Norfolk birding (12 Viewers)

Lakenheath

Dear all, I have the privilege of staying near Lakenheath on Friday night and have a free morning on Saturday 13th June. What is the best way to see Golden Oriole, and is it still possible to see Stone Curlew around Hockwold? (I haven't seen one since Ted Cottier took me there as a kid in the seventies!)

Stone Curlews and G Orioles

PinkoPete said:

Dear all, I have the privilege of staying near Lakenheath on Friday night and have a free morning on Saturday 13th June. What is the best way to see Golden Oriole, and is it still possible to see Stone Curlew around Hockwold? (I haven't seen one since Ted Cottier took me there as a kid in the seventies!)

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Stone Curlews can be seen at the Norfolk Wildlife Trust reserve at Weeting Heath which is just east of Hockwold. There was two giving very good views when I last visited in the week (pic attached).

For Golden Orioles a walk along to the furthest plantation at Lakenheath Fen RSPB reserve should reward you with good views.

Simon

Saturday 6th June

As my car passed its MOT on Friday I decided to give it a treat and actually washed, T-cut some scratches, polished, hoovered it out, leather creamed the seats etc etc - it took hours!!!! so didn't actually get out until very late. Black winged Pratincole again at 8.45pm sitting on the field by the reservoir.

Sunday 7th June

Did not work today and it rained most of the the day!!!

Started off at Abbey Farm, Flitcham where I had good views of the little owl in the tree and 2 kingfishers. The scene was broken by a massive storm with thunder, lightening and hail storms. An egyptian goose sat with wings around and over her brood - it was so sweet, 2 youngsters got bored and came out to investigate and just as quick waddled back underneath their mother when they realised huge hail stones were pelting down!

Black winged Pratincole again at 12.45pm sitting in the same field by the reservoir.

Met up with Paul for lunch at Deepdale Cafe - 1st class food and service, strongly recommended:t: Pouring with rain. Popped up to Wells to a brilliant shop - can't remember the name, but it sold everything - bought some new army design waterproof trousers.

Sat in Wells carpark in pouring rain, waited for rain to stop, which it did for a spell - just enough time to go for a quick walk. Found 'The Dell' - have not been here for a long time - lots of common whitethroats about, a mistle thrush that initially looked very big!!! and great tits with several young and a party of long tailed tits including young.

No new year ticks this weekend!

Best Wishes Penny:girl:

Tractorboy69 said:

Stone Curlews can be seen at the Norfolk Wildlife Trust reserve at Weeting Heath which is just east of Hockwold. There was two giving very good views when I last visited in the week (pic attached).

For Golden Orioles a walk along to the furthest plantation at Lakenheath Fen RSPB reserve should reward you with good views.

Simon

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Thanks Simon,
I will have a go at both on Saturday.

Pete

Penny Clarke said:

bought some new army design waterproof trousers.

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Hope they're more waterproof than the last ones...

Unfortunately today I saw a dead possible little owl on the A147 near Babingly.

Where have the red backed shrikes gone?

Red backed shrike thread

Originally Posted by Cheshire Birder
Hi Mike,

Have just done a quick check for R.B.Shrike sightings in Britain this spring and prob less than 40 birds seen so far. This is well below what one would expect for a normal spring.

CB

Not many reported in Norfolk in 2009.
Paul

Funny you should say that Paul, I was thinking the same thing yesterday. One bird near Strumpshaw Fen was one of the few (only?) bird 'reported' from Norfolk this spring. This was seen on sunday. However, they can turn up anywhere and I wonder if more have come in and havent been picked up. There have been some good birds turn up on the north coast which get a lot of pager coverage, and therefore these areas have been well covered. However, by 'chasing' these birds and trying to catch up with spring migrants in the obvious places (I have been a little guilty of that this year, had to see those pratincoles and ended up making a good day of it on more than one occassion!) I reckon Red Backs and other scarce migrants have landed on the east coast or further inland and have been missed due to lack of observer coverage.
Cheers,
Jim.

Whilst that is an interesting theory Jim, I think this style of zoo-birding (ie moving from one exhibit to another*) is always prevalent in Norfolk, so I don't think this spring is particularly different. I suspect the declines in RBS numbers across their range possibly combined with the weather is more likely the cause of a real reduction in arrivals. But you are right that many are probably not found, though this is probably the same every year.
All the best, Jono
* I too am guilty of this occasionally.

Well watched North coast - or is it?

jimbob said:

There have been some good birds turn up on the north coast which get a lot of pager coverage, and therefore these areas have been well covered. However, by 'chasing' these birds and trying to catch up with spring migrants in the obvious places (I have been a little guilty of that this year, had to see those pratincoles and ended up making a good day of it on more than one occassion!) I reckon Red Backs and other scarce migrants have landed on the east coast or further inland and have been missed due to lack of observer coverage.

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Hi,

Interesting topic as it's been something I've been mulling over for a while. Does the north coast really get covered that well, or is it just the 'hot spots'?

It's been quite interesting the last couple of years as I've made a conscious effort to cover some of the less well known bits of the north coast at migration, and even on days of good conditions for grounding migrants, or even just a sniff of the wind from the 'right' quarter, I'm lucky if I see another birder.

A couple of recent examples: round Brancaster on a day of south easterlies, covering Gipsy Lane marshes, the cover around the Beach Road, churchyard, the dead end footpaths off the Beach Road, the coastal footpath towards Brancaster Staithe, plus some tasty bits nearer the beach / golf course and I was the only birder all day! This barely a mile from Titchwell which presumably was heaving.

Similarly, after Sunday's rain, trundled round Thornham yesterday, all the thick cover along the lane to the harbour, the reedbed, all the trees round the lanes / churchyard, sallows round the pond, recreation ground, thick bushes round the recycling bins and the tasty path along the edge of the marshes. Total number of birders .... 2 (me and Rex!). Total number of migrants zilch but that's another story!

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. I've made a conscious effort this spring (and last autumn) to cover some of the quieter bits of the coast and if I've seen a handful of birders, that's a crowd. And while the Cley area was heaving with birders catching up with the Pratincole etc, the Point was empty.

Don't get me wrong, I quite like wandering round bits of the coast which are empty and birding on my own and I'm sure others would view the thought of 'their' bit suddenly heaving with birders with dismay, but I'm just trying to illustrate a point. Not that I've found anything unusual in my wanderings but it makes me wonder how much is being missed (and I agree with the point above about the east coast and inland). And if people like just going to the hot spots, then good on 'em and if all they do is follow their pager all day, then that's their choice .... although I think Tim once described that very aptly as pagering not birding!

So this autumn, I'm going to continue covering the less popular bits. I'm sure posters on here do exactly the same - not trying to start a bun fight here by accusing anyone of not putting in the effort! But a lot of people seem to think that Norfolk's coast is well covered and I don't think it is. Okay, maybe I'm unlucky with timing and I don't meet all the Norfolk birders out on their patches but I also meet a lot of local birders who, when I ask them where they've been lately, respond with 'oh nowhere really, there's been nowt on the pager'!! Tempting to say well, get off your butts and go and find stuff! Of course there won't be anything on the pager if there's hardly anyone out there looking!

So, having got my big wooden spoon out to stir things up I'm off to Scotland for a few weeks!

Irene

Irene you are dead right . Since pagers came into being, many birders are just waiting for news. Although saying that, back in the late 70's there were many people sitting by their telephones waiting for news. Although the advent of pagers should allow the more adventurous birders to go find their own and still not miss out on rarity news. Some people will not do a local patch come what may all I can say is that I get more pleasure finding my own than looking at someone elses. Each to their own as long as you enjoy it.

Titchwell June 9th

Today's highlights

Knot - 200 roosting on fresh marsh
Curlew sandpiper - 3 on fresh marsh
Common sandpiper - 1 on fresh marsh
Little gull - 4 1st summers on fresh marsh
Herring gull - 537 roosting on beach
Spoonbill - 2 on saltmarsh
Red crested pochard - female on grazing marsh pool
Hobby - 1 hunting over reserve

Paul

Paul Eele said:

Today's highlights

Knot - 200 roosting on fresh marsh
Curlew sandpiper - 3 on fresh marsh
Common sandpiper - 1 on fresh marsh
Little gull - 4 1st summers on fresh marsh
Herring gull - 537 roosting on beach
Spoonbill - 2 on saltmarsh
Red crested pochard - female on grazing marsh pool
Hobby - 1 hunting over reserve

Paul

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Are there any young red crested pochard still?

Irene Boston said:

But a lot of people seem to think that Norfolk's coast is well covered and I don't think it is.

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I agree with you Irene.

Last September I made one of my regular trips up to North Norfolk with a few friends from London who weren't as familiar with the county. There wasn't a huge amount about, though conditions were fairly promising, so I gave them a bit of a tour around some lesser known sites with the hope of finding some bits and bobs.

As it turned out we didn't get anything amazing, though finding plenty of Whinchats, Redstarts and Pied Flycatchers kept us entertained (plus a twitched Red-backed Shrike en route). We finished up at Titchwell late in the day when few people were about, which is another way to find good birds - go to popular places at unpopular hours of the day!

The other guys have remarked since then that it was a really enjoyable day, and I agree... we didn't miss anything major at other sites, we looked hard at everything we saw, and above all, it was 'real birding' - our sites, our birds. What's more, I bet there are loads and loads of other promising coastal sites out there that we could have tried, and still not seen any other birders.

Maybe some areas are "underwatched" for a reason though. Perhaps they used to be peoples local patches in the past, but they never found a lot, so they started "working" an areas with a lot more potential.
One example is a small wood/large garden to the North of Thornham Village. It is between Holme NOA and Thornham Point, so it looks like it should get some decent birds. But if you think about it, the birds are most likely to be really tired, so they will pitch down at Holme or Thornham Point because it is closer than going across the marsh to Thornham Village. Only when they have re-fuelled a bit will they move inland, and then there are huge areas of massive woodland, so small bunches of trees/scrub won't attract them. It's all about thinking from the birds point of view.
What I'm trying to say is that some areas may look good to us, but to the birds they don't offer as much cover/food, so there might not be as many decent areas for finding birds as we think...
Just a theory...

And yet when something rare is found in a relatively underwatched area (and I'm not just talking about Norfolk) and this results in more pairs of eyes visiting that area for their tick, how often does lots more stuff get found? Just by the simple maths of more people actually being in an area looking....

There's heaps of places along the Norfolk coast which are just as near to the 'edge', for want of a better word, as Holme/ Titchy/Cley and you just don't see very many birders.

mr.sim said:

Maybe some areas are "underwatched" for a reason though. Perhaps they used to be peoples local patches in the past, but they never found a lot, so they started "working" an areas with a lot more potential.
One example is a small wood/large garden to the North of Thornham Village. It is between Holme NOA and Thornham Point, so it looks like it should get some decent birds. But if you think about it, the birds are most likely to be really tired, so they will pitch down at Holme or Thornham Point because it is closer than going across the marsh to Thornham Village. Only when they have re-fuelled a bit will they move inland, and then there are huge areas of massive woodland, so small bunches of trees/scrub won't attract them. It's all about thinking from the birds point of view.
What I'm trying to say is that some areas may look good to us, but to the birds they don't offer as much cover/food, so there might not be as many decent areas for finding birds as we think...
Just a theory...

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Nah, good birds will turn up anywhere along the coast. True, people may watch a site regularly and not turn anything up - that's the nature of birding (at least it is when I'm birding!) - that might put them off but it can happen anywhere.

I think inland sites in Norfolk are even more under-watched though, because birders like me who live close to decentish inland sites can't stop ourselves from tearing off up to the coast as soon as the weather looks half-decent. Probably less of an issue for land-locked counties where it's harder for people to nip up to the coast. Regular watching will still turn up some great birds even inland.

By the way, I occasionally watch that patch of woodland you mention at Thornham in my lunch breaks. There are often good numbers of common migrants there but with little time in my break I've rarely given it long enough to turn up anything remarkable. I have found 2 Yellow-browed Warblers there though, one of which was almost probably Humes'. I definitely wouldn't write that place off (and when I'm rich I'm buying that house/garden...)

Dave Appleton said:

By the way, I occasionally watch that patch of woodland you mention at Thornham in my lunch breaks. There are often good numbers of common migrants there but with little time in my break I've rarely given it long enough to turn up anything remarkable. I have found 2 Yellow-browed Warblers there though, one of which was almost probably Humes'. I definitely wouldn't write that place off (and when I'm rich I'm buying that house/garden...)

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I've got my eye on that place too Perhaps we should all have a whip round?! If they're birders in there, their garden list must be quite something and if they're not birders, what a waste! I've not found anything rare along that bit but particularly in autumn, it can be good for decent numbers of migrants and very good for thrushes in a good fall.

PYRTLE said:

Are there any young red crested pochard still?

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Still 5 and they are doing well

The coverage issue is interesting: I get loads of records for north norfolk, but there's a diagonal strip running from swaffham down to beccles which has had virtually no butterfly records in the last ten years. Since most of my recorders are birders, these must be fairly under-watched regions. Similarly you can pick out the reserves (20+species recorded) from the adjacent tetrads (3 or 4 species recorded) all across Norfolk. And yet, I have one guy who has been sending in records from his local patch every year for 20+ years, who's now got 25 species from a perfectly ordinary area of coastal scrub just by putting in the legwork. (That's in the top 1% of tetrads in Norfolk). I'd expect the same would be true of almost anywhere else. 90% of wildlife goes unobserved, 99% goes unrecorded.