• 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.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Norfolk birding (99 Viewers)

Away from the crowds, I enjoyed a sunny walk on Roydon Common this afternoon. I watched a Great Grey Shrike, two Common Buzzards, 4 Fieldfare, 10 Linnets a Kestrel and a few Meadow Pipits.

Sue
 
Locostella said:
Dave, and all the others that commented thanks for the advice.

Its nice to see a good vibe on the forum now, I look forward to logging on and seeing what people have posted. I thought i'd post a line from a speech below that maybe sums up a little how people can be, but more importantly how we should not be. Can anyone figure out where these words come from? Nice little quiz for you guys.


'We have developed speed but we have shut ourselves in: machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical, our cleverness hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little: More than machinery we need humanity; More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost'

One love Norfolk. Happy birding.

Regards Kieran
Click to expand...

Great quote! Jeremy Clarkson?

VillagerFred said:
Also the chap that is the editor for birdwatch (Dominic Mitchell) runs a masterclass in the field at Rainham Marshes a couple of times during the winter: but he charges about 50 quid. Might be worthwhile if you are stuck to find a suitably keen laridophile as your senseii in Norfolk
Click to expand...

Heck the same chap who just put an up-close photo of an Iceland Gull on his blog and called it a Glauc until i posted a query?
Please don't shout at me i'm sure he's amazing, found the Slaty Backed?, we all make mistakes etc etc. ;) ;)
 
Last edited:
O.Reville1989 said:
On a winter related note do you (or anyone) know when the Goosander are likely to turn up at Sparham Pools? Would have thought another month?
Click to expand...

I've seen Goosanders in Norfolk in late October and early November, so I wouldn't rule it out as a possibility this early. However all these early birds I've seen have been at the coast, not in the Wensum Valley (where I live and have watched on a regular basis). I've seen Goosanders at Sparham Pools and elsewhere in the Wensum Valley on numerous occasions but never earlier than about the 4th week in November.
 
Dave Appleton said:
I've seen Goosanders in Norfolk in late October and early November, so I wouldn't rule it out as a possibility this early. However all these early birds I've seen have been at the coast, not in the Wensum Valley (where I live and have watched on a regular basis). I've seen Goosanders at Sparham Pools and elsewhere in the Wensum Valley on numerous occasions but never earlier than about the 4th week in November.
Click to expand...

Cheers Dave, as I thought the end of November seems like the earliest realistic time for Wensum valley birds.
 
Not a great shot but I assume this is a white throat
clumber park today thought these little chaps would have all gone by now
 

Attachments

  • lb1.jpg
    lb1.jpg
    154.9 KB · Views: 173
Paul Eele said:
Looks like a lesser whitethroat to me - darker ear coverts behind the eye

Paul
Click to expand...

agreed and at this time of year its worth checking out for Minula (Central Asian Lesser Whitethroat) which looks more washed out and only safely IDable in the hand, but this one looks fairly standard but certainly a late record - isnt clumber park in Notts bit of a way to cycle!

http://www.birdguides.com/species/species.asp?sp=000473
 
rob lee said:
Once again wise after the event, but Dick`s photos # 16-18 show a bird with mostly concolorous black underparts & no hint of a pale head. For me, the sunlight that reflects on the underwing in pic 17 should show the body of the bird as being far paler than is shown here if it were a Pallid, & the paler feather fringes would also be more obvious.
Click to expand...

Another photo of the Winterton Swift sp here (congrats must go to Carl, he's produced some very informative images)

http://letterfromnorfolk.wordpress.com/2011/11/01/a-bird-in-the-hand/#respond

sorry to be a pain, but i'm still seeing Pallid with these -less defined, extensive white on the face, big headed, dark eye patch contrasting with overall pale head, general sandy colouration, pale scaling/fringes on the underparts,

http://www.google.co.uk/search?tbm=...l6630l12l12l0l2l2l1l638l2934l0.2.4.3.0.1l10l0

http://www.google.co.uk/search?tbm=...91l3263l0l5267l12l12l0l1l1l0l126l889l5.6l11l0
 
Last edited:
Locostella said:
'We have developed speed but we have shut ourselves in: machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical, our cleverness hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little: More than machinery we need humanity; More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost'
Click to expand...

"Phooey!" You'd have to be a right Charlie, to play that game, Kieran.
 
Swifts - Joshua, I too think that the images taken by Carl, are of a Pallid Swift.....will of course have to look at Eastern Swifts, but this would surely be a far rarer sighting - cannot recall whether the article in B.W. suggested that they had occurred in the UK. Anyway sure to be some more in Norfolk in the next few days given the weather forecast.
 
One Swift sp seen off Cley this afternoon around 2:45pm, very distant though so didn't get a look at it myself.
Also of interest was a Black Guillemot off shore at close range from around 2:30pm onwards. A tricky bird to hold down due to regularly diving and appearing further east of its last position, however I think most of those present around coastguards got onto the bird.

As well as this several Skuas, Gannets, Auk sp, Gulls, a winter plumage Common Tern, and good numbers of Kittiwake were seen between 12:45-15:00.
The highlight though was a Little Auk co-found by myself and Kieran Nixon (Locostella) at 1:15 at close range (around 100 feet off shore). Seen by around half a dozen people the bird moved from east to west allowing for good views before appearing to move further out to sea and lost to view.
 
The Winterton Swift from the photos looks to me the best candidate for Pallid but still extrememely tricky. Ideally need photos showing all features, particularly the saddle effect.
 
Hi All
This may belong on a different thread, but there was a recent study (not published yet) that found Common and Pallid Swift indistinguishable using the usual genetic markers.
http://www.biogeography.org/html/Meetings/2011/IBS2011-booklet-abstracts.pdf
Also, for comparison with eastern common swift there are some nice pics of that form on the OBC image database http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?Bird_ID=572
I think the first of these looks a bit like the recent birds, and as this form occurs in central asia may be a good candidate for the east coast in late October.
Nice to see everyone's friends again on this forum btw!
 
:-O
Cortonbirds said:
The Winterton Swift from the photos looks to me the best candidate for Pallid but still extrememely tricky. Ideally need photos showing all features, particularly the saddle effect.
Click to expand...

Theres a discussion at the moment about a bird in Co Durham - which isn't really shedding any more light :-O, i guess for a committee acceptance an absolutely full set of ID features needs to be shown and the Winterton bird doesn't seem to show bluntish wing tips.

Incidentally since i've been posting such a lot have now started a blog, won't be as exciting as Argy Bargy I'm afraid, more an extension of my notes from the patch. Theres might also be a load of rubbish about modern British psychedelic music, obscure foreign movies and Taoism - so you might want to skip those bits. Funny stuff is our nickname for a certain Lithuanian vodka by the way B :) http://www.balticfood.us/stumbras-vodka/ once you've had a few you can almost see the Montie's flying past inside the bottle 8-P

Please add to your blog favourite if you wish, J

http://blakeneyfunnystuff.wordpress.com/2011/11/02/211/
 

Similar threads

B
Birding in Portugal, Spain May june 2024
Replies
4
Views
469
brooke65
B
B
May - June birding in Europe. Guides?
Replies
1
Views
315
Fritz73
Fritz73
R
Red grouse near Buxton and anything else . Advise please
Replies
3
Views
326
simmojunior
S
T
30/03, Devon. Another (un)Common Buzzard?
Replies
10
Views
665
The Kerreran
T
SueO
Stories Behind Birds You've Photographed
Replies
18
Views
882
Joe H
Joe H

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 100 (members: 0, guests: 100)
Back
Top