Norfolk birding (14 Viewers)

[PYRTLE]

There are several places they could go & test there engines where the impact would not be so damaging on the river banks & the wildlife , evidently you havn't been to Strumpshaw Fen for a while to see the problem , I have spent over 40yrs around the broads & seen things get worse , by the sounds off your comment you have never seen a boat engine testing at Strumpshaw ,

Morning Pete,
I was at RSPB Strumpshaw Fen recently, about three weeks ago, and did walk along the riverbank, occasionally looking at passing navigation, which you'll see was very much part of my past career. Similar to yourself, watching stretches of the Thames similarly erode and detiorate in many ways for more years than I would wish. I'm sure that the Broads authority are well aware and have consultation meetings about this and many other matters including their duty to protect and safeguard it's heritage. I would be genuinely pleased to hear from you about the other suitable sites along with any environmental impact studies that relocation of said testing would bring.
All the best, Pat

 

[paulptct]

Sacred Ibis

Got this at Salthouse yesterday standing by the chippy.
Very poor quality due to the distance but a Capture all the same.

 

[firstreesjohn]

Richard: get closer to my bedroom !

Just heard, through my bedroom window, Richard’s Pipit calling in flight (Sheringham). Probably disturbed by a dog-person.

Unfortunately, it didn’t take up the invitation. My camera was in the car, anyway.

 

[Dave Hawkins]

It could all change but we could get a decent northerly next Thursday.
The low causing these winds stalls and deepens over the North Sea next Wednesday. It's a similar scenario to last Mondays low, though at the moment the maps show it too far north to give us the 'over the top' easterlies in Norfolk.

 

[VillagerFred]

Just heard, through my bedroom window, Richard’s Pipit calling in flight (Sheringham). Probably disturbed by a dog-person.

Unfortunately, it didn’t take up the invitation. My camera was in the car, anyway.

I've got that beat (as the Americans say). Fair Isle this summer, River warbler and paddyfield warbler from my bedroom window in the bird observatory.

Appologies for the crass one-upmanship, couldn't help it!

 

[firstreesjohn]

Appologies for the crass one-upmanship

I'd've called that 'two-upmanship'.

No contest.

Glad the trip was worthwhile and you Faired well for raries.

Isle have to go there, sometime.

 

[Dave_A]

After a fairly successful sea-watch off Cley this morning (Black Guillemot, Puffin, Manx & Sooty Shearwaters, 3+ Little Gull, 57 Red-throated Divers) I decided to try my luck at East Hills.

Unfortunately it deserted me: at the end of my first circuit I'd managed just Tree Pipit, Lesser Whitethroat and 2 Whitethroat, only to get the gripping 'late news yesterday' (Greenish Warbler, Ring Ouzel, 15 Redstarts, 5 Pied Flycatchers) then a report of Yellow-browed Warbler and 2 Redstarts today (presumably from the only other person I saw out there - didn't bump into him)! I promptly did another full circuit, adding only a Redwing.

I then saw the amazing news of 2 Greenish Warblers 'at East Hills today'... but that turned out to be a typo from one of the news services: 'just' 2 Yellow-broweds that I missed, then!

Cheers
Nick

Hi nick

I was out there again and reported the one yellow brow and 2 redstarts, I also saw one each of lesser and common whitethroat, a continental coal tit and a few other bits and pieces, including my first couple of redwings for the autumn, there were none in the fall the other day.

I was very confused when ur report came out as despite doing a couple of circuits I failed to see you, it's not that big an area!. I saw a couple of guys leaving when I arrived at about 10, but they said they'd seen nowt.

Dave

 

[PYRTLE]

Happisburgh - Buff breasted sandpiper.

 

[Nick Moran]

Hi nick

I was out there again and reported the one yellow brow and 2 redstarts, I also saw one each of lesser and common whitethroat, a continental coal tit and a few other bits and pieces, including my first couple of redwings for the autumn, there were none in the fall the other day.

I was very confused when ur report came out as despite doing a couple of circuits I failed to see you, it's not that big an area!. I saw a couple of guys leaving when I arrived at about 10, but they said they'd seen nowt.

Dave

Hi Dave

I saw you ahead of me (in the '2nd' patch, as I arrived at the first - assuming it was you in the blue cap / hat?!) but you'd disappeared when I eventually got down to that end. I clearly wasn't on my best form - missed the Yellow-browed and 2 Redstarts, and only managed UTVs of the other human out there!

I met the other guys on their way back across the saltmarsh; we (re)checked the tides together on my phone when they said they thought high tide was at 1:30pm as I was fairly keen to make sure it wasn't me who'd got high & low the wrong way round!

No idea where the report of 2 Yellow-broweds came from - perhaps a case of Chinese whispers / news service confusion with 1 bird at Warham and 1 at E Hills (both sites 'nested' under Wells-next-the-Sea by at least one of the news services)?

Cheers
Nick

 

[robinchittenden]

It could all change but we could get a decent northerly next Thursday.
The low causing these winds stalls and deepens over the North Sea next Wednesday. It's a similar scenario to last Mondays low, though at the moment the maps show it too far north to give us the 'over the top' easterlies in Norfolk.

Seems like they've already adjusted it.

 

[firstreesjohn]

Massive fall of Parids at Salthouse

With huge amounts of blue and yellow fluttering about in the bushes, I thought my prayers had been answered in spades (though those are black) and a flock of magnolia-coloured warblers fallen out of the sky, following the strong westerlies and in the wake of the remnants of the last hurricane.

Not so. Three Blue Tits, instead, became chipper, with judicious pishing. Their photographed phalanx is phurnished below.

The male (non-Siberian) Stonechat is shown, too. A poor flight view of its rump is provided (now streaked with brown and the white area much reduced), with one into the sun from behind. I hope others can do better than this.

A soft and intermittent tcking emanated from the thickest cover; but no amount of coaxing, etc. could persuade it to emerge.

There were more Blue Tits at Wells Woods, too, in company with high-perching and strangely-singing Robins. A male Redstart quivered and immediately vanished in the first section. A Great-spot vacated an ‘ole-in-a-tree. One of the Yellow-broweds called and flitted in the tops. A male Siskin showed briefly.

 

[MICK SAUNT]

With huge amounts of blue and yellow fluttering about in the bushes, I thought my prayers had been answered in spades (though those are black) and a flock of magnolia-coloured warblers fallen out of the sky, following the strong westerlies and in the wake of the remnants of the last hurricane.

Not so. Three Blue Tits, instead, became chipper, with judicious pishing. Their photographed phalanx is phurnished below.

John

Always a possibility that they had recently completed a crossing of the North Sea. Falsterbo has had 24,000 Blue Tits passing through during the past week (and they managed to ring 3,700!) although would be a bit easier to confirm a Continental origin if they had been Nutcrackers......

Mick

 

[Dave Hawkins]

Seems like they've already adjusted

Not only adjusted but changed completely, let's hope they change it again.

 

[Penny Clarke]

Pied Flycatcher yesterday in father's moth trap!!!

See full account on blog.

Penny:girl:

 

[Penny Clarke]

Birding Today

No sign of the Booted Warbler in the rain (again) at Burnham Overy although I had heard that some people apparently saw it (obviously they didn't put the news out) - must have been around midday(ish). Two Wheatears at Gun Hill. Tit flock along the West Track at Warham with nothing exciting amongst them!

Also heard through the grapevine this evening, that a Barred Warbler is in the Lupins at BP today.

Late news just come through on pager of a Citrine Wagtail at Titchwell at 11.45am - I could have gone to see that from Burnham Overy!!! (if it stayed of course, to be fair).

Full account on blog.

Penny:girl:

 

[David Norgate]

Lovely trip out after school to see the Buff-breast at Happisburgh and just as enjoyable meeting James A (Frootshoot), who amazingly recognised me from a meet over 10 years ago!

Reminded me that others can recall the main features of a rare and nail it, whereas I keep on forgetting it all!

A juv skua flew in off the sea at Waxham and continued until lost in the broads! The irony that it could have been a Long-tailed was not lost on me, but alas it was an Arctic!

The question, 'Any sign of the cranes?' wood have had Edward turning in his geographical grave, but no sign of them either!

 

[petehasset]

Lovely trip out after school to see the Buff-breast at Happisburgh and just as enjoyable meeting James A (Frootshoot), who amazingly recognised me from a meet over 10 years ago!

Reminded me that others can recall the main features of a rare and nail it, whereas I keep on forgetting it all!

A juv skua flew in off the sea at Waxham and continued until lost in the broads! The irony that it could have been a Long-tailed was not lost on me, but alas it was an Arctic!

The question, 'Any sign of the cranes?' wood have had Edward turning in his geographical grave, but no sign of them either!

I was at Waxham when the skua flew in

 

[firstreesjohn]

a possibility that they had recently completed a crossing of the North Sea. Falsterbo has had 24,000 Blue Tits passing through during the past week (and they managed to ring 3,700!) although would be a bit easier to confirm a Continental origin if they had been Nutcrackers......

That assumption had already flashed into my mind, Mick- although not in public ! With the influx of differently-behaving Robins, Great-spots and Continental Coals (in other places), it is almost inevitable that they are from ‘furrin’- and Citrine is obviously not from the west.

If there had been a Nutcracker in the vicinity, I’m sure it would have been Spotted, with all the birders wandering around.

 

[DaveN]

Citrine Wagtail

Hi all. I thought I'd better post about the Citrine Wagtail at Titchwell. Both Clive A and myself have been over in Norfolk all week but came back yesterday afternoon. We had been in the Parrinder Hide early morning and after about an hour we went to do a bit of sea watching. There wasn't a lot doing and when it started to rain we legged it back to the Parrinder Hide.

We wasn't that far off leaving to come back home when independently both Clive and myself spotted an interesting looking Wagtail on the far side of fresh marsh. Despite the distance and the weather it was quite a striking bird and we both mentioned poss Citrine Wag. It was very pale grey on the upperparts with no olive brown that you would expect on a 1st winter Yellow Wag. It clearly wasn't a Pied Wag as it had clean underparts from the throat all the way down to the lower breast so lacked any sort of bib.

Clive also picked up the striking double wing bar (I didn't but Clive has a better scope than me). We couldn't really pick up the pale lores and cheek surround but like I said before it was distant and it was raining. We told a couple of other birders our thoughts and one who got onto it and agreed with us that it looked good for Citrine. He also said he had seen a couple of Citrines before. The other birder only saw it in flight so couldn't offer anything else.

The bird flew off and we never saw it again. Although not 100% we were fairly certain it was a 1st winter Citrine Wagtail so I put the news out as a possible. We also went into the shop to tell somebody and to put it in the book. Last night I noticed that somebody else put the news out around the same time we saw the bird.

 

[David Norgate]

No sign of the Buff-breast this morning.

Interesting that I had a few calls wondering about its presence and why news (or lack of) hadn't been forthcoming.
The purists will obviously hope that all the 'real' birders were out on their patches, not worried about seeing someone elses bird.
The sceptics will be saying all the pagerers (still the only word I apprecite someone saying) were waiting in the warm for the pager to go off.

Either way, it continues the demise of twitching (particulalry in Norfolk)! I hear faint cheers from the depths!!