Disabling myself .... strewth I hope not !!!
Went out this morning but as it was quite misty across the river and marshes looking for the waders was never going to work. Instead it was going to be a cycle ride along to Burgh Castle and back again, this time paying a little more attention than I have been doing to the fields, ditches and reeds along the way.
And it turned out well ..... Good sights and a few questions.
Just a few minutes out of town and suddenly civilazation is a whole world away. The almost total calm of low tide slack water & no wind meant the river was at an almost complete standstill, the only break to the silence coming from across the misty mudflats when an occasional Curlew or Redshank would call out.
Cycling a bit further it wasn't long before a Wheatear startled up & fluttered away ahead with it's white rump plain to see, and through the bins I saw it perched on the wall before flying off toward the farm nearby. A group of 4 Swallow came by shortly after this which really surprised me - afterwards my first thought was a mis-id for House Martin but thinking about it, no, they were definitely Swallow, and after checking in the library it seems they are sometimes around until November in small numbers.
Moving on and rounding a bend I pulled up as a bird in the middle of the path was suddenly startling away from the oncoming me, a few wing beats followed by a dumpy odd looking walk ( as if its legs weren't long enough) which I've gone into a bit more detail in another thread, but from a bit of research down the library and online including this website :
http://birdsofbritain.co.uk/bird-guide/snow-bunting.htm I'm as sure as I can be that it was a Snow Bunting, something completely new to me. Excellent. It then flew off into the undergrowth before re-emerging and flying off across the river, with an unusual rolling / trilling call.
Some little way beyond that picking away at the dead seed heads were a group of birds which I put down as Reed Bunting but something seemed different about them, checking through a few websites & books in the library I think (possibly ) at least one of these was a Lapland Bunting ...I'm not sure though but it's food for thought next time.
By the time the half way point came it was time for coffee break, it was now after 10 and I hadn't seen one person along here yet. Sitting on the low wall with scope set up and bins at the ready I saw some activity in a reed lined ditch which made me curious, every now and again a couple of Reed Bunting would chase each other and disappear deep in the reeds, flocks of Goldfinch & a few Meadow Pipit would occasionally flash about, but there was more than just them in there I was sure. Eventually my patience paid up when I caught sight of a couple of small birds occasionally clinging to the upright stems then shooting back into the undergrowth, their orangey, immaculate plumage almost as if it's been newly painted on, with triangular black beards set onto the grey head and an orange bill - 4 Bearded Tit - at least 2 male & 1 female. These were the highlight as they've long been on my 'wish list' and for them to turn up almost on my doorstep is pretty darned good.
The main vantage point over the valley from Burgh Castle didn't prove too good with the mist clinging around the trees and across the marshes so I didn't stay long though I did get 2 un-id'd thrushes high up in a tree at the church. On heading back I came across 2 really good views - firstly a Kingfisher fishing in a ditch from an overhanging stem, plunging into the ditch and back up again, I noted it had an extremely dark cap, and how much more brilliant a blue the central strip up its back is compared to the blue of the wings. Then nearly back to Yarmouth my first and only raptor of the day - a male Sparrowhawk perched on a gatepost.
Species count of about 30, not that that's at all important in my view.
A top- notch morning out.
