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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 2898 |
16th December 2017 Hiking - Walking: Knettishall Heath and Lackford Lakes Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny but cold Max Speed: Distance Covered: Saturday 16th December – walks ***** Knettishall Heath and Lackford Lakes – sunny but cold. Friday 15th December. We started the great couple of days with a trip to visit our long-time friends Neil and Linda Hurrell, as they live 40 miles away and as the forecast for Saturday was wall to wall sunshine we decided to stay out the night in our van, visit Lackford Lakes the next day and visit relatives in the afternoon. We arrive in Ixworth at just past 10.30 have a great catch up in their lovely nice new extension then Neil makes a flask, packs the mince pies and we drive the short distance to Micklemere bird hide to watch the birds on the flood meadows:) The weather is sadly disappointing cloudy and cold with rain all afternoon but it doesn’t dampen our spirits as we watch the action. We see swans, geese, Ducks, Cormorants and Heron fly in. The highlight being a Kestrel hunting right outside the hide, it then swoops into the reeds and comes out with a vole which it then eats on a nearby post! Back to the Hurrells lovely wood burner to warm up with a delicious all-day breakfast. With the rain falling we have a great afternoon just chatting and are visited by Craig, Claire and Hannah (the Hurrells son daughter and Granddaughter) before leaving at seven to find somewhere to park for the night. We had been to Knettishall Heath a few weeks ago spotting the Exmoor ponies. It is out of the way and there is a nice big carpark. We got there in 20 minutes tucked ourselves in the corner away from the country lane and put the diesel heater on:) Good couple of hours after a cheese sandwich me playing cards with Mag knitting with the rain falling. Then with the temperature dropping we went to bed cosy under two quilts! Saturday 16th December. A good night in the van with the ground covered in frost, we did have a car arrive at six for a walk, which was a bit odd as it didn’t get light until eight!!! Mag made a cuppa with the diesel heater on then read while several more dog walkers turned up to make the most of the beautiful frost covered heath which is Chris crossed with footpaths! Then after breakfast and with the sun just breaking over the trees we wrapped up warm and set off in search of the ponies! While taking a pic of the van I checked the notice board as this is a Suffolk Wildlife Trust Reserve and lucky we arrived in the dark and didn’t notice the sign that said ‘No overnight camping permitted’:( The foot path to the river was right by the back of the van so we headed that way and soon found the Exmoor ponies, these have been introduced to a couple of places in Suffolk to help manage the heath. There is a large area of fenced heath here for the ponies to wander but the 18 ponies were all together in a large field behind the van for the winter. They are beautiful creatures with long dark coats which were covered in frost. As we walked along the river with the ponies close by they suddenly got a little jittery and galloped the length of the field :) We did a short circuit of the heath before returning to the van. We headed to Lackford Lakes on the Bury St Edmunds/Thetford road which are well known in the area for birdwatching :) It is a little windy route passing large country houses with groups of beaters setting off to start shoots. There are loads of pheasants about including sadly several dead on the roads and well as a deer and a fox that had been hit in the night – it was carnage really!!! We found the entrance to the lakes, another Suffolk Wildlife Trust reserve, which advertised Coffee, Cake and Winter wildlife at the centre but that proved to be an exaggeration as the centre was closed! It only opens a few days during the week in the winter and we were surprised there was only one other car in the carpark! Coats, hats and gloves on with camera and binoculars at the ready we set off at ten. We spotted some full bird feeders, always a good place to see birds, behind the centre so we started there and were treated to a greedy squirrel helping himself on the bird table. There were also loads of fighting robins, tits, moorhens plus the highlight a Redpoll on a feeder, a first for Mag, and even a fleeting visit from a Nuthatch:). So that was a good start and we then headed to the marked paths to the hides as the carpark was filling up! You walk past the first lake that is used for sailing to lakes reserved for the wildlife. These are old quarry lakes for aggregate I think and there must be 8/10 lakes with eight hides to watch. We visited them all and none of them had anyone in! with some of the lakes frozen birds were concentrated in the ice-free areas. The best was Steggalls Hide overlooking Flempton Pool right at the far end of the reserve. Mag soon spotted a long-billed Snipe feeding the grass plus lapwings, Teal. Gadwall, Widgeon with swan and geese flying in and out but sadly no Kingfishers today! With a large group joining us in the hide we headed back to the van, the squirrel then entertained us again spinning around on the peanut feeder:) It was then cuppa soup in the van before heading to Ipswich to visit Auntie Diane and my Dad so a top couple of days – we love the VW :) PS – I took a few pics as usual but bird/wildlife photography is not my strong point being let down by poor technique and equipment but still love my bridge camera and am not spending a fortune on a decent SLR and lenses !!! Photo Gallery Here |
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