-
Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.
Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
The sights and sounds of Suffolk & Norfolk (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Reader
- Start date
digi-birder
Well-known member
Great report and photos, John. Sounds like a great weekend.
Nick Elliston
Well-known member
Just out of interest, several years ago I had a Golden Pheasant get in my greenhouse. It was none to happy and rather aggressive, and neither was I as it broke one of the glass panes.
Reader said:
Yeah, right on John ...will see how that little resolution lasts if that nice Belted Kingfisher pops up for another run around this spring!
Wait til that spring kicks in ...you'll be up and ticking
:'D :'D :'D
deboo
.............
Excellent report John!
Myself, Pete and Simon were at Holkham on Sunday too! We were busy dipping on the Humes Warbler. But we did go down to the saltings and enjoyed great views of the Snowbs and Shlarks.
Magical place. Like Tim, i'm not too far away to get there for 1st light. But we were invited to have a full cooked breakfast by Pete, at his b&b. Dudes huh?! hahaha.
dave...
Myself, Pete and Simon were at Holkham on Sunday too! We were busy dipping on the Humes Warbler. But we did go down to the saltings and enjoyed great views of the Snowbs and Shlarks.
Magical place. Like Tim, i'm not too far away to get there for 1st light. But we were invited to have a full cooked breakfast by Pete, at his b&b. Dudes huh?! hahaha.
dave...
mountain man
Guest
Does anyone know what these "black throat" variant Golden Pheasants actually are? Before it was assumed that they are impure with probably a bit of Lady A in them. Checking the literature, I can't find any reference anywhere to a black throated form, yet quite a few people are now telling me that the Wolferton birds are examples of it.
Anyone?
Anyone?
Strandman
Well-known member
tom mckinney said:
Here's one take on it, suggesting that it was a type bred in captivity in 19thC (as was the much more common yellow variant)-
"The Dark-throated Golden was the first mutation developed from the golden pheasant, however, there is recent information that disputes validity of this being a pure mutation. This dark bird was first seen in the 1860s.... There are many indications that these birds could in fact be derived from Amherst crossings."
Reader
Well-known member
Jos Stratford said:
You might be surprised then Jos. I am certainly going to go after good lifers (Belted Kingfisher would definitely see me on my way) if I can. It is the usual chasing of the majority of birds that will see me slowing down. I won't completely stop but my finances have to take a priority this year.
I have to say though, this weekend I enjoyed more because I gave myself more time with birds that I wanted to photograph. I deliberately didn't go after certain birds (e.g Little Bunting, Rough legged Buzzard, Shorelark, Twite etc). This in turn added quite a bit of time to my birding day.
If I had gone for those I doubt if I would have seen the Golden Pheasant or end up in the Welney area.
Reader
Well-known member
deboo said:Excellent report John!
Myself, Pete and Simon were at Holkham on Sunday too! We were busy dipping on the Humes Warbler. But we did go down to the saltings and enjoyed great views of the Snowbs and Shlarks.
Magical place. Like Tim, i'm not too far away to get there for 1st light. But we were invited to have a full cooked breakfast by Pete, at his b&b. Dudes huh?! hahaha.
dave...
Hi Dave
I met Pete just as he was leaving Titchwell. It was just a quick handshake and a hello then he was off. He didn't say anything about you and anyone else around.
Fancy having to choose between the dawn arrival of the geese and the cooked breakfast. Your gonna have to go on a diet Dave and put the birds first.:-O :-O
I didn't even try for the Hume's, even though it would have been a lifer for me.
I was in Holkham area on saturday too and also enjoyed some superb geese watching and also the larks and buntings on beach with Scoter and Eider on sea. Downside of day was missing Little Bunting for 2nd time. Corn Buntings at choseley showed well with one possible Lapland Bunting(always possibles never been sure on one yet!!).Oddly i was at Choseley when the 12 were reported and either i was looking other way or saw a different flock of 'other birds'......
Anyway superb report and photos, well done
Anyway superb report and photos, well done
Last edited:
Richard W
Well-known member
got to Choseley late on Saturday and saw several Lapland Buntings flying, though wouldn't have known what they were if someone hadn't put me on to them, some (I presume) locals had flushed them from the stubble field.
great to see so many Corn Bunting & Yellowhammer. Apart from Shore Larks didn't really go looking for anything else either but had a nice time getting cold sea watching for much of the day.
great to see so many Corn Bunting & Yellowhammer. Apart from Shore Larks didn't really go looking for anything else either but had a nice time getting cold sea watching for much of the day.
Reader
Well-known member
senatore said:
Hi Max
Personally I would go A.S.A.P. Knowing you I would have thought that you would get a nice B&B but don't forget if you want to see the Geese arriving at dawn at Holkham it would be best to probably find one somewhere in Wells. That way you are only 10 mins away from them.
The later you leave it the earlier you will have to get up. Last Sunday they arrived just after 07:30am.
I have to say that this is a highlight not to be missed. You can also plan a good day around it as you are up early enough to utilise the daylight hours.
John
paul goode
Well-known member
Reader said:
For the less energetic among us the geese also put on a good show at the end of the day as well. I agree that going ASAP is a good idea. My first trip to Norfolk this year cant be until mid feb and I think numbers will be well down by then.
Regards
Paul
Reader
Well-known member
paul goode said:
It is true that there is an excellent spectacle at the end of the day. They both have their plus points.
The plus point with the dawn arrival, for me, is the fact that even after their arrival the Geese can be very flighty and take off and drop back to earth for no apparent reason. This creates quite a few black cloud effects. It also creates a continous cacophony of noise. The sights and sounds from these continous short flights is wonderful.
Towards the end of the day they are usually more settled but the beauty of the evening take off is to the backdrop of the sunset (if there is one). If it is a good sunset it is a beautiful site as they disappear into it with their constant calling slowly getting more distant as they leave the area. Even on a dull day it is still well worth watching.
Whichever end of the day you are present will be worth it but as Paul says, don't leave it too long as the numbers will start to decrease.
Regards
John
timmyjones
Well-known member
Weel done John sounds like you had a good time in norfolk i think i will be going there sometime soon but i dont think that i could beat last years total of 23 lifers in 1 day there doing titchwell holkham chosley and stiffkey might do Titchwell, Chosley, Holkham and Weleny this time.
