Feb half term

Merlin Snettisham RSPB

Taken from the first hide looking out into The Wash, sat on the nearest in the line of wooden posts. Part of a good raptor day, which also produced a ringtail Hen Harrier and Peregrine over Ken Hill Wood, along with a rather respectable 9 Common Buzzards!

Common Snipe Titchwell Zoo



Stock Dove Dersingham Bog (Taken from the cliffs) A great place to watch this attractive, and often overlooked species.



Barn Owl Snettisham Coastal Park





Glaucous Gull Cley

Significantly better light, than the previous attempt, though wing now considerably drooped (primaries dragging along shingle)

Despite waiting at letheringset Ford for a total of just over 12 hours (7 consecutive hours one day, and another 5 two days later) the Black- bellied Dipper failed to make an apearance, despite me rejecting the nearby Cattle Egret (a would be Norfok tick) and staying put at the Ford just in case. I know which one I, and probably evereyone else, would have rather seen!

A productive morning at Wolferton, produced a flock of 22 Crossbills, and a singing Woodlark (always a delight to hear on a misty morning) as well as the wintering Great Great Shrike, which was seen distantly on a couple of occasions. Elsewhere a displaying Goshawk, was my first for about four years, and the hedges at Flitcham were positively brimming with Bramblings, with at least 60 birds, coming down to feed in the strips of planted Sorghum. A pair of Hawfinch were seen in their usual paddock at lynford Arboreutumn, and the Black necked Grebe showed well in the reedbed pool and dithes at Brancaster. A very good bird for the North Norfolk Coast.


Sunday was spent with Will Bowell, attempting to get as many of the local wintering species as time and light would allow. First stop was Sandringham, where two Woodcocks were watched in the headlights of the car (one of which was allready in the middle of the road, and approached to within 10 feet!) A Barn Owl, flying around the main car park, surrounded by trees, was something of an unexpected sight, but had its "odd factor" eclipsed by a male Sparrowhawk, sat on a molehill by the side of the road, lit up by the headlights, at a distance of about 15 feet! A Woodlark was singing on arrival at Dersingham, and the Great Grey Shrike was located at distance, whilst the only Buzzard of the day was seen from the cliffs, in fields behind Wolferton village. The hedges at Flitcham once again, held good numbers of Brambling, along with four Grey Partridge, and at least four Tree Sparrow, though the main target (Little Owl) kept itself hidden. A brief stop at Sculthorpe Mill quickly secured Grey Wagtail, with a bird waiting on the edge of the main river, whilst just along the road, Sculthorpe Moor produced Water Rail, Marsh Tits, the days only Bullfinch, and another 35 Brambling feeding around the bird table below the reedbed hide. Two Treecreepers also showed well in the trees behind the old visitor centre.

Having missed Nuthatch on the birdtable at Sandringham, and with time still on our side (35 minutes ahead of schedule), a quick stop in Holkham park was in order. With the target quickly located in the trees just the other side of the entrance gate, we managed to arrive at Lady Annes drive, 15 minutes ahead of time, despite taking in an additional and unscheduled stop! A group of 70 Snow Buntings were flying over the western end of the grazing marsh, whilst three Stonechat in the fields, by the eastern end of the pines, offered compensation for a lack of visible Short eared Owls. A power walking sprint to Washington hide, provided two quality ticks, with a large female Peregrine sat in one of the fields, and a group of just over a dozen White fronted Geese, out towards the back of the marsh. In addition, the days only Kestrel put in an appearance, whilst Egyptian Goose proved almost as tricky! Common Scoter and Rock Pipit were also added, on an equally fast paced dash back along the saltmarsh.

At Brancaster the Black necked Grebe showed well in the ditches below the bank, and a Spotted Redshank was in the main tidal channel. Further along the coast, and a short way inland, Chosely proved a slight return to form (no doubt helped by the conversion of processing grain, after using the barns for storing sugarbeet) with eight Corn Buntings and around 20 Yellowhammers coming down to feed around the concrete pad. Fulmars were present in good numbers at Hunstanton, and at least one Velvet Scoter was offshore, with a group of around 40 Commons. Spirits took something of a knock, when a search of the sea off of Gore point failed to add anything new, other than a single Grey Plover on the beach. Backtracking along the coast, Thornham Harbour failed to add the hoped for Lapland Bunting, but added Ruff, and Ringed Plover, as well as a single Fieldfare along the entrance road (our only one of the day!

Titchwell proved to be very quiet, with the only additions coming in the form of Avocet, Black tailed Godwit, Goldeneye, and Mediterranean Gull. A search of the sea was even more dissapointing, with nothing new added to the list. With news of a male Lapland Bunting showing well at Thornham, we left Titchwell with just enough light, only to miss out on the bird by about 10 minutes. Knot was finally added to the tally, whilst a walk along the footpath, at the back of the reedbed provided the final tick of the day, with a group of calling Beared Tit.

108 species in Total with the following "easier" species escaping detection...

Divers
Grey Heron
Eider
Long tailed Duck
Kittiwake
Auks
Little Owl
Redwing
Cettis Warbler

A great day out, with some unbeatable company... Cheers!

Yorkshire LEOs

Two of a group of 5 birds, roosting at Fairburn Ings (click for bigger images!)

For me, the main attraction of Fairburn is the presence of Willow Tits, that can be more of less guaranteed, on the feeders outside the visitor centre - a sight that is becoming increasingly rare for us down in the south, where the species struggles to maintain a foothold in a number of the home county's. Hanging on in Norfolk, at a small number is sights, they are now very rare in Bedfordshire, and have more than likely been lost as a breeding species. Very similar to Marsh Tit, but generally not to tricky to tell apart if seem well, and for a long enough period of time. The thick "bull necked " appearance is particularly striking, if seen from the right angle, as is the pale wing pannel and the warm, peach coloured flanks. Always worth the effort to see.

Local Redwing

Cornish Snowy

Snowy Owl Zennor Cornwall

Another bird struck from the "want to see" list, and a damn fine one at that! Being an opportunity that was simply too good to miss, I made the journey down from Bedford train station Saturday morning, arriving at Carbis bay (just below St Ives) with enough light left for a look in the bay. As well as the usual mix of Shags, Kittiwakes, Guillemots and Razorbills, the bay also held 3 redhead Goosanders, an unexpected surprise, and the first time I have seen the species feeding on the sea, as oppose their usual freshwater haunts.

After missing the bird on Sunday (very windy) it was with great relief that I managed to locate it with relative ease the following day. After viewing from Sperris Quoit, for a couple of hours, I left the bird, and whent back along the road to view from the fence line (where the above photos were taken) that ran up the top of the hill, more or less opposite the Quoit.

The following day saw the bird at the very top of Trendrine Hill (opposite Sperris Quoit) with its head and body, just showing against the skyline. Allthough the views were relatively distant, there seemed little point in atempting to get any closer, given its position, just beyond the top of the ridge. Allthough people, stading near the top of the hill were very close, they were unable to see above the ridge that was in front of them, keeping the Owl hidden from view. Finally, after almost 3 hours of sitting (me not the Owl), it took flight and made its way accross the top of the hill before flying down the hillside, and landing in amongst the heather. Seing it perched , was one thing, but to see it in flight was something else (rather like watching a flying White tailed Eagle)..... it was HUGE.

Other highlights from around the area included three Purple Sandpipers, a very obliging Firecrest, and 4 Great Northern Divers at St Ives, plus a ringtail hen Harrier at Zennor, and a group of 3 Greenshank, at Lelant saltings (Not forgetting the 39 different Buzzards counted on the journey down!)

New year

Glaucous Gull

A very showy 1st year bird, on the beach at Salthouse (Note drooping left wing) taken in terrible light at close range. A nice start to the year list along with a couple of Hawfinch seen at nearby Felbrig Hall... a species not seen last year.



Snow Bunting

A tail less individual on the beach at Snettisham

Pale-bellied Brent Goose

A solitary juvenile feeding with Canada Geese on Ken Hill Marsh

Curlew

Taken in Thronham harbour

Just like my last Christmas visit to Norfolk, where I succeeded in seeing 3 path ticks (Goosander, Purple Sandpiper, and Water Pipit) I managed to hit lucky once again, with a further two species (Shag and Firecrest) added to my slowly increasing talley (now 212). Unfortunately, the Shag was just a fly through bird, heading south through the pits and refusing to stop, whilst the Firecrest was frustratingly elusive. After seeing it fly into a nearby Bramble, just below the inner bank, I was able to see enough colour on the back to be more or less convinced that it wasnt just another Goldcrest. Eventually it decided to come into full view where it could show off its colourfully striped head, before flitting into a nearby Privet, and dissapear out of sight for a further two hours. A quality Coastal Park tick, with only a handfull of known records.

Lincolnshire Butcher

Steppe Grey Shrike Grainthorpe Haven Lincolnshire

After having met its unfortunate demise at the hands of a hunting Sparrowhawk (with a clear preference for local, mega rare, and extremely showy vagrants) the new year begins with a gap in the year list, for the many birders who would have paid a visit to grainthorpe on January 1st. Hardly surprising when you consider the various factors that were stacked up aginst it, in favour of its premature departure....

Its obvious, its lazy, it sits on top of bushes/tripods, it contrasts with the surrounding fields, its a reasonable size/easy to catch, and its probably so stuffed full with meal worms that its almost incapable of flight!!

P.S. Did anyone else notice that there were Lapland Buntings, flying around calling or was it just us youngsters?

Cape Clear August 08

The boat journey across. Grey and dull going over but much better on the way back... calm sea, no rain and a lot more birds! A couple of Sootys in with the thousands of Manxies, several Puffins and 16 Black Guillemots, along with some very close Porpoise. No luck with the Minkie Whale unfortunately...



Seawatching from the cliffs of Bullig.


This is where I spent nearly all of my time seawatching, only getting out to the tip of Blannan on my last day, when the weather had improved and stopped raining. A somewhat treacherous route along the base of the cliffs, and the damp rocks on which I would have to walk on sounded like a bad combination... This did however give me the inspiration to go back there sometime in the near future. Though it may not have been quite as comfortable, the views of passing seabirds were simply amazing. Thankfully the Great Shearwaters that I saw from bullig (5 birds) were all close enough to provide me with a more than satisfactory tick of these truly wonderful birds... the next best thing to seeing an Albatross!

Now on the scale of probability, an albatross, would be just about possible, and a Feas Petrel would nowadays be hoped for, but when it comes to a trio of Yanks (at the end of August) most people would probably agree that you have more chance of seeing an Albatross. In most situations they are probably right... this year, however was different.

On returning from a morning seawatch, I was greeted to the news that Steve Wing (the Obs warden) had managed a brief view of what he assumed to be either an Icterine or Melodious Warbler. Given that I have only managed a 2 second flight view of an Icky (and missed out on about 5 others) I was hopeful we would nail it down to the above, finally crossing off the dastardly hippo as my long serving bogey bird. Despite searching for the remainder of the day, none of those looking were successful. Regardless of our failed quest, we both thought it likely that, given the unsuitable weather, the bird was still present on the island... we hadn't given up hope just yet.

Despite the brief initial views, doubts were soon being expressed. Several features were wrong for Icterine, whilst Melodious seemed far from a perfect fit... Though the time of year didn't seem too favourable for an American passerine, there was one option that seemed worryingly real. As quoted by a friend (who knew I was going at the end of August) "you never know, you might get Yellow Warbler..."

Spurred on by new ideas, we continued our search the following day, but despite visits in the morning and afternoon there was no sign of the bird. The following day (2 days after the original sighting) I returned from a seawatch to be greeted to the news that, the bird had been re found, it WAS a Yellow Warbler. After almost 3 hours of fruitless searching, I was finally able to breath a sigh of relief... I had eventually layed eyes on the bird. It promptly disappeared, just prior to the first arrival of birders, but after another anxious wait, gave itself up for all to see.

The following morning saw me back outside the garden, along with 3 other birders, all waiting for the Yellow Warbler to make its first appearance of the day. In the surrounding mist, Steve called out a Green Sandpiper, that had risen from the fields somewhere beyond the nearby houses, and was flying behind us, and away towards the lake. Wasting no time in looking, I quickly found myself faced with something totally unexpected. Clearly the bird in question, but with one major difference.. the rump was dark!! We all watched on in a state of shock, as it disappeared out of view, into the mist, and over the far corner of the lake. Standing in disbelief, all had to eventually face up to the facts; we had started with three candidates and had just eliminated two.

Despite the lake being a reasonable size, there was very little of it that could be described as wader friendly. After walking alongside the Northern shoreline (the only part that appeared evenly remotely suitable) we had failed to relocate the bird, and it was decided that we should split up to try and cover all the small pockets of potential habitat. After another unsuccessful walk spirits were dropping. With most of the likely spots already covered, it was looking doubtful that we would ever see our, known to be mega, again. After meeting up at the corner of Central bog, it was agreed that three of us would check the damp ground up on the Dotterel fields, whilst Brian would carry on along the edge of the bog. After only a few minutes apart, it was clear that our luck had changed. Shouts from below told us what we had wanted to hear all morning; Brian had, we assumed, re found our prize. Running down the hillside we arrived at the corner of the bog to be greeted by the biggest shock of our lives. Not the Sandpiper we had all come to expect, but another American passerine... a NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH! After losing the bird against the wall, and embracing several celebratory hugs, I could see there was something waiting for us on the opposite side of the wall. At last, we were able to lay eyes on our intended quarry... a Solitary Sandpiper.

All three birds stayed of site for another three days, and were widely twitched by visitors from all directions, on several occasions, both the Sandpiper and the Waterthrush could be seen in the same telescope view! Equally as remarkable as the birds themselves, was the fact that visitors could see an Irish 2nd (Northern Waterthrush), 3rd (Yellow Warbler) and 4th (Solitary Sandpiper),together on the same island, on the same day! Remarkably, Irelands 4th Yellow Warbler appeared just accross the water at nearby Mizen Head the morning after our bird was finally nailed down. Unfortunately, I was able to break my camera on the floor of the pub, the night after seeing the Yellow Warbler, hence the lack of any further pictures...