some geese

Peregrine

Trip list: 42
Year list: 60
Lifers on year list: 2