Norfolk birding (19 Viewers)

James Emerson · Apr 10, 2013

Thorpe Marsh (the Norwich one) this morning - two singing Chiffchaffs, two Little Ringed Plovers, two Green Sandpipers and five Sand Martins. The latter flew in, hawked for insects for around ten minutes before carrying on westwards.

Tideliner · Apr 10, 2013

Spring arrivals this morning on the N Norfolk coast included 3 chiffchaffs and a cuckoo calling loudly as it worked its way inland. Also red kite east and ringtail hen harrier west , plus a single little ringed plover . A pretty strong movement of blackbirds east too all in small groups moving through the scrub rather than flying high. The wind has swung south and it was warm enough to have the sun roof open on the car after lunchtime. We could have a rush of summer migrants once the rain moves through for the weekend.

MICK SAUNT · Apr 10, 2013

My first hirundine of the year with a House Martin hawking insects over the garden this afternoon. Unusual in that Sand Martin and Swallow usually on the year list well before I manage HM.

Mick

firstreesjohn · Apr 10, 2013

A bad start; Roused from my woe; a brief Wheatear

My hopes of seeing the Beeston putting green Black Redstart were in vain- although it was nice to be able finally to put a name to a face (Pete).

The male Ring Ousel inhabited the field with the tank, at the Muckleburgh Collection. I took my shot from the verge, whilst still in the car; it wasn't all that close.

WRunton was quiet, but Salthouse was able to announce the official start of Spring. I always have felt it hasn’t started until I’ve seen a Wheatear. This was the briefest of them (and even further away), as he flicked ‘around the corner’ at Gramboro’, not to be seen (by me) again.

This was my latest ever Wheatear. Still no hirundines. And any insectivorous birds arriving in the near future are going to have problems, like the unfortunate Stone Curlews:

http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/344145-rare-birds-found-dead-as-wildlife-struggles-through-cold-spring-

http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/environ...after_falling_victim_to_long_winter_1_2012186

A Red Kite was thermalling (with a Buzzard) just E of Salthouse village, for some time. This was a Gramboro’ tick for me. I was unable to announce this to anyone local, as I am now (since late a’noon) on my third new ‘phone.

No sign of any Chiffies at Wells.

stuart white · Apr 10, 2013

Lsw

In 17 trips to the brecks in the last 6 weeks I haven't seen a male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker ! Today we had two birds together displaying but they were both females ?! Slightly worrying

trevg · Apr 10, 2013

Spring at last ?

A single Swallow flew north along Hunstanton Cliffs at 16.10 this afternoon.
Wheatear and a pair of Black Redstarts at Heacham yesterday.

Nothing in the way of migrants at Snettisham Coastal Park this evening.

stevecbrum · Apr 10, 2013

trevg said:
A single Swallow flew north along Hunstanton Cliffs at 16.10 this afternoon.
Wheatear and a pair of Black Redstarts at Heacham yesterday.

Nothing in the way of migrants at Snettisham Coastal Park this evening.

Three Wheatear at Holme NWT this afternoon, and a Black Redstart reported on Birdguides at Old Hunstanton this morning.

rob lee · Apr 10, 2013

Tideliner said:
We could have a rush of summer migrants once the rain moves through for the weekend....

Looks like the floodgates have opened for our Dutch cousins !
http://www.trektellen.nl/trektelling.asp?telpost=1&site=0&land=1&taal=2&datum=20130409

Joseph N · Apr 10, 2013

Another Red Kite to report, one over woodland just to the south of Stalham viewed from the A149 yesterday afternoon. Also a single Snow Bunting at Sea Palling along with the juv Glaucous Gull yesterday. Meanwhile on patch a single Jack Snipe yesterday evening has been the highlight of the last week, along with at least 2 Woodcocks that have been accompanying large numbers of Snipe (up to 50 last Friday).

Joseph

jimbob · Apr 11, 2013

Joseph N said:
Another Red Kite to report, one over woodland just to the south of Stalham viewed from the A149 yesterday afternoon. Also a single Snow Bunting at Sea Palling along with the juv Glaucous Gull yesterday. Meanwhile on patch a single Jack Snipe yesterday evening has been the highlight of the last week, along with at least 2 Woodcocks that have been accompanying large numbers of Snipe (up to 50 last Friday).

Joseph

Great work with the Jack Snipe Joseph, persistence pays off. I am sure the odd bird winters at Surlingham, but there is no real way of viewing the middle of the marshes so I am reliant on a Harrier to flush one towards me!

Out and about in The Brecks yesterday. Goshawk, Firecrest and my second Brecks Harris's Hawk! Update on my blog.

Both in The Brecks and here in Norwich, Redwing all over the shop, quite literally. Numerous in various meadows and paddocks near Thetford and 10 flew west over Tescos, Magdalen Road Norwich last night.

Cheers,
Jim.

Bilvo · Apr 11, 2013

paulptct said:
Whilst travelling to Strumpshaw today, on the A47 near Blofield, in a ploughed field. There were 300 ish Fieldfares, plus at least 5 Mistle Thrushes amongst them.
Was this the last worm stop before flying home, we have had 3 mostly sunny days in a row?
I would appreciate your thoughts.

There have been good numbers of Fieldfare's in the ploughed field near Blofield along the A47 every day since your post (including today), both in the mornings and evenings! I drive past this field on my way to and from work.

At 11:10 today a flock of 100+ Fieldfares over North Burlingham (a mile or so East of Blofield) however they were heading strongly West not East!!

Andy Benson · Apr 11, 2013

Viz-Mig on Twitter

I have been pondering the merits of a Norfolk Viz-Mig feed on Twitter and was wondering if there would be much (any!) interest in this?
The idea, as the title suggests, would to report Viz-Mig in 'real' time as it is happening throughout the county. This would enable those of us interested in this phenomenon to share the news further than it maybe at present and while it is happening rather than at the end of the day.
As examples, the past weekends excellent Red Kite movement (which Dave N. would have liked to know about) and also the departing Blackbird movement (that Rob L. noted). Neither of these would (or did) feature on the RBA system, and probably rightly so, subscribers to a Rare Bird Alert may not take to being informed of some Blackbirds at dusk!
However there are a number of us scattered along the coast, and inland, for whom this stuff is just as interesting (sometimes more so) than an endless stream of Waxwing reports.
The emphasis would purely be on birds 'moving', falls of passerines etc.

So a few examples would be to include - 'Lap Bunt, 20W Sheringham SBO' but not 'Lap Bunt 20 still Burnham Overy Dunes', you would include - 'Marsh harrier 5 NW over Costessey' but not 'Marsh Harrier 45 Stubb mill roost last night' and something like 'Chaffinch 3150 W Hunstanton 0730-1030' but not 'Trumpeter Finch still on Sidestrand cliffs for twelfth day' (I wish!)
Now, having been involved with these sort of ad hoc group things before, I would want to know if there was real interest in this, as it would only be as good as the information that is added. For those that immediately say yes, step back and think for a second. Can you be bothered, after logging your sightings in your notebook (which we all do, right?), phoning your local contacts to announce a good day is going on, and informed RBA of your fly through Dick's Pipit, can you be bothered to log on to Twitter, in the field and upload your viz-mig highlights?
The other thing of course is that not everyone has a phone that is able to undertake this, the concern being that those who may have the most to give possibly can't.
So if anyone has any thoughts, opinions or other idea's (or even to let me know something like this is already up and running) please let me know.
Regards
Andy

Andy Stoddart · Apr 11, 2013

Submitting Records for the Bird Report

Hi all,

With my Editor's hat on I have been discussing progress with this year's Norfolk Bird Report with Dave and Jacquie Bridges, the County Recorders.

Dave and Jacquie continue to do a sterling job with all the recording work but are getting increasingly bogged down with the volume of work involved in inputting records.

Can we therefore please ask for your help! We already ask for records to be submitted in a simple Excel spreadsheet format (showing species, number, location, date and any comments) and many people are already doing this. We are very grateful for this as it really helps with inputting records speedily, accurately and efficiently.

However, a disproportionate amount of time is having to be spent on manually inputting records which are not submitted in Excel. Can we therefore please ask for all future records to be submitted in Excel? This would be a huge benefit to local recording and would free up Dave and Jacquie to attend to all the other aspects of the recorders' job (and also allow them to go out birding occasionally!).

Finally, can we also reiterate our long-standing request for records to be submitted monthly rather than left until the end of the year.

Thank you very much for your help - it's much appreciated - and here's looking forward to a bird-filled spring (eventually)!

Andy

firstreesjohn · Apr 11, 2013

At the end was the start

I find it astonishing that no more info has ‘leaked out’ on Sunday’s Bluetail- there’s not even much comment (http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=254578). It’s not as if they’re regular in the UK in Spring (five or so records, I believe) and, if the record is genuine, would be the first record in this season in County.

Does no-one know any more ?

Andy Stoddart said:
Can we therefore please ask for all future records to be submitted in Excel?

Whilst I can see the immediate benefits of this for the recorders, those who bought a PC with basic software may not be able to do this. I know that I had to ask for this to be included, so I could do stuff for work (I should have claimed)- and had to pay extra for an enhanced package, when I had my PC built.

In addition, Excel is not the easiest software for the computer semi-illiterate to use. Perhaps, Word in ‘Table’ format would be a suitable substitute (?)- and easily transferable to Excel.

It is an astonishing lump, The Bump. I made my ascent beyond first base camp, then second, searching all the way, when I could see some birders on the distant summit. Fortunately, one began to descend, so I waited. He had had no luck.

As we reached the parking area, the Black Redstart briefly appeared on a roof, then flitted about the Pitch & Putt course- it’s not really Beeston Bump, but still in Sheringham. Obviously, it’s best to go when people are not attempting to emulate Tiger Woods. On second thoughts, perhaps that should be Rory McIlroy !

rob lee · Apr 11, 2013

Viz-mig on Twitter etc

Like where you`re going with that one Andy, but unfortunately dont have the technology at the moment although I do text ! Perhaps I should buy a smart phone.

I can only echo what John has said about excel for submission of records. I know some people who are absolute wizards with the programme & can get it to produce all manner of statistics locked within it. However I am not one of them. For my Moth records I use a programme called MapMate, which is widely used by many Lepidopteran county recorders. It is far simpler to use & has the added bonus of being able to record pretty much all taxa within the British Isles. Just my two pence worth.

devans1 · Apr 11, 2013

Heard my 1st singing Chiffchaff of the year this afternoon at the UEA, followed by at least one more.

Also got good views of a Water Rail from the boardwalk along the river and c.10 Lesser Redpoll. A single Mistle Thrush was in the horse fields.

stuart white · Apr 11, 2013

You can tweet without a smart phone, I think you just need to get a twitter account and register your mobile number with them, you can then send texts to 40404 (maybe check this number) this then goes out as a tweet while you are in the field. You can't view other people's tweets but at least you can tell people what you are seeing.

Regarding record submission all you need is the basic spreadsheet package that must come free with all PC's, it used to be lotus 1-2-3. All they need is the information in a grid with the columns in the right order. You certainly don't need to be a computer whiz kid to do a bit of data entry.

David Norgate · Apr 11, 2013

Was fortunate enough to luck in on two adult Cranes flying west over Bittering today. They were passing and I just caught them out of the corner of my eye whilst getting out of the car. They then circled a couple of time before continuing on their journey.

Also of note were 3 Green Sandpiper, which were new in.
As driving between sites a beautiful cacophony of unrecognised sound emanated from a tree. I reversed to find c20 Redwing, many of which were strongly singing (which I strangely thought sounded a bit like a cross between Song Thrush and Greenfinch - which it doesn't really!!) A large flock of 200 + birds also fed and sung! Glorious!!

sacha · Apr 11, 2013

David Norgate said:
Was fortunate enough to luck in on two adult Cranes flying west over Bittering today. They were passing and I just caught them out of the corner of my eye whilst getting out of the car. They then circled a couple of time before continuing on their journey.

Also of note were 3 Green Sandpiper, which were new in.
As driving between sites a beautiful cacophony of unrecognised sound emanated from a tree. I reversed to find c20 Redwing, many of which were strongly singing (which I strangely thought sounded a bit like a cross between Song Thrush and Greenfinch - which it doesn't really!!) A large flock of 200 + birds also fed and sung! Glorious!!

I have noticed singing Redwings before in Norfolk. Always in large flocks and always at this time of year. Great sound and almost Starling crossed with Siskin like from a distance anyway! About 30 plus singing at Blickling a few days ago
S

Archie Opteryx · Apr 11, 2013

Andy Benson said:
I have been pondering the merits of a Norfolk Viz-Mig feed on Twitter and was wondering if there would be much (any!) interest in this?
The idea, as the title suggests, would to report Viz-Mig in 'real' time as it is happening throughout the county. This would enable those of us interested in this phenomenon to share the news further than it maybe at present and while it is happening rather than at the end of the day.
As examples, the past weekends excellent Red Kite movement (which Dave N. would have liked to know about) and also the departing Blackbird movement (that Rob L. noted). Neither of these would (or did) feature on the RBA system, and probably rightly so, subscribers to a Rare Bird Alert may not take to being informed of some Blackbirds at dusk!
However there are a number of us scattered along the coast, and inland, for whom this stuff is just as interesting (sometimes more so) than an endless stream of Waxwing reports.
The emphasis would purely be on birds 'moving', falls of passerines etc.

So a few examples would be to include - 'Lap Bunt, 20W Sheringham SBO' but not 'Lap Bunt 20 still Burnham Overy Dunes', you would include - 'Marsh harrier 5 NW over Costessey' but not 'Marsh Harrier 45 Stubb mill roost last night' and something like 'Chaffinch 3150 W Hunstanton 0730-1030' but not 'Trumpeter Finch still on Sidestrand cliffs for twelfth day' (I wish!)
Now, having been involved with these sort of ad hoc group things before, I would want to know if there was real interest in this, as it would only be as good as the information that is added. For those that immediately say yes, step back and think for a second. Can you be bothered, after logging your sightings in your notebook (which we all do, right?), phoning your local contacts to announce a good day is going on, and informed RBA of your fly through Dick's Pipit, can you be bothered to log on to Twitter, in the field and upload your viz-mig highlights?
The other thing of course is that not everyone has a phone that is able to undertake this, the concern being that those who may have the most to give possibly can't.
So if anyone has any thoughts, opinions or other idea's (or even to let me know something like this is already up and running) please let me know.
Regards
Andy

Might be useful to kick off with a hashtag that everyone uses (like the #rbnNFK that is quite useful) - if it works I would think that other counties may take it on board - #vismigNFK perhaps? I had unusual numbers of woodpigs today that I might have twitted if there was anyone actually reading my twits. o

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