Norfolk birding (37 Viewers)

Happisbirder · Dec 19, 2006

Tim Allwood said:
almost settled into Sea aPalling now...

Nice to see you back in the thread Tim, glad to hear you're settling in. You've moved into a terrific area for birding so be prepared to notch up an impressive parish list. It's quite a well watched area but not like the north coast; you'll have it pretty much to yourself most of the time. You'll soon find the best 'birdy' spots too no doubt.
And yeah, watch out for those deer too! I've had several near misses on the way to work in Norwich and in the last day or so I've seen 2 that were killed on the A1151 between Stalham and Wroxham.

James

BTW, Happy Birthday too!! We've one in this household today, a proud young lady has reached double figures.

Happisbirder · Dec 20, 2006

Bit of a pea-souper today then. Was woodcutting in the garden this morning and could hear legions of Pinks overhead but could see none! I remember very similar foggy conditions back in the late 1980's (I think) which resulted in lots of 'grey' geese turning up in the county, certainly here in the NE anyway. They included quite a few Tundra Beans and at least 1 pink-billed Greylag. I'll have to dig my notebooks out...

James

Karl J · Dec 22, 2006

Yes all the best in the new house Tim. Noisy Oycs eh, come June / July what do you reckon ... 4am ? :eek!:

Took a ride up to Horsey this morning but in this lot there weren't any birds to talk of, some interesting (well i thought they were) & unusual effects caused by the fog and freezing overnight temperature though

SueBryan · Dec 22, 2006

Lovely photos Karl! I have just taken delivery of my new camera and lens (although converter hasn't arrived yet) and am itching to get out and about to take some piccys. How much longer is this pea-souper weather going to last? Hopeless for birding!
Sue
PS Still desperate for a Norfolk Smew for my yearlist!
(or LEO for that matter!)

Karl J said:
Yes all the best in the new house Tim. Noisy Oycs eh, come June / July what do you reckon ... 4am ? :eek!:

Took a ride up to Horsey this morning but in this lot there weren't any birds to talk of, some interesting (well i thought they were) & unusual effects caused by the fog and freezing overnight temperature though

James Blake · Dec 22, 2006

Had a few hours at Titchwell today - hard to see much in the gloom. Most enjoyabe sighting was a Bearded Tit - they seem to have been quite showy recently.

James

Penny Clarke · Dec 23, 2006

SueBryan said:
PS Still desperate for a Norfolk Smew for my yearlist!
(or LEO for that matter!)

I hope you get to see a Smew in Norfolk before end of year Sue, it will be a nice christmas present, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. Merry Christmas - Penny

Penny Clarke · Dec 23, 2006

Thank goodness the fog has lifted, I'm hoping very much for a sunny, frosty day tomorrow as am going to have a christmassy birding day!!! Maybe I'll push the boat out and have christmas pudding at Titchwell as well!!! 4 whole days off work - yipeeeeeeeeee!!!

NOA Holme had today:

10 Wigeon, 16 Eider, 8 Common Scoter, 3 Red-breasted Mergansers, 3 Red-throated Divers, 1 Black-throated Diver, 1 Great Northern Diver, 6 Great Crested Grebes and a Razorbill. Single Greenshank, a single Fieldfare, 3 Blackcaps. At Redwell Reserve (Holme)4 Black-tailed Godwits.

Also when I rang Birdline: 21 Hawfinches at Lynford Arboretum!!!!

Happy Christmas Everyone and Happy Birding in the New Year.

Best Wishes Penny :girl:

SueBryan · Dec 24, 2006

Great to see you today Penny!
Happy Christmas
to you ,BF members especially all those who have kept me company with my Norfolk Yearlist
Sue

Penny Clarke · Dec 24, 2006

SueBryan said:
Great to see you today Penny!
Happy Christmas
to you ,BF members especially all those who have kept me company with my Norfolk Yearlist
Sue

And you Sue, it was nice to meet your daughter, she seems a really nice young lady. Enjoy your new christmas present, looks fantastic. Will post my list of today (not very long!) on here later, must cook tea first!!!
Best Wishes Penny

Penny Clarke · Dec 24, 2006

Today at Titchwell - Weather very dull, no sun all day.

Arrived at Titchwell for Christmas Eve Lunch and bumped into BF member Sue Bryan and her daughter.

Bird list for afternoon: 3 red necked grebes, 6 eiders, 6 great crested grebes, 2 red breasted mergansers, 15 curlew, 1 reed bunting, pintail (lots), 1 Little Grebe, Brents, Pink Feet, Bar tailed godwits, redshank, knot, teal, wigeon, turnstone, sanderling, ringed plover, little egrets, 20 grey plover, 1 sparrowhawk, greenfinch, chaffinch, sparrow, goldfinch, heron, oystercatcher, shoveler, teal and a robin. Several carrian crows. Suprisingly didn't see Marsh Harrier or my usual brambling on the feeders! Went to mother's afterwards for Victoria Sandwich and a cup of tea, then drove home to spend Christmas Eve with the cats!!!

matt green · Dec 25, 2006

No owls?

The one time I visited this reserve (feb 04)I spent the last 20 minutes of daylight waiting by the marshes opposite the bird hide..

A short eared owl was highly anticipated,but never showed

Matt

ps,hey it's 00.19..it's christmas

merry christmas penny..and all other norfolk birders! B

Penny Clarke · Dec 25, 2006

matt green said:
No owls?

The one time I visited this reserve (feb 04)I spent the last 20 minutes of daylight waiting by the marshes opposite the bird hide..

A short eared owl was highly anticipated,but never showed

Matt

ps,hey it's 00.19..it's christmas

merry christmas penny..and all other norfolk birders! B

Hi Matt - Merry Christmas to you as well. You must be well gone by now!! I'm on cups of tea and chocolates!!!! No I looked hard for a short eared owl or a barn, and spent quite a time scanning with scope just before I left at 4pmish, but no luck!! Thats the way it goes.

Penny Clarke · Dec 26, 2006

Went for a christmas walk today with my sister to try and work off some of the christmas dinner - saw hardly any birds in the dull weather. Never seen so few birds, only saw a couple of blackbirds, magpies, a kestral and a party of long tailed tits, oh and mistle thrush. :girl:

SueBryan · Dec 26, 2006

Hi Penny
Hope you had a good one!
Birdwise it was the same on Roydon Common, hardly a single bird on Christmas day except for a male Stonechat that was tantalisingly just out of range for a piccy!
Sue

Penny Clarke · Dec 26, 2006

SueBryan said:
Hi Penny
Hope you had a good one!
Birdwise it was the same on Roydon Common, hardly a single bird on Christmas day except for a male Stonechat that was tantalisingly just out of range for a piccy!
Sue

Hi Sue

Yes thanks, had a lovely family day at my parents and LOADS of food, feel very fat and sleepy right now!!!!! My sister stayed with me last night and went home lunchtime today and now its just me and the cats. Doing some odd jobs now before Johny Depp (my dream man) appears on my box at 7.30pm!!!!! Was too tired to go out today, if the sun had appeared I might have dragged myself out. Hope you had a lovely day too and have a lovely break.

Very odd afternoon on christmas day, I know mornings are obviously more active than afternoon but have never seen so few birds, they are probably fed up with the dull weather too and are tucked up until the sun shines again. I bet you the sun will be out tomorrow when I am back at work!!!!!

Best Wishes Penny

J Moss · Dec 27, 2006

Holkham was productive today. Group of 15+ Shorelarks (new for me) on the saltmarsh where the Samphire usually grows, along with Rock Pipits and Skylarks. Also a Black Brant amongst a group of nomal Brents off the Lady Annes car park. A good range of ducks were present, including a very handsome male Goldeneye on the stinky pond(!), 4 Red Breasted Meregansers and Common Scoters on the sea, Pochards, a Tufted Duck and a group of Gadwall on the lake overlooked by Washington Hide. There were 2 Red Throated Divers on the sea, along with a nice adult Razorbill and 4 Sanderling picking about along the water-line (also very handsome). 2 Marsh Harriers were moving back and forth and a Merlin and Kestrel were also about.

Good to finally be able to get out of the house anyway, what with the fog, Christmas and working my arse off to pay for the overdraft ready for next semester.

J

DaveB · Dec 27, 2006

Hi,

We're looking to try for the Black Kite again tomorrow (arriving at day break). Does any of you chaps know were the best viewing point is and also if there are any Snow Geese about?

Could try for Hawfinch as well (if we come down)?

Thanks,

DaveB

dbradnum · Dec 27, 2006

DaveB said:
Hi,

We're looking to try for the Black Kite again tomorrow (arriving at day break). Does any of you chaps know were the best viewing point is and also if there are any Snow Geese about?

Could try for Hawfinch as well (if we come down)?

Thanks,

DaveB

Black Kite: given that the Kite went to roost between Cley and Walsey Hills, I reckon you want to be stood up by the Cley visitor centre; it's raised up, giving you some height from which to scan.

Snow Goose situation has gone a bit quiet - the white morph bird is still presumably roaming around with the Pink-feet though. Last report was on Christmas Eve near Walsingham, but several other areas have been in the frame.

Today, there's been a couple of Black Brants about: one at Holkham, one on Cockthorpe Airfield.

Hawfinches are best at Lynford Arboretum, near Mundford... but coming from the north, that's another step further from home! Let me know if you want more details on these. (The ones at Holkham seem to be a thing of the past... though I maintain they were a myth all along!)

DaveB · Dec 27, 2006

David,

Thanks for the info |=)|

We have Hawfinch at Sunderland bridge (Croxdale),so they aren't to much of an issue. It would have been nice to try for them if they were getable.

I've had a phone around and it turns out that there are only two of us available, so it looks likely that the trip will not happen :C

If we do make the journey, we will head for the visitor centre at first light. Hopefully we will connect with the bird then so we can concentrate on the geese. Hopefully getting enough time to stop of at saltfleet for the RB Geese.

Thanks again,

DaveB

SueBryan · Dec 27, 2006

Great day out doing a tetrad for the Norfolk Bird Atlas. Some of the game cover strips are fantastic for the birds. I had a lovely mixed flock of Linnets (one of the males was stunning) Yelllowhammers, Reed Buntings, Chaffinches and a couple of Bramblings too. A game keeper gave me permission to go into one of the barns to see if I could find any owl pellets and a Barn Owl flew out right above my head!
However today I got my Christmas wish.............a stunningly beautiful drake Smew at Snettisham.....Wow! :bounce:

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