jeff
Well-known member
Sunday 20th October.
I been told to expect yellow-browed warbler and pallas’s warbler, but would we actually see them?
Arrived at 11:00ish and checked out the shore line, the tide was on it way in, birds noted were Knot, dunlin, Bar-tailed Godwit, redshank, Grey Plover, Oystercatcher and a couple of shelduck.
Next onto the pub car park to check for the warblers, just arrived when the pub landlady was giving out to the mass of birders already searching the hedgerows, not good news when she turned round only to see a coach party of another 40 birders turning up.
After a few minutes of checking the hedgerow we had goldcrest, chiffchaff and a first for me a yellow-browed warbler, we stayed a while longer until the coach party had all seen the bird. We were told there was a great grey shrike just a few hundred yards up the road, so we headed off in that direction stopping to check the orchard and hedgerows on the way.
‘Pallas’s warbler’ heard in the hedgerow, so we all waited checking the hedgerows and tree’s for 20 minutes or so, it never showed, another first gets away. A few stopped to check out the orchard, but the Great-Grey Shrike, another first for me was too close for me to wait for the crowd, so off I went and missed out on a brambling. A few birders were already present, some dodgyscoping the bird, a few minutes later the rest of the gang arrived, we all stood watching the bird as it perched high in the hedgerow, two ticks in one day can’t be bad, it was now lunch time so the crowd set of for the coach, just as we were about to go too a lady pointed out a long-eared owl in the hedgerow, this was a second for me, the only other long-eared owl I’d seen was at Brandon Marsh last December, so I suppose it was a first for the year.
Hunger had set in, so we headed off to the coach to re-join the group. Informing them of the owl, a few set off down the road again, the rest of us sat on the beach to do a bit of sea watching, the second time for me, battered by the wind we saw Common Scoter, Great Skua, Gannets and Brent Geese, another first for me.
Lunch over, we decided to head back to where we had seen the yellow-browed warbler as this seem sheltered from the wind plus the rest of the group wanted to see the leowl, so off we went, another view of the owl and the gg-shrike and we were back at the orchard, just missed a hawfinch someone told us, so we all stood about gazing into the apple trees, just a few greenfinch for our trouble, another first gets away.
Another few views of the yellow-browed warbler and another look around the shoreline only produced turnstone and ringed-plover and a porpoise, which I’m told I can’t tick as it was dead on the beach.
There was a little lane near the coach, so we though we’d explore this, house sparrow, greenfinch,fieldfare, redwing, golden plover, reed bunting, wigeon , very close views of goldcrest and a couple of scaup, another first for me.
So not a bad day, four firsts and some exercise, what more could I ask for, well if I was greedy, the hawfinch and the pallas’s but then what first would I get to tick next time.
I been told to expect yellow-browed warbler and pallas’s warbler, but would we actually see them?
Arrived at 11:00ish and checked out the shore line, the tide was on it way in, birds noted were Knot, dunlin, Bar-tailed Godwit, redshank, Grey Plover, Oystercatcher and a couple of shelduck.
Next onto the pub car park to check for the warblers, just arrived when the pub landlady was giving out to the mass of birders already searching the hedgerows, not good news when she turned round only to see a coach party of another 40 birders turning up.
After a few minutes of checking the hedgerow we had goldcrest, chiffchaff and a first for me a yellow-browed warbler, we stayed a while longer until the coach party had all seen the bird. We were told there was a great grey shrike just a few hundred yards up the road, so we headed off in that direction stopping to check the orchard and hedgerows on the way.
‘Pallas’s warbler’ heard in the hedgerow, so we all waited checking the hedgerows and tree’s for 20 minutes or so, it never showed, another first gets away. A few stopped to check out the orchard, but the Great-Grey Shrike, another first for me was too close for me to wait for the crowd, so off I went and missed out on a brambling. A few birders were already present, some dodgyscoping the bird, a few minutes later the rest of the gang arrived, we all stood watching the bird as it perched high in the hedgerow, two ticks in one day can’t be bad, it was now lunch time so the crowd set of for the coach, just as we were about to go too a lady pointed out a long-eared owl in the hedgerow, this was a second for me, the only other long-eared owl I’d seen was at Brandon Marsh last December, so I suppose it was a first for the year.
Hunger had set in, so we headed off to the coach to re-join the group. Informing them of the owl, a few set off down the road again, the rest of us sat on the beach to do a bit of sea watching, the second time for me, battered by the wind we saw Common Scoter, Great Skua, Gannets and Brent Geese, another first for me.
Lunch over, we decided to head back to where we had seen the yellow-browed warbler as this seem sheltered from the wind plus the rest of the group wanted to see the leowl, so off we went, another view of the owl and the gg-shrike and we were back at the orchard, just missed a hawfinch someone told us, so we all stood about gazing into the apple trees, just a few greenfinch for our trouble, another first gets away.
Another few views of the yellow-browed warbler and another look around the shoreline only produced turnstone and ringed-plover and a porpoise, which I’m told I can’t tick as it was dead on the beach.
There was a little lane near the coach, so we though we’d explore this, house sparrow, greenfinch,fieldfare, redwing, golden plover, reed bunting, wigeon , very close views of goldcrest and a couple of scaup, another first for me.
So not a bad day, four firsts and some exercise, what more could I ask for, well if I was greedy, the hawfinch and the pallas’s but then what first would I get to tick next time.
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