Boyton Marsh Black Stork

Black Stork is a species that has been on my radar for quite a few years now. Unlike it's commoner White cousin, it's quite a hard bird to twich in the UK. I had a failed attempt to see one down in Cornwall in June 2021 (see here). Apart from that I've never had the opportunity to try to twitch one. There was one that was seen regularly at Frampton in the autumn of 2023 which I consider twitching but never went for. So when one turned up in Suffolk at RSPB Boyton Marshes it certainly piqued my interest. However, initial reports were of it being rather elusive and unreliable with it apparently prone to suddenly flying off, not to be seen again for the rest of the day. Given the three hour drive it would take me, that was too much of a gamble and I'd put it out of my mind. However, yesterday morning I was sitting in bed with a cup of tea, catching up on yesterday's bird news when I noticed that the Black Stork had been seen all day yesterday from the same ditch. Had it now established a routine? I was still in two minds about it - it generally takes a little while for the twitching juices to work themselves up enough for me to get motivated. I looked at some of the photos which seemed to be taken from really close quarters. Was it by chance "porning it" (to use twitcher slang) ? I looked at my appointments calendar for today - completely empty. I'd not been anywhere for a while and decided that a day trip to the coast would be good for me even if I didn't see the bird. So in the end I decided to go for it. I got my gear together, made a flask of tea and grabbed a few snacks and headed out the door at around 9:40am. A quick stop for petrol and then it was the long slog down the M40, M25 and up the A12. Finally at around 12:30pm I started the "final descent" onto increasingly narrow countryside roads until I found myself pulling up in a small car park with a few other cars by some farm buildings that marked the start of Boyton Marshes.

I got tooled up and was just trying to work out which way to go when another car pulled up. It was a lady birder who turned out to be a local who knew exactly which way to go having seen the bird a couple of days ago, (albeit only in flight). So we teamed up as she led me on the half an hour walk along the sea wall. It turned out that we walked at a similar pace (it's always difficult if the person leading you walks too slowly!) and we soon struck up a conversation. She knew all the local sites and did a lot of voluntary conservation work in the county so there was lots to talk about. One of the things I really like about birding is how it can give an immediate conversational "in" which can lead to meeting all sort of interesting people. We got on well and, personally, it was nice to have a twitch companion as a change from my usual solo efforts.

To start with I had the usual "will it fly away before I get there" nerves. We could see the handful of birders a long way in the distance and I wondered if we'd see the bird if it were to fly off . My companion assured me that when it flew it was usually towards Orford Ness which should mean that it would pass over our heads as we walked along the sea wall. The fact that the distant birders were staying put was an encouraging sign and the occasional returning twitcher would always reassure us that it was still there. As we walked I took in all the wonderful scenery. It was a lovely tidal landscape with salt marshes on the near side and the distant island of Orford Ness on the far bank of the River Alde. On the landward side of the sea wall were reedbeds, some fields and some (sadly) dried up scrapes. My companion said that Bearded Tits were to be found there so I kept my ears open, though without any success.

Eventually we got close enough that we could see along the ditch where the twitchers were standing, still a good few hundred yards away. I had a scan with the bins and lo and behold there was the Black Stork! It was striding across the ditch before tucking itself close in out of sight under the near bank. At least I'd managed to see it and I could now relax. 

My first view of the Black Stork in the distance

 

We walked the last few hundred yards and joined the ten or so other twitchers. From where they were standing the bird was completely hidden, tucked as it was under the near bank. Still they'd reportedly already seen it very well as it had spent a good amount of time out in the open more or less opposite them. So I took the chance to put down all of the clobber I was carrying (including my unneeded scope) and to pour myself a cup of tea from my flask. After I'd refreshed myself enough I got to thinking that when the bird was tucked in like this, where we were standing was probably the worst place to be and that by moving along the bank a bit I might get a better view. So I went about 100 yards back the way I came and was just looking around when I spotted it right out in the open opposite where I was standing. It had clearly crept along the near bank quite a distance before coming out into the open again. I managed to whistle loud enough for the distant birders to hear me and they came over to pap away at the bird while it was out in the open. 

 

It was very impressive to see such a large bird so close, it being no more than 30 metres away. As a juvenile, instead of being a proper black colour it was a rather drab brownish colour on the head and back and was without the bright red bare parts of the adult bird. I took some video and photos with my SuperZoom bridge camera and after a few minutes the bird once again moved under the near bank and out of sight again.

Some video, best viewed at HD1080

This proved to be the main pattern of behaviour with it often being out of sight before making an appearance for a few minutes, each time in a similar area and each time ridiculously close. It didn't seem to mind the birders being so close and just fed away happily as it walked about. I presumed that it was feeding just as happily when it was out of sight but along the near bank rather than the far one.

I'd mentally told myself that at 2:30pm or after one more showing, I would leave and the bird duly put in another appearance pretty soon after that. So, true to my word I started to head back and my birding companion for the day decided to come with me. We walked slowly back so that we could enjoy the sights and sounds of this lovely reserve. Not that there was a a great deal to see but it was very atmospheric so I took lots of scenic photos. 

Above and below, the picturesque salt marsh landscape

 

On the way back we managed to hear (and my companion even briefly saw) some Bearded Tits. Back near the entrance we came across a Common Sandpiper and on the pond near the car park was a Green Sandpiper. We did look for the resident Little Owl but without any success. After that we said our goodbyes and parted company. 

I decided to nip over to Orford to have a wander around and to get a cup of tea so set off on the 20 minute journey. I'd visited once before many years ago and it was as picturesque as I remembered it though with far more tourists - it was pretty much empty back then. I wandered along the shoreline a bit, taking photos and just enjoy the landscape before going for a cup of tea and something to eat at a little café on the shoreline of the river. It was all very lovely and I enjoyed just sitting in the afternoon sunshine and thinking not much at all. 

Above and below, Orford scenes

 

Eventually I had to pull myself out of my reverie and to start to think about the journey back. I headed back to the car park and fired up the Gnome-mobile and set the Sat Nav co-ordinates for back home. The journey back was uneventful though rather long though Radio 4 did manage to help while away the time. I stopped at a service station for dinner once I was back on the M40 as I knew I'd be too tired to want to prepare anything for myself once I got home. I eventually arrived back home at Casa Gnome just after 9pm, very tired but very pleased with my day out to Suffolk and my shiny new tick.

 

 

 

 

Rare County Dragons: Oxon Norfolk Hawker

Norfolk Hawker, as you may guess from the name, is traditional associated with East Anglia and has up until now been confined to east Norfolk around the Broads area. Indeed, I made a special trip to Strumpshaw Fen back in 2016 where I saw my only one (along with Swallowtail Butterfly and Scarce Chaser). So when last year JD photographed one at RSPB Otmoor in Oxon, it was a very unusual record. It seemed to be a one-off sighting as there were no further reports of it and to my knowledge no one attempted to twitch it. 

Fast forward to this year and last Friday evening  GC found a Norfolk Hawker on the Blenheim estate at Woodstock. It was frequenting a small area at the end of a side arm of the main lake where GC watched it for just a minutes, allowing him time to grab some photos to clinch the ID. Whilst this was certainly interesting, the fact that it hadn't been found until after 6pm and that it was only seen for a short period of time meant that, as far as I was concerned, it wasn't worth trying to twitch it. Still it had piqued my interest enough for me to wonder whether it was worth trying to find it the next day. 

Come Saturday morning, with the rest of the family out for the day I thought about what I wanted to do. In the end I opted for visiting Radley Lakes to try to catch up with some Lesser Emperor dragonflies, which after last year's invasion, were being seen regularly at this site along with others in the county. I was half way around the main lake there, having just seen one briefly so far when news came through on the local WhatsApp message chat that GC had refound the Norfolk Hawker in the same place. I messaged him for details and then hurried back to the car to head off to Blenheim which was about half an hour away. He told me that it was quicker and quieter to park up at Combe Lodge gate and the walk in from there. I hurried off and negotiated the fairly light traffic and the winding back roads that lead up to Combe Lodge. It was another baking hot day though once I'd passed through the gate and entered the cool of the wood it was much more pleasant. It had been a few years since I'd been to this end of the Blenheim estate and I enjoyed the quiet coolness of the woodland as I walked towards the location. 

I had wondered how easy it might be to find the target on my own but in the end I needn't have worried as GC was still there, standing by the metal gate where he has instructed me to go. As soon as I arrived he pointed it out to me. It was by far the nearest dragonfly, patrolling steadily up and down within about 5 yards of the gate. It's flight was rather measured and steady and it was easy to pick out the salient features even in the air. The green eyes at the end of the otherwise brown Hawker-sized body along with the clear wings were immediately obvious. During the three quarters of an hour that I was there it was constantly on show and constantly flying. GC told me that it had only just started to do this shortly before I arrived and had been only intermittently on view prior to that.

The Norfolk Hawker in flight courtesy of Gareth Cashburn

Looking around there were various other large dragonflies: several Emperors and Brown Hawkers were about though they were always much more distant. GC told me that the Norfolk Hawker had been very aggressively defending that area over the reeds by the gate so I guess the others species had learned to stay away. GC told me that he thought that there might in fact be two of them and this was later confirmed by photographs though I never saw more than the one.

The Norfolk Hawker site - it liked to patrol over the near reedbed

After a while I decided to head over to the main lake to look for Lesser Emperors. GC had seen several yesterday on the Main Lake by Rosamund's Well. We headed over there together in the increasing heat and spent some time looking. We found a couple though they were very distant right out in the middle of the lake and there were no photo opportunities. GC had to leave so I headed back to the Norfolk Hawker site. There was no initial sign of it though after about 10 minutes it was suddenly buzzing around again in the same area. Apparently, this species is known for settling and staying still for much longer than most Hawker species which are usually constantly on the wing. I watched it for a little while longer before headed back towards the car, out of the heat into the coolness of the woodland once more. 

A perched photo of the Norfolk Hawker, taken the next day courtesy of Ewan Urquhart

 

The Norfolk Hawker was subsequently reported for a few more days but not seen at all the following weekend. However, JD went and found one at Otmoor - was it starting to establish itself in the county? With Southern Migrant Hawker, Lesser Emperor and Willow Emerald all having recently colonised the county it seemed that Norfolk Hawker too could become a county regular. Certainly I look forward to further encounters with this species in the county.