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Norfolk birding (28 Viewers)

Plea for info on Walsey Hills.

Hi,

I am posting on behalf of the NOA. Has anyone been to Walsey Hills today?

If so, di you notice anything damaged?

Apparently last night there were some kids hanging out there and I'm wondering whether anyone has noticed any damage there today?

Not to brush all kids with the same brush of course but there were several incidences of damage to fencing there a while back.

Thanks for any info you can offer.

Best wishes
BS
 
I can't believe that RSPB are being attacked on here. There are a few minor things that have made me have a small grumble over the years I admit. But I had the pleasure of spending 4 days in Norfolk,Suffolk, Cambs this week and visited 4 RSPB sites with at least 1 in each county and saw or heard Marsh Harriers, Bearded Tits and Bitterns at each plus countless other "goodies" including non-birds like my first Swallowtails, and Chinese Water Deer. Would I have seen these without the RSPB, maybe some but not all, especially with such limited time available. You/We don't appreciate how lucky we are!
When you are walking along watching a Harrier food pass and are stopped in your tracks by a Bittern Boom and then pinging over the reeds you don't know which way to turn and are truly in a blissful place, even forgetting that ostensibly you are there for a rarity!

Mike
 
Last edited:
Boogieshrew said:
Hi,

I am posting on behalf of the NOA. Has anyone been to Walsey Hills today?

If so, di you notice anything damaged?

Apparently last night there were some kids hanging out there and I'm wondering whether anyone has noticed any damage there today?

Not to brush all kids with the same brush of course but there were several incidences of damage to fencing there a while back.

Thanks for any info you can offer.

Best wishes
BS
Click to expand...
I have been there for most of the day and didn't notice anything damaged, but that's not to say there isn't!
 
The Marsh Warbler that I re-located this morning in Walsey Hills NOA is VERY elusive. It will sing right next to the path and bracken stems will sway and you might have a glimpse or two if you are lucky, but it's certainly not posing for photos. I did manage one record shot. It is singing beautifully though!:t:

Full update on blog.

Penny:girl:
 

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Yep, the hide at Titchwell is a monstrosity. In fact as far as I'm concerned there is only a handful of decent hides anywhere in the country, and I've yet to find an RSPB reserve that has got a good one.

Hides seem to be designed for people under 5ft 9ins tall because when I'm in one I usually have to sit hunch backed to be able to see out of the shutters.

And with the amount of photographers filling hides these days you're lucky to get a seat in one anyway.

Plus, something else I hate about hides.....when you approach some of them it sounds like a Friday night at the Jolly Tavern. The usual signs "Please be quiet, birds have ears" mean nothing to some folk.

But the biggest drawback about sitting in a hide.....its a fact of nature that birds fly.....and they fly much higher than your eye level looking through a hide window.....in fact they often fly overhead and you miss them completely.

Hides......pfffffttt |})|
 
steve_zodiac said:
Plus, something else I hate about hides.....when you approach some of them it sounds like a Friday night at the Jolly Tavern. The usual signs "Please be quiet, birds have ears" mean nothing to some folk.

Hides......pfffffttt |})|
Click to expand...

True. I used to like going to hides (anywhere in the country) when people would whisper even when there was nothing to see.
 
Mike Cross said:
I can't believe that RSPB are being attacked on here. There are a few minor things that have made me have a small grumble over the years I admit. But I had the pleasure of spending 4 days in Norfolk,Suffolk, Cambs this week and visited 4 RSPB sites with at least 1 in each county and saw or heard Marsh Harriers, Bearded Tits and Bitterns at each plus countless other "goodies" including non-birds like my first Swallowtails, and Chinese Water Deer. Would I have seen these without the RSPB, maybe some but not all, especially with such limited time available. You/We don't appreciate how lucky we are!
When you are walking along watching a Harrier food pass and are stopped in your tracks by a Bittern Boom and then pinging over the reeds you don't know which way to turn and are truly in a blissful place, even forgetting that ostensibly you are there for a rarity!

Mike
Click to expand...

I haven't really read any post that slates the RSPB on here, but on some level you have to question their work at times. For example, should they be allowing Chinese Water Deer to expand their range without knowing the damage they are causing to native species??

It's all very well seeing Chinese Water Deer on RSPB reserves but what damage are they causing to nesting species of birds?? In Norfolk which is a now a stronghold for these it is interesting to see that the number of nesting Bitterns is falling (the situation is the same in Suffolk) yet across the rest of the country they are increasing.

Similarly Willow Tit and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker numbers; are these being inadvertently affected by such species as Chinese Water Deer and what studies are being conducted on this?? It seems odd that at sites where both WT and LSW were present but have now disappeared that Chinese Water Deer are at these sites in abundance (Strumpshaw Fen, Upton Fen and Minsmere are prime examples). However at sites where those two species of bird remain there are no CWD that I know off; coincidence? Quite possibly but I personally question the RSPB for allowing the CWD to increase in population on their reserves with seemingly no thought for the damage they could cause.

In light of the statements earlier this year by the the BTO and RSPB that Muntjac are responsible for the loss of nesting habitat for Nightingales in Thetford Forest this is also clearly evident at sites such as Salthouse Heath - on every visit this year so far I have seen at least 3 Muntjac but I have only recorded 1 Nightingale! Are they actually going to take some action on this situation or just allow it to get worse?

I therefore think that people are more than justified in questioning Conservation bodies such as the RSPB if they feel they are right to do so.

Keith
 
Titchwell June 14th

Today’s highlights

Little gull – 7 on fresh marsh
Spotted redshank – 1 on fresh marsh
Red crested pochard – 2 in reedbed
Little ringed plover – 2 on fresh marsh

Paul
 
Paul Eele said:
Hi Oliver

I am not really sure why people need to go and see the birds when they are nest building and incubating anyway. Everyone knows that the birds are a very rare breeder with very few pairs in the country these days. Why not wait until the young have fledged? There would be much more activity and there is much less chance of any disturbance.

Paul
Click to expand...

Simple answer: because if the nest fails then they will miss seeing the birds. I decided to wait until they were bringing food to the young this year, and as a result I've missed the birds for this year. ( I assume they are no longer in the area)
 
Disturbing nesting birds.

putnoebabes said:
Couldn't agree more. Think I'll go and bash a few gorse bushes on local heathlands on the pretext of counting DW nests and eggs, see how long it takes to get me locked up, then call Martin Hughes-Games for the case for the defence!!!!! BBC should be ashamed!
Graham
Click to expand...

It cannot be denied that however thorough the risk assessment and carefully the visit is conducted, visiting any nest poses the risk of revealing the whereabouts to a potential predator or the birds to desert. However, with adequate training and a genuine desire for the welfare of the birds to be paramount, there is no evidence to suggest that visiting a nest for the purpose of nest recording or marking nestlings increases the risk of nest failure.

I have no idea how much control the BTO had over their input to the Springwatch programme but I found it of great concern that insufficient emphasis was placed on the need for care when visiting a nest. Covering one's tracks after the visit being just one example and not a word of caution regarding Schedule 1 species. Overall, I consider the way in which the subject matter was presented to be a gross error of judgement.
 
Paul Eele said:
So the welfare of the birds isn't important to them then?
Click to expand...

I can't really answer that; if you read my post you'll see that I _didn't_ visit before the young hatched, and a part of that decision was to avoid endangering the breeding.

However, I think a lot of people on this thread have been (deliberately?) misinterpreting the motives of birders who walked along the footpath. They are assuming/claiming that the motive of the birders was to 'get closer to the nest'. However, birders are not mind readers, and the whereabouts of the nest was, I assume, not marked with a big flag labelled 'nest is here, keep away'. If you look at the layout, you will see that the footpath runs uphill, and at the edge of the first field there is a much better viewpoint foir scanning for raptors. I'm pretty sure that most people walked along the said public right of way for that reason; getting a good all-round view is normal fieldcraft for viewing of raptors. Two years ago the nest was on the opposite side of the road, ISTR, and there would be no reason to guess it was near the footpath (I'm assuming from recent posts here that it was?)
 

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