Burgh Castle, Norfolk

[Karl J]

Biked along south Breydon and up to Burgh Castle shortly after daybreak this morning. Fortunately the birds were rather better than the weather.

Seen along the riverbank and generally around & about :

Little Egret, 2
Grey Heron, 3
Redshank
Black-tailed Godwit
Curlew
Lapwing, 100's
Snipe, 5
Rock Pipit, 1
Wigeon, lots
Shelduck, c25
Greylag Geese
Egyptian Geese, 4

Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Stock Dove, several in the fields
Woodpigeon
Starlings
a variety of gulls, which i never got round to looking at


At Burgh Castle grounds :

Song Thrush, 1
c30 thrushes - mainly Fieldfare - flushed from the castle bushes by a dog walker
Blue Tits,
Great Tits
Robin
Chaffinch
couple of Blackbirds
Water Rail, 1 ... heard in the castle reedbed
Bearded Tit, c5 ... in castle reedbed.
Kingfisher, 2 along the riverbank in front of the castle

Peregrine, 1 ... AT LAST ... gave a good view as went across, then chased a 'starling' down & behind a low bush on the Island. I didn't actually see if it was succesful but didn't see either of them again.

Kestrel, 1 over fields behind the castle.
Marsh Harrier, 2. ... One over the Island, and another causing great panic out on Berney marshes.

I was happy with that.

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Really good Karl and well done on the Peregrine - you'll probably see them all the time now!

[Karl J]

I hope so :king:

[Karl J]

Yesterday i went round the corner from the castle, to a spot along the riverbank where there's a good view across the wide, flat expanse of reedbeds & marshes with some grazing fields nearby, to see the evening roost come in. A few rays of the slowly sinking sun occasionally burst through the layer of high cloud, and without any wind all around was so absolutely still.



Between 3.00 & 4.30 ish ....

In the nearby fields and bushes :

Jay, 1
Treecreeper, ~4 in trees in the caravan park
Redwing, ~6 feasting on the berries
Blackbirds, ~5
Linnets, 3
Pied Wagtail, 1
Robin, 1
Starlings, individuals & loose flocks
plenty of gulls
lots of corvids ... i watched a stream of ~60 come in to roost in the trees over at the castle


Over the river & marshes :

Bearded Tits .... pinging away in the reedbeds across the river.
Kingfisher, 1
Curlew, total of ~60 ..... 3 flocks of ~20 in each, over
Redshank, ~10 in total
Grey Heron, 5
Cormorants, a slow but steady stream of 1's & 2's, over
lots of geese & ducks in the distance at Berney marshes
Kestrel, 1

And ... i'd expected a couple of these but ....

8 Marsh Harriers :king:

... i watched each of these come in, one by one, low over the marshes then have a slow glide around before dropping into the reedbeds. Brilliant.

[Andrew]

Peregrine, nice one! Those Marsh Harriers are wonderful birds indeed too.