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Norfolk birding (41 Viewers)
- Thread starter Edward woodwood
- Start date
Penny Clarke
Well-known member
Hi Sandra
Weather doesn't look exactly brilliant does it:-C I work all day on Sunday now so rely on a lovely sunny Saturday, I don't think I am going to get one!!!! They sometimes get it wrong, hopefully you may have a sunny day and if you don't, you can go in a cosy pub and have a scrummy pub lunch and a B
or sit in the Cley Visitor centre while eating a lovely dessert and scan across the marshes. Have a lovely time anyway.Best Wishes Penny:girl:
P.S. I phoned Titchwell RSPB today and the Great White Egret had not been seen today, but as was suggested to me, it might be hiding in one of the creeks!
Today on Birdguides:
Titchwell: 'Freshmarsh today; also 2 ringtail Hen Harrier, 3 Spotted Redshank, 20 Snow Bunting and 2 Mediterranean Gull'
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Mark43
Well-known member
Nice male Hen Harrier mobbed by a Merlin this morning between Burnham Deepdale and Burnham Norton while (unsuccessfully) waiting for the RL Buzzard to appear. Missed it by a matter of minutes apparently.
A flock of about a dozen Twite heading east over the same location which looked like they dropped onto the saltmarsh at Burnham Norton.
It was bloody cold on that sea wall i tell you :eek!::eek!:
Week's trip report to follow tomorrow.
A flock of about a dozen Twite heading east over the same location which looked like they dropped onto the saltmarsh at Burnham Norton.
It was bloody cold on that sea wall i tell you :eek!::eek!:
Week's trip report to follow tomorrow.
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Richard Abr
Well-known member
Dogs
Have to say I am not a dog lover myself and never have been so I have a certain sympathy with the writer of this letter. To me Holme beach is
beautiful and certainly one of my favourites. It would be a shame if it became overrun with dogs.
By the way do you get horse riders on Holme beach these days?
Richard
Have to say I am not a dog lover myself and never have been so I have a certain sympathy with the writer of this letter. To me Holme beach is
beautiful and certainly one of my favourites. It would be a shame if it became overrun with dogs.
By the way do you get horse riders on Holme beach these days?
Richard
Penny Clarke
Well-known member
Too late, it already is, 4x4's full of yuppies with loads of big dogs, all bounding out of control and not on leads.:-C:C
You do still get horse riders on the beach, but no so many since one of the stables has closed.
My parents were only remarking last night that they don't hear the dawn chorus anymore in the village, because quite simply every bit of spare land has been taken for houses. I remember as a child so many little pockets of land in between houses that were full of brambles and trees etc and most have gone. There are some monster sized houses in Holme now that sell for several hundred thousand pounds and it 'aint' the local's children that are buying them!!!!!! Not that I am bitter or anything!!!!!!! The community spirit has gone, because probably at least half if not more of the village is 2nd home owners that only come down for the odd weekend - very sad:-C.
In fact the more I think about it - my dream has always been to move to Scotland, perhaps its time to move to pastures new.........
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Connor Rand
Norwich resident, Holme devotee
Indeed, all over the dunes, and they seem to be getting earlier and earlier in the morning every year :C
Connor
Mark43
Well-known member
An excellent week spent in Norfolk from the 24th to the 29th with great weather apart from the Friday which was just a bit windy all day and wet in the afternoon.
I shall just go through the locations visited and the better birds seen.
East Barsham : 3 Barn Owls hunting most evenings.
Buckenham : Still a flock of White Fronts here
Cantley : Very quiet
Breydon Water : A massive flock of Golden Plover put up by a Peregrine plus the usual waders.A nice Yellow Leg Gull with the LBB Gulls
Gt.Yarmouth : Med Gulls on the beach here.
Horsey : 3 Cranes just by the road feeding.......a beautiful close up view of 2 adults and a juvenile feeding in the field by the roadside.Snow Goose in the fields with the Geese flock and 3 Purple Sands on the groynes.Loads of seals on the beach.
Stubbs Mill : 12 Marsh Harriers ,2 Merlins and 3 Ringtails here in the evening.
Holme : Very quiet.....a Fulmar lingering offshore along with a couple of GC Grebes.
Thornham : A few RB Mergansers on the sea.
Titchwell : The Woodcock still showing off the path to the visitor centre.A Water Pipit on the freshmarsh.The Water Rail still in the ditch.Possible 6 Twite dropped onto the saltmarsh but they were so quick and didn't call.
Holkham : A nice Firecrest in the holly tree at the start of the woodland path.
Santon Downham : A search along both banks of the river for LSW failed to produce any.While taking morning tea at the Centre a small flock of Rooks and Jackdaws with a raptor in the middle of them. got our attention.A male Goshawk being mobbed by the corvids.A first for me and very easy to tell from a Sparrowhawk by its sheer size compared to the corvids.The Gos was totally nonplussed by them.We watched it for 5 minutes with the Gos never flapping its wings once.........just drifting through.
Mayday Farm : Lesser Redpoll on the 2nd water hole was the best bird here.
Santon Warren : No sign of the GG Shrike but 2 flyover Crossbills were a nice bonus.
Lynford : Target bird was Hawfinch and 6 were seen in total....3 in the paddocks and 3 in the trees either side with a nice male perched close and singing.
Holkham : A 2nd visit produced Pink Feet,Barnacle,Ross's and Egyptian Geese.
Cley Village: WC Sparrow of course........what a stunning bird and only had to wait 5 minutes for it to appear.Well worth a few quid in the collection box.
Kellng Heath : The GG Shrike took some finding but got there in the end.
Salthouse : RT Divers offshore but the Snow Buntings stole the show.....how tame are they.The Lapland was also still with them although he seemed more wary.
Cley : 2 Beardies were the best thing here.
Warham Greens : 2/3 Ringtails and a male Hen Harrier coming into roost at East Hills.........fantastic.
Burnham Deepdale/Norton : No sign of the RL Buzzard although i had a large light colored raptor over the island but the strong wind took my scope and i lost the bird.Male Hen Harrier,a merlin and a flock of Twite heading east eased the pain of missing the Buzzard.
West Barsham : Tree Sparrow in the usual place.
Sculthorpe : Nothing much here..........2 Water Rails, aout a 100 Redwing by the new Visitor centre but no Willow Tit.
Flitcham : By now the weather was bad so the Little Owls were hunkered down.
Not a bad trip all in all..........110 species with at least 5 lifers i think but haven't checked it all yet.
Well done Norfolk yet again..........you guys that live and bird there are so lucky
I shall just go through the locations visited and the better birds seen.
East Barsham : 3 Barn Owls hunting most evenings.
Buckenham : Still a flock of White Fronts here
Cantley : Very quiet
Breydon Water : A massive flock of Golden Plover put up by a Peregrine plus the usual waders.A nice Yellow Leg Gull with the LBB Gulls
Gt.Yarmouth : Med Gulls on the beach here.
Horsey : 3 Cranes just by the road feeding.......a beautiful close up view of 2 adults and a juvenile feeding in the field by the roadside.Snow Goose in the fields with the Geese flock and 3 Purple Sands on the groynes.Loads of seals on the beach.
Stubbs Mill : 12 Marsh Harriers ,2 Merlins and 3 Ringtails here in the evening.
Holme : Very quiet.....a Fulmar lingering offshore along with a couple of GC Grebes.
Thornham : A few RB Mergansers on the sea.
Titchwell : The Woodcock still showing off the path to the visitor centre.A Water Pipit on the freshmarsh.The Water Rail still in the ditch.Possible 6 Twite dropped onto the saltmarsh but they were so quick and didn't call.
Holkham : A nice Firecrest in the holly tree at the start of the woodland path.
Santon Downham : A search along both banks of the river for LSW failed to produce any.While taking morning tea at the Centre a small flock of Rooks and Jackdaws with a raptor in the middle of them. got our attention.A male Goshawk being mobbed by the corvids.A first for me and very easy to tell from a Sparrowhawk by its sheer size compared to the corvids.The Gos was totally nonplussed by them.We watched it for 5 minutes with the Gos never flapping its wings once.........just drifting through.
Mayday Farm : Lesser Redpoll on the 2nd water hole was the best bird here.
Santon Warren : No sign of the GG Shrike but 2 flyover Crossbills were a nice bonus.
Lynford : Target bird was Hawfinch and 6 were seen in total....3 in the paddocks and 3 in the trees either side with a nice male perched close and singing.
Holkham : A 2nd visit produced Pink Feet,Barnacle,Ross's and Egyptian Geese.
Cley Village: WC Sparrow of course........what a stunning bird and only had to wait 5 minutes for it to appear.Well worth a few quid in the collection box.
Kellng Heath : The GG Shrike took some finding but got there in the end.
Salthouse : RT Divers offshore but the Snow Buntings stole the show.....how tame are they.The Lapland was also still with them although he seemed more wary.
Cley : 2 Beardies were the best thing here.
Warham Greens : 2/3 Ringtails and a male Hen Harrier coming into roost at East Hills.........fantastic.
Burnham Deepdale/Norton : No sign of the RL Buzzard although i had a large light colored raptor over the island but the strong wind took my scope and i lost the bird.Male Hen Harrier,a merlin and a flock of Twite heading east eased the pain of missing the Buzzard.
West Barsham : Tree Sparrow in the usual place.
Sculthorpe : Nothing much here..........2 Water Rails, aout a 100 Redwing by the new Visitor centre but no Willow Tit.
Flitcham : By now the weather was bad so the Little Owls were hunkered down.
Not a bad trip all in all..........110 species with at least 5 lifers i think but haven't checked it all yet.
Well done Norfolk yet again..........you guys that live and bird there are so lucky
Richard Abr
Well-known member
Scotland
Penny "Home is where the heart is" and I'm sure all your friends would miss you if you were to move to Scotland, although I can understand how you feel - I love the moutains and have climbed all over Scotland and the Lake District.
Despite the downsides Norfolk is still the best county in England for birds and birdwatching in my view, and dare I risk saying it for birders as well.
Cheers
Richard
Penny "Home is where the heart is" and I'm sure all your friends would miss you if you were to move to Scotland, although I can understand how you feel - I love the moutains and have climbed all over Scotland and the Lake District.
Despite the downsides Norfolk is still the best county in England for birds and birdwatching in my view, and dare I risk saying it for birders as well.
Cheers
Richard
Sandra (Taylor)
Well-known member
Hi Sandra
Weather doesn't look exactly brilliant does it:-C I work all day on Sunday now so rely on a lovely sunny Saturday, I don't think I am going to get one!!!! They sometimes get it wrong, hopefully you may have a sunny day and if you don't, you can go in a cosy pub and have a scrummy pub lunch and a B
Thanks for that Penny - now the weather has changed again - there's no sign of rain for the days we will be there. Turning colder with sunny intervals. I can put up with that! So things are looking up. Yes - I know things could change back! But all packed and ready to go now.
Hope we bump into you!
Sandra
Penny Clarke
Well-known member
Didn't go out until very, very late today - arrived Titchwell 4.30pm.
Didn't see anything unusual, but huge numbers of brent geese gathering, pintail, golden eye, spotted redshanks, red shanks, godwits, several little egrets, little grebe, shoveler, avocets, lapwing, pied wagtail, 2 marsh harriers, ringed plover, heard bearded tits, cettis warbler singing.
Best Wishes Penny:girl:
Didn't see anything unusual, but huge numbers of brent geese gathering, pintail, golden eye, spotted redshanks, red shanks, godwits, several little egrets, little grebe, shoveler, avocets, lapwing, pied wagtail, 2 marsh harriers, ringed plover, heard bearded tits, cettis warbler singing.
Best Wishes Penny:girl:
On-Firecrest
Stuck in a Rutt
Hi all,
I went for the Wacton dark breasted barn owl today, it showed well almost constantly between 3to 5pm. There's a few record shots on my blog and i'm going to properly write it up tommorow.
cheers
steve
I went for the Wacton dark breasted barn owl today, it showed well almost constantly between 3to 5pm. There's a few record shots on my blog and i'm going to properly write it up tommorow.
cheers
steve
Popped down to Salthouse before work today, still at least three Lapland buntings in with the snows, showing extremely well.
matt green
Norfolkman gone walkabout
Very nice pics of the Owl, Steve
I was on the site myself this afternoon, though I was watching from the other end of the common away from the crowd!!!
Fast turning into the most photographed Owl in Norfolk!!...shame the Shorties didn't hang around for you!
Matt
Quality day today. Holkham Park finally produced that mythical Lesser-spotted Woodpecker after 6 previous visits (including one 4 hour slog on a lovely sunny day) and 2 hours today, from 10. I pretty much walked into it! It was creeping along the head height branches of the Sweet Chestnuts to the right of the monument (facing the lake). Beautiful male. I was able to watch it for a good 5 minutes in the sun before it made its way high into the tree tops and dissapeared. First one I've seen in Norfolk. Also seen were the usual GSWs, Nuthatches, Treecreepers, about 30 Redwings, Tufted Ducks, Shovelers and Pochards on the lake.
Holkham Pines and Lady Annes Drive produced c700 Pink-feet with one Ross's Goose (unrung, for what its worth) and 3 Barnicle Geese, 1 male Goldeneye on the saltwater pool, 1 Barn Owl roosting in Meals barn and 1 fem Marsh Harrier. A large finch flock around Joe Jordan hide contained about 40+ Goldfinches, slightly fewer Chaffinches, c12 Brambling, 1 Siskin and the usual tits and Goldcrests knocking loosely about. Still had some lingering hopes of seeing the Firecrest thats been seen, and on the home stretch back to the end of Lady Annes Drive, BAM! There it was. One of my fav birds. This was turning out to be one of my better days...
Warham roost produced 4 female-type Hen Harriers, 3 Marsh Harriers (1 male), 1 Barn Owl, 1 Merlin and a Peregrine harrassing 2 Hen and 2 Marsh Harriers!
Owl roost turned up one very brief Long-eared view in blustery conditions, 2 Barn Owls, 2 Woodcock, a couple of Snipe, 6 Teal and one Tawny calling
Whew, I'm shattered!
Jason
Holkham Pines and Lady Annes Drive produced c700 Pink-feet with one Ross's Goose (unrung, for what its worth) and 3 Barnicle Geese, 1 male Goldeneye on the saltwater pool, 1 Barn Owl roosting in Meals barn and 1 fem Marsh Harrier. A large finch flock around Joe Jordan hide contained about 40+ Goldfinches, slightly fewer Chaffinches, c12 Brambling, 1 Siskin and the usual tits and Goldcrests knocking loosely about. Still had some lingering hopes of seeing the Firecrest thats been seen, and on the home stretch back to the end of Lady Annes Drive, BAM! There it was. One of my fav birds. This was turning out to be one of my better days...
Warham roost produced 4 female-type Hen Harriers, 3 Marsh Harriers (1 male), 1 Barn Owl, 1 Merlin and a Peregrine harrassing 2 Hen and 2 Marsh Harriers!
Owl roost turned up one very brief Long-eared view in blustery conditions, 2 Barn Owls, 2 Woodcock, a couple of Snipe, 6 Teal and one Tawny calling
Whew, I'm shattered!
Jason
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Selsey Birder
Well-known member
Congratulations Jason,
That Lesser Spot is a mythical bird, i spent hours there two weeks ago. I heard it call and drum in the area you describe, but could never tie the blighter down. Delighted your persistence paid off for you today.
Selsey Birder
Well-known member
Thanks Jason,
I had waited a long time for that little devil and it was worth every minute !!!
I had waited a long time for that little devil and it was worth every minute !!!
