Lakenheath and the Brecks - 12th May 2021

It had been a while since I had been to Lakenheath and as the Hobbies were building up it was time to pay a visit. The weather forecast was not as good as envisaged with more cloud and quite breezy and apart from a couple of Damselflies, no Dragonflies yet. It has been a cold start to Spring and conditions certainly not ideal. As usual there were a few Greylag flying about.

A Bittern was booming at New Fen, but sadly no sign and at the moment Mere hide is closed as is the main stone path to Joist Fen, though there is an alternative path available. At least two Cuckoo's were calling and seen perched and flying around the reserve. Reaching the viewpoint at Joist Fen three or four Marsh Harriers were hunting, but far too distant for pictures. However, one of the breeding Common Cranes did a couple of distant passes.

Common Crane

There were at least ten Hobbies over Joist Fen and a couple over New Fen, though 35+ had been reported. The wind did not help as did the lack of Dragonflies and they seemed to be feeding on St Marks Flies. Despite this, I was able to get a few shots when one or two birds ventured a little closer.

A walk back along the river to the Washland area yielded a pair of Stonechat and a few Avocets, but again very distant.

Avocet

A quick stop on the way back near Cavenham added a female Wheatear and Brown Hare to the list.

I was fortunate to get a couple of views of Stone Curlews and managed a couple of heavily cropped shots of this very wary Wader. This is where the R5 really came up trumps.

Overall, not a bad birding day, but from a photography perspective everything was just a tad distant.