Hudsonian Godwit in Suffolk

                                               CATTAWADE in SUFFOLK

                                                                  17th July 2026

                                                

Hudsonian Godwit.

A trip to Cattawade in Suffolk on the 17th July proved very successful, we parked up at Cattawade picnic site and walked a short distance to view the splendid Hudsonian Godwit.

When we joined the assembled birders we were told the Hudsonian Godwit was present but had just walked out of sight behind a large grassy mound.

Thankfully after only a few minutes the Hudsonian Godwit reappeared and although distant at least we could see it, this bird was a welcome year tick for me & a lifer for AE, the heat haze made viewing difficult but thankfully the Hudsonian Godwit made a slow but steady pace walking done the side of the estuary  feeding as it went & getting closer by the minute.

Eventually it came quite close but heat haze was a problem as far as photos go but seeing this cracking bird was well worth the journey.

We saw it wing stretch on a couple of occasions and the black underwings were clearly seen.

Here are a selection of photos :

Hudsonian Godwit.

ABBERTON RESERVOIR 

Ruddy Shelduck

We called into Abberton Reservoir on the way home and had some superb views of nesting Cattle Egrets, plus it was great to see several Little & Great white Egrets, there was good numbers of Grey Heron & at least 5 Spoonbills.

Nesting Cattle Egrets 

There were very large numbers of Egyptian Geese & although not tickable there was  a stunning ♀ Ruddy Shelduck.

Ruddy Shelduck & Egyptian Geese