The end of the day at Titchwell (1 Viewer)

I arrived at Titchwell 5 minutes after leaving Choseley. The car park was virtually full and I had to park on the side of the road by the toilets. All the usual birds could be seen in the car park but surprise No1 was waiting on the path near to the visitors centre. About five birders were peering into the thick undergrowth with their bins. “Anything interesting” I said, without much conviction. No disrespect but here, birds that are usually being looked at are the common species. “Woodcock” came back the reply. What!! Sure enough there was a Woodcock feeding just in front of our feet, almost totally obscured by the undergrowth, but every now and again would show part of himself to the enthralled mass of birders that had now gathered. The path was blocked as word got around what was at the side of the path. It was then that I remembered that this bird had been reported a few times on the pager and I had forgotten about it. Well, that was an excellent start to my Titchwell adventure.

The bird garden was full of the usual birds so I ventured down the path towards the beach. Just before the bushes ended on your right a Warbler came, briefly into view. I only saw brief views of the bird but my impression was Willow Warbler but I couldn’t firm up my ID so that one escaped me. I reached the Reeds before the first hide and scanned them for Bearded Tits but none showed, which was a disappointment as I had high hopes of them in this weather.

Garganey had been reported here and they were my target bird but as I walked towards the beach I couldn’t find any trace of them, neither could I find a trace of old Sammy the Black winged Stilt. Every one else seemed to have seen it but not me. As I scoped around the many little Islands I did pick out a Little Egret huddled tight up against a fairly thick bush. There were possibly over 20 Pintail out amongst the various ducks and gulls as were about 100 plus Brent Geese. I tried hard to find the Brants but without success. There must have been over a 100 Avocet plus one lone Goosander, two Goldeneye, a couple of Ruff, twenty or so Redshank, a few Snipe dotted around the islands, a few Curlew as well as Ringed Plover.

As I approached the brackish pool I had a major shock when a Short eared Owl shot straight across my face. It must have been only 10 feet away from me and had flown from the Thornham reserve across to Titchwell. As it ascended, all the gulls came at it harassing it wherever it went. It went higher and higher until it became just a dot in the sky to the naked eye. The gulls dispersed and gradually the bird drifted down giving us all brilliant views. I was so taken aback by this spectacle that I completely forgot about taking a photo of it. Doh!! The owl flew across the Thornham reserve and dropped down somewhere by the concrete bunkers and was lost to view. As I started to walk towards the beach a Skylark started its song and it seemed ages before I could locate it high up in the sky.

Reaching the beach the tide was right out so I walked towards the water line. I scoped the waters edge picking up Sanderling, Oystercatcher, Little Ringed Plover, Grey Plover, Black tailed and bar tailed Godwits, Turnstone, Dunlin then a couple of year birds in the shape of a lone Little Stint and 6 Knot. Out on the sea were 6 Red breasted Mergansers but nothing else apart from gulls. I searched in vain for the Purple Sandpiper through the rocks at the waters edge. It was time to take a gentle walk back though the reserve.

On my way back I scoped a few islands just passed the island hide and managed to find two sleeping Garganey, my first of the year. They were tight to one of the small islands and I must have missed them on the way down. One chap announced that Sammy had just flown across the other pool in the direction of Brancaster. Sometimes my timing is just a tad out: LOL

As I passed by the last hide a noticed a marsh harrier in the distance and as I watched this bird a small raptor shot past my scope. I followed the bird until it landed on a post. It was a Merlin and my first one of the year. As I watched the explosive song of the Cetti’s warbler exploded from the reeds in front of me. I looked all around the reeds but it never showed or sang again. Moving to the garden I watched all the usual birds until a lone Brambling landed on one of the feeders. Again I hadn’t got my camera ready and the moment was lost.

In my first thread I had forgotten to tell you about the Little Owl I surprised. I hadn’t had one yet this year and everywhere that I know of hasn’t produced. Imagine my surprise when I stopped by the junction of the A14 and the B1085, just passed Newmarket. I stopped to check out what roads to take for my first site. I started away again and a startled Little Owl took off from one of the road signs in front of me. It caught both the Owl and me by surprise.

That was the end of the day. I had had 11 new birds for the year with one of them, the Sardinian Warbler, a new bird on my British list (although I have seen hundreds of them abroad). In total I saw 88 species and the list seen is as follows.

Avocet
Bar-tailed Godwit
Blackbird
Black-headed Gull
Black-tailed Godwit
Blue Tit
Brambling
Brent Goose
Canada Goose
Carrion Crow
Cetti's Warbler
Chaffinch
Chiffchaff
Common Eider
Common Redshank
Common Snipe
Coot
Cormorant
Corn Bunting
Curlew
Dunlin
Dunnock
Fieldfare
Fulmar
Gadwall
Garganey
Goldeneye
Goldfinch
Goosander
Great Black-backed Gull
Great spotted Woodpecker
Great Tit
Green Woodpecker
Greenfinch
Grey Heron
Grey Plover
Herring Gull
House Sparrow
Jackdaw
Jay
Knot
Lapwing
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Little Egret
Little Grebe
Little Owl
Little Ringed Plover
Little Stint
Long-tailed Tit
Mallard
Marsh Harrier
Marsh Tit
Meadow Pipit
Merlin
Mistle Thrush
Moorhen
Mute Swan
Nuthatch
Oystercatcher
Pheasant
Pied Wagtail
Pintail
Pochard
Red-breasted Merganser
Red-legged Partridge
Reed Bunting
Ringed Plover
Robin
Rook
Ruff
Sanderling
Sardinian Warbler
Shelduck
Short-eared Owl
Shoveller
Skylark
Starling
Stock Dove
Stone Curlew
Teal
Tufted Duck
Turnstone
Wigeon
Wood Pigeon
Woodcock
Woodlark
Wren
Yellowhammer

A great day for you then? Probably the understatement of the year judging by your enthusiasm.

Are you nuts? This isn't what I would call a great day. Nope, this would be a phenominal day in my books John. Gosh, the most species I have ever seen in one day was 37.

Question. How do you recall everything you have seen and not lose track of one or two? I have gotten to where I carry a small voice activated digital recorder and as I see a species I quietly call it out to the recorder. I guess the memory isn't as sharp as it once was but the recorder is a blessing.

Great report again as usual, they seem to get better & better! NW Norfolk is a really excellent area to go birding in and I look forward to it everytime I go there, Titchwell is a great reserve that never seems to disapoint. I couldn`t even begin to guess the number of times I have visited over the years!

KC
<Question. How do you recall everything you have seen and not lose track of one or two?>

I keep a log book of everything I see. When I get home I transfer all the data into my bird log on the computer.

I can't believe that you only see 37 species in a day. Perhaps you don't go looking for them like I do. That day out resulted in me doing about 400 miles in total, not as many miles as i have been known to do in the past.

Ah, time is my worst enemy John. I put about 50 hours a week in the office and then there is a home and animals to take care of. I keep hoping to win the lottery so I can just play everyday.

Some may consider 400 miles for a day out excessive and solely relating to the largest numbers of species rather than the quality of the day as a whole.
I have had some wonderful and relaxed days where 30 species or so are neither here nor there.Depends on what you are looking for in a day's birding I suppose.Frenetic is not for me!

What a day you had John, i have never been there before, it is on my list of places, one day i hope to visit the area.

Grousemore

If you read my many reports that I put in virtually on a weekly basis you would see that I have been staying fairly faithfull to my local area. Every now and again I indulge myself, as no doubt you do through the year. I can assure you that the day was far from frenentic as I took my time. My bird search only covered an area from near Brandon to Titchwell, which is a relatively short journey, and I spent 12 hours doing it. Surely not an exceesive speed.

Norfolk has huge areas to watch and I chose only a few. I drove along many country lanes just taking in the pleasure of the sun and countryside, as I do on many occasions. Norfolk is my favourite county and I take any opportunity I have to visit this lovely, bird rich, place.

I take a little exception to you stating that I went fot totals not quality. If you read my posts you would have read that I had targeted certain birds, which I have no chance of seeing deep here in the midlands.

There, I have that off my chest.

Grouseman I feel that you`re being a little bit harsh on John here, he`s had a great day out in Norfolk, seen some fantastic birds and taken the time to share his experiences here with us.

Like any birder based inland I myself find it necessary to travel to the coast to enjoy the birding on offer, and I would always structure my days in the field to take in a variety of birds and a variety of sites.

At the end of the day we go birding as a leisure activity and it shouldn`t become a “duty” to cover our local patches to the exclusion of all else.

In thinking back, I guess I've done several 400-plus-mile days myself. I bird locally quite a bit, but when all the pieces fall into place (a free day, the car works, the money's there for the gas), I've been known to head out for places rather distant.

If I head to the Lake Michigan lakeshore, for example, it's abut 135 miles just to get there -- and I'm birding along the highway en route. There's stops at Kankakee, Kingsburg and Jasper-Pulaski FWAs along the way, either before or after 'doing' the lakeshore. The lakeshore itself means another 20-50 miles to hit the 'good spots', as Indiana's shore is heavily industrialized with ports and steel mills. But protected patches are dotted within. Depending on how many you try to reach, you can be hopping about literally from Chicago to the Michigan state line.

Same holds true for going to Lake Erie -- it's 3 hours one way (maybe 150 miles or so), then there's a stretch of shoreline that maybe 30-40 miles long with patches to check out all along the way, from Port Clinton to the eastern reaches of Toledo, all in Ohio.

Then there's Muscatatuck NWR. If I'm doing that just for a day (quite rare; I usually take it in on a weekend when I'm visiting my sister who lives only about 20 miles from it's entrance), then it's 200 miles just to get there!

I was not being "harsh" on anybody.I was only reacting to the comment..."I can't believe that you only see 37 species in a day"
My point is that for me a great day's birding does not only relate to the number of species seen.

Alright boys, let's not fall out. After all 'Life is like a box of chocolates'! Full of different types of birders who like different things with different attitudes and that's what makes us a great and interesting 'Tribe'.

Grousemore

I take your point but the reason I posed the query on the number was where she lived. I thought everything was big in the states including being able to see more than that from your garden window: LOL

Actually John, living so close to the ocean denies me the everyday sight of a lot of song birds that those further inland would see. For the same reason, I see few butterflies. Stiff winds and loss of vegetation. Where I might get a handful of hummers all summer long, my friend 10 miles inland will have them dripping off his branches in his yard. The day I logged 37 species was a day I traveled several miles inland into the woods.

That's a shame KC. It is hard to imagine that you have to work so hard at seeing birds. It is so very different on most of our coastline. Towns and villages can be bristling with bird life at the right times of the year. Even in winter I have enjoyed excellent days out in places like Norfolk, Devon & Cornwall and also around Lancashire.