Norfolk birding (11 Viewers)

David Norgate · Oct 11, 2012

upstarts1979 said:
Hi All
Visiting Norfolk over the next couple of days
could you tell me where the pec is at Kelling, is the American goldie on the reserve at cley. Also yellow browed and firecrest at walsey hills were they performing or just straight through. Sorry for being a pain but having spent many weekends at cley in the 70's/80's, I don't get there too often, so want to make the most of my time.
B in anticipation John
ps do birders still meet in the white horse Blakeney or the George in Cey, or have those days long gone.8-P
cuddy

The Pec Sand is on Kelling Water Meadows. There is a track that heads north past the school (opposite the road south to Holt). Walk down this track until a pool on the right hand side.
The pager has called the AGP a 'probable and has only been reported briefly from North Scrape a couple of times - it seems to go off the Blakeney Harbour, but I didn't see it from Stiffkey Greens yday!!
Can't say how well birds are performing at Walsey, but it seems possible that the Yellow-browed is the same bird that turned up a while back (sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong!) All I can say is that the Stiffkey bird is a bugger to see!

PS can't help with your ps!!

Penny Clarke · Oct 11, 2012

Brian Egan said:
Sorry folks I know I promised avian content but its just more northern lights I'm afraid!

Took these photos at Cley last night whilst the skies over northern Britain were glowing and dancing like nobody's business.

Sadly the spectacle in Norfolk wasn't on a par but thought you might be interested in seeing that although not spectacular it is possible to see (or at least photograph them!) them in Norfolk.

It was very feint last night but it wasn't helped by the moon being out at 3am and the cold easterly got the better of me around 3am after a couple of hours of taking photo after photo after photo.

Anyway the fruits of my labour are here, first one taken at Cley NWT VC (the green patch were very obvious in sky with naked eye, next two at Cley Mill and the next two at beach car park. All taken on 2-4 minute exposures.

Apologies for lack of birding subject matter once again!

Brian - I mean't to say the other day - your pictures posted of the Northern Lights were spectacular:t:

upstarts1979 · Oct 11, 2012

David Norgate said:
The Pec Sand is on Kelling Water Meadows. There is a track that heads north past the school (opposite the road south to Holt). Walk down this track until a pool on the right hand side.
The pager has called the AGP a 'probable and has only been reported briefly from North Scrape a couple of times - it seems to go off the Blakeney Harbour, but I didn't see it from Stiffkey Greens yday!!
Can't say how well birds are performing at Walsey, but it seems possible that the Yellow-browed is the same bird that turned up a while back (sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong!) All I can say is that the Stiffkey bird is a bugger to see!

PS can't help with your ps!!

Thanks David B

John

firstreesjohn · Oct 12, 2012

THIS IS A SECOND CHANCE #2 !

I have received several, positive private messages about this, so far, but will say no more, until I've found out more.

I will, therefore, be investigating the position (yes, I know it's at West Runton!), through the estate agents, later today.

Watch this 'pig-farm'.

JamesA · Oct 12, 2012

I'll be up in Norfolk this weekend and just seen news of a GGShrike at Croft Hill, just east of Kelling village. Shrikes are always worth going to look at, so I'd like to, but it doesn't look like public access on the map. Does anyone know the area or have more details on the sighting?

Thanks.

The sniper · Oct 12, 2012

James,are you just up for Saturday/Sunday? Or are you up there Monday,either way,would appreciate any little snippets of info you could throw my way,cheers
Rob

JamesA · Oct 12, 2012

The sniper said:
James,are you just up for Saturday/Sunday? Or are you up there Monday,either way,would appreciate any little snippets of info you could throw my way,cheers
Rob

Just the Sat night, staying in Cley. Brother's moving into a new place in Norwich, I'm helping him on Saturday, birding Sunday. I'll send you anything we know.

Paul Eele · Oct 12, 2012

Titchwell October 12th

Today’s highlights

Hen harrier – male over fresh marsh. Earlier hunting over fields near Choseley drying barns
Red necked grebe – 1 offshore
Slav grebe – 2 offshore
Pom skua – 1 offshore
Little stint – juv on fresh marsh
Spotted redshank – 10 on volunteer marsh
Velvet scoter – 3 offshore
Spoonbill – 1 on fresh marsh

Paul

firstreesjohn · Oct 12, 2012

A pig of a day- forget West Runton !

Thanks for the private messages. It’s a pity that I didn’t do this 2 years ago (see below). We might have stood a chance of doing something ‘new’ in birding.

I didn’t even bother to take the leaflet from Arnolds/Keys (yuk!) (estate agents). What is for sale is the ‘car parking area’, with falling-down sheds/barns/outbuildings- not the good birding area, which was sold 2 years ago. This will prevent any further access to the site, which had, in any case, become almost completely worthless for birding.

I’m getting fed up with pipits. Another large pipit sp flew west from Gramboro’ this morning, only 50 yards from where I saw the 2 Tawnies, a week ago. I was so blocked up (stinking cold and head congestion all week) that I couldn’t hear its call properly, but incline towards Richard’s. In the bushes were a few Song Thrushes and a Blackbird.

Wells Woods had more Bramblings today; I couldn’t see any males. Several of us traipsed around, forlornly searching for Phylloscs. I later heard that there’d been an almost definite sighting of a Pallas’s, near the Dell, this morning. A Migrant Hawker posed in the sun.

David Norgate · Oct 12, 2012

Richard's Pipit and Lapland Bunting 'over' Gramgorough Hill this afternoon.
Two Stonechat and a Whinchat also present, as were the feral goose flock, which included 2 Barnacles and hybrid Ross's/Barnacle and Canada/Greylag.
Plenty of Guillemot still offshore, as well as at least one Razorbill, but only a few Gannet.
An intermediate Arctic Skua flew west south of the Shingle ridge and a Barn Owl cruised around. Not bad for an hour or so.

Elsewhere it seems the Walsey Yellow-browed is playing hard to get!
A little movement of thrushes around, with skylark and pipits arriving in off, so who knows...

firstreesjohn · Oct 12, 2012

David Norgate said:
Didn't want people worrying what a 'Bran' Owl was!

Dave: it's a species that includes mice in its otherwise high fibre diet.

Did you hear your Richard's, when it flew from Brangorough ?

David Norgate · Oct 12, 2012

firstreesjohn said:
Dave: it's a species that includes mice in its otherwise high fibre diet.

Did you hear your Richard's, when it flew from Brangorough ?

I heard it, JB saw it (independently of each other!)

NoSpringChicken · Oct 12, 2012

wolfphotos said:
I took this image a couple of weeks ago looking almost vertically up into a large conifer just past reception.

A splendid shot of a Nuthatch, especially since it appears to be eating a Yew berry. I assume the poisonous seeds pass through their digestive systems intact without causing harm.

Ron

Penny Clarke · Oct 12, 2012

East Hills and Blakeney Point

Massive movement of thrushes today including at least 100+ of blackbirds, song thrushes and redwings on East Hills this morning.

Gannets fishing close in shore this afternoon at Cley was the highlight of the day!

Full update on blog.

Penny:girl:

firstreesjohn · Oct 13, 2012

Penny Clarke said:
Massive movement of thrushes today including at least 100+ of blackbirds, song thrushes and redwings on East Hills this morning.

I’d love to know which other thrush species Penny saw out on t’Hills yesterday.

David Norgate said:
I heard it, JB saw it (independently of each other!)

firstreesjohn said:
I couldn’t hear its call properly, but incline towards Richard’s.

And Gramboro’ is more than one incline ! Glad that one (pipit) seems to be nailed down.

Tideliner · Oct 13, 2012

" Wells Woods had more Bramblings today; I couldn’t see any males".

John from the strength of orange and the black flecks on the head i would say the brambling in your photo is a male yet to get its black head.

robinchittenden · Oct 13, 2012

Yellow-browed Warblers

Number of Yellow-browed Warblers in East Anglia so far today: Norfolk nine & Suffolk three. A few new ones found today.

wolfphotos · Oct 13, 2012

NoSpringChicken said:
A splendid shot of a Nuthatch, especially since it appears to be eating a Yew berry. I assume the poisonous seeds pass through their digestive systems intact without causing harm.

Ron

Thanks, I'm Useless on trees I'm afraid. I didn't even realise I had got the shot until later when I reviewed the images. It was one of those speculative shots up through the trees as we were leaving Strumpshaw.

Tri-Counties Birder · Oct 13, 2012

David Norgate said:
The Pec Sand is on Kelling Water Meadows. There is a track that heads north past the school (opposite the road south to Holt). Walk down this track until a pool on the right hand side.
The pager has called the AGP a 'probable and has only been reported briefly from North Scrape a couple of times - it seems to go off the Blakeney Harbour, but I didn't see it from Stiffkey Greens yday!!
Can't say how well birds are performing at Walsey, but it seems possible that the Yellow-browed is the same bird that turned up a while back (sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong!) All I can say is that the Stiffkey bird is a bugger to see!

PS can't help with your ps!!

A frustrating couple of days in Norfolk just gone (rarest bird we saw was the Titchwell Spoonbill - poor by October in Norfolk standards). Searched Wells Woods yesterday morning for passerines, and found nothing unusual (a few Brambling and Thrushes in), only to find later on that three YBW were seen there. Tried the Walsey YBW, but my colleagues only got very fleeting views (me, none at all).

We were walking towards north hide at Cley when we got the first message about the American Golden Plover, and that it had just flown off. Talked to the finder in the hide, and he seemed pretty convinced. We saw very little from the hide. We came back later that day, and found a solitary Plover on the scrape. It did indeed look like an AGP (it was also acting nervously, as the finder of the first bird had told us it was doing), but then it took off and I am virtually certain I saw black arm-pits. Everything about it screamed AGP, until that moment. The other birders in the hide did not see it in flight. It flew off towards Blakeney Harbour (which we did later check unsuccessfully) as it had done before. A real shame.

Didn't even see a Barn Owl...

firstreesjohn · Oct 13, 2012

Anyone bin in the bath ?

Tideliner said:
John from the strength of orange and the black flecks on the head i would say the brambling in your photo is a male yet to get its black head.

(vide my #17889)

I’ve now looked at an illustration of 1st W male Brambling, and concur. There are other features I should have noticed but, misguidedly, solely referred to ‘the Collins’, at first.

The antibiotics which I started taking yesterday are only now beginning to clear out the gunge from the Augean stables which are my nasal cavities and alleviate my partial deafness. They certainly don’t seem to have aided in the production of birds- just phlegm.

Both Eddie (who showed me a splendid photo) and Penny have ‘gripped me off’ with a Whinchat at Gramboro’. But, since I didn’t actually walk out to the bushes, this is easily explained.

The saving graces today were reasonable views of two of the numerous Yellow-broweds and a shot, in very low light, of Goldcrests using the upturned dustbin in the Dell as a bird-bath. The other shot below is of a fast-departing inornatus, taken in the small copse at Warham Greens.

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