North Norfolk Lifers

Since the wife had friends over for the weekend I decided to make myself scarce and head up to Norfolk for the Pallid Harrier which had been hanging around for some time. I travelled up to Norfolk the night before and grabbed a B&B so I could be up at first light to make a full day of it.

I arrived at RSPB Snettisham a little before last light on the off chance I could grab a quick look but I had no idea just how far the hides are from the car park - sooo far and the path was narrow and boggy.  No view of the Harrier however I witnessed thousands of Pink-footed Geese flying out to the estuary for their evening roost.

I got up early the following day and arrived back at Snettisham just after first light and was surprised to find there were already about 15 birders on site.  The Pallid Harrier was showing extremely well just opposite the first hide, I didn't get any photos though as it took flight and headed of down the headland to hunt but was more than happy with a Lifer.  Out on the estuary where dozens of Shelduck, Grey Plover, Golden Plover, Oystercatcher, Redshank, and Dunlin.

Time to try for another lifer; 3 Shorelark had been showing well over the past week at Holme Dunes so that was my next stop.  On route I stopped off at a small RSPB location but I have no idea were  and cannot remember the name for the life of me, it was a saltmarsh where I had great views of a Water Rail, a few Little Egret and hundreds of Golden Plover streaming over head.  A small pool opposite the reserve held Shovelar, Widgeon and a few Brent Geese.

Golden Plover

Golden Plover

Golden Plover

As I headed up the approach road to Holme Dunes I had to stop to let a car through a narrow spot, just as I was about to pull of I caught something out the corner of my eye.  A beautiful Barn Owl was perched quite happily about 10 meters away, I couldn't resist a quick snap which the driver behind didn't seem to mind as they did exactly the same.

Barn Owl

I parked up at Holme and had a quick bite to eat before heading on down for the Shorelark and hopefully Snow Bunting.  When I arrived at the end of the beach the Shorelark weren't to be found, it certainly didn't help that birders were traipsing all over the dunes.... sometimes birders can be a pain in the arse...!  I waited until everybody went off over the dunes then started scanning what I thought were suitable areas and eventually located them, lifer number 2 - Shorelark, they were quite a distance off and I didn't want to disturb them further.  No sign of any Snow Bunting but some nice flocks of Linnet.

Shorelark

Next stop was RSPB Titchwell where I had the usual ridiculous views of Black-tailed Godwit, Ruff and Avocet.  I had a couple of year ticks with Marsh Tit and Brambling on the feeders.  I was informed and shown some Water Pipit at the back of one of the pools although I think someone was working on faith as at that distance I could hardly make them out as Pipits....

Final stop was Wolferton Triangle for the Golden Pheasant which would represent my 3rd lifer for the day.  I was not to be however but I did have 4 Woodcock which were new for the year so not all bad.

Woodcock

All in all a very enjoyable day with a couple of lifers, some year ticks and birds I don't often get to seen living just about as far from the coast as you can in the UK.

Patch Gripped!!

I arrived early today in the vain hope of finding Woodcock, not that I expect to find them here, the habitat doesn't scream Woodcock - result was as per expectation - Woodcock = Nil.

I started by stopping of at the small River Arrow, I'm determined to find a Kingfisher here but one hasn't materialised yet.  This morning there was a Grey Heron feeding in the margins and single Moorhen.  I had a quick scan of the small flood plain but it was frozen over so nothing here.  I also had a quick scan of the rough ground which looks like it used to contain a factory or barracks but again nothing.

Next stop was Pophills Pit where the following was noted:

Greylag Goose - 109
Canada Goose - 7
Mallard - 10
Tufted Duck - 4
Coot - 22
Common Sandpiper - 1

The Greylag were quite restless when I arrived as soon took to the air heading in the direction of the Hidden Pit.  I think I need to sort a patch map with labels, especially as @NeilDuggan80 is birding it too, be easier to discern where we are talking about.

I headed over to the Main Pit where I had 2 Rook (Patch tick), 2 Goldcrest and 3 Chaffinch around the plantation.  There was a fair amount on the water which had defrosted from yesterday, I didn't count the Mallard, Tufted Duck or Coot today as wanted to do a circuit to take in the reed beds I was targeting Water Rail today too.  I noted the following on Main Pit:

Mute Swan - 7
Canada Goose - 27
Pochard - 6
Teal - ~40
Little Grebe - 3

Crappy Phone Scoped Teal

Whilst counting, yesterday's (I presume) Peregrine Falcon sped past about 20 meters from my head as it attempted to take a Blackbird, it was unsuccessful and flew over the Main Pit and across the field to the rear.

I took a walk over to the old reed bed where a couple of Jack Snipe flushed as I walked past.  I had some great views of 3 deer atop of a small mound, the morning was slightly misty, I attempted a few shots but I think the sensor on my camera is faulty as all images are either black or fuzzy and over exposed.

I took a walk across the Flooded Field up to the Hidden Pit, this flushed 23 Jack Snipe and a single Common Snipe which was todays 2nd patch tick, they must be sensitive to ground vibration as they all flushed from about 70 meters away and were all difficult to see due to the light mist.  I also had a single Lapwing and a pair of Skylark.

The hidden pond only contained a small number of Mallard and Tufted Duck.

I crossed over to the public footpath and followed it back round to the road, there are quite a few reeds along here, this was were I was looking for Water Rail but I failed only managing a couple of Moorhen and a lot of Red-legged Partridge that escaped the guns during the shooting season.

I arrived back at the car to see that Neil was on-site with John who is a former Warwickshire bird recorder.  Neil informed me that after he left, John found Woodcock, Tawny Owl and 6.... Water Rail.... WTF...  I specifically went for 2 of these and failed.... GRIPPED...!!  Neil had also had Goosander, a site first.

I popped back in the afternoon but they'd moved on, there were 23 Lapwing on the Main Pit scrape.  Canada Goose numbers had risen too.

Canada Geese on Main Pit

Round Britian Tour - Day 2

Day 2 was an early start, first on the agenda was Jack Snipe at New Haven Tide Mill, we arrived on site to a rather chilly morning but soon located a total of 4 Jack Snipe. We received a tip from others on site that 2 Black Redstart we about however we were unable to locate them which was a shame as this was probably our best chance of the trip. I took some photos of Pied Wagtails as I don't yet have one for the Big Bird Race.

Next stop was Newick Sewage Farm for the lingering Swallow, it had been reported as still on-site at 09:00 but was nowhere to be seen when we arrived on site at 10:30 (Dip No:2). I did manage a few shots of Pied Wagtails as there were about 30 in the filter beds along with a single Grey Wagtail.

84. Pied Wagtail

19. Grey Wagtail

Next target were the flock of Parrot Crossbills at Old Lodge. There was a small contingent of birders waiting for them to turn up, which had been at 13:30 yesterday, it was only 11:30 so we were in for a wait. To keep us entertained, 4 Woodlarks decided to show extremely well singing and siting on the power lines in the sun, one of the Woodlarks had a moment displaying. We also had a lovely fly past Woodcock and a pair of displaying Ravens. Unfortunately the Parrot Crossbills never showed (Dip No:3) so we decided to move on for the juvenile Glaucous Gull in Shoreham which had been showing on and off all morning.

85. Woodlark

85. Woodlark

85. Woodlark

85. Woodlark

We arrived to a bright but cold Shoreham but the Glaucous hadn't been seen since late morning so there we had Dip No:4.....Not a good day, well it was good with Woodlark and Woodcock but none of the target species.

We headed to Pagham Harbour next as the last site of the day where Ruddy Shelduck was the target, Lee assumed we'd have dip number 5 to which I said it's fine because we'll pick up Glaucous Gull... We arrived to see a birder studying a hedge, he'd apparently had Firecrest, we didn't stop but continued down to the shore stopping to chat to another birder who informed us that Lee indeed was correct, no Ruddy Shelduck (Dip No: 5) however he also informed us that I too was correct, there was a Glaucous Gull in the harbour. This Glaucous Gull was a stunning adult sat on top of a mound standing out from all the other gulls. It was too far away for photos but I managed to somehow lean my camera on the telescope to capture this shot showing (very blurred) the white wing tips.

86. Glaucous Gull

The group recorded 85 species today, of which I saw 69 including 1 lifer, total for the trip so far is 95:

1. Carrion Crow
2. Jackdaw
3. Blackbird
4. Pheasant
5. Collard Dove
6. Rook
7. Mallard
8. Moorhen
9. Woodpigeon
10. Black-headed Gull
11. Herring Gull
12. Lesser Black-backed Gull
13. Starling
14. Magpie
15. Skylark
16. Meadow Pipit
17. Song Thrush
18. Jack Snipe
19. Greenfinch
20. Goldfinch
21. Chaffinch
22. Linnet
23. House Sparrow
24. Grey Heron
25. Pied Wagtail
26. Robin
27. Dunnock
28. Redshank
29. Kestrel
30. Buzzard
31. Blue Tit
32. Raven
33. Grey Wagtail
34. Chiffchaff
35. Yellowhammer
36. Woodlark
37. Woodcock
38. Stonechat
39. Redwing
40. Coal Tit
41. Great Spotted Woodpecker
42. Red-breasted Merganser
43. Pintail
44. Glaucous Gull
45. Mediterranean Gull
46. Shelduck
47. Mistle Thrush
48. Teal
49. Oystercatcher
50. Bar-tailed Godwit
51. Grey Plover
52. Ringed Plover
53. Common Gull
54. Great Black-backed Gull
55. Black-tailed Godwit
56. Dark-bellied Brent Goose
57. Little Egret
58. Coot
59. Goldcrest
60. Great Tit
61. Curlew
62. Dunlin
63. Widgeon
64. Little Grebe
65. Great Crested Grebe
66. Tufted Duck
67. Mute Swan
68. Cormorant
69. Lapwing

RSPB HQ

Never been to the RSPB's HQ before but since I had an hour to kill I thought I'd pop over, I'd heard they'd had a number of Brambling visiting their feeders so hopefully it would be worth my while.

I arrived nice and early, only a few cars in the car park, the feeders however were already congested to the max with Lesser Redpolls, Siskins and Tits, a few Mealy Redpolls have been reported but my ID skills aren't good enough for separation of the two.

I took quite a few shots of the birds feeding which looked great on the camera display but rather blurred when transferred to the computer and view as a larger image.

A female Brambling appeared which I was happy with but she was very flighty and difficult to photograph, so after about 20 minutes watching and photographing the birds around the feeders I decided to take a quick walk around the nature trail.

I crossed the road to the start of the trail, made my way round the first corner then noticed some movement in one of the trees, 3 Brambling which sat for a while allowing me to obtain a half decent image.

32. Brambling

 

The walk around the reserve, although pleasant did not offer up much bird life, I think they all hang around the feeders! I heard Raven calling in the distance but didn't manage to see them.  I did see a fox and only managed a quick few shots as it ran off through the woods.

 

Fox

 

I continued round to the hide by the HQ building, again plenty of close up views of Redpolls, Tits and Siskin. A nice quiet hide allowing ample opportunity to practice photographing the birds.

 

 33. Redpoll

 

 Redpoll

 



 34. Siskin

 

Somehow managed to get onto this Coal Tit who rarely stopped in the same spot for more than 2 seconds!

 

35. Coal Tit

Coal Tit

Stock Dove, a bird I rarely get to see up close flew in with it's partner and again afforded me some fantastic close up views, I managed to get a fair few shots at different angles in an attempt to catch the neck patch in different lights, I only uploaded the one though, might have another look through and see if I can find one with the neck patch looking purple..

36. Stock Dove

 

I then noticed something flying low in the background, my first thought was Merlin, it was flying extremely fast but also rising, it was difficult to get onto with the binoculars but I eventually managed it - Woodcock, awesome, only my second every sighting and my first in daylight, I presume it had been flushed by walkers as there were a few in the direction from which I first noticed it.  Now an extremely happy bunny with Brambling and Woodcock for the day I decided to call it a day but just before I did a Goldfinch landed on the feeder so I grabbed a quick photograph for the blog.

37. Goldfinch

 

So all in all I would thoroughly recommend a visit to the home of the RSPB, a small heathland being restored, hopefully when it brightens up a little (if) there may be the chance of visiting Tree Pipit, Woodlark and who knows, maybe I could be so bold as to hope for Nightjar and Dartford Warbler!!

 

Almost forgot, while in the hide I had a glance out of the side window and saw this cute little bunny, couldn't resist a photo...

Bunny - Cute....