Jasonbirder
Jason-occasional-twitcher
I had time for a morning out today, Bank Holiday Monday and decided to head over to North-west Norfolk & hopefully catch up with some returning summer migrants.
My first stop, as it always is when I head down the A149 was a brief drive around the triangle of roads at Wolferton to check for Golden Pheasant, I turned off the main road and wound the windows down to be greeted by plenty of singing birds, Robin, Chiff-Chaff & Great tit could all be heard singing away in the woods, more unusually I could actually hear the piercing high pitched two-syllabal crowing call of the Golden Pheasants, something I have never noticed before. Despite driving around twice and stopping to peer intently into the bushes at any likely spot it was another unsuccesful visit and I drove off to my first "real" point of call, Snettisham.
Many birders are familiar with the spectacle of winter Geese and Waders at Snettisham RSPB, somewhat less well known is an area known as Snettisham Country Park, just to the north of the reserve and accessed from the beach car park. It is a mix of fresh water pools, reedbeds, scrub and dunes and is the best site I know of to catch up with Grasshopper Warbler. Leaving the car I walked onto the park, my early start meant it was still undisturbed by dog walkers and I was immediately looking at a smart male Wheatear strutting on an area of open ground just inland of the sea defence bank. I love Wheatears and the way they run unobtrusively along the ground, drawing attention to themselves only when they take flight revealing their white rump and black tail markings. The whole reserve seemed alive with the songs of various warblers, a real change in only a week, I had visited the reserve last Monday to search for a Wryneck and there were very few singing birds. Most obvious and strident were good numbers of Sedge Warblers, from every bush or patch of reed their loud, varied, trilling and churring song seemed to emanate. Some were performing their display flights, rising a short distance before parachuting back down into the reeds on raised wings. As these were my first Sedge Warblers of the year I took the time to watch them closely and make a note of their buff plumage and obvious white supercilium. Looking inland I could see a Barn Owl out hunting over the meadow in broad daylight, looking ghostly white as it rose and fell before dropping down into the long grass on some prey. I made my way slowly north across the reserve, stopping to check through a few parties of Linnets feeding on the ground, you never know what might turn up at this time of year! Passing through a scrubby patch of Hawthorn & Bramble I stopped to listen to the chattering song of a Whitethroat which I eventually picked up as it moved throught the bushes, they are a largish chunky looking warbler with a blue grey head, brown wings and the obvious white throat which gives them their name. I could hear distantly the wierd insect-like reeling of a singing Grasshopper Warbler and continued along the reserve passing a couple of distant reeling birds before I could hear one singing from an area close to the main path. Anyone who has tried to spot a Grasshopper Warbler will sympathise with how frustrating it can be to actually see one, despite it singing for long bursts from an isolated patch of briar and hawthorn directly in front of me I simply could not see it, they seem to "throw" their voices, appearing to move left and right, nearer and further just by turning their heads as they sing. After about 15 minutes of scrutinising every single branch and perch in the briar patch I found it! Result! It was perched upright on a bramble stem, its whole body quivering as it sang with its beak wide open, it was dark brown and heavily streaked with a big broad looking tail. It would suddenly stop singing, go quiet for a little while and then start again and would drop down or make tiny flights withtin the briar patch. I was extremely pleased to get good views of this elusive bird, at one point I even managed to get my scope on it! I decided to press on and check the area of turf and scrub around the "Seawatching" Hide as I know a few Ring Ouzels and a Redstart had been seen here over the last week. I wasn`t to be so lucky but was able to see another male Wheatear and a pair of Stonechats busying about, flying from perch to perch on the exposed vegatation, the male was absolutely pristine, almost black and white with a warm rosy flush to his breast, the female a much drabber brown. Walking back South towards the car park I saw a couple of House Martins flying along the sea defences. It was now time to try my next destination Holme Dunes.
Parking by the reserve gate I walked up onto the top of the dunes and headed along the boardwalk towards the main reserve. My target here was Ring Ouzel, lots have been reported recently but I had so far failed to catch up with any. There is a wide area of close cropped turf surrounded by buckthorn bushes near the start of the boardwalk that would provide ideal terrain for them and I was in luck, I could distantly see 2 black thrushes feeding on the deck and checking with my bins I could make out the distinct white crescent across their breasts, brilliant! I crept a bit closer before stopping and setting up my scope. While similar to Blackbird I think Ring Ouzel are a much more attractive bird, not only because of the bold white breast marking but also because of the white in their wings and a vague "scalloped" appearance they have, caused by pale feather edgings. One bird was clearly an inky black adult male with an absolutely defined breast crescent the other was slightly browner with a more "scalloped" appearance, no doubt a 1st summer male. Ring Ouzels are evidently like buses, as I was watching these two, three more birds flew in to settle on the turf alongside them, I was definately in Ring Ouzel Heaven! There were now 3 adult males and 2 1st summer birds feeding warily on the ground, never straying too far from the bases of the surrounding bushes. After enjoying the spectacle I turned and retraced my steps intending to check an area of overgrown field and thick cover known as the Paddocks, behind the holiday cottages on the entrance track. Walking along the coast path I checked the pools on the saltmarsh and along with Redshank I picked up a single Greenshank, drawing attention to itself with its quicker, running movement, looking altogether bigger, with longer legs and bill and pale grey and white plumage, with the odd dark feather thrown in on the back and wings. The Paddocks were alive with singing birds and I could make out the songs of Whitethroat, Blackcap, Willow Warbler and Chiff-Chaff amongst others. It was hard work checking the birds as every bush seemed alive with movement, most turned out to be Robins, Dunnocks and Great Tits but my persistance was rewarded with good views of Whitethroat and a male Blackcap perched openly at the very top of a Hawthorn tree. Sadly i was not to find any unusual vistors and I decide to head back to the car and drive further east towards Titchwell.
I decided to briefly stop and drove into Holme village, to check out Holme Marsh, an extension of the NWT reserve. I walked through the overgrown damp meadow towards the hide and while it was still a little early in the year I was half hoping I might catch up with a Lesser Whitethroat which can be found in the area. It was not to be and I had to settle for a Chiff-Chaff singing in plain view directly above my head. A entered the hide for a brief scan and was suprised when I saw a Stoat creeping road the base of a tree to the left of the hide seemingly oblivious to my presence. What a smart little predator it was, with its beady black eyes, rusty red back, creamy white belly and black tipped tail, it sauntered along stopping to sniff at plants along the way before indulging in some extraordinary behavior. All of a sudden it took off like lightening and ran round and round in circles, almost chasing its own tail before coming to a halt and moving unobtrusively out of sight. That was something I had definately never previously witnesed! With only a few Coot & Gadwall on the Pools it was time to press on towards Titchwell RSPB reserve.
As I suspected on a bank holiday, the reserve was aready busy and I quickly parked up and walked out past the visitors centre. I paused briefly to check the feeders but it seemed to be only Greenfinch and Chaffinch coming and going. Today I was going to head off to the right and try the new Meadow Trail for Cetti`s Warbler. I stopped by the dragonfly pool and waited. If there is one bird whose song is instantly distinctive it is the explosive, bubbling song of the Cetti`s Warbler, just like Grasshopper Warblers though it can be one thing to hear one and quite another to actually see one as they spend much of their time in dense cover. However all seemed quiet today, though their were many Sedge Warblers clamouring for attention all round and I could also see and hear a boldly marked Reed Bunting. The Robins here are obviously used to the visitors treating them to titbits, as one flew bold as brass to my feet and then perched on the arm of the bench I was sat on looking me in the eye as if to say "come on then where`s my snack?" After 15 or 20 minutes waiting I gave up and began to walk back towards the main path as soon as I had picked up my scope I heard the explosive notes of the Cettis Warblers song. I turned and peered into the willows where I had heard it, sure enough it repeated the phrases once more and then it flew out of one tree across the reedtops into another dense stand of willows. Fortunately for me it perched briefly in sight, allowing me to get a glimpse of a chunky warbler, dark chocolate brown above, grey below and with a pale supercilium which confirmed my ID of Cetti`s Warbler before it disapeared from sight. Back on the main path I looked out over the reedbeds and saw a male Marsh Harrier hunting flying bouyantly, its wings raised in a shallow "v", the grey markings in the wings distinguishing it from the more uniformly dark females. There is a new area of freshwater, to the west of the main footpath caused by the reserve wardens efforts to raise the water levels in the reedbeds and I got my scope up to check through the birds, their were lots of Teal and Shoveller present and I was hoping their might be a Garganey. No Garganey, but my attention was drawn to a most unusual looking bird, it was very like a shoveller in shape and structure, but had a blue green head with a white moon shaped marking before the eye and its brown variegated flanks had a bright cinnamon patch, I`m not realyy sure what this was but If I was a betting man I`d plump for a hybrid ShovellerxBlue-winged Teal. Looking out across the fresh marsh itself I could see in 4 Little Gulls in flight dip feeding across the water. They are much more dainty and tern like than other gulls, feeding in a rising and falling circuit, sometimes dip feeding with raised wings and trailing feet. There were a couple of adult birds, with their jet balck heads and pale grey wings bordered neatly with white and a couple of first summer birds with a dark "W" marking across the tops of the wings just like on a young Kittewake. Rossting among the Black-headed Gulls on a vegatated spit were 3 Mediterranean Gulls all adults in their smart summer plumage, Black hoods with white crescents above and below the eyes and with chunky blood red bills with a dark tip giving it a blunt ended appearance. All around the reserve were hordes of noisy Avocets, piping to each other looking supremely elegent in black and White with their delicate upturned bills and long thin black legs. Heading out to Parrinder hide I looked first out onto the fresh marsh and was lucky to get sight of the Jack Snipe which had been showing here in recent weeks. It is obviously a Jack Snipe with some kind of identity crisis as far from being shy and skulking it was hapily feeding out in the open probing the mud with its beak. With Snipe alongside for an easy comparison it was easy to make out its much smaller size, indeed with the wind blowing its feathers it looked like a tiny little brown "puffball", it beak is obviously shorter and thicker based giving it a more "dagger" like appearance. Moving to the opposite side of the hide and scanning the brackish marsh my attention was immediately drawn to a mixed flock of Grey Plover and Bar-tailed Godwits. They were exhibiting a range of plumages from winter through to summer, one Bar-wit was looking particularly smart with brick-red colour extending down its breast and onto its belly. Similarly the Grey Plovers ranged from those completely pale beneath, to those with extensive black along the flanks and belly, all had the characteristic "spangly" upperparts. Mixed in with them were a few Turnstone and Dunlin and a single Knot, looking pale still in its grey and white winter colours. I headed back to the path and walked along towards the boardwalk. There on some pools on Thornham Marsh was the Black-winged Stilt, what visit to Titchwell would be complete without it. It looked much more at home in the bright warm sunshine than it does on a cold, grey winters day! Despite having seen it so many times, I never tire of looking at its thin elegant lines, needle-like red bill and impossibly long thin legs. All too soon though it was time to turn round and head home...all in all another splendid trip toone of my favorite birding areas.
My first stop, as it always is when I head down the A149 was a brief drive around the triangle of roads at Wolferton to check for Golden Pheasant, I turned off the main road and wound the windows down to be greeted by plenty of singing birds, Robin, Chiff-Chaff & Great tit could all be heard singing away in the woods, more unusually I could actually hear the piercing high pitched two-syllabal crowing call of the Golden Pheasants, something I have never noticed before. Despite driving around twice and stopping to peer intently into the bushes at any likely spot it was another unsuccesful visit and I drove off to my first "real" point of call, Snettisham.
Many birders are familiar with the spectacle of winter Geese and Waders at Snettisham RSPB, somewhat less well known is an area known as Snettisham Country Park, just to the north of the reserve and accessed from the beach car park. It is a mix of fresh water pools, reedbeds, scrub and dunes and is the best site I know of to catch up with Grasshopper Warbler. Leaving the car I walked onto the park, my early start meant it was still undisturbed by dog walkers and I was immediately looking at a smart male Wheatear strutting on an area of open ground just inland of the sea defence bank. I love Wheatears and the way they run unobtrusively along the ground, drawing attention to themselves only when they take flight revealing their white rump and black tail markings. The whole reserve seemed alive with the songs of various warblers, a real change in only a week, I had visited the reserve last Monday to search for a Wryneck and there were very few singing birds. Most obvious and strident were good numbers of Sedge Warblers, from every bush or patch of reed their loud, varied, trilling and churring song seemed to emanate. Some were performing their display flights, rising a short distance before parachuting back down into the reeds on raised wings. As these were my first Sedge Warblers of the year I took the time to watch them closely and make a note of their buff plumage and obvious white supercilium. Looking inland I could see a Barn Owl out hunting over the meadow in broad daylight, looking ghostly white as it rose and fell before dropping down into the long grass on some prey. I made my way slowly north across the reserve, stopping to check through a few parties of Linnets feeding on the ground, you never know what might turn up at this time of year! Passing through a scrubby patch of Hawthorn & Bramble I stopped to listen to the chattering song of a Whitethroat which I eventually picked up as it moved throught the bushes, they are a largish chunky looking warbler with a blue grey head, brown wings and the obvious white throat which gives them their name. I could hear distantly the wierd insect-like reeling of a singing Grasshopper Warbler and continued along the reserve passing a couple of distant reeling birds before I could hear one singing from an area close to the main path. Anyone who has tried to spot a Grasshopper Warbler will sympathise with how frustrating it can be to actually see one, despite it singing for long bursts from an isolated patch of briar and hawthorn directly in front of me I simply could not see it, they seem to "throw" their voices, appearing to move left and right, nearer and further just by turning their heads as they sing. After about 15 minutes of scrutinising every single branch and perch in the briar patch I found it! Result! It was perched upright on a bramble stem, its whole body quivering as it sang with its beak wide open, it was dark brown and heavily streaked with a big broad looking tail. It would suddenly stop singing, go quiet for a little while and then start again and would drop down or make tiny flights withtin the briar patch. I was extremely pleased to get good views of this elusive bird, at one point I even managed to get my scope on it! I decided to press on and check the area of turf and scrub around the "Seawatching" Hide as I know a few Ring Ouzels and a Redstart had been seen here over the last week. I wasn`t to be so lucky but was able to see another male Wheatear and a pair of Stonechats busying about, flying from perch to perch on the exposed vegatation, the male was absolutely pristine, almost black and white with a warm rosy flush to his breast, the female a much drabber brown. Walking back South towards the car park I saw a couple of House Martins flying along the sea defences. It was now time to try my next destination Holme Dunes.
Parking by the reserve gate I walked up onto the top of the dunes and headed along the boardwalk towards the main reserve. My target here was Ring Ouzel, lots have been reported recently but I had so far failed to catch up with any. There is a wide area of close cropped turf surrounded by buckthorn bushes near the start of the boardwalk that would provide ideal terrain for them and I was in luck, I could distantly see 2 black thrushes feeding on the deck and checking with my bins I could make out the distinct white crescent across their breasts, brilliant! I crept a bit closer before stopping and setting up my scope. While similar to Blackbird I think Ring Ouzel are a much more attractive bird, not only because of the bold white breast marking but also because of the white in their wings and a vague "scalloped" appearance they have, caused by pale feather edgings. One bird was clearly an inky black adult male with an absolutely defined breast crescent the other was slightly browner with a more "scalloped" appearance, no doubt a 1st summer male. Ring Ouzels are evidently like buses, as I was watching these two, three more birds flew in to settle on the turf alongside them, I was definately in Ring Ouzel Heaven! There were now 3 adult males and 2 1st summer birds feeding warily on the ground, never straying too far from the bases of the surrounding bushes. After enjoying the spectacle I turned and retraced my steps intending to check an area of overgrown field and thick cover known as the Paddocks, behind the holiday cottages on the entrance track. Walking along the coast path I checked the pools on the saltmarsh and along with Redshank I picked up a single Greenshank, drawing attention to itself with its quicker, running movement, looking altogether bigger, with longer legs and bill and pale grey and white plumage, with the odd dark feather thrown in on the back and wings. The Paddocks were alive with singing birds and I could make out the songs of Whitethroat, Blackcap, Willow Warbler and Chiff-Chaff amongst others. It was hard work checking the birds as every bush seemed alive with movement, most turned out to be Robins, Dunnocks and Great Tits but my persistance was rewarded with good views of Whitethroat and a male Blackcap perched openly at the very top of a Hawthorn tree. Sadly i was not to find any unusual vistors and I decide to head back to the car and drive further east towards Titchwell.
I decided to briefly stop and drove into Holme village, to check out Holme Marsh, an extension of the NWT reserve. I walked through the overgrown damp meadow towards the hide and while it was still a little early in the year I was half hoping I might catch up with a Lesser Whitethroat which can be found in the area. It was not to be and I had to settle for a Chiff-Chaff singing in plain view directly above my head. A entered the hide for a brief scan and was suprised when I saw a Stoat creeping road the base of a tree to the left of the hide seemingly oblivious to my presence. What a smart little predator it was, with its beady black eyes, rusty red back, creamy white belly and black tipped tail, it sauntered along stopping to sniff at plants along the way before indulging in some extraordinary behavior. All of a sudden it took off like lightening and ran round and round in circles, almost chasing its own tail before coming to a halt and moving unobtrusively out of sight. That was something I had definately never previously witnesed! With only a few Coot & Gadwall on the Pools it was time to press on towards Titchwell RSPB reserve.
As I suspected on a bank holiday, the reserve was aready busy and I quickly parked up and walked out past the visitors centre. I paused briefly to check the feeders but it seemed to be only Greenfinch and Chaffinch coming and going. Today I was going to head off to the right and try the new Meadow Trail for Cetti`s Warbler. I stopped by the dragonfly pool and waited. If there is one bird whose song is instantly distinctive it is the explosive, bubbling song of the Cetti`s Warbler, just like Grasshopper Warblers though it can be one thing to hear one and quite another to actually see one as they spend much of their time in dense cover. However all seemed quiet today, though their were many Sedge Warblers clamouring for attention all round and I could also see and hear a boldly marked Reed Bunting. The Robins here are obviously used to the visitors treating them to titbits, as one flew bold as brass to my feet and then perched on the arm of the bench I was sat on looking me in the eye as if to say "come on then where`s my snack?" After 15 or 20 minutes waiting I gave up and began to walk back towards the main path as soon as I had picked up my scope I heard the explosive notes of the Cettis Warblers song. I turned and peered into the willows where I had heard it, sure enough it repeated the phrases once more and then it flew out of one tree across the reedtops into another dense stand of willows. Fortunately for me it perched briefly in sight, allowing me to get a glimpse of a chunky warbler, dark chocolate brown above, grey below and with a pale supercilium which confirmed my ID of Cetti`s Warbler before it disapeared from sight. Back on the main path I looked out over the reedbeds and saw a male Marsh Harrier hunting flying bouyantly, its wings raised in a shallow "v", the grey markings in the wings distinguishing it from the more uniformly dark females. There is a new area of freshwater, to the west of the main footpath caused by the reserve wardens efforts to raise the water levels in the reedbeds and I got my scope up to check through the birds, their were lots of Teal and Shoveller present and I was hoping their might be a Garganey. No Garganey, but my attention was drawn to a most unusual looking bird, it was very like a shoveller in shape and structure, but had a blue green head with a white moon shaped marking before the eye and its brown variegated flanks had a bright cinnamon patch, I`m not realyy sure what this was but If I was a betting man I`d plump for a hybrid ShovellerxBlue-winged Teal. Looking out across the fresh marsh itself I could see in 4 Little Gulls in flight dip feeding across the water. They are much more dainty and tern like than other gulls, feeding in a rising and falling circuit, sometimes dip feeding with raised wings and trailing feet. There were a couple of adult birds, with their jet balck heads and pale grey wings bordered neatly with white and a couple of first summer birds with a dark "W" marking across the tops of the wings just like on a young Kittewake. Rossting among the Black-headed Gulls on a vegatated spit were 3 Mediterranean Gulls all adults in their smart summer plumage, Black hoods with white crescents above and below the eyes and with chunky blood red bills with a dark tip giving it a blunt ended appearance. All around the reserve were hordes of noisy Avocets, piping to each other looking supremely elegent in black and White with their delicate upturned bills and long thin black legs. Heading out to Parrinder hide I looked first out onto the fresh marsh and was lucky to get sight of the Jack Snipe which had been showing here in recent weeks. It is obviously a Jack Snipe with some kind of identity crisis as far from being shy and skulking it was hapily feeding out in the open probing the mud with its beak. With Snipe alongside for an easy comparison it was easy to make out its much smaller size, indeed with the wind blowing its feathers it looked like a tiny little brown "puffball", it beak is obviously shorter and thicker based giving it a more "dagger" like appearance. Moving to the opposite side of the hide and scanning the brackish marsh my attention was immediately drawn to a mixed flock of Grey Plover and Bar-tailed Godwits. They were exhibiting a range of plumages from winter through to summer, one Bar-wit was looking particularly smart with brick-red colour extending down its breast and onto its belly. Similarly the Grey Plovers ranged from those completely pale beneath, to those with extensive black along the flanks and belly, all had the characteristic "spangly" upperparts. Mixed in with them were a few Turnstone and Dunlin and a single Knot, looking pale still in its grey and white winter colours. I headed back to the path and walked along towards the boardwalk. There on some pools on Thornham Marsh was the Black-winged Stilt, what visit to Titchwell would be complete without it. It looked much more at home in the bright warm sunshine than it does on a cold, grey winters day! Despite having seen it so many times, I never tire of looking at its thin elegant lines, needle-like red bill and impossibly long thin legs. All too soon though it was time to turn round and head home...all in all another splendid trip toone of my favorite birding areas.
