CHOOSE CHESTNUTT COTTAGE for your BIRDWATCHING HOLIDAY
​Suffolk Wild life Trust and RSPB reserves nearby..

"More bird watching this afternoon with an 8 mile round bike ride to the Hen Reed beds....at least 4 marsh harriers and 3 egrets...shelduck..greylags a kestrel oyster catchers and lapwing plus skylarks singing overhead....lovely
 Liz Bebington

From Chestnutt Cottage, you will only have to travel a short distance to visit The Hen Reed Beds - a  reserve managed, since 1999, by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. Marsh harriers,  bearded tits, herons and hobby,  dragonflies and damselflies, otters and water voles have all been sighted here.

​On winter late afternoons ,  the murmerations  of starlings are a  wondrous sight as they return to their roosts. Click HERE to view images of the Southwold starlings  and HERE to see videos  and read more information about this amazing phenomenon.
 
LOCAL NEWS
Bill Hancock and Jonathan Handgraft are recording (and photographing, if possible) the birds of Southwold and Reydon.  So far they have recorded around 160 species.  These can be seen on the website (http://southwold-northroad.com/page6.htm). They are interested in monitoring the hirundines in the Southwold and Reydon vicinity and would be grateful for any information you can provide on the nest sites of swifts, swallows and martins (both sand and house). If you have any information that you would like to share please contact them  on either jonathan.hadgraft@btinternet.com or bill@jbmmeats.com

These birds were listed by visitors who stayed at Chestnutt Cottage for one week during May.
Avocet, Barnacle goose, Bearded tit, Bittern, Black pheasant, Blackbird, Black-headed gull, Blacktailed godwit, Canada goose, Cettis warbler, Chaffinch, Collar dove, Common tern Coot, Cormorant, Gadwall, Goldfinch, Grebe, Green finch, Grey heron, Greylag goose Hedge sparrow, Herring gull, Kestrel, Lapwing, Little egret, Little tern, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh harrier, Mediterranean gull, Mute swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Purple heron Redshank, Reed bunting, Ringer plover, Robin, Rook, Sand martin, Shelduck, Shoveller Starling, Swallow, Swift, Tufted duck, Willow warbler, Wood pigeon, Wren.

Click on these links to see sites offering information about bird watching in Suffolk.
http://www.suffolktouristguide.com/Birdwatching-In-Suffolk.asp
http://www.fatbirder.com/links_geo/europe/england_suffolk.html
http://www.freewebs.com/suffolkbirding/
http://www.birdsofbritain.co.uk/reserves/suffolk.asp
http://www.sogonline.org.uk/AboutSOG/tabid/71/Default.aspx
http://www.southwold-northroad.com/index.htm

Mixed media, hand made paper birds using recycled office waste pulps
made and signed by  Judith Chestnutt
£10 each + £2 post and packing. various designs. approx 20 cms.
01473735343

---