On Saturday we made our way to the Suffolk coast in the hope of catching up with the King Eider that has been around for a while. On arriving at Minsmere visitor centre we were told that it has been moving between Dunwich and Sizewell and it was anyone's guess where it might be, another comment was that it had been seen most regularly offshore from Minsmere reserve at about 2.30pm! Undaunted we set off towards the beach for a sea watch. Malcolm had soon got his sights on the King Eider which was drifting steadily north/south towards Sizewell. At first we had quite poor views of a dark bird bobbing up and down between the waves. Luckily it was disturbed by a fishing boat and flew back towards Dunwich and coming closer in to the shore. We were able to see it more clearly, it's colouring and markings being quite distinct. It seemed to be very settled, fishing and preening in front of a growing audience of birdwatchers.
A quick visit to the East Hide revealed a flock of about 15 Waxwings flitting among the trees behind the North Hide so we hurriedly retraced our steps to try and get a better view. Eventually we found a single waxwing in one of the trees near the visitor centre and managed a couple of photos before it flew off.
A message on Birdguides confirmed the continued prescence of a Richard's Pipit at Covehithe so we went to see if we could find a second 'lifer' for the day (got to keep our averages up!) As luck would have it we were able to follow some fellow enthusiasts and had good views of a very mobile bird.
We finished the day by walking to Island Mere Hide to see if we could find anything else of interest. We were rewarded by cracking views of a ring-tail Hen Harrier which flew in front of the hide with the setting sun behind it. Altogether a great day's birding.
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