Brecks Trek.

My brother and I met up with another birding buddy at Lakenheath Fen in the Breckland part of Suffolk where we enjoyed a decent day's wildlife spotting. Much of the day was spent under leaden skies but thankfully the rain held off and it was actually quite warm.

Green Woodpecker and Common Tern.

Plenty of Cuckoos about the reserve and a calling male greeted us as we arrived, we had some good views during our stay. Another bird that showed very well was Bittern, we had multiple sightings of birds flying by and probably had more sightings in one day than I've ever had before. My brother caught a fleeting though conclusive view of another leggy bird when one of the reserve's Cranes popped up briefly above the reeds.

Variable and Emerald Damselflies.

Marsh Harriers showed throughout our visit and we also managed to find several Hobbies. A female Bearded Tit also showed albeit briefly but any view of this sometimes elusive species is welcome. Another elusive species that stayed true to type was Cetti's Warbler, we heard rather a lot but didn't manage to see any.

Small Elephant and Pine Hawk-moths.

Despite the dull skies I was able to catch up with a total of eight dragons and damsels of which two Emeralds were the best as they were my first of the year. Both Blue-tailed and Banded Demoiselles were present in good numbers and there were smaller numbers of both Azure and Variable Damselflies. Numbers of dragons were low but I saw examples of Scarce and Four-spotted Chaser and also a couple of Black-tailed Skimmers.

Buff-tip and Fox Moth.

We moved on from here to Weeting Heath where we were treated to reasonable though quite distant views of a couple of Stone Curlews, no surprise but nice all the same. This is a good site for the increasingly rare Spotted Flycatcher and I was glad to get one near the West Hide. Something of a bonus too in that last night's catch in the moth trap was still on show and we got a good look at them. The most memorable species for me were Small Elephant and Pine Hawk-moths and also Buff-tip and Fox Moth. At this point our friend had to head off back towards the northwest and so we headed towards Thompson Common.

Stone Curlew and Curlew and Nuthatch.

This is one of the few sites in the area for Scarce Emerald Damselfly and luck must have been with me because I found a male and female. Having taken a few photos we departed as the number of mosquitoes meant that we were literally paying with our own blood, no doubt tomorrow is going to be a bit on the itchy side! Still it was more than worth it and a great end to a good day.

Male and female Scarce Emerald.