Bury St Edmunds, Fornhams and Livermere

Second day of the year and more pure-core local birding, via a 15 mile ride (again on the lady shopper). I started by checking a local housing estate for parakeet, having heard one there back in November, no joy, but more on that later... 

I then rolled round to Fornham All Saints sewage works, having had Grey Wagtail there yesterday my remaining target was Green Sandpiper, which like to feed in the workings in winter. After a few scans one dutifully popped up - gave me the real hype:

Green Sandpiper - Fornham All Saints - 02nd January 2022

Having scored early along with road side Pied Wagtail and Long-tailed Tit I decided to check out Livermere. It's increasingly intensive down there; angling and frankly insane stocking levels of duck, partridge and pheasant. It is truly bleak. The only real winners are carrion eaters and there was double figures of both Buzzard and Red Kite loading around. Always cool to see. The other star of the show was my first Marsh Tit of the year with a mixed tit flock. Otherwise. the only wild duck of note was Shoveler. I'll give Livermere a swerve till the Spring now. It's just too depressing. It will always pull passage birds, no matter how intensively managed, shot and generally traipsed over. Until wader and tern movement I'll leave it be... 

Red Kite - Timworth - 02nd January 2022

Luckily the wider countryside is making up for the once glorious local sites such as Livermere and even Lackford - supposedly a nature reserve, but now a bastardised country park. It is innocuous farm reservoirs, golf courses, farmland and the river valley now holding good birds. With the duck Goldeneye, Barnacle and Pink-footed Geese still in the same locations as yesterday.

An afternoon walk with the lady did not produce the hoped for Kingfisher along the Lark, but it did produce not 1 - but 5!!! Ring-necked Parakeet on the golf course. I first had a pair of parakeet in poplar on the golf course back in summer 2020, it would seem they bred in 2021 and we now have a noisy parakeet flock locally! 

Today's efforts have seen me hit exactly 60 for the year, all local, all self propelled. I am setting aside tomorrow to go a little further afield on foot. Before the shackles of employment and the first working day of the year hit on Tuesday. 

I have some insane gaps on my list with Gadwall, Wigeon, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Water Rail, Little Grebe, Great Black-backed Gull, Grey Heron, Sparrowhawk, Little Owl, Kingfisher, Peregrine, Coal Tit, Goldcrest, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Mistle Thrush, Redwing, Stonechat, Meadow Pipit, various finches and Reed Bunting all ready targets! As such I could add another 20 species with relative ease on-foot tomorrow...