Penny Clarke
Well-known member
Wow! Superb pictures!:t:
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Norfolk birding (9 Viewers)
- Thread starter Edward woodwood
- Start date
Wow! Superb pictures!:t:
NoSpringChicken
Well-known member
Beautiful images Pete, especially the last one, and what a superb bird. I am just a little bit envious.
Ron
Ron
ben_lewis
Well-known member
Is it just me or does the black bellied dipper have a very brown look to the belly in some of the shots?!
I'll admit that I don't know how much variation there is between the two subspecies, I sure someone will tell me but- how black does a black bellied dipper have to be?
I'll admit that I don't know how much variation there is between the two subspecies, I sure someone will tell me but- how black does a black bellied dipper have to be?
Tony Knight
Well-known member
Per Collins it needs to be "brown-black" as opposed to "red-brown". The same thought occured to me after seeing it but i think we can safely say its not red-brown !
Tony
gordon hamlett
Well-known member
I do some volunteer wardening there for half a day every month and see willow tits on perhaps three or four days out of the twelve. That's just on a casual basis, sitting in the hides and showing birds to the visitors. Over the years, I have seen them visit four different feeders, with a pair usually holding territory between the two bridges. Would expect a much higher success rate if I was actively looking for them.
There is an ongoing colour ringing programme with marsh and willow tits, so please report any sightings back at the visitor centre
Goshawks don't breed on the reserve but do display there early in spring. To suggest that every sighting is a misidentified sparrowhawk is frankly fatuous - but I suspect that Dave missed out his smiley.
Gordon
Pompadour444
Well-known member
Glad you got your pic's in the end Pete. Did you manage to get little one a sleep? We had cracking views of Hawfinch at Lynford in the paddock, and nice flock of Redpoles and siskin by the bridge.
Steve
Steve
Dave Appleton
Well-known member
ben_lewis
Well-known member
No not red brown, your quite right. Just thought I'd ask the question as Petes superb pics show more of a brown hue than any other photos I have seen. Thanks for the reply
James Emerson
Norwich Birder
Hi John.
It is the area east of Reedham, enclosed by two rivers and a man-made cut. To view it go to Fritton and head north to Waveney Forest. There is room for a few cars to park at the end of the road, if it is full then there is a car park a little way back. You walk through the forest to the edge and can then view out over the marshes. The viewpoint is about here: TG 458 011.
There is a good map of the area on the Lounge Lizard website at the moment, go to recent sightings then scroll down as far as Great White Egret.
Regards,
James
Peter Dolton
Well-known member
RLB flew out of from Waveney Forest this am at 0750- only to be lost on mist and not seen on circular walk along New Cut then along Yare and finally along Waveney back to St Olaves.
There were 3 SEO, 6+ Barn Owls, 8 Marsh Harrier including one with green tag and 25 + Beardies seen/heard in 12 places
peter
The sniper
Well-known member
How many RLB are wintering around Holkham this year???
Dave Appleton
Well-known member
I also wondered briefly if it could be the central European race aquaticus (which actually breeds closer than nominate cinclus, Black-bellied Dipper), but after researching that a bit it seems that that race is more like British gularis in appearance. Whether or not either gularis or aquaticus can be ruled out for the Thetford bird I don't know - possibly not. Certainly the majority of gularis I've seen have had a much brighter, more orangey-chestnut band on the belly, and often clearly broader too, but they are variable and I have seen one or two birds in Cumbria that have been quite similar in appearance to the Thetford bird (though I suppose there's a possibility I had found cinclus without realising it).
However, a slight rufous-brown tinge on the front of the belly is perfectly ok for cinclus (e.g. BWP states, "breast and belly completely blackish-brown; some rufous-brown tinge often visible along border with white chest, but not as much as in gularis") so I don't think there's any reason to discount cinclus (Black-bellied Dipper).
Several other Black-bellied Dippers in Norfolk have shown brownish hues like this, if perhaps not so clearly so as this one seems to (though the light will have emphasised it I imagine). I recall quite a bit of discussion about the bird at Heacham in '94, which I remember was quite brown on the belly.
Although aquaticus doesn't seem to be such a strong mover as cinclus, there is at least one ringing recovery of 160km and a bird in Malta must have travelled further (per BWP), so I see no reason to discount it as a possible vagrant to SE England and East Anglia. I've always wondered about the record of British Dipper at Earlham Park in 1989 - on what grounds (if any) was this safely identified as gularis as opposed to aquaticus?
Racial identification of Dippers is not always easy - there's a lot of variation and overlap. The Thetford bird certainly seems to be within range for Black-bellied Dipper and is most likely to be a Black-bellied Dipper, but whether we can be 100% certain it isn't a dark gularis or aquaticus I'm not so sure.
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Dave Appleton
Well-known member
None so far as I know. There have been some reports, and after my Sparrowhawk/Goshawk comment I daren't say they were all Buzzards, but I'm told that at least some of them were.
VillagerFred
Well-known member
Yarmouth area wing tagged marsh harriers
The Green wing tagged Marsh Harrier was ringed and tagged as a pullus this year in the Breydon water area as part of a BTO project looking at post fledging dispersal of marsh harriers. Obviously that one hasn't gone very far, but if you check out the BTO's "demog blog" they give details of a bird done in the North of the County that has made its way to Portugal!
The Green wing tagged Marsh Harrier was ringed and tagged as a pullus this year in the Breydon water area as part of a BTO project looking at post fledging dispersal of marsh harriers. Obviously that one hasn't gone very far, but if you check out the BTO's "demog blog" they give details of a bird done in the North of the County that has made its way to Portugal!
The sniper
Well-known member
None so far as I know. There have been some reports, and after my Sparrowhawk/Goshawk comment I daren't say they were all Buzzards, but I'm told that at least some of them were.
Lets hope the odd one pops up next week when I am up.
Thanks for the info
MJB
Well-known member
All I've seen this winter is a pale Common Buzzard that some had thought at first might have been a Rough-legged (south of the park).
MJB
The sniper
Well-known member
Yes,saw that from lady Anne drive in October when I was last up
Norfolk Snake
Well-known member
Regarding Rough-legs at Holkham this winter - up until New Year all reports were unfortunately relating to one of 2 very pale Common Buzzards - both were locally bred juvs and one in particular is very striking - it has white head, chest and belly with few dark streaks on the belly, flecked white above on upperwings and mantle and white horse shoe rump - its has repeatedly been identified as a rough leg. Don't know about this week's sightings but from what I've been told does n't sound very convincing either.
Also in regard to Richardson's Canada Goose in the past at Holkham - in contradiction to what Tideliner has stated, every local who has watched the geese there since the 80s has only seen 3 very different potential Richardson's (since `1983) - certainly not the same individual and contrary again to what Tideliner has stated no feral ones visited Holkham regularly. (only one record from 70s of small Canada with Holkham Lake feral Canada Geese). Indeed it could be said that for a while there was a spate of differing Canada Geese arriving with the Pinkfeet in Norfolk be they Todd's, Lessers or Richardson's and I would say there was nothing to suggest any of these were anything but wild. Can't comment on the Cley one however..
Also in regard to Richardson's Canada Goose in the past at Holkham - in contradiction to what Tideliner has stated, every local who has watched the geese there since the 80s has only seen 3 very different potential Richardson's (since `1983) - certainly not the same individual and contrary again to what Tideliner has stated no feral ones visited Holkham regularly. (only one record from 70s of small Canada with Holkham Lake feral Canada Geese). Indeed it could be said that for a while there was a spate of differing Canada Geese arriving with the Pinkfeet in Norfolk be they Todd's, Lessers or Richardson's and I would say there was nothing to suggest any of these were anything but wild. Can't comment on the Cley one however..
