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

Norfolk birding (43 Viewers)

A raptor start ....

What better way to start the year but with a cracking raptor (but then I always say that!). Lovely views yesterday of the Red Kite in the Thornham area - simply stunning with the sun shining on its plumage.

Sim - I've not heard of more than 2 Shorelarks being seen at Snettisham.

Irene
 
stu_white said:
I suggest you get to bed you drunken oaf, I'm off to start the 2010 year list !!
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Hey there everyone, firstly apologies about the drunken rant, lets just say someone put a smile on my face so i had rather a good night!

Judging from the amount of pager action carn't imagine too many people having a duff day today, me and my mate Steve had a good one, experiencing some classic winter North Norfolk birding. Started at Morston and walked out over the bridges and followed the path until you get cut of by a creek, really fantastic out there full of birds and very wild. Highlights were a Kestrel and Hen Harrier crusing through in hunting mode, 2 tussling male Peregrines, around 10 Goldeneye with males in full display, a Spotted Redshank, lots of waders and buntings and exclusively from the Appleton school of freaky ducks, a Shelduck x Egyptian Goose was a new one to me. Onto Holkham the small stuff seemed to have been disturbed throughout the day but still quite a few Rock Pipit, on the sea a Red-necked Grebe (sorry Penny) - took some working out as it was a bit tricky in the troughs and a redhead Goosander flying West. Excellent evening roost at Wareham with two SEOs, 2 Hen Harriers and a perched Merlin.
 
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A quiet amble round bits of Salthouse and Cley today. Just enough snow to add a strange feel to the view without causing any problems for the car.
There were 2 Pale-bellied Brents with a flock of about 500 Dark-bellied Brents at Cley, just east of the start of the Beach Road.
Took a photo of a Turnstone at Salthouse tucking into a lump of something on the beach. It is only now that I've realised the lump was some unfortunate crustacean - anyone care to name the species.

Dave
 

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Bomby Cilla Black Sheep White Bunting

Trapped by the snow for the morning, I finally ventured out around midday.

Snow Buntings were being constantly disturbed at a busy Salthouse beach car park. A female Stonechat had somehow managed to survive the blizzards on Gramboro’.

Walsey produced a pair of Gantletts.

Friary Hills, the first illegal dog-walker of the year: not bad going, seeing as it’s only its second day. He was oblivious to my stating that his hound should be somewhere else, as if the law didn’t apply to him. A flushed Woodcock leavened my mood slightly.

Cley was able to provide neither Twite nor Water Pipit in the announced locations. This is becoming a recent habit.

Shopping, in Cromer, beckoned. So, I did my first twitch of the year, hastening to North Repps and a nice adult Waxwing. Soon after I located it, a Sprawk flew over and the Starling flock, with which it was loosely associated, dispersed for some 20 mins. Fortunately, it then returned, for others to see. My camera, as can be seen, is not at its best in low light.

It was, interestingly, quite easy to pick it up in flight from its accompanying Starlings. I didn't hear it call; although, it was apparently found by these means.

The sheep ? They were in the sugar beet field at WRunton- mostly white morphs. Could make for an interesting spring.
 

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Penny Clarke said:
Several birdy friends have been on at me for ages to start a blog so here it is:;)

http://pennyshotbirdingandlife.blogspot.com
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When I first read your blog title, I thought that you had taken up hunting and was also thinking of committing suicide as I read it as 'penny shot birding and life' but now I see that you are hot!! as in 'pennys hot birding and life' LOL o:D Look forward to reading it was the year progresses. Hope you will still be writing your birding expoits in the Norfolk thread here as well. Best wishes for a good new year.
 
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Colin said:
When I first read your blog title, I thought that you had taken up hunting and was also thinking of committing suicide as I read it as 'penny shot birding and life' but now I see that you are hot!! as in 'pennys hot birding and life' LOL o:D Look forward to reading it was the year progresses. Hope you will still be writing your birding expoits in the Norfolk thread here as well. Best wishes for a good new year.
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:-O:-O:-O Brilliant:-O!!!!!!


Yep - will post on both BUT I will post pictures on the blog because quite simply its quicker - I don't have to resize the pictures or save to web first.
 
Spent many hours creating my new blog last night and I still don't really know what I am doing with it!!!!! I expect I will change the template loads of times until I am happy! Might do several blogs actually and link them to the main one as want to link all my photos for the last 2 years - that will take some time!!!

http://pennyshotbirdingandlife.blogspot.com/

Dersingham for Goldies and Sandringham Bird Table

Ok the snow novelty is wearing very thin - its treacherous getting out of my road - I might as well have skis under the car!

No golden pheasants on view around Dersingham.

Ventured up the snowy road to the Sandringham Bird Table where there was two big lens photographers in a 4x4 next to the table. Good selection here of Marsh Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Nuthatch, Jay, hedge sparrow, blackbird, wood pigeons, robins.

Freezing cold, so cold I decided to go on a car tour very slowly all around Sandringham, Amner, Shernbourne in search of the recently seen rough leg buzzard and anything else that turned up and with camera on passenger seat I was ready for some car hide photography! Fantastic views of 23 Grey Partridge huddled together in a snow covered field. A single lapwing and a curlew in a field along with some common gulls on route. Saw a very familiar white van (BR;)) go over the Shernbourne crossroads! Drove through Ingoldisthorpe, Snettisham, Ringstead and ended up by the Reservoir at Thornham (where the black winged pratincole was). I was hoping for a smew, but still had a nice surprise of 20 Tufted Ducks, 17 Pochard and a MASSIVE flock of black headed gulls and common gulls took off from the water as soon as I approached.

Titchwell RSPB

Important things first: One Cheese & Onion Toastie in the Feeding Station;). It was soooo bitterly cold and felt really tired and fed up and could not be bothered to bring the scope with me, but did manage to see: Pintail, Stonechat, Mute Swan, little egret, several shoveler and wigeon, pied wagtail, shelducks, great black backed gull, redshank, black tailed godwit and 2 Water Pipits. Oh and a pair of shoveler were doing something odd - no one could understand their antics - apparently they had been going round in circle together for AGES, spinning round in close contact?

At work tomorrow earlier than normal:-C Got to work every Sunday (if I can) as saving my pennies for Fair Isle (just booked - HURRAH!!!!!).

Best Wishes Penny:girl:
 
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another good day out with Jim today. Started at Roydon in hope of seeing a Hen Harrier leaving the roost but no such luck. Next stop was Flitcham but on the way Jim spotted a cracking male Bullfinch in a hedge. At Flitcham we ticked off Little Owl and Tree Sparrow and then we went onto Sandringham feeders where a Willow Tit was feeding. Didn't manage to get to the triangle due to the road being closed due to ice so went onto Hunstanton and managed to see shed loads of gulls but also Eiders, Common Scoter, Red-breasted Merganser and Fulmar.

At Thornham it didn't take long to locate the Red Kite but also whilst watching the Kite a flock of 9 Twite flew over and so did a Rippet. Titchwell wasn't great but got Water Rail in the ditch by the visitor centre. Last stop was Holkham where we connected with the Snow Goose and also the White-fronted. On the way home we also saw a Woodcock fly over the road near King's Lynn.

The days final total was 95 two short of my highest day total ever
 
Despite the weather and illness, still managed to get in some good birding with a fairly respectable tally of 73 species seen around the patch over the last two days.

Highlights from yesterday included good numbers of Crossbills in Felbrigg Park with one flock of c25 birds and some smaller (additional?) flocks also going over.

West Runton produced a flock of c55 Snow Buntings in off the sea, which paused to briefly feed in the stubble field before flying of west. Also there a 2nd Adult Med Gull had joined the regular bird, and a Sanderling, which has become very noticable by their absence on the beaches round here, was feeding with the usual shorebirds on the beach. Another bird that has also been conspicuously absent in recent times has been the Fulmar, so it has been a welcome sight to see the passage of birds offshore over the last few days.

Other notable birds around the patch included a few Bramblings, the unusual sight of a lone Pink-foot feeding in a field, Eider and Common Scoter offshore and a Little Owl to round off the day.

The highlights continued today with a superb male Hen Harrier which flew west past Overstrand about a third of the way out to sea, only the second one I've ever had go through the patch. Good numbers of Fieldfares and Redwings were on the move, and both Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers were around the village too.

An afternoon walk over to Northrepps was rewarded with the Waxwing, which even better dutifully had a fly-round with the Starlings over to the north side of the village, taking it into my patch in the process, before returning to the berry bushes in Foundry Close which I'm sure will keep it happy for a few days.

Simon
 
Rippet ? !

Robert: please put me out of my misery and say what one of these is.

(Post #8128)

I suppose it could be that I'm the one who's had all his adventias and now the dementure is setting in.

Thanks.
 
Anyone know anything of the possible Pacific Diver at Titchwell today? On BirdGuides as present at 14:20 is all I know.

EDIT : Most recent report on BirdGuides says possible juvenile on sea until dusk, view from boardwalk.
 
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My regular sites

Thank you, Robert (although I was rather hoping it wasn't!).

A walk around Muckleburgh in beautiful sunshine saw more Redwings than of late. I was just about to click the shutter, after a deft bit of slow and silent stalking, when woomph and a resultant mini heart attack- as a Woodcock exploded from under my feet. The snap displayed is much worse then the perfect one which would have ensued- which would have had no intervening branches and was much closer. Ah well, that's bird photography.

Salthouse had its flock of Snow Buntings and, today, a much smaller one of photographers. Turnstones were, actually, doing what their name requires. A pair of Black-headed Gulls was displaying, strutting around like refugees from Strictly Come Prancing. Don't they know it's freeeezing ?

The rubbish from the beach car park and its surrounds was being removed by a hit squad from the N.T. Well done.

Cley, again, provided neither Wippets (? ? I hope not) nor Twite.

At Friary Hills, I once again saw a female Bullfinch, which gave itself away by calling weakly.
 

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firstreesjohn said:
Cley, again, provided neither Wippets (? ? I hope not) nor Twite.
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I have heard some people say "Wappet" (pronounced "Woppit") although this sounds more like an action than a bird! Why not just stick to the normal name which everyone understands?! It's just lazy... ;)
 
'mipit' is the only regularly used abbreviation I've heard when it comes to pipits. Definitely never heard ripit ?? Wappit is just daft

Lots of year listers out today. I ticked off a fair few of norfolk's elite. (I'm amazed at how some of them keep up the enthusiasm year after year, much respect) The birds were pretty good too. The fudge duck looked gorgeous in the bright sunlight, the ring necked duck was a bit trickier hiding a lot of the time and not quite as good looking.
 

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