Finally some Migrants

News of a Hoopoe on the edge of my patch was to good to ignore, so this morning dad and I headed for Mundesley cliffs. No sign of the Hoopoe, I suspect the news was released late with the bird in a private garden. Lots of other migrants were about finally making it seem like spring.

First walking towards the village it was clear hindrines were on the move we had over 30 Swallow, 6 House Martin and 2 Sand Martin all passing north. Checking the paddocks I spotted 6 Wheatear and while counting them a Short eared Owl got up out of the long grass just a few feet away. We continued up to the lifeboat shed with a large flock of Linnet, numerous Skylark and  small group of Meadow Pipit flitting about. Back towards the gas terminal I heard a Ring Ouzel and eventually located two on the cliff face. Another 7 Wheatear were in the fields and a Tree Pipit flew over. Walking back to the car 2 or 3 Whitethroat called from the brambles. Back at my parents a Willow Warbler seemed out of place in the two small rose bushes in their front garden.

Stopping get off at dad's allotment for some greens on my way home I found the two best birds of the day, a pair of Lesser Spotted Woodpecker perched above the car before flying off calling to each other.

Common Lifer

We have been spending the Easter weekend in South Wales with family and although early in the Spring I decided I was worth a walk out from the house to look for Wood Warbler, the commonest bird missing from my new life list. I saw them when much younger but not listing.

I walked an nice area of woodland by the river soon seeing Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and hearing a rather vocal Song Thrush. I then heard a Wood Warbler,a called I'd brush up on. Dispite the trees still being a bit sparse of leaves it took me a while to locate this little lemon gem high in the canopy. I walked further onto an area of scruby heath which I suspect was old slag from the local mines. Here I disturbed a Ring Ouzel and saw my first Whitethroat of the year as well as various other common species all in spring song. I was perplexed by one call I didn't recognise which turned out to be the Ring Ouzel I've only heard alert and contact calls in Norfolk.

On Saturday dispenser some drizzly rain we all went for tea, cake and a short walk. The wildlife was limited but we all enjoyed watching two Dipper displaying and then feeding from the bridge.

Sunday stroll

Last Sunday I visited Sheringham Park for the second time in a week as we meet friend staying nearby before having lunch. Being overcast it was much quitter both in terms of birds and butterflies. But I did get some really nice views of a Firecrest by the main path. During the week I saw my dirt Orange tip of the year and a Red kite over while at dad's allotment.

Today being my only day off this week I planned to continue with making a playhouse for my daughter at home. We did make time for a short walk at Walcott where 2 Sandwich Tern and a Little Tern briefly alighted on the groyne before continuing West.  2 Meadow Pipit appeared to come in off the sea, a White Wagtail was nearby and offshore a Skua was mobbing 2 further Sandwich Tern but with only binoculars it was most like an Arctic Skua. The Kentish Plover would have been nice to see but being mid afternoon, Easter holidays and in Great Yarmouth I decided just to get the paint brush out! A good decision it turns out as the bird disappeared for a number of hours.

Mothering Sunday Weekend

On Saturday I met mum and dad for an early mothers day lunch in Bacton and then had a sunny jaunt along the river at Ebridge.  Not a lot was along the river but 2 Red Kite circled overhead with two Common Buzzard. My first Red Kite of the year. Numerous Chiffchaff called along with a vocal Yellowhammer.

On Sunday Laura, Agnes and I had a picnic in Sheringham Park, somewhere I haven't visited since a child. Near the information center I spotted a female Brambling the only bird of note. The common birds were numerous in their song and while atop the Gazebo watch tower a Nuthatch called within a few feet at eye level. But was too quick for a photo. I also saw my first butterflies of the year two Brimstone and a Small Tortoiseshell.

Moving onto Salthouse to feed the ducks I scanned the marshes for early migrants without luck but driving on towards Cley a Swallow was on the wires another first for the year.

Railway Woods Norwich

Walking to work via the River Wensum and Railway Woods proved very productive as well as a pleasant way to start the day. The wood was alive with bird song calling Chiffchaff, Wren, Robin, Blue Tit, Great Tit and Blackbird making up most of the chorus. I heard and finally saw a singing Willow Warbler,  most likely my earliest record and then also saw my first Blackcap of the year. But the strangest bird of all was a Red-legged Partridge sitting on the woodland path before flying over the river into the reclamation yard a very unexpected city bird. Between the sluice gates and anchor brewery bridge a pair of Kingfisher whizzed back and forth and at least 3 Grey Wagtail bobbed along the waters edge. I guess it's now time to start work.

Sunny Morning Patch

After having her breakfast Agnes and I went for our first ever patch walk together, with her on my back we saw quite a bit in just a short walk. We walked from home around the quiet lanes behind the house. By the railway paddock we saw 6 fieldfare, 2 mistle thrush and a song thrush. We also heard the first of at least 5 singing chiffchaff. Not far away I saw my first yellowhammer of the year, blasting out a tune atop a tree and a large flock of c.50 linnet. We didn't walk beyond the hump back bridge but from this view point we watched a otter in the river, the pair of little grebe that bred last year had returned, a pair of bullfinch were nice to see and I heard my first willow warbler of the year. Back at home 4 buzzard circled above the house before drifting West.

Posting again!

It's almost two years since my last post and I'm not quite sure I can place all the blame on my 16 month old daughter, but now she's old enough to join me hopefully I'll get out more. So let's start blogging again ready for the spring migration.

February has been quiet with a trip to Felbrigg with James my only trip out. All the normal species seen but nice too get out birding with an old friend. Over the last week I have tried to do a bit of pre work birding. Finally seeing my first barn owl of the year at Coltishall along with a little egret. Along the Wensum in the city centre I saw 3 Kingfisher and 2 Grey Wagtail on Friday. Yesterday I caught up with the Waxwing on Union Street and this morning detoured via the cathedral see the Peregrine on the spire.

February Update

With the days starting to lengthen I can once again look out for birds while travelling to work. On the 3^rd while walking along the River Wensum, I saw my first Kingfisher and Grey Wagtail of the year, and I have seen the wagtails several mornings since.
 By the 6^th Feb Gary and I had waited long enough and gave in to the callings of the Harlequin Duck in Aberdeen. Leaving North Walsham at Midnight we arrived at Seaton Park in Aberdeen around 9.15am after a short breakfast stop near Glasgow. Following the river Don upstream we were soon watching Goosander and some displaying Goldeneye. And after negotiating around a building site found the Harlequin Duck preening further upstream. We watched the bird at times diving at quite close quarters for around an hour before heading off through the Caingorms in search of some specialist Scottish wildlife. Looking at the map Glen Muick looks a good place to try as we have little knowledge of sites in the southern Cairngorms. We soon saw Raven, Red Grouse, Dipper, Hooded Crow, Mountain Hare and Red Deer. Not only were the views stunning but we also stumbled upon a Black Grouse lek to round it off. Driving back via Glen Shee ski centre we soon found a group of Ptarmigan and 40 + Red Grouse close to the road, despite the large numbers of people taking advantage of the snowy conditions. We then started the long drive home.

On the 8^th Laura and I had a stroll around Felbrigg NT before a welcome hot soup in the cafe. Not a lot to report from the lake and meadows, the usual tits and finches, a group of c10 Skylark, 4 Mistle Thrush and a Snipe by the inlet stream.

Driving to work on the 18^th a Woodcock flew through the lights outside the house as we waited, and on the 19^th a Barn Owl was quartering the meadows just over the Coltishall Bridge. We are also now returning home in the semi-dusk and on 24^th a total of 5 Woodcock were seen on the route home.

On the 27^th after pottering at home I decided to walk a little bit of the patch but it was 11.00 before I headed off towards Pigney’s Wood. The Paston way along the railway line was rather quiet bar a few Blue and Great Tit. Behind the ‘Bluebell Wood’ quite a few Blackbird were about along with 3 Song Thrush. There’s been quite a bit of work at Pigney’s since my last visit with an area of Heathland creation, lots of work around the scrapes and the river has been dug out again. Because of this everywhere seemed muddy and few birds were about. The highlight of the walk was a flock of thrushes in a horse paddock off Little London with 10+ Redwing, 4 Mistle Thrush, 2 Song Thrush and numerous Blackbird.

Driving back from Cromer on 28^th along a short stretch of road we saw a Kestrel, 2 Buzzard, Sparrowhawk and a Peregrine, quite a raptor fest. I also spotted my first Grey Partridge of the year in the same area.

January Update

January proved to be almost as quiet as December, the only upside was that everything was new for 2015. As always Gary and I started the year with a days listing on January the first providing 103 species, and I also went for a couple of walks locally but very ventured far. 

January 1^st proved to be a rather testing day, arriving at Titchwell for our normal start time we had to wait over 30 minutes for the light to improve to start seeing birds rather than trying to ID silhouettes. Having already spotted a Robin and Blackbird in the dark at North Walsham, we managed an additional 67 species at Titchwell despite the gloom. A Peregrine low along the beach spotted by Paul and a male Hen Harrier spotted by me where probably the highlights, although i did see Spotted Redshank a bird i managed to miss all of 2014. Choseley in recent times has been quiet and a Red-legged Partridge was all we added here. Thornham also proved to be a one bird stop, but it was the hoped for Twite. Calling in at home we added Snow Bunting and Stonechat in the dunes, before finding some thrushes and garden birds near the toilet block to take the total up to 80.

Snettisham was quite a long walk, with the target, Black-necked Grebe and Glaucous Gull near the far end, but an additional 8 species where added while there. At Roydon we added three species but not the hoped for Great Grey Shrike (turns out we went to the wrong end of the common). Flitcham was alive with a massive mixed flock around the farm and hedgerows, from which we picked Brambling, Tree Sparrow, Yellowhammer, Marsh Tit, Jay and GSWood to take the tally to 97.

The light had been poor all day so we decided to ditch the usual route back towards East Norfolk and to finish at Stubb Mill, opting to stay in North Norfolk. A Tundra Bean Goose to Brancaster edged to total towards 100. But it was Barn Owl at Gun Hill and White-fronted Goose at Holkham that got us to the ton barrier. We finished off by watching the roost from Stiffkey Campsite, adding Short-eared Owl and Sparrowhawk. Desperatelytrying to increase the list we looked for an Egyptian or Canada Goose by car headlight at Salhouse but unsurprisingly failed! So the total was 102, well not quite as driving back through Northrepps a Tawny Owl was perched above the road.

While missing Pied Wagtail on the 1^st Jan i wasn’t quite expecting one to turn up at work. Well on my desk to be more precise, it had someone got into the shop and spend around 30 minutes perched on and around the beds and wardrobes near my desk, before leaving via the windows I had opened.

On the 5^th/6^th I spent time helping dad clear firewood from a private wood near North Walsham, skeins of geese came over both days and we flushed a couple of Woodcock, but the woods were surprisingly quite.

On 21^st walked part of the patch for the first time in 2015, wandering to Antingham Pond and back. The fields behind the industrial estate have been planted with mustard and walking the footpath, Blackbird, Song Thrush and Redwing all flew out along with a couple of Yellowhammer. From Lyngate to Antingham Pond it was rather quiet, with a few tits and finches; however I did add Bullfinch and Siskin to the year list with the latter in the Alder by the pond. Back near the mustard field nearly home I then counted 16 Yellowhammer perch on the wires, a pleasant end to the walk.

The 27^th I was again clearing firewood but the woods were much livelier, again some geese passed over and also a Red Kite. 2/3 Great Spotted Woodpecker were calling but the bird was the day was a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, an all too rare occurrence now. In amongst the mixed tit and finch flock I also saw 2 Goldcrest and my first Treecreeper of the year.

Winter Update

As I haven’t posted for a couple of months, I thought I should post a winter update before the New Year arrives.

As my lack of posts suggests there hasn’t really been an awful amount to report, poor weather, overtime at work and Christmas all getting in the way of any meaningful birding. In fact most of the highlights of the last few months have been chance encounters while travelling to work.

 

Most mornings I walk a short section of the River Wensum between Barn Road and Duke Street, and most days I spot either a Kingfisher or Grey Wagtail. In early November I started to regularly see a dog Otter in the area fishing just upstream of the sluice gates and on the 10th November 3 Otter were feeding/playing together.

 

 

On a couple of occasions (when it’s been drier) I have walked a longer route from Milecross Road to Duke Street taking in the opposite bank to Wensum Park and the ‘Railway Woods’ by Halfords. On 23rd October I was surprised to see a Mallard with 6 newly hatched ducklings in tow, 2 of which I saw again a few weeks later. As the weather finally got colder in late November I saw Fieldfare and Redwing on this extended route and on the 8th December a Firecrest was in the ‘Railway Wood’. Upto 4 Little Grebe have also started to become regular on the river. On very wet mornings I have walked a more direct route along Magdelen Street, but have still got to see the Peregrine around the Cathedral and Grey Wagtail from the bridge.

 

Erratic Christmas working hours have also seen me some days taking the bus to work rather than a lift, and from the upper deck of the bus I have been able to scrutinise the roadside fields. A flock of Golden Plover near Sco Ruston held a very unusual addition, an Oystercatcher that was obviously very confused. On the 13th December I also saw 4 Common Crane flying over Westwick from the bus. We have also seen a Barn Owl on a couple of occasions not far from Coltishall while driving home. The commute has also featured a few mammals as well in recent months, a Stoat at Croswright, a couple of Weasel, a handful of foxes and numerous deer. Just outside North Walsham Red Deer some weeks have been a daily occurrence, but also Munjac, Roe Deer and Chinese Water Deer have been seen, mainly from the bus while driving the winding back lanes between the villages.

Apart from a cluster of early Autumn migrants the second half of the year has been rather quite for me, a few good birds have been missed, and my normal urge to get out birding seems to waned or at least been more easily distracted. That said I have still managed to add 6 species to my Norfolk List, the highlights being the Great Knot a Breydon, Black-headed Bunting at West Runton and Spectacled Warbler at Burnham Overy , which due to its crippling views has to be my favourite. I also finally caught up with a Red-rumped Swallow. Further afield I have added 7 species to my British List, the 4 fore mentioned, American Coot, Yellow-rumped Warbler and Short-toed Eagle.

 

Twite A Day

With the heavy winds over night I felt that although most birds here already would depart there was a good chance something exciting might turn up, so I caught the train to Sheringham at 7.45 with a plan to then bus onto Cley.

With the Coasthopper now running a winter service I had about an hour to sea watch, the shelter was pretty full, and I was told I had missed a few Pomarine Skua, Bonxie and 3 Short-eared Owl. Gannet were still streaming through and I didn't have to wait long for a couple of distant Bonxie and then a Pomarine Skua a little closer. A couple of Little Gull drifted for a while offshore and just before I had to leave for the bus a Grey Phalarope was called flying east. A few bonus birds considering hadn't realised the change in bus timetables.

After jamming onto the Grey Phalarope I really though the rest of my day was going to be disappointing as cresting the ridge near Kelling, from the bus I could see that most of Salthouse and Cley Marshes were flooded, due to last nights high tides! From the main cluster of hides ducks were the order of the day, in fact the only waders were a flock of Godwit and 2 lonely Avocet. Large numbers of Wigeon and Teal are no doubt new arrivals, these were joined by good numbers of Pintail, Shoveler and a handful of Pochard. On Billy's Wash a Peregrine was repeatedly sending the Wigeon and a flock of Golden Plover into the air. Brent Geese are already back in reasonable numbers but I didn't see any Pinkies all day. Walking back from the hides a Cetti's was calling and two Chinese Water Deer emerged from the reeds onto the boardwalk only feet away, they soon scarpered. A couple of Stonechat were near the entrance to Beach Road, and a lonely Ringed Plover was in a flooded meadow. The Golden plover had settled in the Eye Field as large numbers of Meadow Pipit seemed to be filtering through west, during the day a had numerous groups of c10 and a couple of 50+. North Scrape was the quietest I have seen it with only a few Wigeon present. Between here and East Bank I followed a small flock of birds, which once they settled turned out to be 14 Twite, defiantly find of the day. Apologies for the poor digi-scoped effort, it was still very blustery.

Following the Twite behind Arnold's (very flooded) Marsh, I decided to walk onto Salthouse. The Iron Road was flooded so I walked further on, but the next track was flooded, Beach Road also looked like it was flooded halfway down so I continued East towards Kelling Water Meadows. This was not entirely fruitless as a late Whinchat was at Salthouse Little Eye. A brief stop at Grambrough Hill turned up 2 Goldcrest and a Wren. A Rock Pipit was on the ridge just before KWM, but the Water Meadows themselves held nothing of note with little mud exposed. Stomping on past Kelling Hard and onto Weybourne I only added a Robin and Reed Bunting to the days tally. With aching feet and 6.5 km of shingle behind me I jumped on the bus, followed by the train and went home.

Saturday Patch Migrants

After missing a text from Gary asking if i wanted to go to North Norfolk on Saturday morning, come the afternoon I had to go look for some birds. After doing various jobs it was getting quite late so Laura and I headed over to Paston Cliffs for a little look. I was surprised by the amount of birds we could hear, but as the wind had picked up locating them in the scrub wasn't easy. There seemed to have been a fall of Robin as they accounted for most of the ticking we heard, c20 Robin, 5+ Goldcrest and a few Wren where in the bushes. A few thrushes came up from the cliff/off the sea with 5 Redwing and 2 Fieldfare seen. Quite a few Meadow Pipit seemed to be heading South, along with c10 Pied Wagtail and with them 2 Lapland Bunting flew through, I found them again on the deck further along the cliffs. Looking out to sea despite the land wind a few Gannet drifted through distantly and a Shearwater sp. probably Sooty Shearwater wasn't too far out.

Finally Birding

Since mid-September a raft of Westerly winds have seen migration in Norfolk slow to a trickle, but just in time for my annual 2 week mid-October holiday the wind shifted. Work meant that I missed trips for the Marked Shrike and Little Crake, but on 8th Oct I did get up to Burnham Norton, in some horrible weather to see the Steppe Grey Shrike, but rather distant.

After work on Sunday Laura and I headed up to North Norfolk to stay with friends but torrential rain on Monday meant there was no chance of a coastal walk. The day got worse as I returned home to find a puddle in our utility room, the roof was leaking! Tuesday was then taken up removing most of the tiles from our extension, repairing and re-tiling the roof. While up on the scaffold c40 Redwing few over and a flock of 22 Long-tailed Tit were in the garden. Wednesday was then spent pulling up the lino and soaked under floor insulation (the only upside was I found a tiled floor underneath). Thursday I managed to finally tidy up and it was only this afternoon that I found time to get out birding.

Being 1pm it was a bit late to head to the coast although a small fall of Pallas Warbler made it was tempting. I plumped for my normal circuit out towards Antingham Pond and back. In the fields I found my first migrants of the day, a flock of 50+ Meadow Pipit, further along another group of 9 flew over. I've only ever seen 2 Meadow Pipit on the walk in the past. Numbers of Blackbird and Song Thrush seem to have increased and a couple of Redwing were seen. Near Antingham Pond while doubling back along the road for a closer look at a group of 3 Buzzard drifting east (one looked very pale) I heard a Yellow-browed Warbler call. Despite waiting around, the tit flock I assume the YBW was associating with moved off without seeing or hearing the bird again. Nearer home a few Jay seemed to be passing over, but not the numbers of a few weeks ago. A few less common migrants have been found along the coast so who knows what the weekend and the rest of my holiday will hold.

A (Half) Marathon Migrant Hunt

I had planned on catching an early train and sea watching at Sheringham and exploring the local area, but waking up to rain I stayed in bed awhile and caught a later train to Cromer. The sea mist was only just burning off so an earlier start would probably have been a waste of time. Although it's not Sheringham I still thought I give sea watching a bash, and did between 8.15am and 9.15am. Gannet made up most of the count with Cormorant going backward and forwards. Here's the full count;

Gannet e79 w16, Manx Shearwater e3, Cormorant e37 w31, Dunlin w2, Great Skua e1, Shoveler e1, Fulmer w2, Sandwich Tern e12, Common Scoter e16 w7, Arctic Skua w1, Teal w4, Kittiwake w2, Wigeon w12.

From the promenade I walked east towards the doctor's steps, seeing 2 Wheatear and a Yellow-legged Gull on the beach. I then had a look around Warren Woods and the area near the lighthouse. Another Wheatear and a few Chiffchaff were all I could muster before walking across the golf course towards Overstrand. The clifftop bushes and cliff slumps look idea for migrants but 2 Whitethroat, 2 Chiffchaff, and a Garden Warbler seemed like a small haul. On the golf cause itself another 5 Wheatear and 1 Whinchat flitted about.

In Overstrand my first hindrines passed over in the form of 2 House Martin and 1 Swallow. A Wheatear was near the car park and another two were on the promenade. Also along the promenade a gentleman rebuilding the beach huts made me aware of a Purple Sandpiper.

Moving onto Sidestrand I found a Yellow-browed Warbler in some sycamores on Tower Road, my best find of the day. Behind the school I found my second Whinchat of the day, before coming across a group of 77 Cormorant resting on the beach. Before reaching Trimingham and the 'clifftop wood' a Tree Pipit flew over, 5 Grey Partridge strangely flew over the cliffs and 2 more Wheatear were in the fields.

Trimming ws my last coastal area before turning inland towards home. The clifftop wood only held a single Chiffchaff and a few tits, near the Pilgrim Shelter I encountered 2 Goldcrest and 5 House Martin flew through. By the sand pit 6 Swallow few around and I saw my 13th Wheatear of the day.

Skirting the edge of Gimingham I saw 2 Buzzard and my final Wheatear of the day. Walking the footpaths via Trunch, Bradfield and Lyngate 3 Chiffchaff, 1 Willow Warbler and a small group of Skylark where probably summer residents rather than migrants. And that concluded my sea watch and migrant hunt, 7.5 hours, 60 species and 22km (half a marathon) later.

Migrant Hunting Once Again

I started a week off work with an early morning walk on Thursday. Waving Laura off, I set off to walk a regular loop out towards Antingham Pond and back again. It was rather overcast with low cloud and everything seemed subdued, although I did hear a singing Chiffchaff nearby as I left. A Kingfisher whizzing down Lyngate Road as if it were a river, was probably the highlight, but it was just nice to do this walk again as I haven't for a few months. The rest of the day was devoted to jobs around the house.

Friday dad and I headed for the coast in the hope of some migrants. We plumped for Kelling, it seemed as good a place as any and I was hoping the Western Bonelli's may have still been there. Parking by the school we spent a short while looking for the Bonelli's but it was soon evident it had moved on. Walking down the track to the water meadows there were good numbers of Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler, giving us hope for the day ahead. The track also held a good-size flock of Chaffinch and mixed Tits. A single Bullfinch also flew over before I found a skulking warbler, luckily we didn't have to wait to long to see the bird, a Lesser Whitethroat. According to a 'local' the pools have been almost dry and only recently started to fill again, there was enough water though to attract 2 Dunlin, c20 Teal and a similar number of Pied Wagtail. At the beach I decided on a little impromptu sea watch as with binoculars I could see a few Gannet passing through. In 20 minutes we has 30+ Gannet, a handful of Sandwich Tern, 2 Guillemot and a Razorbill. The short turf by the Radar station had a single Wheatear hopping about and on the fence a female Whitchat frustrated me, moving along a post at a time as soon as I focused my camera! A recently ploughed field held good sized flocks of both Skylark and Meadow Pipit, possibly passing through? We soon found ourselves back at the car with few genuine migrants encountered, but nibbling on a few snacks before heading off a Honey Buzzard flew through quite low going east.

A quick walk around Kelling Heath in the vein hope a few of its Heathland specialities remain, proved fruitless with a group of 8 Buzzard the only thing worth reporting, unless your keen on Wren and Woodpigeon. We thought about stopping off at near Sheringham or West Runton, but with little being reported headed home. Checking the days sightings in the evening I learnt of a Wryneck at Beeston!

Before my 8pm physio app the evening still held enough light for a brisk stroll around the Spa Common area. Bird wise unsurprisingly it was rather quiet, but along the roadside I did see quite a bit of fungi and an area of digging that looks quite good for badgers.

Saturday Laura and I spent the day out and about doing various things, which included a brief visit to the cliffs at Paston. A lone Whinchat on the wires by the paddocks and 2 Wigeon on the sea were the total sum of migrants seen. But a ticking bird deep in thick brambles and unwilling to move was obviously something very rare.

Autumn Clifftop Migrants

With migrants now really starting to flow I decided to give Paston Cliffs a bash this morning with dad. The scrub by the car park held a couple of Whitethroat and a mixed tit flock buzzed about. It seemed quiet, except for the 75+ House Martin and Swallow hawking around. Scanning the bushes on the cliff face I spotted a rather aggravated Robin, it wasn't happy with something, and I soon managed to spot a lovely looking male Black Redstart at the base of the cliff. In the bracken area the usual Dunnock family flitted about, but diving over the cliff edge another bird caught my eye. Peeking over the edge a top a gorse bush was a female/juv Whinchat. Two new patch birds and I had a third shortly after as I spotted a Pied Flycatcher when if briefly left a scrubby area halfway down the cliff. A few more Whitethroat and a mixed Linnet/Goldfinch flock as I wandered towards the paddocks completed this very pleasant if brief walk.

We did then drive onto Trimingham, but had only reached the clifftop wood when it started to rain quite hard. The rain eventually eased enough for us to make an escape back to the car, but the days birding was over.

Migrant Butterflies

With a few days off work but not much going on bird wise, I've spent the last few days generally pottering about. But without trying I have stumbled across a few nice discoveries.

On Friday I went with Dad to his allotment on the edge of town, while feeding the ducks on the 'pond' that is nearby I flushed 3 Green Sandpiper and found a Spotted Flycatcher. This is just within the patch so the latter was also a patch tick. Crossing the road from here to collect some Blackberries the meadow was alive with butterflies, including Small Skipper, Gatekeeper, Peacock, Large White and Small White. But butterfly of the day (well butterflies as there was 2) was Clouded Yellow a species (although a relatively frequent migrant) I have never seen in Norfolk, only on the south coast.

Sunday Laura and I went for a drive, and on our return stopped at garden center near Roughton. In one of their poly-tunnels I was first drawn to a Banded Demoiselle, but that was short lived as I spotted a large butterfly bouncing along inside the roof. The light was poor and the butterfly was mostly silhouetted but something told me to persist. As the butterfly moved along the poly-tunnel I caught a glimpse of the distinctive white edges to the wings, and for a briefest of moments it settled so I could ID it as a Camberwell Beauty, a new butterfly for Britain and my second migrant butterfly in three days. We went onto Pigny's Wood to look for Purple Hairstreak without any luck, but quite a few Darters have emerged and a few Hawker Dragonfly joined them in the air. Lots of Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood and Whites where the only butterflies we saw.

Late Monday afternoon as I opened the gates to leave home a Tortoiseshell butterfly flew past and caught my attention as appearing to be slightly large. I briefly followed it around the garden before if flew over the hedge. It looked quite fresh and I'm really not sure if it was 'big' or I was just getting carried away with migrant butterflies, anyway today I'll be checking the garden and buddlia behind the house just in case it was a Scarce Tortoiseshell!

Today (5th) I again spent some time at the allotment, this time armed with my camera and binoculars! I managed an impressive butterfly species count of 15 including 5 Clouded Yellow, a Painted Lady and lots of common species. I spent an age chasing the Clouded yellow around but failed to get a single in focus shot, all the butterflies seemed extra energetic in the baking sun. Down by the 'pond' I found 4 species of dragonfly and 4 species of damselfly including Small Red-eyed Damselfly. The Green Sandpiper was again present, along with a family of Blackcap and Willow Warbler.

Rare bird or Knot...

....I'm not going to Yarmouth 3 days in a row. On Monday morning news broke that a Great Knot had been found at Breydon Water the night before. Although I was off work it was rather frustrating as I had been in Yarmouth on the Sunday and had already planned a walk around Breydon on Tuesday. The question was do I visit Yarmouth 3 days in a row, with a few jobs to do and the only feasible way to get there involving two trains, I decided to risk it and wait until Tuesday.
My risk paid off, dad dropped me near ASDA at 9.00am before taking mum onto the hospital. By 9.15am I had distant views of the Great Knot which gradually edged closer. By 10.15am the bird had flown in to a distance of c200m, joined the roosting Godwit as the rising tide forced the birds off the mud. By 10.45am I had had my fill of Great Knot and was chomping on a bacon butty in ASDA. The light was poor for photos so I only managed a grainy record shot of the bird among the Godwit, honestly its in there somewhere, a Curlew Sandpiper was also on show.

Gary called me after work on Saturday to ask if i wanted to join him on an evening trip to Winterton with a report that the Northumberland Bridled Tern had the previous night roosted with the Little Tern. A third 'Mega' in Norfolk in less than a week seemed too good to be true (a Black-winged Pratincole was in North Norfolk) and so it turned out. Meeting a group of birders on the beach at Winterton as the sun began to set the stories of the previous day/night unraveled slightly and the now 'probable' Bridled Tern had not roosted but been seen distantly offshore, the presence of a juv. Black Tern in the area also complicated matters. Still on what was a very warm evening (still 22C at 9.45pm) we did get to see a lovely sunset before the thunder and lightning storm we got on our return home.

Late Post, Late Twitch, Late Home

On Sunday 22nd June Gary and I finally got time to go and twitch the Short-toed Eagle, in East Sussex, apologies for the late write up. Gary collected me a little after 2.30am, with a plan to be back in Norfolk for lunch.

We arrived around 6am, already a small cluster of birdwatchers present, allowing us to locate the correct car park at Ashdown Forest. The ST Eagle was yet to rise, but no one was quite sure where in the valley it had roosted, so we spent the next hour or so scanning.

Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Wren and Pied Wagtail were all around the 'Gills Lap' car park, and scanning the valley we soon had seen Whitethroat, Goldfinch, Stonechat, Blackbird, Great Tit, Mistle Thrush and Swift. There was at least one family of Stonechat and probably a second as we scanned further along the valley. There was no sign of the Eagle, but Woodlark and Tree Pipit proved a pleasant distraction. 

Just after 8.00am news came out that the Short-toed Eagle was perched 2.5km NW of the car park, we thought we should be able to see the bird from where we were so started scanning. Gary picked up a raptor in flight which started off quite a stir, it turned out to be a Honey Buzzard, but a game of Chinese whispers saw people calling it as the eagle! After a second pager message everyone ran off down the hill to try and locate the ST Eagle. We decided to walk in a slightly different direction, after noting a small group of birders across the valley, focused of something. A pleasant chap from Blackpool joined us and soon had some direction from a friend on his phone. We soon located the Short-toed Eagle perch high in a pine, although distant, our position at least gave good light. We moved slightly further up the hill to give us better views if the bird took off, which eventually it did. We couldn't really have left without seeing he Eagle in flight, so although a little latter than planned we left satisfied at 10am.

The traffic around M25 was quite so we cruised home, a quick stop at Stanstead for a drink as it was getting warm and all was well. That was until on the A14 we started to lose power, pulling into services it was clear we had over heated and had little water. After letting the car cool we filled up the water, and it promptly ran straight out of the bottom of the radiator. After a 2.5 hour delay and a visit from the AA we were back on the road, with the hole in the radiator temporarily repaired!

I've been to Specsavers...

...well Gun Hill actually. The Spectacled Warbler turned up last Monday just as a started the stretch of rota that sees me with only Wednesday off, a day I already had plans. So for a week I have read the blogs of friends and wanted to headed to Burnham Overy dunes, but surely the bird wouldn't stay to give me the chance. We luckily for me it did, so today dad and I headed up the coast. We arrived about 10am and didn't have to wait long for the Spectacled Warbler to show. Although it spent much of the time scrabbling through the sueada, on two occasions it perched up singing, before resuming what looked like nest building activities. The bird was always quite close and there was no need to my scope, the below photo was taken on my hand held compact camera.

The warbler had a supporting cast of Little Tern, Spoonbill and a slightly unseasonal Ring Ouzel, alongside the commoner species, before we headed further inland. The birds were harder to come by, with the exception of Common Whitethroat that seemed to be in every hedge. But we saw Tree Sparrow and Montagu's Harrier our target species.

Travelling back toward Kelling we saw a Little Owl sunning itself near Stiffkey, sadly he got camera shy. Two Yellow Wagtail were seen near Warham and a Barn Owl was hunting over the meadows in Cley. Kelling Heath was, with the exception of Linnet rather quite,  and the hoped for Woodlark and Dartford Warbler could not be found. A fly over Turtle Dove excited dad as he hadn't seen one or 3 years, and a family of Stonechat was nice to see.

Since my last blog posting I have on my travels to and from work seen a Red Kite and one of the juvenile Peregrine. Closer to home a Song Thrush has taken up residence in our garden, he has taken to singing from the guttering right out side our bedroom window at 5am and leaves snail shells all over the path.