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Norfolk birding (42 Viewers)

Titchwell September 10th

Mike Feely said:
Hi Paul

Thanks for the regular reports from Titchwell, much appreciated.

Just out of interest, are these lists taken verbatim from the visitor sightings book or from your own rounds?

As a fairly regular visitor (several times a year, for several years), i have seen some pretty wild mis-id's in that book. Just wondered if they had been sense checked in any way (i'm not casting any aspersions or anything, just interested to know, as these reports will be very useful).

Thanks

Mike
Click to expand...

Hi Mike

All the records I have been posting are a combination of mine, reserve volunteers and the sightings log in the visitor centre. I normally use the more interesting records on these posts as that is usually what most people what to know about but all of the records are entered into the reserve database and passed on to the county recorder on a monthly basis. Any species that are county or national rarities are passed onto the revelvent groups to decide whether they are acceptable. All I try to do is encourage people to submit their descriptions to the county recorder.

Todays highlights

Curlew sandpiper - juv on fresh marsh
Spoonbill - 3 on fresh marsh
Mandarin - drake on fresh marsh
Pintail - 38 on fresh marsh
Spotted redshank - 13 on fresh marsh
Common sandpiper - 1 on fresh marsh
Pink footed goose - 5 on brackish marsh
Great skua - 4 offshore
Arctic skua - 2 offshore
Eider - 5 offshore
Grey heron - 5 west offshore

Bit of movement today. Apart from the herons moving (an odd sight) there were good numbers of ducks, hirundines, pipits and starlings around today.

Paul
 
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Frootshoot said:
Found an interesting looking Barn Owl here today, a presumed migrant looking very tired sitting on a fence post close to the cliff. It looked quite similar to the 'Dark-breasted' Barn Owl at Ludham late 2007/early 2008. Also a few migrants around including 2 Wheatear and a single Redstart. The sea produced an Arctic Skua north and 2 Red-throated Divers on the water with another north. Looking forward to the rest of the month...

James

EDIT: Have added one of my pics of the bird, fixed eyepiece so 128x mag!
Click to expand...

Interesting bird James. On balance I suspect it's a female alba rather than a guttata, although certainly dark-breasted enough to cast doubt. I'm no real expert, but I would expect a guttata to show more buff on the belly and grey on the upperparts. Your bird looks very clean white on the belly and the amount of grey on the upperparts is not atypical. Also, the time of year doesn't hugely favour guttata as others in Norfolk have tended to be in winter / early spring.

Would be interested to hear if others shared that opinion though...
 
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Ilya Maclean said:
Interesting bird James. On balance I suspect it's a female alba rather than a guttata, although certainly dark-breasted enough to cast doubt. I'm no real expert, but I would expect a guttata to show more buff on the belly and grey on the upperparts. Your bird looks very clean white on the belly and the amount of grey on the upperparts is not atypical. Also, the time of year doesn't hugely favour guttata as others in Norfolk have tended to be in winter / early spring.

Would be interested to hear if others shared that opinion though...
Click to expand...

Just a guess really, but i reckon it might be a juvenile bird from a local clutch that has had at least one 'guttata' type adult - but not necessarily a pure continental bird. I read somewhere - ok it was birdwatching magazine that during routine ringing in East Anglia this summer, a female Guttata Barn Owl originally ringed in the Netherlands was incubating 3 chicks, the bird unfortunately was then found as a road casualty near the A10 Southerly, presumably these chicks did not survive, but this is then proof that Guttata type birds do cross the North sea then can settle down to breed. Since Barn Owls are much rarer as migrants than eared Owls it seems unlikely that Guttata would see the UK purely as a wintering site - once arrived you would guess they either perish or settle down and mate with Albas

The behaviour of this bird, turning up unexpectedly and not during a conducive time for migration and looking pretty nackered may suggest it is a disorientated young bird dispersing from a nest site in a local area (i know this can happen quite a bit with Owls, i heard of a LEO sat on a pavement in a house estate).

Its just a theory and i know its not going to help anyone trying to claim a true Guttata - which i think is almost neigh on impossible now,

To further confuse the issue ive heard of Guttata type birds being released from captivity in Norfolk does anyone know any more on this?

I know someone else on this thread who could also considerably add to this debate ;)

anyone wanting to find out about the issues and ID have a look here http://www.freewebs.com/eastnorfolkbirding/articles.htm#153369076
 
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Seawatching off Sheringham

Hi, I'm useless at ever getting to Sheringham on the right day (i.e last Sunda) - and when I even manage to catch the weather forecast I often-as-not misinterpret it...

Anyway, does tomorrow (Friday) or any of the weekend look worth a go? The wind looks vaguely north-westerly tomorrow... But I don't really know what is has to be for N Norfolk seawatching to be worthwhile. How much is the weather elsewhere in the North Sea a factor for instance, rather than just the onshore winds?

Any help much appreciated.

Grando
 
Rare birds found on 12th Sept in Norfolk

Might wet your lips! Can't go out cause I'm ill - girlfriend being bossy, so halucinating on medication

Bonnelli's warbler, Great Snipe,Blue-winged-teal,Wilson's phalarope, Ehrenburghs' redstart - per Dudley et al.

13th and 14th - boasted Little Crake, Pied wheatear, PG Tips

Sharp tailed would be very welcome for most.
 
Penny Monday for sure, looks good for Sunday and Monday, perhaps too clear would be nice to get some rain. Sure there will be some drift migrants around, Bluetails a good bet.
Seawatching not promising.
 
Paul Eele said:
Hi Mike

All the records I have been posting are a combination of mine, reserve volunteers and the sightings log in the visitor centre. I normally use the more interesting records on these posts as that is usually what most people what to know about but all of the records are entered into the reserve database and passed on to the county recorder on a monthly basis. Any species that are county or national rarities are passed onto the revelvent groups to decide whether they are acceptable. All I try to do is encourage people to submit their descriptions to the county recorder.

Paul
Click to expand...

Hi Paul

Thanks for this, it's nice to know the source of your reports.

I'll be back at Titchwell early this Saturday, not expecting much looking at the weather, but i always enjoy a day there. How's the car park looking for migrants?

I'll say hi if i see you.

ATB

Mike
 
ashley banwell said:
Bluetails a good bet.
Click to expand...

Bit early for that, surely? If the new RBA historic records database is correct, then the earliest ever is Sept 16th, and majority of records are weeks 2-3 in October. (in fact, 5 have been found on my birthday, 16/10, alone!)

Great Snipe or Yellow-breasted Bunting would be my bet.
 
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Thank you James and Ashley - I have now booked both days off;);) BUT tomorrow I am catching up with chores, so will go birding on the Monday as well as Saturday AND Sunday morning as I could only get one shift on Sunday pm!!! So am looking forward to getting out there with bins and camera:t:;)

Best Wishes Penny:girl:
 
Ilya, Josh, thanks for your views. I too felt it looked whiter than I would have expected on the belly/ventral areas and the feathering around the eyes looked 'cleaner' than is usually present in any alleged 'dark-breast' photos I've seen. The date too could be construed as rather early but that would be of less concern to me personally. There was no sign of it the following morning although I don't know if anyone checked the grass at the bottom of the post! I've posted a couple more shots for anyone interested...

Lovely warm day today, 4+ Chiffchaffs knocking around the garden and 2 Swifts south at 3.30-ish. Also a Jackdaw muttering grumpily as it gave a rather unconcerned Hobby short shrift before they both drifted off to the east. Looking to the weekend, the surface pressure charts appear to be corkingly good from perhaps midday Saturday with the passage of a warm front developing into a slow moving occluded front ahead of a run of east to north-easterlies. We could perhaps see the counties earliest Raddes over the next few days...

James
 

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Hudwit said:
The Long-tailed Skua age ratio is very interesting.

So far this autumn there have been very few juvenile Arctic Skua (including the 60 I checked today) and likewise most of the 70 or so Bonxies I looked at today also appeared to be adults (many just starting to moult). I have only seen about 5 Poms so far and they have all been adults as has my only Long-tailed Skua so far. So it is interesting to see that only 2 of 19+ Long-tailed Skua claimed from Sheringham were adults. I wonder why Long-tailed Skua age ratios should be so different? Have all the other species had a poor breeding season or have the juveniles of the other speces not really entered the North Sea as yet? Were the non adult Long-tailed Skuas claimed off Sheringham juveniles or older birds? Of course it is easier to make small juvenile Arctic Skuas into juvenile Long-tailed Skuas at long range - adult and sub-adult Arctic Skuas are more obvious and consequently more difficult to misidentify as Long-tailed Skuas.
Click to expand...

According to the Swedish bird report database, more than 50 juvenile Long-tailed Skuas have been seen in southern Sweden this September, and only one adult. Many of the juveniles have been photographed, e.g. these (no photo of the adult):
http://www.artportalen.se/artportalen/gallery/image.aspx?obsid=13164146
http://www.artportalen.se/artportalen/gallery/image.aspx?obsid=13237196
http://www.artportalen.se/artportalen/gallery/Image.aspx?rappsyst=1&obsid=13238792&imageID=98333
http://www.artportalen.se/artportalen/gallery/image.aspx?obsid=13194402
http://www.artportalen.se/artportalen/gallery/image.aspx?obsid=13183698

In southern Finland LT Skua is much more rare than in Sweden, but juveniles are seen between the last week of August and the first week of October. Adults are clearly rarer than juveniles. On the other hand, most of the inland records of Arctic Skua, which concern migrating arctic birds, are of adults.

The first juvenile Pomarine Skuas don't arrive to Finland until the last week of September or the first week of October, and the migration continues until November. Juveniles are more common than adults (or subadults).

During the breeding season, the favourite food items of Long-tailed Skuas are rodents, such as Lemmings, so the breeding success is not comparable to Arctic Skua, which mainly steals its food from other birds (but can also eat rodents when they are abundant). There are also significant differences between the breeding areas of the different species.
 
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Lesson for all?

I’ve never felt able to ID juv LTS at long distance so prompted by the recent correspondence on this forum and conversations elsewhere I decided time was right to get out of my comfort zone and try for some long range IDs of LTS. Here is Wednesday’s effort......

Four dark grey tern-like birds flying steadily west at long distance low over the sea, they rise slowly up in the air, stall in the wind and start to dip feed on the surface. Clearly not gulls, they look too big for terns and are reasonably powerful flyers, and look for all the world like small slim long winged skuas.

Could these be the distant LTS I have been ‘missing’ at Titchwell and that get ID’d at Sheringham?

Zoom up to maximum....well they’re certainly dark grey above and when they stall and bank look a shade paler grey below but are still definitely grey. Can’t see any white on the belly, head or in the wing but can’t see any real detail either. Gannets going by at similar distance clearly show some white as does a passing Fulmar’s head, so despite the contrasting light the birds presumably are dark grey with no significant white areas anywhere, so they can’t be terns.

The rump area looks slightly paler grey than the adjacent mantle....the tail looks longish against the sky .... they carry on occasionally dip feeding....no brown tones anywhere ....all good for LTS......but they are sooooo far away.

I think of the recent correspondence on this forum about ID-ing distant juvenile LTS. Quite a few of the pro features fall in to place. I begin to think they really are very distant LTS and try to put other birders on them. No dissenting voices. Another ten or so birds with the same Jizz appear... perhaps there is a small passage of LTS going on?

I’ve never previously dared to identify juv LTS at this range.....

Surely they aren’t this simple? Surely a flock of a dozen or more LTS is unusual? ......

I decide to follow the birds and hope they fly close enough to see some real detail, and really micro-scrutinise them....eventually they come a bit closer... though still at great distance and yes....it’s obvious....
They’re Common ******* Terns!!:-C

Now I count myself as a reasonably competent sea watcher but I learnt some important lessons that, on Wednesday at least I had forgotten:
1. Don’t be so desperate to gain a new skill that you ignore all your old skills and experience.
2. Get the family right first!
3. Don’t try to identify birds on jizz at distance unless you are very familiar with them at close and mid distance.
4. Don’t be afraid to question your initial ID and don’t be afraid to admit mistakes.
5. LASTLY AND MOST IMPORTANTLY...keep enjoying birding, share your knowledge and keep on learning!!! :t:

I’ll be out again on Friday!

I am in no way questioning any of the observations or IDs from Sheringham.
 
More Norfolk seawtching matters.....

Why are there so many birds passing Sheringham in a sea watch? At Titchwell on Sunday we had 5 Manxies, Sheringham had more than 200!

For birds moving east in a gale I think Sheringham is in a relatively unique and fortunate location. Consider the rest of the North Norfolk coast:

Hunstanton to Brancaster.
There is no coast west of Hunstanton to gather birds i.e. birds further west go into the Wash. By the time birds moving east reach Titchwell, Scolt Head is looming; sticking out more than a mile off shore, so birds begin to move North-east essentially getting too far out to ID.

Brancaster to Blakeney.
Essentially difficult access and under watched in sea watching terms. As birds move past Stiffkey, Blakeney Point pushes them North-east again; further out from the shore.

Blakeney to Sheringham.
Rounding the point birds now have a smooth evenly profiled coast to follow with no headlands to push them further out and no inland pointing creeks or harbours to confuse them. In addition the coast itself starts to turn south which is the direction most birds want to go.

Sheringham.
There has now been 30 miles of coast since Hunstanton in which to ‘pick-up’ the birds. In the shelter, conditions are optimal for sea-watching i.e. wind and waterproof (most of the time!) so you are comfortable with a rock steady tripod (well it ought to be!) You can concentrate on birding rather than keeping optics dry and steady.
In addition, the height in the lower shelter is optimal. It’s not so low that birds are totally lost in troughs or heat-haze. It's not so high you miss birds above the horizon i.e. ‘ID distance’ is essentially within one low power field of view.
Throw in the ‘Patagonian Roadside rest effect’ i.e. the more birders at a particular spot the more birds will be found which brings more birders and you have a recipe for a really good sea watch.|=)|

What’s really interesting is the direction birds are moving. All our birds on Sunday were moving west, those at Sheringham I think east. This is a pattern I have observed many times before most notably on last year’s Pom Skua weekend in early November, when Titchwell had almost a 100 Poms west, but at Sheringham they were going east.

What are the factors on the coast that causes some birds to go east and some to go west? You might have imagined that west would be the preferred direction for birds essentially wanting to move south west into the Atlantic and then down the west African coast.|:S|
 
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Mike Feely said:
Hi Paul

Thanks for this, it's nice to know the source of your reports.

I'll be back at Titchwell early this Saturday, not expecting much looking at the weather, but i always enjoy a day there. How's the car park looking for migrants?

I'll say hi if i see you.

ATB

Mike
Click to expand...

I will be working but I have a guided walk in the morning. The carpark is always worth a look especially the elders in the coach park. Lesser whitethroat, 6 chiffs and at least 10 blackcaps in that area last weekend.
Pied fly yesterday and with this rain you never know what may pop out.

Paul
 
Hi guys

Anyone looking at this weekend thinking a good session seawatching may be worthwhile? Living in central England i am very inexperienced with seawatching so would anyone be willing to have me shodowing them to pick up a few bird ID's? If i was to head to Sheringham where do i go to get to the seawatching hide/areas?

Cheers

Gareth
 
This weekend

Hi Gareth,

Typically the best winds here for seawatching are NW. Anything N or NE in strong winds will also produce decent seawatching, & NE often seems to produce better seawatching for my patch at Holme.

The winds appear to be v light E tomorrow so therefore it would be surprising if there is more than just a few Arctic skuas, etc and seaduck. High pressure is building over Scandinavia so there well maybe a few passerines to be found, its a bit too early for big thrush arrivals.

Hirundines on the move here daily 80 over the house mainly House Marts & Swallows, but Swift still present Sunday.

If you want to ensure a good seawatch then normally wait until we are forecast something 4+ in NW. Interestingly the winds were relatively light NW last Sunday & produced good numbers, this would suggest there are good numbers of Sabines & skuas already in the north sea.

If you decide to go to Sheringham on a good day you will need to get there early it's not like getting into Carrow road, it fills up real early!!

Click here & where you see The Esplanade is where the shelters are, just walk down the steps & you will find them


Good luck whatever you decide to do

Ta Chris
 
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