Orioles?? (1 Viewer)

Hi Guys,

Does anyone know whether any Golden Orioles have turned up at Lakenheath yet?? I saw that there was one at Lynford Arboretum a week or so back, and another(?) down in W Sussex at around the same time.

I have a theory that they may turn up a little bit earlier than the traditional time of the annual pilgrimage (2nd week in May or thereabouts) but would stress that this theory is blissfully unburdened by any factual information!

I have an opportunity to go on BH Monday, and wonder if it will be a total waste of time (and probably get soaked to boot....)


Ruby

Ruby said:

Hi Guys,

Does anyone know whether any Golden Orioles have turned up at Lakenheath yet?? I saw that there was one at Lynford Arboretum a week or so back, and another(?) down in W Sussex at around the same time.

I have a theory that they may turn up a little bit earlier than the traditional time of the annual pilgrimage (2nd week in May or thereabouts) but would stress that this theory is blissfully unburdened by any factual information!

I have an opportunity to go on BH Monday, and wonder if it will be a total waste of time (and probably get soaked to boot....)


Ruby

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I bought in to your theory Ruby...and went this morning.
Heard nowt like an Oriole.
Did see a drake Garganey, 2 Avocets, male Marsh Harrier.
Heard a couple of Grasshopper Warblers and saw a good mix of
other summer visitors too.
Still, a great place to spend a couple of hours wandering the river bank.

dave...

Have no idea about lakenheath, but they can't be far away - over here, heard my first yesterday and another today, so they are arriving ...albeit 2000 km further east

deboo said:

I bought in to your theory Ruby...and went this morning.
Heard nowt like an Oriole.

dave...

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Oh Dear Dave - sorry about that.....

Not being one to let the certainty of abject failure and a good soaking stand in my way - I decided to go anyway!

02:30 found me leaping from my bed to be met by the merry sound of raindrops on the bedroom window. Up on site at 05:30....

Casting a discrete veil over the complete lack of Golden Orioles, other birding highlights were Grasshopper Warblers, Cuckoos and (bizarrely) Avocet, but best bit of all was an Otter which surfaced just about 15m from me in open water. Quite comical actually as it took a leisurely look around (obviously not expecting to come across a human at 05:30 in the pouring rain!) saw me, did a rapid double-take and disappeared under never to be seen again.

Very satisfying anyway and the first wild Otter that I have seen in the UK.

I then did a quick tour of some other Norfolk hot-spots - Weeting (for Stone Curlew and Woodlark) Wolferton (for Golden Pheasant - only there wasn't any, BUT there were 2 cracking male Ring Ouzels!) and Titchwell (for very handsome Summer-plumage Barwits and Spotted Redshank)

...So, not a bad day out after all....

I still cling to my theory about the Orioles arriving sooner rather than later (think poker-player stubbornly hanging onto a gut-shot!!) and would welcome any info from anyone who does go and get them over the next week of so...


All the best.... Ruby

Stll no news???

...anybody been??

There was a singing bird reported in the second plantation on Sunday afternoon, I think.

Thanks David..... was that on Birdguides?

Ruby said:

Thanks David..... was that on Birdguides?

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Yep... I was browsing Bird News Anywhere while waiting for the Purple Heron to emerge from the reeds at Titchwell!

Are Golden Orioles on the increase?

Two years ago on our annual East Anglia trip we spotted a male Golden Oriole just outside Minsmere on the road up from Westleton.

Last year we hadn't even got as far as Norfolk/Suffolk, we saw another one fly across the lake at Little Paxton.

This seemed to me exceptional good luck as we're not on the secret network of where to find suppressed rarities and just "happened" on them.

This year we didn't see one, we called in at Lakenheath but weren't prepared to stay too long, especially as we see loads of them every time we go to Goa. But we did just miss one - at Little Paxton again!

So were we just very lucky, or is there a whole load of these lovely birds now breeding in the eastern counties?