I arrived at Thompson Water some 50 minutes prior to sunrise, it was great to be enveloped in the early morning darkness without the effects of manmade light pollution, the only light was from the approaching dawn.
My visit to this beautiful Breckland mere was two fold, to witness Starlings departing their reedbed roost and to see if we have any sawbill duck species.
The first birds of the day was both male and female Tawny Owls calling from mature woodland habitat, I stood still for a few minutes to try and catch the silhouetted Owls through the upper branches against the dim dawn sky, but not seen, it was nevertheless just wonderful to appreciate the differences in calls between the sexes.
Walking along the icy Peddars Way towards Thompson Water I could hear chanting Blackbirds in the dark woodland as well as a few Redwings.
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| Thompson Water at dawn 21 November 2024 |
I arrived to overlook Thompson Water at about 0650 with the sound of several duck species, little did I know I would have my highest ever count of Mallard on the water. At about 0700 I began to hear the incessant chatter of Starlings in the reedbeds, then, at 0712 (18 minutes prior to sunrise) I heard what appeared to be the sound of rolling thunder, this was quickly followed by thousands of Starlings departing their roost, initially, the birds formed tight murmurations to confuse potential raptors and then departed in various directions. As a rough estimate there was 5000+ Starlings involved in this behaviour, later in the winter months this number may increase up to four fold.
Luckily, much of Thompson Water was free from ice (it does freeze easily following a few frosty nights). I saw lots of silhouetted views of duck species at dawn, however, as light improved I became aware of hundreds of ducks on the water. Once light was improved I began a count of each species (which I later record along with other species on BTO's BirdTrack). The counts were as follows:
4 Mute Swans
4 Egyptian Geese
322+ Mallard
2 Goosander
37+ Teal
20+ Gadwall
8+ Shoveler
10+ Pochard
60+ Coot
1 Little Grebe
1 Great Crested Grebe
As can be seen from the above list I counted a high number of 322+ Mallard, this for me is a record count of this species at this locality. With a number of inlets, channels, and deep reedbeds, it is likely there was many more Mallard present.
Also present was two Goosanders, this species is one of four 'sawbills' which occur in Britain. There are only six 'sawbill' species worldwide. The Goosander is a strange looking but beautiful duck, its categorised 'sawbill' name comes from the thin bill which has serrations for catching fish underwater.
In southern Britain Goosanders are scarce winter visitors. It is a scarce breeder in Northern Britain.
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