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

Norfolk birding (13 Viewers)

Norwich birds

its a great area, it used to be my patch. The boggy area to the right of the path is very good for Woodcock + the really boggy areas were good for Snipe and supposedly Jack Snipe. Just finding birds such as Shoveler and Stonechat were real highlights. The Alders next to the path bring in finch flocks mostly Siskin and Goldfinch but also Redpoll, good to here Treecreepers still about they used to be very prevalent. As you say good for Woodpeckers and used to be a very reliable site for Lesser Spot. One of the features of the place is that it used to hold very late winter Thrushes, Redwings and Fieldfare still about in late April. Again Dolphin Bridge which is next to Gib Gardens is excellent for Daubentons Bats, absolutely amazing views can be got as they fly directly at you illuminated by the streetlights, i also once saw a Noctule flying about with Swifts at the end of my road, excellent for Dragon and Damselflies in the summer, could go on, real urban oasis. :t:

Anyone who finds themselves with a couple of hours to spare whilst to the north/west of Norwich city centre (as I did yesterday whilst Mrs. Frootshoots car had a new windscreen fitted) could do a lot worse than take a stroll along the riverside walk between the Gibraltar Gardens PH and Sweetbriar Road - the ring road. There's plenty of tree cover along the river, some with lots of established Ivy, and some Alder is mixed in too. Several areas close to the path are very boggy looking and the northern side, once away from the industrial area, consists of damp grazing marsh with patches of scrubby cover.There were 4 Little Grebes close to the road by the pub that would make a good photographic opportunity for a quick photographer and birds seen along the walk included Kingfisher, Water Rail and a very showy Treecreeper. A Stock Dove was in monotonous song and I also heard Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker plus a flyover Redpoll. Over the bridge behind the waterworks a Nuthatch was calling in the ribbon of woodland that runs through to the Dereham Road. A brief sojourn to the waterworks gate was pitifully rewarded with a few Gulls and 9 Tufted. It sure beat sitting in a dull waiting room...

James

Not much to add to what has already been said.
Nuthatch the most likely species and at the quoted site.
Alders with siskin and goldfinch regularly and possible redpolls too.
Have a lesser pecker record from irregular visits in the past.
 
Its had Ring Ouzel, Long-eared Owl, Yellow-browed Warbler, Shag, Pied Flycatcher, Firecrest, Glaucous Gull, Grasshopper Warbler and Nightingale over the years and one winter I even found an Arctic Redpoll with the Redpoll flock. The waterworks can be good, especially when everything else freezes, its had Scaup, Ring-billed Gull and I even found a Black-throated Diver on it before it decided the river in Norwich was more productive.

Best regards

Robin Chittenden

Aware of the black-throated diver record at the Waterworks on 31 December 1996 and that it had "gone missing".
I speculatively walked along the river on a very frostly 2 January 1997 looking for displaced birds and re-located the black-throated diver off Magdalen Street.
 
Is there much at Cley at the moment aside from the Glauc there today? Might venture that way next week if I have the time...
Cheers
 
Managed to pull myself away from my course this lunch time and decided to have a wander around Sandringham Heath (Not sure if that’s what’s it called but its the area where the Nightjar's are) anyways nothing to exciting other than two crossbills, 4 fallow deer and a Muntjac.

Also checked out Gaywood Tesco's for the 4 Waxwings but no sign.

ATB
 
3 Waxwings in Shotesham this lunchtime - not in my garden unfortunately. They are frequenting gardens at the south-east end of the village, between Trinity Hall and The Grove. Two gardens have already put out apples for them so hopefully they'll stick around a while.

Usual rules of engagement - if you come to see them, please don't annoy the neighbours!

Cheers

Andy
 
Titchwell February 11th

Today's highlights

Spotted redshank - 1 on brackish marsh
Velvet scoter - 15 offshore
Hen harrier - ringtail over reedbed
Mealy redpoll - 1 in trees by visitor centre
Med gull - adult on fresh marsh
Water pipit - 1 on fresh marsh

Paul
 
Hi everyone , I had lost my password at christmas and been unable to get a new one from the forum , but today I refound my password book where it had been tidyed away.

Is it just me , but are there a hell of a lot of barn owls about at the moment on the coast. The other day i saw 16 in a 10 mile drive all hunting in the late afternoon sunshine and there were 3 togeather on the north coast along with 4 singles within a 3 mile walk this afternoon. All the more surprising in that there has been a run of good hunting nights lately. Has their been an influx from other parts of the country or mainland Europe during the last spell of snow? Great to see a couple of hen harriers tonight over the coastal marshes along with a short eared owl.
 
Just for information: had a pair of Blackcaps in the garden this am. The male has been singing for a week, but I hadn't seen him before. He was displaying and carrying nesting material: a bizarre sight in the snow! LOL!
 

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Just for information: had a pair of Blackcaps in the garden this am. The male has been singing for a week, but I hadn't seen him before. He was displaying and carrying nesting material: a bizarre sight in the snow! LOL!

I had a female in my garden during some heavy snow showers this January but a singing male at this time of year! A strange sight indeed. I guess as there is a pair there the male must be having trouble controlling his urges.
It is nearly Valentines day i guess!:t:
 
For the record!

Just for the record: here're the male (on the feeder) and female (above, to the right)
Crummy shot through my office window with my little digicam....
 

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Swanning about in the woods - and then a nice little chat

An enforced visit to the east end of Holt Country Park this lunchtime didn’t even produce any Woodcocks. However, I was retracing my steps when I heard the distinctive beat of wild swans’ wings. Lo and behold, 5 Whoopers were flying (and calling occasionally) in a roughly northerly direction- they should have gone over Holt itself. A nice little bonus.

The pager announced Black Redstart on one of my patches. Hastening along the A148, I managed to reach West Runton quite quickly- only to be informed that there was no sign. Armed with deep knowledge of the site and displaying commendable resolve, Robin and I yomped along the clifftop path. At the top of the slope, north-east of the run-down farm buildings, it was flitting about as happy as anything- except when one of the local Kestrels went over.

The farm compound is currently the location of a yellow dumper. The 'For Sale' sign has gone and some work seems to have been done inside the boundaries. More to follow.
 

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East Runton / Cromer / Overstrand - anyone's patch?

Hi all

There's just a couple of weeks left until the end of winter no 3 for the current Bird Atlas project. We've identified a few gaps that SURELY someone can fill, possibly just by looking at their notebook, or possibly by a short saunter this weekend.

Firstly, does anyone regularly watch the coast between East Runton and Overstrand, including Cromer. There's a little sliver of a 10km square here - TG24. There's not a lot of water in it (apart from the North Sea that is) - just a few ponds according to the OS map, but surely there's a Mallard and a Moorhen in it somewhere? These haven't been recorded yet for this square. Just think of the glory if you could provide those dots for the atlas maps! Seriously, there's quite a few other surprising omissions from the list recorded for this square in winter so far, including Common Scoter, Buzzard, Coot, Golden Plover, Lapwing, Redshank, Curlew, Kittiwake, Razorbill, Tawny Owl, Rock Pipit, Grey Wagtail, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Marsh Tit, Siskin and Yellowhammer, to name but a few. There must be someone who watches this area regularly?

You can submit records online via http://www.bto.org/birdatlas/, or if that's not your cup of tea then let me know and we'll post you some paper forms.

More Norfolk squares to follow...
 
Tg22

OK, next square in need of a bit of winter help is TG22, which is the one containing Coltishall, Buxton and the south edge of North Walsham. Anyone live around here? Not that far from the north side of Norwich either. There's some decent patches of woodland, and the upper reaches of the Bure Valley.

The omissions for this square aren't quite so major as for TG24, but there should be the chance of getting a few more dots on the maps. Quite a few waterbirds missing that could be present along the valley - no Wigeon, Shoveler, Pochard, Great Crested Grebe (must be along the river somewhere), Bittern, Water Rail, etc. Now that spring is approaching, there must also be an excellent chance of Oystercatcher being present, whilst the wide open spaces around Coltishall airfield seem a reasonable bet for a Peregrine perhaps. One missing species here is Little Owl, which has got to be present somewhere but can take a little finding (perhaps by an evening visit). Might the woods near North Walsham hold Crossbill, or still harbour LS Woodpecker (I've a feeling I remember someone reporting one from this area some time over the last few years?) Finally, still no Waxwing for the square...

Again, please help if you can - thanks!
 
TF73 - Docking

And the third square which is still looking a little undercovered in the winter atlas so far is TF73. This is the one containing Docking, and includes Great Bircham, Shernborne, Fring and Sedgeford. Looking on the OS map, it is very dry, so the chances of adding Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Tufted Duck, Little Egret and Kingfisher might be slim, but all are surely possible. The most obvious omissions from this square so far are Little Owl and Lesser Redpoll, along with Crossbill, Blackcap and Chiffchaff. This area clearly has lots of potential however for interesting finds, with Red Kite surely on the cards, and a half-decent chance for Short-eared Owl or perhaps even Rough-legged Buzzard or Great Grey Shrike.

If everyone going to Titchwell from Norwich stopped in this square for half an hour on the way, surely we could fill a few gaps.

If between us we can a few more species in each of these three squares I've mentioned, then the map visible at http://blx1.bto.org/atlas-results/species-richness.html could be turned entirely red for the whole of Norfolk. Don't let Suffolk beat us to it!

Again, go to http://www.bto.org/birdatlas/ for further details on how to submit records. No complicated methods, just go and find the birds, then report them here.

Thanks

Andy
 
And the third square which is still looking a little undercovered in the winter atlas so far is TF73. This is the one containing Docking, and includes Great Bircham, Shernborne, Fring and Sedgeford. Looking on the OS map, it is very dry, so the chances of adding Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Tufted Duck, Little Egret and Kingfisher might be slim, but all are surely possible. The most obvious omissions from this square so far are Little Owl and Lesser Redpoll, along with Crossbill, Blackcap and Chiffchaff. This area clearly has lots of potential however for interesting finds, with Red Kite surely on the cards, and a half-decent chance for Short-eared Owl or perhaps even Rough-legged Buzzard or Great Grey Shrike.

If everyone going to Titchwell from Norwich stopped in this square for half an hour on the way, surely we could fill a few gaps.

If between us we can a few more species in each of these three squares I've mentioned, then the map visible at http://blx1.bto.org/atlas-results/species-richness.html could be turned entirely red for the whole of Norfolk. Don't let Suffolk beat us to it!

Again, go to http://www.bto.org/birdatlas/ for further details on how to submit records. No complicated methods, just go and find the birds, then report them here.

Thanks

Andy


There was the White-tailed Eagle some years back at Great Bircham and while it was being twitched a number of other things got found including Great Grey Shrike and Black Redstart, we also had a Golden Pheasant there.
 
There was the White-tailed Eagle some years back at Great Bircham and while it was being twitched a number of other things got found including Great Grey Shrike and Black Redstart, we also had a Golden Pheasant there.

There you are then - clearly an area that would repay a bit of effort. Maybe it could be the last chance to find a certified wild White-tailed Eagle in Norfolk....

Unfortunately, we can't have those species for the atlas, as we're covering only the four winters 2007-08 to 2010-11.

Cheers

Andy
 
And the third square which is still looking a little undercovered in the winter atlas so far is TF73. This is the one containing Docking, and includes Great Bircham, Shernborne, Fring and Sedgeford.

This is one of my routes to the north coast from Dersingham, so will make an effort to stop rather than whizz through the next few times! I've already looked at some of the square summaries for other squares round about me, (as well as TF63 which I'm doing for the Atlas anyway), in an attempt to fill in a few of the more obvious gaps. Going out searching for something specific, even something you think should be fairly common, is great fun and gives an enjoyable purpose to quiet days.

Irene
 
This is one of my routes to the north coast from Dersingham, so will make an effort to stop rather than whizz through the next few times! I've already looked at some of the square summaries for other squares round about me, (as well as TF63 which I'm doing for the Atlas anyway), in an attempt to fill in a few of the more obvious gaps. Going out searching for something specific, even something you think should be fairly common, is great fun and gives an enjoyable purpose to quiet days.

Irene

That would be great, thanks Irene. I'm sure you'll pull Little Owl out of the bag for us at least!
 
And the third square which is still looking a little undercovered in the winter atlas so far is TF73. This is the one containing Docking, and includes Great Bircham, Shernborne, Fring and Sedgeford. Looking on the OS map, it is very dry, so the chances of adding Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Tufted Duck, Little Egret and Kingfisher might be slim, but all are surely possible. The most obvious omissions from this square so far are Little Owl and Lesser Redpoll, along with Crossbill, Blackcap and Chiffchaff. This area clearly has lots of potential however for interesting finds, with Red Kite surely on the cards, and a half-decent chance for Short-eared Owl or perhaps even Rough-legged Buzzard or Great Grey Shrike.

Well, I work in this square so I guess it's about time I got my finger out and turned by records that sit on my PC into roving records. And yes, I've had Red Kites in the square at least 3 times.

Can you just clarify a couple of things for me. Firstly, are you interested in all my records, year-round, or just those that fit within a winter period (in which case when does that start/end?) plus those that are or might be breeding (again, between dates, or any time?) - are obvious migrants of value? Secondly, I've most of a year's worth of records desperately waiting for me to sort them out and send them to the county recorder; I see you will forward my records submitted to Bird Atlas to the recorder, but how quick is this, given that I'm already late getting them in and don't want to delay it any longer? Thanks!
 
Well, I work in this square so I guess it's about time I got my finger out and turned by records that sit on my PC into roving records. And yes, I've had Red Kites in the square at least 3 times.

Can you just clarify a couple of things for me. Firstly, are you interested in all my records, year-round, or just those that fit within a winter period (in which case when does that start/end?) plus those that are or might be breeding (again, between dates, or any time?) - are obvious migrants of value? Secondly, I've most of a year's worth of records desperately waiting for me to sort them out and send them to the county recorder; I see you will forward my records submitted to Bird Atlas to the recorder, but how quick is this, given that I'm already late getting them in and don't want to delay it any longer? Thanks!

Bingo! That would be great Dave, thanks very much.

Winter period - start Nov to end Feb, 2007-08 winter to 2010-11 winter
Summer period - start Apr to end Jul, 2008 to 2011
(Only exception might be for any breeding evidence for a few tricky species like LSW and Willow Tit, which might be easier in March)

All records are of interest, but especially any of the missing species I've mentioned, and in the breeding season, anything with any evidence of breeding. Migrants are fine too though - we get you to flag them appropriately on data entry.

You can either enter your roving records via the Atlas webpage, or via BirdTrack (www.birdtrack.net) which is entirely analogous and will automatically feed records to the atlas. Personally, I used BirdTrack all last year to enter about 8000 personal records; it takes a little while when you start, as you need to define where your sites are, but once you get going it speeds up quickly. (Also, as it's part of my job, I know we've got lots of new developments in the pipeline for BirdTrack this year which will make it even easier and more fun to use).

County recorders are able to access all BirdTrack records automatically, whenever they want them. So this is probably the best way to get records to Atlas and Norfolk recorders simultaneously. I'm not sure when Dave & Jacquie will do their BirdTrack extract, might be worth checking with them?

Lots of instructions on both the Atlas and BirdTrack data entry applications - thousands of folk using them so they can't be too difficult! But let me know if you have any queries. And as I say, we can always send you paper forms if you'd prefer!

Cheers

Andy
 

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