Steve's Birding,Wildlife & Walking Blog: Swampy,Bee Wolves And Stunning Arachnids,Minsmere RSPB,Thursday 4th August 2016.

Tuesday 9 August 2016

Swampy,Bee Wolves And Stunning Arachnids,Minsmere RSPB,Thursday 4th August 2016.

After a very kind offer and some persuasion,Tim and myself headed south to Suffolk to hopefully see the reported Western-purple Swamphen which had been found a few days earlier on this flagship RSPB reserve.
I must admit,when i first heard about this bird,i was pretty sceptical about it's provenance after the species chequered history,but after reading an interesting piece on bird guides,my mind was changed,plus we always have a great day out where ever we go.
As we finally arrived at the reserve and drove along the approach track,we were greeted by the fine sight of half a dozen Red Deer in a cereal field,a great start.
After a quick drink and getting the gear together,Tim and myself made our way around to the birds chosen pool near to the South hide.As we were the first on site,it seemed a long 20 minutes before i spotted the bird at the back of the pool......and relax.It was watched as it fed along the reed edge,quietly feeding on reed stems which it expertly held in between its huge feet and scarlet red bill.What a beast of a bird and it almost looked as large as the Mallards it was seen along side.It disappeared for a short while and other bird highlights included 3 Green Sandpiper,2 Little Gull and a good passage of Swifts moving south.
After a short while the bird reappeared and we watched as it slowly got a little nearer,but was never close enough for the camera unfortunately,but great views were gained through the scope all the same.The bird is of the Western race of Purple Gallinule and is thought to be a wild bird after a recent range spread through Europe.
After watching this monster marshland bird we decided to explore the rest of the reserve.
The next goodies to be seen were also a special species,Stone Curlew.We managed to find them on an area of sandy heathland after some help full direction and enjoyed some nice scope views as 2 adults fed there chick,fantastic and a real privilege to see the species with young.
Close by,a couple of interesting members of the local Hymenoptera family were watched along a sandy path,the formerly rare Bee Wolf and Pantaloon Bees.
Both species gave some fantastic views,the female Bee Wolves watched bringing bees in to line their burrows for their future broods and the Pantaloon Bees watched visiting their sandy burrows also.Other insect sightings included 2 Grayling,several Red Admiral and Painted Lady.The final highlight was a great way to end our visit,4 stunning female Wasp Spider.These were only my second sighting of this superb species,after seeing them several years ago at Lulworth Cove in Dorset.
So what a cracking day out was enjoyed by us both and we travelled the long journey back north after another expertly driven twitch by Tim.