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Norfolk birding (20 Viewers)

Norfolk 12/6

Quick report on a couple of days in the county with the Girlfriend, hope i don't bore you !!

Arrived at Wells and dropped the gear off at a friends caravan on the Pinewoods site and headed off to see a couple of the visitors in the area. Superb views of a female Monty and a more distant view of two Males interacting with a Marsh Harrier. Great Stuff and good for comparing flight profiles/jizz etc.
Next stop was the surface of the sun, also known as Gt Ryburgh watch point !! It was very hot on the hill, if visiting here and the sun is out, wear a hat/sunscreen and take some water (or a few cold beers !!). 5 common Buzzards/3 Hobbies were up but no HB's unfortunately.

Then to Blakeney - Friary Hills for the R B Shrike and thanks to the photos on this thread it was seen straight away. We enjoyed great views and wished one of the males that had been around the coast recently could have bumped into her and lived happily ever after.

Salthouse beach next, where we just relaxed and watched the to'ing and fro'ing of the terns, Little/Sandwich/Common. The superb air display by these elegant birds was enhanced by the passing of two Porpoises heading west about 1/2 mile off shore. The sea was like a millpond and they gave nice views as they breached every 60secs or so.

A couple of pints in the Dun Cow was followed by a trip upto the heath. A great day was completed by churring Nightjars and views of perched bird on a tree, a singing Nightingale in the bushes next to the road and a calling Tawny Owl, Superb. Note to self - next time invest in insect repellant or i will spend the next day looking for bite cream and anti histamine tablets, again !!

Will post 13/6 action tomorrow.

Steve
 
Had another look in on the Montys this afternoon. 3 birds seen, including a male, a fem. and a nice ginger youngster. Watched the male skydancing for about 10 mins, as well as them just swooping gracefully over the fields.

Then onto titchwell. Lots of birders searching avidly for the Little Bittern, but with no sign in around 2 hours, since it was 1st seen. I checked out the hides and then returned at around 16:30. Stood with the other ppl searching, and within 2 minutes, someone called that they had seen it. Bout 10m from the path it sat up in the reeds for about 10 minutes, and then flew over the reeds to another position. Excellent flight views of its large white wing patches. Not quite as small as a moorhen, but not much bigger either. Beautiful bird.

Jason
 

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Little bittern

I have been looking at the records and this is the 1st record for the reserve. There is the possibility that the bird was present on saturday and seen briefly in flight dropping into a willow bush although I only heard about it this afternoon.
The bird seams to be favouring the ditch that runs from the main path towards the dead trees viewable from just before the reedbed pool.
I did hear the bird calling, a sound like a distant dog barking, when it was first reported but I don't know if this is its display call.
The bird is only being seen really in flight so who knows how long it has been around although we have been doing a lot on monitoring in the last week and we would have picked it up if is was flying about.

Not a great deal else around at the moment, rainfall is playing havoc with the water levels. Ruff today was only the 2nd record of the spring! LRP and greenshank yesterday and 4 marsh ahrriers now feeding young.

Good luck if you are heading down

Paul
 
A friend let me know (don't have a pager) that the Little Bittern was at Titchwell this afternoon, and if I had not been so absolutely exhausted after yesterday's twitch up north I would be going to Titchwell myself! I let young eagle eyed Connor know, who am sure will post on here this evening if he sees it!!!!

Best Wishes Penny:girl:
 
Connor Rand said:
Dipped little bittern this evening...waited for 2 hours with no joy...

Connor
Click to expand...

Oh dear.... bad luck Connor - was waiting to see if you had seen yet, sorry.

Hopefully it will be about for a few days, maybe, says I hopefully, being as I can not go until Thursday at earliest!

Best Wishes Penny:girl:
 
Sorry that you could not stay Connor. The Little Bittern flew out of the reeds at 9.05pm, flying about 70 metres to land in one of the ditches. We all got wet in the rain though! Nice to see you Tim!
Sue
 
Forgot to mention a male Montague's Harrier near (location deleted) on our way to Titchwell and good views of a superb summer plumaged Spotted Redshank at Titchwell as well as Little Tern and Little Gull. Whilst we were waiting for the Little Bittern we were treated to a couple of food passes to each of the female Marsh Harriers. Fantastic!
Sue
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Popped to Salthouse Heath this evening. 5 churring Nightjar, + 2 which circled my head for a bit, clapping wings and calling to each other. Also 2 Barn Owls on the way home; one of which was pirched on a road sign, and a couple of Tawnys calling.

Jason
 
Hippo said:
Many thanks, Penny.

I will be in the area from Friday till Wednesday. A lot of places to check out. How is the recent rainfall affecting the north coast?

Regards

Kevin
Click to expand...

Water levels very high everywhere. Many nests got flooded out. (Avocets, Bitterns, Gulls etc. Torrential downpours/wind breaking up nests/chicks getting cold. House Martins, Swallows deserting the area around where I live in West Norfolk, when in one particular bad weekend we had 3 days non-stop rain) Muddy areas on reserves all under water ie. not as much exposed mud for waders as usual.
BUT Norfolk is still fantastic for bird watching!
Sue
 
A Spotted Fly was very entertaining in the 'in-laws' garden at Worstead last evening. Also a pair feeding 3 young at Sutton...

James
 
Cracking nightjar evening at Dersingham last night. 5 churring birds with at least 3 flying around and 5+ woodcocks.
Very bad for midges so take your insect repellent!!
 
Hi again, just to tidy up what i saw last week

13/6

We went down to Hickling Broad - great reserve with interest for everyone - birds/dragonflies/plants - whatever makes you happy. Highlights for me were the Swallowtail butterflies with the best views on the Bittern trail near the Observation Hut. Also saw a common lizard sunning itself on the boardwalk near the the turn off to Seckers/Cadbury hide - my first lizard in this country !! Bird highlights were Marsh Harrier/3 Cettis singing/two Cranes in the field near the visitor centre.

What was frustrating for me was seeing plenty of Dragon and Damselflies and not being able to identify any of them even the what i presume were common ones !! I have now rectified this and purchased a laminate from Bird Ventures in Holt that's produced by the Field Studies Council. It shows all the main species to be seen in this country side by side for the bargain price of £3.25. I can now identify alot of the commoner Damselflies on my local patch but the Dragons are a little trickier as they are so quick !! Also picked the Butterfly one up for £2.50 and are a good investment for a beginner, before paying out £25-30 for a more advanced field guide. Lots of other flora and fauna are reproduced on seperate laminates e.g Bees, Ladybirds, Grasses, Amphibians and reptiles. Definitely worth a look.

We then did some non-birding things for the rest of the week but a walk down the East Bank Friday afternoon gave us views of Bearded Tit,Marsh Harrier and a Spotted Redshank flew over the bank from the Serpentine and headed in the direction of the North Hide area Chuu-it'ing all the way.

Steve

Almost forgot, if you are visiting the area you must visit the Birdscape Gallery next to Cley Spy, but leave the credit card at home. You could start to haemorrhage cash in either place !!!!
 
Nottingham Panther said:
Also saw a common lizard sunning itself on the boardwalk near the the turn off to Seckers/Cadbury hide - my first lizard in this country !!
Click to expand...


Nice read, and glad you enjoyed your visit

Regarding the Lizards, those boardwalks are definately a good spot for seeing Common Lizards - almost trod on one there myself once, can't wait to go again.

Matt
 
SueBryan said:
Sorry that you could not stay Connor. The Little Bittern flew out of the reeds at 9.05pm, flying about 70 metres to land in one of the ditches. We all got wet in the rain though! Nice to see you Tim!
Sue
Click to expand...

Hi Sue, perhaps could have hung on but as I came virtually staright from school so didnt hav waterproof! When it started to raining decided to call it a day! Has apparantly been showing well this morning although not seen this afternoon...

Connor
 

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