Norfolk! Steppe Grey Shrike! (3-5/10/14)

It was with great kindness that I was offered a weekend away in Norfolk by a local birding family and recent birding partners in the start of October, and it was eagerly anticipated!

 

Following the long drive across over to mid Norfolk, we first stopped at Sculthorpe Moor NR, where a Purple Heron had been residing. However, it was clear very quickly that the bird had not been seen, with gloomy faces all around, and unfortunately, there was very little to make anyone too exited.

 

A Golden Plover flew over, as did a Fieldfare, but after what felt like a painfully long time on the reserve we decided to leave, knowing our luck would be better tried elsewhere.

 

So we moved quickly onto Cley Marshes, which improved the day somewhat very quickly. Even from just our first glances at the sea, it was clear that there was significant amounts of Geese moving, with hundreds of Brent Geese flying offshore, flock after flock!

Similarly, Wigeon, Teal and Common Scoter were all moving, proving very easily that winter was on its way. 2 drake Eider flew past offshore. which was a long awaited year tick after missing them on every coastal visit this year!

Small numbers of Red-throated Diver had started to appear, with some feeding relatively close in as the tide rose. Also on the upcoming tide, 2 Guillemot drifted past.

 

 

Good numbers of ducks and waders kept us entertained as they flew around the marshes, constantly harassed by 4 hunting Marsh Harriers.

 

One of the spectacles of North Norfolk I had always wanted to experience though was that of the Pink-footed Goose roost. With a few small to medium sized flocks seen flying over during the day, we fancied our luck at Burnham Ovary Marshes, and we were not disappointed.

 

We arrived with plenty of time to spare, and we quickly located the Black-necked Grebe on the pool next to the seawall, as well as good numbers of waders, which were commuting between the pool and the estuary behind us. A few Snipe probed the reeded edges of the pool, and a Water Rail sauntered across the gap as the sun began to set, and the real show began!

 

With the light fading, we very quickly noticed large numbers of Little Egret, Grey Heron and particularly Cormorant flying towards Holkham. Eventually, we spotted another of our targets for the weekend, 3 very distant Spoonbill as they dropped into roost with the other birds in the trees. While these birds were flying east, the Marsh Harriers were going the opposite way, and 8 flew west as we stood vigil on this high point.

 

The Starlings started to murmerate in front of us, and then it began.

 

Geese!

 

And more Geese...

And more..

 

By nightfall, and estimated 15,000 Pink-footed Geese had dropped in to roost at Holkham, a simply breathtaking spectacle!

Add to this the superb flight views of two Barn Owls, this is why we love Norfolk right?

 

 

We were up bright and early the next morning, and our first destination of the day was the superb site of Holme Dunes NNR. The tide was out, but on the turn, so the attention turned to scanning the beach and the sea. Again, large numbers of Brent Geese were moving, as were Wigeon and Teal, but we were treated to a nice range of other species, 3 Eider powered past, as did a female Red-breasted Merganser. It was also a pleasure to see 3 each of Arctic and Sandwich Tern, both moving east along the shoreline, but unfortunately the real targets eluded us. On the water, Red-throated Divers, Great crested Grebes and a good count of 7 Guillemot were bobbing about like corks.

 

The lack of our targets however was more than made up for by the huge numbers of birds on the beach. Hundreds upon hundreds of waders. Huge spiralling flocks of Knot, with smaller numbers of all the regular seashore species. More than enough to keep us midlanders happy!

We did have a Spotted Redshank and a Whimbrel fly over calling though, and 2 Greenshanks were feeding on the pools. Among the extensive Gull flocks feeding on the wet sand, a single adult Mediterranean Gull added some variety.

 

Moving away from the sea, our attention turned to migrants, and it was obvious (as we had predicted), with the winds in the wrong direction, and clear conditions, we were not going to be in for a 'migrant fest' this weekend. However a rather dapper Whinchat did its best to keep us entertained, with little bit ands bobs vismigging over.

 

Following a drive around Choesley, where at least 5 Grey Partridge, 2 Golden Plover and 2 Yellowhammer were found we headed to the mecca that is Titchwell RSPB.

 

We covered both the pools and the sea, with good numbers of wildfowl being present. The reeds adjacent to the benches was 'alive' with 'Pings', and it didn't take long for its source to appear, and we were treated to some good flight views of at least 5 Bearded Tits. A single Common Tern flew past offshore, as well as the now expected Red-throated Divers. With a rather daunting weather system developing though, we hot footed it back to the car.

 

 

As planned, after dumping a lot of rain on Norfolk, and as we had lunch back at the Hostel in Burnham Norton, the clouds broke, and it was a beautiful day once more!

 

Being just down the road, we moved back to Titchwell RSPB for the high tide and Harrier roost.

As you come to expect with Titchwell, a number of the birds are very habituated to humans.

 

A Little Egret shown well..

 

As did a rather smart Bar-tailed Godwit.

Scanning the muddy shorelines led us onto the two Little Stints which we had missed earlier in the day, but as expected, much was repeated from earlier in the day. 3 Common Scoter were seen from the beach, as was 2 Guillemot, but Skuas were still managing to avoid us.

 

We moved back to the reedbeds, where Bearded Tits were pinging, Cetti's Warblers singing, with both Marsh Harriers and Starlings pursuing in aerial acrobatics as they jostled for roosting spots.

 

It was a rather stunning sunset also!

With a slight change in wind direction forecast for our final day, we planned our attack strategy, and were again out by dawn....

 

Sunrise over Burnham Ovary was rather spectacular, with thousands of Geese, Wildfowl and wading birds flying out of their roosts. Pink-feet were calling as we got out the car in still near darkness and a single Barn Owl took its last flight of the night as we walked down the track.

Over 100 Little Egrets flew past us as we stood scanning from the raised viewpoint. 70 Egyptian Geese flew off the pool, where the Black-necked Grebe was still present. The same great variety of waders was present as our last visit as we slowly made our way along the embankment.

 

A few birds flicked up onto the fencelines as we walked, Meadow Pipits and Stonechats, and eventually we found our first 'migrants' of the day, 2 Wheatear.

 

 

A large covey of Grey Partridge were flushed from behind a ridge, which then flew out into the fields opposite where they dropped in and became invisible once more.

We moved out into the dunes to check Gun Hill and the sea. A quick scan along the shoreline revealed the expected waders, and the sea was again rather quiet, other than a passing flock of Sandwich Tern.

Unfortunately, our migrant search came a blank, and the scrub held very little. Moving back towards the car, a party of Bearded Tits was pinging in the still conditions.

 

Wanting to be that little closer to home, we decided to move onto Titchwell RSPB, where we had heard there had been a bit of movement on the sea with some Whooper Swans and Little Gulls. Moving up the track, we managed to log all the species we did the previous day, including the 2 Little Stint again as we moved up towards the beach. Perched distantly atop the Sueada on Thornham marsh, a Whinchat and a Stonechat perched side by side.

 

With a large crowd overlooking the sea, I jokingly made a comment about them no doubt having seen multiple Skua's fly past this morning as we walked past, to which a lady replied to her friend "Did you see the Skua's (insert the friends name)".

 

As you would expect, I took this as somewhat of a joke, but the look on the old couples faces proved otherwise.

They had had a passage of Skuas that morning!!

Doh!

 

Having recounted my woeful story about dipping them all weekend, I quickly got a reply saying that someone was watching one on the water now!

Panic!

 

Scope set up, and then it flew....

 

Directly into my scope view! A juvenile Arctic Skua! Ok, not a Pom or a Great as I had hoped, or even a Long tailed as I have dreamt, but it was a Skua!

 

With a Black Redstart having been reported out at Thornham point, we bode farewell to the large crowd (no doubt missing a bucketload of Skuas going by our luck) and headed out there. Unfortunately I didn't see anything of it, however a couple of the group did. I rejoined the group, but before we went looking for it again, Liz shouted out some rather unexpected news. A possible Steppe Grey Shrike had just been reported near where we had been this morning!

 

Mega eek!

 

Decisions were made. At worst it would be a Great Grey, so we went for it, wading through mud, across dunes, jumping down a 15ft cliff where the dunes had been washed away and the long 2km trek back to the car! Some real paramilitary action!

 

Nobody knew about the Shrike as we walked back to the car, so we mentioned it as we walked briskly past. It was rather fun watching people spinning on their heals and changing course for the car park!

 

A drive later, and another brisk walk and there it was!

Perched distantly on a hawthorn in the middle of a field, a STEPPE GREY SHRIKE!!

 

Even from this distance, it was rather obvious. The colour hues to its plumage were off in every respect. It was almost a peachy/ sandy colour! It obviously had more white in the wings, but I just couldn't see the lores due to the distance.

 

But that didn't matter, as after being ousted from its perch by a Kestrel, the bird repeatedly moved closer to the ever increasing crowd. Until eventually, you were getting simply stunning views!

 

No denying those pale lores!! 

 

What a perfect way to end the weekend!

 

Again, a huge thanks to Rob, Liz and Luke for a great weekend! Some great birding was had! I'm sure one day I'll get to pay you back.

 

Same time next year?

 

MB

Catch Ups

11/08/13

A drop into Upton Warren was rewarded with a juvenile ARCTIC TERN, a juvenile RUFF, 5 Curlew, 2 Common Sand and 7 Green Sand, a nice array!

20/0813

Back to patch, and it was equally rewarding as the last visit, with 2 Lesser Whitethroat, a Garden Warbler, Blackcap and 3 Whitethroat found. Warblers were certainly moving! A adult HOBBY was found hawking over Lickhill farm briefly following migrating Swallows.

Later the same day i dropped into Eyemore Wood, which, aside from 5 Marsh Tit and 30 Goldcrest there was little of note birdwise. However, my first Painted Lady butterfly was found feeding on Buddlia.

Moving onto Shenstone, i saw my 2nd HOBBY of the day, this time a Juvenile while looking (and failing may i add) to find Clouded Yellow butterfly.

MB

#TheMidlandersAreComing Part 2

11/05/13

Once we had our fill at the two Breckland sites, we decided to head North, with our destination being Titchwell RSPB.

On the way however, we were distracted occasionally. A brief stop around a small pool in the middle of a country field resulted in a Common Sandpiper, Oystercatcher, Yellowhammer and Shelduck.

Our next stop resulted in a shout from one of our group of "Partridge". Naturally, we stopped, however it proved to be 'only' a Red-Legged. Nice views of Hare's were had here also. Moving onward again, we stopped at some pig fields, where a large flock of 30c 1st summer Common Gulls were present, and a drive past of a town pond resulted in a pair of Egyptian Goose.

By this point, a journey that should have taken around an hour was nearing double that, but a couple of Red-Legged Partridge running along the road prompted another stop, which proved to be the 3rd lucky decision of the day. Jumping out of the car we spied a small pool, which we decided to have a quick look at, and in doing so two small Doves flushed out from the Hawthorn and Gorse. A brief view got us interested, as a very obvious brown tinge could be seen on the birds upperwings, but they dropped down again. A short time passed and they flew up again, confirming the suspicion that we were watching a pair of TURTLE DOVE!

Our 'quick stop' plan was abandoned as we enjoyed flight views of these birds before they flew to the opposite side of the field. And while searching for them again, we went on to find 3 GREY PARTRIDGE along the same field edge! Awesome, both of our targets from the same field! 4 Red-legs were also present, as was Oystercatcher, 3 Shelduck and 2 Greylags.

Then it was onto Titchwell. We arrived during a massive rainstorm so retreated to the Cafe before heading out.

The first marsh was heaving with birds. My own personal highlight being 2 stunning LITTLE TERN. 32 Brent Goose flew past, with a small number dropping onto the pool, all being Dark-bellied birds. A pair of Red-crested Pochard were showing.

Waders were very well represented, around 80 Bar-tailed Godwit also had 2 Knot and a Grey Plover in the flock, with Turnstones and small numbers of Dunlin also present.

Moving to the new Parrinder hide we had stunning views of Grey Plover....

 Little Tern.....

Turnstone.....

 And a mass of Bar-tailed Godwit.

It was while standing here i scanned the freshmarsh and saw a large white bird flying in from the west.

SPOONBILL!

Elation! One of my biggest UK bogeys, having dipped 5 or 6 birds in the last few years, it was finally great to catch up with one of these birds. An obvious full adult, with fully white wingtips and a strong yellow throat patch.

Waders on the brackish marsh were a little harder, but good numbers of Grey Plover were welcomed, all in summer plumage and looking amazing! A Little Stint was calling as it gave a stunning flyby at close range and a Greenshank was showing distantly. A very good smattering of year ticks!

We moved onto the beach for a spot of seawatching, and were quickly rewarded with a pair of COMMON EIDER among a small flock of Common Scoter all showing fairly nicely inshore.

 Way offshore however were much larger (in the hundreds) numbers of presumed Scoter, but just to distant to ID as anothing other than black blobs flying. A load of Little Tern were fishing, and we saw 2 Sandwich Tern offshore, as well as multiple Common and 2 Arctic. Great Black back was logged, as was a Gannet, which was very distant.

Closer however, large numbers of Sanderling, Dunlin and Ringed Plover were hunting and probing the tidal edge on the upcoming tide, with a few Grey Plover and Barwit intermixed.

 Moving back, we had further stunning views of Turnstone in summer plumage.

 And views of the Red-crested Pochards.

We then decided to tally the day list in a nearby pub in Brancaster, with a combined list o f 109, with my own personal list being 108, the only bird i didn't get which others did was a Kingfisher which was calling at Titchwell.

Anyway, i have no reason to complain, my first ever 100+ day!

MB

Upton Warren all dayer

4/05/13

Sleeping in a hide is  the most uncomfortable thing ever!

Not to mention those bloody Oystercatcher 'piping' all night right outside the hide. The BHG were loud, but it was the OYC's that were stupidly loud. Needless to say, little sleep was had.

Me and my hide sleeping companion, the now famous Biking Birder woke around 3 am in rather humorous fashion. And we decided to head out to see if any birds were singing. Very little was, however a calling Tawney Owl was the first highlight of the day in the morning gloom. It must however be said that at that time in the morning, it is an exceptionally beautiful time to be out, with very little background noise with nothing but Bats and the occasional snippet of birdsong for company.

Back in the hide we waited for sunrise, and to say it was slightly disappointing was an understatement. Very little bar the usual were present 2 Curlew probably being the 'pick of the lot' but those had been present all night calling, which proceeded to fly off south as the sun rose.

Moving onto the Moors proved to be the best decision of the day. Firstly, a male Cetti's Warbler was pulled out of the nets. This bird being particularly welcomed, as having become extinct at Upton for over a year, it seems like they have again reached the point of recolonization, a great story, and one showing that if the habitat is there, the birds will come, despite the very fragmented range of Cetti's Warbler in the Midlands.

2 Common Tern moved through the Moors very quickly, vis-mig in action, and a Common Sandpiper was showing. A stop in the car park for a quick natter proved to be the best 5 minutes of the day, as a 3rd Tern flew in, but immediately stuck as different. At that second news was passed via the phone that a RED KITE was flying over the Education reserve, everyone in the car park connected, but in doing so, most forgot about the Tern. Luckily, the Tern dropped down briefly, confirming my suspicions as to it being an ARCTIC TERN!

Within a few minutes the bird flew off north, directly over our heads!

From here onward the day petered out, as i slogged along to find common species such as Sparrowhawk and Jay, both of which eluded me until mid-afternoon. I managed to 'grip back' a Lesser Redpoll, which was widely 'twitched' by the day listers along the East shore of the Moors Pool.

By 5pm, to say i was completely exhausted was an understatement, so, moving away from the crowds, i moved to the north end of the North Moors to try to listen for a Grasshopper Warbler, and a Cuckoo had been heard calling here earlier in the afternoon. Lying on the floor i had a quick 30 minute relax, but needless to say, none were heard.

It was great to have summer migrants back in very good numbers, particularly warblers, Sedge Warblers really did seem to be in every suitable bit of habitat!

MB

Day listing at Upton Warren

27/04/13

Well OK  not a full day, but as we had gotten away from the gardening job early, we arrived at Upton around 3, and stayed until dark, in total picking up 69 species.

Walking around the North Moors Pool i was rewarded when i heard a GRASSHOPPER WARBLER singing from within the reeds adjacent to the track. Needless to say, after some time the bird didnt show, but i had a nice time sitting watching/Listening to Cetti's, Sedge and Reed Warbler, Not a bad start!

A Garden Warbler was showing on the Causeway.

Moving down to the East hide, i was immidiatly greeted by a stunning ARCTIC TERN, a nice pale bird, which flew around low over the pool briefly while we were battered by heavy rain before flying off south and dropping onto the Sailing Pool. A Water Rail was showing to the right of the hide, as was 2 Common Snipe.

I picked up two Falcons flying towards me, and as they sped past the hide i saw red under-tail coverts and shouted HOBBY!

We had great views of the birds as they gained height on a thermal just to the north of the Pool, and they flew around for a few minutes before flying off in the direction of Upton Warren Village, My first Hobbies of the year! 2 Green Sandpiper were showing in the 'Seasonal pool'.

Moving down to the flashes, i paused briefly at the Sailing Pool and had views of the Arctic Tern as it hawked the pool with the Swallows and Martins. I even tried for some photos.

May i just say, Digi-scoping a flying Tern is hard!

On the Flashes itself, 5 BLACK-TAILED GODWIT'S graced the shallow waters, all showing varying signs of summer plumage. All seemingly of the 'islandica' race due to their very vivid orange tones. The two birds in the center of the photo are simply stunning!

Despite having been around for a protracted period of time, the birds were actively feeding, and therefore it didn't come as a surprise to hear that they flew off the same night

A few Common Sandpipers were also showing, including one down in front of the hide.

To end the day, the 3rd Hobby for the day flew through the flashes late in the evening, before ending up circling over the Sailing Pool, visible from the platform on the back of the hide.

MB

Terns!

29/05/12
A visit to Earlswood in the afternoon was rewarded by a single adult ARCTIC TERN that was hawking over Windmill pool, with a flock of 27 Common Tern.
Also, a large flock of Swallow were here.

Over the coarse of the day, i manadged to see 8 Swifts, firstly 6 over the M42 near Bittel, next a single bird over my nans in Bewdley, then another single over Bewdley town centre in in the later afternoon!

Also been doing quite well with Garden birds, Siskins still visiting, but highlight was seeing a pair of BULLFINCH in the garden.

MB

More ARCTIC TERNS!

17/08/11
A drop into upton warren in the late evening produced 2 ARCTIC TERN (yet again, and adult and a juv), a single SNIPE was on the islands, as well as a single GREEN SANDPIPER.
At the flashes it was dead, 27 CURLEW and a few teal
MB

SHEEPWASH MEGA DAY!

12/09/11
An after college visit to Sheepwash was very rewarding, although on our walk around the main Pumphouse pool we didnt see anything at all, other than BHG, but as i had a new camera, i thought i would try a pic or 2:


After takin many photo's of adult and 1st winter BHG we headed over to the Chemical pool, to hopefully find a 'Real' Gull.
But no such luck, Not even a herring Gull, but here is a juv LBBG:


However, a Brief sudden exitement hit me when i saw a Tern drop down to feed around the Pool, litterally coming in from nowhere!, just dropping out of the sky, 1 raise of my bins and i knew i was watching a moulting adult ARCTIC TERN, it fed vigorously around the pool from 3:18-3:24, where it then flew out to the north, climbing high as it went,
The whole time it was there, it was constantly harrased by the LBBG and BHG on the pool.


We then walked through the 'mound tunnel' to check out the marshy pools, there was nothing there, so we walked towards the Tame bridge, where a long tailed brown bird flew across in front of us,
Not imidiatly recognising it, i looked up at the Dead tree it flew upon, and was amazed to see a SPOTTED FLYCATCHER, as the wind was very veyr strong the bird was blown off the perch very quickly, but i manadged this pic before the final gust pushed it off the twig.




A long wait followed, and after an hour and not seeing it, we were leaving, but for some unknown reason i looked back, and there it was, perched on a small Birch tree!

Scope down, camera out of pocket, up to eyepiece, 'SPOTTED FLYCATHER'








After this i went back to the main Pumphouse pool, and Quickly spotted an ARCTIC TERN, however, this was not the adult bird i had just seen, this was a Juv bird! it tried to take some photos but they didnt come out very well, this bird was present from 4.50- 5:10 when it flew off.

And that was that, other than the Main Highlight birds, nothing else was seen, as is the way with sheepwash!

Oh, and the 4 Cormorant were checked for Shags, but there were all 'Bog standard'

MB

Upton Warren

10/09/11
A brief visit to the Moors pool for the Juv ARCTIC TERN that had been seen with the Girlfriend.
Well we only walked just down the path and i saw the Tern, Translucent primarys an all, as it dip fed over the pool, however, it failed to land at any point, so therefore no pics or videos!
However, A BARNACLE GOOSE (certainly Feral) was keeping its distance form the Canandas:



It always Remained in its little bit of space,
I spotted a DUNLIN probing about on the other side of the pool as well as a COMMON SANDPIPER.
Unusually, a Collered dove flew over north, an Adult SHELDUCK was on the islands, and this Juv BULLFINCH was on the feeder below the hide:





MB

7/05/11

After the early morning on the patch, later that day in the afternoon i dropped into Earlswood lakes after the gardening job to see what was about,

From the car park at engine pool i noticed that most of the terns were over windmill pool, so i headed over there. I was standing on the Cway scanning through the terns when i was drawn onto a Gull hawking low over the water.

LITTLE GULL

the 1st bird was quickly joined by a 2nd bird, both of which were in full summer plumage, both birds did regular quite close flypasts, but due to the wind, digi scoping and digi binning was ruled out, so i simply held my little camera up and hoped.

(Photo of little gull and my drawing of the Gull)

We watched the birds as the drk Mandarin once again cae really close to the Cway, Insanely close infact.

(This is the mallard the bird has been seen to have a sexual relationship with)

(Mandarin and drk and fem Mallard on rocks below the cway)

We watched the gulls for some time, and as time progressed, an ARCTIC TERN joined the 10 or so flock of Common tern over the lakes, it wasent seen to leave however it wasnt seen again.

At upton Warren in the evening, the only bird of note was a singing Cuckoo.

MB

30/04/11

Earlswood lakes

An afternoon visit to the lakes produced a Pair of ARCTIC TERN with 8 Common Tern on Engine Pool, also a single Greylag Goose, On Windmill pool there was an extremly showy drake Mandarin. A couple of Photos below

Upton Warren

As i Predicted the previous day, early morning i had a text to say that a summer plumages Bar-tailed Godwit was at upton, so we headed to where the bird had been seen at the moors, However on entering the hide i was greated by the news that it wasent there, However this Looked Up then i spied my 3rd and 4th ARCTIC TERN of the day and year feeding over the pool.

They did land on occasion, but always at the back of the islands and always into the sun, after some time watching the terns we decided to head to the flashes, but while walking back we decided to stop in the 'secret garden' to see if anything was in there, we walked up and suddenly a Roe Deer burst out of the bushes and sprinted towards the road, we heard it clicking as it scuttled across the pavement and towards the north moors, we decided to go and have a look, but after about 10 mins we gave up and had another brief check of the garden.

But when leaving the agrden underneath the oak tree i spied a flock of birds that i thought were pigeons passing over, however they where flying dodgy, so up went the bins and i was absolutly extatic to see a stunning flock of 27 BAR-TAILED GODWITS flying over, i scanned through the entire flock to check they all were bar tails and they were, all with the wedge up their back and the upturned bill, quite a proportion of the flock contained red males, but there was also quite a few female/winter birds, the birds reached the powerlines over the paddocks and started circling giving brief hopes they would fly back, but they never did and continued north. I quickly informed everyone who i knew on site, But everyone replyed that they hadent even seen any flock of any bird fly over!!

When we reached the crowd in the carpark at the flashes i mentioned it again and they were wondering how they had missed them, we wroked out that the flight path of the birds would have them following the A38 across the transmitter field (therefore out of view of the flashes hide), across the sailing pool (where no birders where) and then across the back of the eddy, and behind the east hide at the moors, this line equels up to the direction they flew across over the paddocks, being in very high spirts we headed down to the flashes, where when reaching the bench, the WHIMBREL from yesterday flew across in front of us and landed at the back of the flashes again.

On entering the hide it was obvious the stars of yesterday had remained, with both WOOD SANDPIPER and the WHIMBREL remaining, but more wader passage overnight had resulted in a few more waders. the waders list is below (including breeders):

4 Oystercatcher

16 Avocet

8 LRP

Lapwing (??)

1 Wood Sand

1 Green Sand

2 Common Sand

1 Redshank

1 Bar-tailed godwit (the bird from the moors earlier in the day, so 28 birds seen)

2 Curlew

1 Whimbrel

4 Snipe

Not a bad list i think tbh, the Godwit remained at the back of the flash throughout and fed in the sewage works field with the whimbrel ofternly, the F White wagtail remained in front of the hide

(Photo- Dave Walker)

MB