NGB - 'Norfolk = Great Birding'

I've not been much of a social birder since I moved away from the area of my hometown RSPB group, and rarely had much to do with birders my age at any time.  Not really through choice I hasten to add, though I've certainly enjoyed the freedom of birding alone.

 

So, when I got the chance to join with the Next Generation Birders on a weekend in Norfolk, I put in a great deal of effort to get the time off work, and sort out accommodation, in order to go.

 

After coming up to King's Lynn late on Friday night (picking up Amy Robjohns, Liam Curson, and Ollie Simms on the way), we were out first light on Saturday to stake out Golden Pheasant at the famous Wolferton triangle.  Despite seeding the verges, there was no sign, with only a calling Brambling by way of compensation.

 

We gave them some time to appear, and popped down the road to Roydon Common, a site I've not been to before. 

 

 

We were hoping to see the Shrike, but despite a report that it was still present, we failed.  We, being a group of 13 or so of us.

There was little of interest here otherwise, other than the nice New Forest/Thursley Common-esque landscape.

We headed back to Wolferton, only to immediately come across the hoped-for Golden Pheasant. Clearly it appreciated the peace and quiet away from us!

Onto Hunstanton and a brief look from the cliffs there.

As you can see, we were all captivated by the tick of Fulmar!

Holme golf course was the next location, and on arrival we flushed a pair of Grey Partridge, and had a Red-throated Diver fly past.  Eventually, the hoped-for flock of 9 Snow Bunting made an appearance.  Just before leaving, I got a glimpse of a Long-tailed Duck landing behind the dunes. Never saw it again frustratingly!

We moved on to Thornham Channel...

...where a nice flock of Twite showed close-to.

Titchwell is a must-visit whilst in the area, and as always, it produced the goods.  A Water Pipit was immediately found on the freshmarsh, and a very distant Great Northern Diver was on the sea - much rarer here than back home.

A quick nip into Choseley guaranteed us Corn Bunting, and a look at Burnham Overy found us the first of many Barn Owl.

Another site it's illegal to bypass whilst in north Norfolk is Cley, and our determination to go was heightened even more by news of an American Wigeon.  While this turned out to be phony, we did however have other goodies to look for, with a distant White-fronted Goose, and the overwintering Garganey, showing to us.

After a failed attempt at wild swans, we headed to the roost at Stubb's Mill, Hickling Broad.  We were worried we'd be too late, but as it happens it was very good timing. 

A male Hen Harrier was a fantastic sight as always, along with 2 ringtails.  A few Chinese Water Deer were around too.

We eventually got onto 2 rather elusive Crane nearby, but as the sun set, we were worried that would be it from our main target.

But, just as we were leaving in almost complete darkness, we heard the evocative and unmistakable sound of a large flock of them coming in to roost.  32 to be precise - the largest number for a while there apparently.  This video is a documentation of the moment (and sounds), rather than the visuals!

I finished the day on the personal total of exactly 100 species - by quite a margin my most prolific day ever.

After a night in Norwich, Sunday dawned, and my birthday - would it be fitting as a birthday treat?  We started off at the promising-looking Breydon Water - another first-visit for me.

We were rather hoping to see the Richard's Pipit that had been around all winter, but there was initially no sign. 

113 Avocet were on the water (yes, I bothered to count them), and I heard a Spotted Redshank, which later showed well to all.

As we approached the limit of the Pipit's favoured range, a bird was flushed, and flew off into the distance.  During it's rather long flight, it joined flocks of Skylark, and then Meadow Pipit, allowing a perfect comparison.  We concluded it could only really have been the Richard's Pipit! Good thing it wasn't a lifer!

We moved down the road to Halvergate Marshes...

 

Where, as I experienced 2 weeks ago, a Rough-legged Buzzard was immediately in view.  Although others were disappointed to see it sat around, I enjoyed seeing it like this, being the opposite behaviour to the Jevington bird.

 

 After that, I was incompetent in not seeing the Bewick's Swan flock that everyone else was looking at, at a nearby site.  Then it was on to Thorpe Green, Norwich, to twitch a species I see every day.

 

Even so, it was showing rather well...

 

I'm being unnecessarily facetious really, cause it was nice to admire the 1st-winter Mediterranean Gull so close.

 

We then moved south to the Breckland of Suffolk, and the curious site of Santon Downham. 

Curious, cause it seemed to be a small reedbed in the middle of a woodland.  Nonetheless, it did hold the species we'd missed the day before, a Great Grey Shrike.  A close-up view revealed scaly underparts (indicating a 1st-winter) - not something I can remember noticing before.

A site which is always worth a visit is Lynford Arboretum (despite my previous visits being Two-barred Crossbill dips).  The main target was elusive, with only a Brambling the compensation once again. 

Luckily though, two Hawfinch were eventually seen round the usual paddocks.

We then briefly popped into a site for Goshawk, but failed, only seeing a Red Kite of note.  A short-tailed passerine I glimpsed was probably a Woodlark, but I didn't get enough on it.

Our penultimate stop was a housing estate in Mildenhall...

...where a Waxwing showed beautifully - always a pleasure.

The rather fitting finale was a dusk visit to Lakenheath Fen...

...where a Great White Egret was flying around.  But, the highlight was the still conditions, red sunset, and the sight and sound of thousands of Jackdaw and Rook coming in to roost above our heads. Mind-blowing! 

 

Personal trip total: 120 species.

 

A wonderful weekend then, and it was great to meet all the brilliant young birders.  A big thanks to them all for the great company, but particularly James Shergold and Jake Gearty, who did most of the organisation. I look forward to the next one guys!

 

Mmm. Maybe I should start birding Portland again? I almost forgot! ;-)

 

I suppose it's back to being a birding-loner once again. :-(

Pacific Time!

Two and a half weeks have passed since my last post, and there have been some humdingers of birding days in that time. Sorry about the length once again - must try and post more often.  Where do I start?

Well, I suppose I better relate details of the so far rather neglected patch birding adventures.  On the 16th I managed a wave of ticks which included a Red-necked Grebe and a distant Black-throated Diver in the harbour.  

I also spent the evening looking for Owls around the Verne, surprisingly hearing a Little, and seeing the hoped-for Barn (in complete darkness!).

This was also the day I discovered I was going to be whisked into the world of land management, as the main mind behind transforming a churchyard into a wildlife garden. Watch out for more developments in my next post.

On the morning of the 20th, I made the unexpected discovery of a pair of Wigeon in Portland Harbour - this was the last of the dabbling ducks to fall last year.  As a result of my less-than-enthusiastic patching so far, I'm currently 8 species behind on last year.

Later on that day, I headed back to Surrey, and I had a quick look at Tice's Meadow on the way, flushing 2 Yellowhammer from by the mound, seeing a Green Sandpiper on the stream, and a load of Fieldfare attempting to roost in the reedbed at dusk - an interesting observation.

That weekend, Amy Robjohns ( https://birdingaroundhampshire.wordpress.com/ ) and I were hoping to do a bird race (along with Josie Hewitt) around the south of England (in which I was hoping to trash my personal previous day record of 85), but that sadly fell through. 

To make up for it, on the 25th myself and Amy embarked on quite a trek all round Sussex, seeking its best birds.

First of all, we went after one of Amy's bogey-birds, Grey Partridge, at The Burgh.  As in previous visits, they were calling as soon as we left the car!  The other highlights here were a Red Kite, and a small herd of Bewick's Swan on a very distant wet field in the valley below.

We moved quite a bit more to the East, and to the tiny village of Jevington, near Eastbourne.  On arrival, the superb Rough-legged Buzzard was immediately lording it over its winter territory, in great light.

I took the opportunity to put my new video camera through its paces.

After that triumph, we headed back west, this time to an old stomping ground of mine of Littlehampton (Well, I lived there for only 6 months). 

It took a bit of a wait, but eventually the 2nd-winter Kumlien's Gull soared into view, before quickly disappearing.  It gave us the runaround a bit, but we eventually saw it pretty well, though it never landed. Not easy to get any images in this case.

We moved to the north-west, and the heathland site of Iping Common.  I knew how difficult (mobile) our quarry could be, so imagine my surprise when I spotted the Great Grey Shrike as soon as we got to the spot it was supposed to be.

 

 

We ended the day at West Dean Woods, though despite a good view of the regular Little Owl pair, and some vocal Marsh Tit, the place was a tad disappointing, with no Hawfinch. With the luck we got from the rest of the day though, we really shouldn't complain! 4 out of 5 - a right result.

 

 

Yesterday, I joined the Next Gen Birders at Blashford Lakes.  We largely spent the time dipping Ferruginous Duck at Kingfisher Lake, dipping Great Grey Shrike at nearby Ibsley Common....

...dipping Great White Egret at Ivy Lake, and finally, dipping Ring-billed Gull in the gull roost from Goosander hide...

...On top of that, Joe Stockwell and myself had earlier dipped the Poole Harbour Smew in addition! Thinking about it, I suppose I'd used up all my luck the previous weekend! 

However, it was a testament to the company I was with that I enjoyed it enormously.  This is why I'm putting in a big effort to try and go on more of these such events. P.S. We did see the Long-tailed Duck ;-)


Yesterday, I embarked on a journey to Cornwall for a second attempt at the Pacific Diver in Mount's Bay, this time with Keith Pritchard ( http://birdingportlanduk.blogspot.com ).  On the way, things were looking dodgy for a while...

 

...luckily this was a very localised happening, on Bodmin Moor.

 

Once there, we struggled in strong wind and sunlight.  But, we eventually got on a promising-looking bird in the middle of the bay.  We moved round to the Mount itself...

 

 

Part of this walk involved stepping onto the rather lunar-landscape adjacent...

 

From here, I spotted the bird again not far offshore.  The views obtained left us in no doubt. Such dark upperparts, and such a stubby little bill!  Impossible to get any sort of image in the hoolie sadly.

After that triumph, we moved onto nearby Falmouth, and to the tiny inlet of Bream Cove.  A nice spot...

...with interesting geology (this shot isn't on its side by the way)...

...though sadly, it was King Eider-less.

Nonetheless, it had been a successful and enjoyable day.

What next? Well, a bit of patch birding beckons (finally), and then it's off to Norfolk for the weekend with NGB! Going to be cracking I'm sure!

Norfolk-ing Way - Part 1 (Days 1 + 2)

I've just come back from 5 days in Norfolk with the RSPB Guildford Group (though I largely did my own thing, as I slept in my campervan).  The place never ceases to amaze, and it always produces the goods.

Day 1 (13/10)

The group were scheduled to meet at Welney at midday, so I thought it logical to leave Surrey early, and go for the Two-barred Crossbills that have been delighting all-comers at Lynford Arboretum, which is only 20 miles from Welney.

The weather was pretty much awful all the way there, and as I arrived, it didn't look like it was going to change.  No Crossbills at all were encountered in my first hour or so by the main entrance, and that's hardly surprising in these conditions.

 

A couple of Common Crossbill did eventually appear, but merely as fly-overs.  I got bored eventually, so I took a little walk round.  It was clear that a load of Redwing had arrived, with birds everywhere.  I soon found some Marsh Tit near the car park, and I was entertained by a pair of Coal Tit chasing around, before grappling with each other on the floor.  I wish I was quicker with my camera setup!  Also Nuthatch and Sparrowhawk around.  A nice spot.

 

Onto Welney, and luckily the weather had improved markedly.  On the way to the main observatory, I noticed an outside light with a few moths around it.  There was a Sallow, plus lots of Large Wainscot.

 

 

The best though was only my second Green-brindled Crescent.

 

 

Now with the rest of the group, the observatory itself had all the expected suspects in view, and I was also able to find a rather out-of-place Rock Pipit which made a brief visit to one of the islands.  A large flock of c60 waders flying around had me confused at first, till I realised they were all Ruff!  Never seen so many together before.  The ID was clinched by seeing a particularly pale white-headed male amongst them.  A couple of Marsh Harrier showed well, and a distant flock of Golden Plover flew by. 

 

I went off to look from the other hides, but there wasn't a great deal new.  Though it was great to see the herd of Whooper Swan coming in off the fields for a wash, right over my head!

 

In the group of 70 odd birds, there were only 4 juveniles (though not all the flock had returned yet).

 



 

On arrival at the last hide, I was greeted by the site of 2 Crane flying off and over the far bank (thanks Christine).  We had earlier been told that they have been present for a while, though had not been seen today!  They were obviously keeping their necks down.

 

The evening meeting at the group's hotel wasn't until dark, so I wound my way north, stopping at Dersingham Bog.  With all the Great Grey Shrikes on the coast recently, surely one would filter through to this site?  Well, a bird could have done, but the weather was in no state for me to see it!  The only highlight here was seeing my first Pink-footed Goose flock of the trip pass over.

 

 

I'd never had a proper look round the site before, and have to say it feels extremely like Thursley Common (and it was equally as bleak as Thursley can be too!).

 

 

I got to the hotel car park at Old Hunstaton still with plenty of light left, but with the weather still grim.  I took advantage of my van, and used it like a hide to look out onto the beach.  Plenty of waders down there including Bar-tailed Godwit, Knot, and Sanderling.  I was looking further out to sea when a Tern flew through my scope view, over the beach.  It was clearly an immature 'Commic' Tern, and the lack of black in the wing, buoyant flight, and short bill, all pointed to it being an Arctic Tern.  My latest ever, and a great end to the day.



 

Day 2 (14/10)

 

The day before, an Arctic Redpoll had been reported from Wells Woods, which is a lifer.  So, I decided that this should be my morning expedition. 

 

As I opened my van door, I could hear a Brambling calling.  Then I walked round the back, and flushed a Crossbill from the hedge!  I knew I was in for a good morning!

 

There were indeed birds everywhere.  Loads of Redwing, Brambling, Crossbill, Chaffinch, Siskin, plus a few Fieldfare and Redpoll.  Sadly the latter were almost all fly-overs, and I only got decent views of two birds feeding in a Birch tree, which were definitely Lessers.

 

I wandered along the main path, and found the newly arrived and clearly exhausted birds to be extremely approachable.  Look at this Brambling for instance (using my phone camera hand held, with no zoom).

 

 

 

Most of my previous sightings of rarer leaf-warblers have been in tit flocks, so when I came across one near the Dell, I made sure I gave them careful attention.  Lo and behold, I had no trouble finding a Pallas's Warbler.  The 'Eastern Sprite' showed brilliantly, though my video (later on in the post, included with Yellow-browed Warbler) doesn't do it justice.  Whilst I was watching the bird, I heard a Yellow-browed Warbler call in the distance!  That's Norfolk for you.

 

The first group visit of the day was to the fantastic area of Holme Dunes.  The plan was to look from the hides on the NWT reserve, but when we heard there was a Great Grey Shrike in the dunes to the east of the pines, we headed there.

 

The pines themselves were absolutely heaving with Robin and Goldcrest, which had clearly arrived overnight.  I was surprised there weren't any Firecrest with them.  On arrival at the dunes, the Great Grey Shrike was immediately in view, sitting on a Rose twig on the saltmarsh, and went on to perform pretty well.  Although it was a shame that we apparently missed the moment it caught a small bird in the bushes!

 

 

 

A small flock of Eider were on the sea, and the ever present Marsh Harrier showed well as usual.



I had heard that a Bluethroat had been around the Bird Observatory yesterday and this morning, but it was apparently very elusive, so I didn't have much enthusiasm for checking it out.  However, we bumped into a few people who told us it was showing more frequently, so that's where we headed next. 

We hadn't been long there, when someone picked out the Bluethroat sitting on a Bramble bush the other side of the Serpentine, and I eventually got on it, though rather distant!  A Robin and a Blackcap came and sat alongside it at one point.  It then flew off out of view.

Later, I was able to see it again much closer as it fed in some Willow carr, but it was badly obscured by braches!  It was a young male, as was confirmed by the trapping of the bird just after I left!

On the way back along the approach road, I stopped at an area of Sycamores that had held a Yellow-browed Warbler earlier in the morning.  There were a lot of Goldcrest in the area once again, plus a few Chiffchaff.  Eventually, I was able to find the Yellow-browed Warbler on the edge of the trees, and as the sun came and went, it showed well.  Sorry, the footage is really quite appalling (first half is the Wells Pallas's Warbler)!

 

The final stop of the day was to Snettisham.  Just as with the last two times I've been here at this time of year, the high tide was too low to force the waders off into the lagoons, which was a shame.   I even took my bike along so I could effortlessly get down to the far hide, only to be greeted with Greylag Goose, and not a lot else!

 

 

 

However, this was more than made up by watching one of two Peregrine, chasing a Dunlin about relentlessly in Merlin-like fashion for some minutes, before eventually dispatching it with great agility and determination.  Great to watch!

 

The other top sightings were a Great Skua which lumbered it's way along the shoreline looking for opportunities, several Avocet, my only Wheatear of the week, and a very distant Arctic Skua chasing a Sandwich Tern.

 

Finally, I rushed east to try and see the Wells Siberian Stonechat before dusk, only to find no sign of it.  It was believed to have already gone to roost.

 

More from the rest of the trip to come.