Norfolk birding (9 Viewers)

[Happisbirder]

This may be of general interest....

Great Yarmouth Bird Club - next meeting

Monday 26 February 2007 - Guy Kirwan on the Pantanal, Brazil (photographs by Hadoram Shirihai)

The meeting will be held at the Rumbold Arms, Southtown Road, Great Yarmouth at 7.30pm

James

 

[Edward woodwood]

A few cranes this morning, sky dancing harriers, Cetti's Warblers and large numbers of starlings, lapwings, gulls and corvids in loose flocks. Seems to have been another minor influx of gulls with many Commons moving north past Sea Palling. Geese numbers have reduced drastically

Kittiwake north past Sea Palling
3 GCGrebes on the sea
a few Med Gulls at Walcott

dog returned a blank today

Tim

 

[SueBryan]

A few cranes this morning, sky dancing harriers, Cetti's Warblers and large numbers of starlings, lapwings, gulls and corvids in loose flocks. Seems to have been another minor influx of gulls with many Commons moving north past Sea Palling. Geese numbers have reduced drastically

Kittiwake north past Sea Palling
3 GCGrebes on the sea
a few Med Gulls at Walcott

dog returned a blank today

Tim

After visiting Salthouse for Little Stint and Glaucous Gull, Barton Broad for Great Northern Diver and Buckenham Marshes for American Wigeon, I went to Hickling yesterday to watch about 20+ Marsh Harriers, 1 Merlin and 1 escaped Harris Hawk drop into the roost and an exceedingly poor view of one Common Crane dropping in that would had stretched my year ticking conscience to its limit! On the way back up the muddy lane, by now freezing cold and almost dark, I was lamenting the poor view I had had, when from over the hedgetop came the two lowest flying Common Cranes over my head that I have ever had. There is a God after all!
However to be honest the best view of the day must go to the 10, 000 plus Golden Plovers swirling around Buckenham Marshes. I have been birding all my life but I don't think I have seen so many goldies in one flock all up together. I was mesmerised by it. Isn't birding in Norfolk fantastic? We are so lucky!
Sue

 

[Happisbirder]

Ventured no further than the garden today..... pruning. Weatherwise was quite a pleasant afternoon. A flock of c.45+ thrushes in from the west paused briefly in the row of trees that runs along the bottom of the garden; Fieldfares & Redwings split about 80%~20%. Yesterday about 70 Lapwings floated silently towards the south-east.

James

 

[matt green]

However to be honest the best view of the day must go to the 10, 000 plus Golden Plovers swirling around Buckenham Marshes. I have been birding all my life but I don't think I have seen so many goldies in one flock all up together. I was mesmerised by it. Isn't birding in Norfolk fantastic? We are so lucky!
Sue

Agree, I saw those last week!!

My pic on an earlier post on here doesn't do them justice.I think this is about
the largest golden plover flock I've ever seen at this spot,surprisingly I didn't see one snipe though!!

Matt

 

[Penny Clarke]

Bit of a shocker, this one!!!

Was walking on the local patch with my greyhound Ben when he started wanting to sniff the reed edges - he was doing this the other day and i couldn't fathom out why. He's always walks on a short lead and doesn't tug. Howeer, he was desparate to sniff out the reeds... which were only a narrow strip about 5ft wide, if that. He was sniffing away when all of a sudden he stuck his head in and there was a little commotion and he backed out with a Bittern (!) in his mouth, flapping away. He was still on the lead of course and dropped it straightaway, about two feet in front of us. It sat on the reed edge and did a threat posture at us, for about a minute, before crashing back into the reeds. It appeared none the worse for it's ordeal and i'm not sure which of the three of us got the biggest shock. Probably me. The dog looked totally nonplussed .

Not everyday you see a Bittern like that. And no, the dog won't be sniffing out the reeds again!

Had a look at the Glaucous at Cley and then a nice bike ride around Sea Palling, Eccles and Lessingham. Plenty of farmland birds incl 130+ Greenfinch.

Tim

Hi Tim, blimey!!!!!!! thats a story you''lll be telling for a long time!!!!

 

[Penny Clarke]

Didn't really go birding on Saturday, but did see a party of long tailed tits at HBO, a short eared owl over the marsh at Holme and a single Field fare as I left sitting on a telegraph wire along the Firs Road.

Today (Sunday) while working at the hospital a blackbird was singing its heart out right next the window where I washing up jugs!!!! AND fantastic sight of loads (at least 20) pied wagtails all coming into roost. There are 'pocket gardens' within the hospital grounds and I have noticed this every year, they are a favourite roosting spot for pied wagtails. The 'twitterings' as they arrived and greeted each other was absolutely beautiful.

Penny :girl:

 

[Happisbirder]

AND fantastic sight of loads (at least 20) pied wagtails all coming into roost. There are 'pocket gardens' within the hospital grounds and I have noticed this every year, they are a favourite roosting spot for pied wagtails. The 'twitterings' as they arrived and greeted each other was absolutely beautiful.

Penny :girl:

There are similar roosts in Norwich, at the top of Gentlemans Walk (perhaps someone can confirm they still use this site) and in the small precinct at Wroxham.

James

 

[Tranquility Base]

Hi!
They don't roost in Gentleman's Walk in anything like the huge numbers (2000+) they once did: but there's a very large winter roost at the Thickthorn Services on the ringroad.
OBTW: On my way home from the midlands yesterday at 4.00pm had excellent views of a female Goshawk: it flew over the A11 just before Weather Heath at about 20'

 

[Ilya Maclean]

February can often be a dull month for birding. Cold, wet and most of the birds have settled into their wintering quarters so there is little chance of finding anything new and unusual. Titchwell, whilst great for birding, can be somewhat frustrating at times as almost everything that turns up there gets found by somebody else before you get there. I was therefore quite pleased to have a great couple of hours birding on Sunday afternoon at Titchwell, that included some finds of unusual birds.

It started with a Woodcock just next to the footpath between the car park and visitor’s centre. A scan of the freshwater lagoons, in addition to huge numbers of Golden Plover and good numbers of Ruff and Avocet, produced a Greenshank (normally rare in winter), a Spotted Redshank and the sounds of two Water Rails squealing like pigs. The brackish lagoon produced a further two Spotted Redshanks, one very close in and oddly, a Water Rail swimming across the lagoon! The sea was equally productive, with a few divers and grebes offshore, including a Red-necked Grebe and also a Long-tailed Duck. Patient sifting through a huge gull roost about 1 km east of Titchwell eventually resulted in two Mediterranean Gulls and a Purple Sandpiper on the rocks nearby. As I walked back a flock of about 40 Brent Geese flew in and landed in the northernmost freshwater lagoon. I set up my scope for a quick scan through and almost immediately found two Black Brants. Several Marsh Harriers were also flying in to roost over the reed beds and a flock of six Bearded Tits finished off a really good afternoon’s birding.

 

[matt green]

Had a quick walk around strumpshaw fen this afternoon,no shortage of wind and rain so spent most of my time in the fen hide.After a short while a female marsh harrier gave close views while searching for a meal in the reedbed,also a distant bittern was briefly seen skimming over the reeds and landed out of view.Being rather cheesed off with not seeing a water rail (which I specifically wanted to see not just hear!) I decided to go for a walk around the eastern side of the reserve along the riverside and through the woods.
Soon found a good large group of mixed finches and tits,a pair greater spotted woodpeckers were also seen.A little further into the wood I spent some time watching a treecreeper and a group of three bullfinches.As I came to the end of the woodland trail I found myself where I saw my one and only lesser spotted woodpecker three years ago - it's supposedly a good spot for them among the old oak trees covered in ivy,no lespots today!! (did I just invent a new acronym?)
In anticipation of my first firecrest a goldcrest temporarily sets the alarm bells ringing, wishfull thinking fails to produce the goods again.On passing the visitor centre I have time for one last view of a male marsh harrier and take one last pic overlooking the broad.

Some pics of the woodland trail,river etc.The brown blob is a marsh harrier!

Matt

 

[Penny Clarke]

Some pics of the woodland trail,river etc.The brown blob is a marsh harrier!

Matt

Hi Matt

Sounds like you had a nice day, especially for February. I never tire of seeing bullfinches, I don't often see them now, stunning birds. Were they snowdrops in your woodland pictures?

Best Wishes Penny :girl:

 

[matt green]

Hi Matt

Were they snowdrops in your woodland pictures?

Best Wishes Penny :girl:

Hi Penny

Yep, loads of them.Quite a nice bit of woodland actually,often overlooked by those wanting to see the ''reedbed species''

Incidentally, this is the only woodland where I've seen the fly agaric!! Will also be good for bluebells etc - not long now.

Matt

 

[HarassedDad]

Incidentally, this is the only woodland where I've seen the fly agaric!! Will also be good for bluebells etc - not long now.

Matt

Mousehold heath has a good population of fly agarics in autumn, particularly in the eastern end by the prison.

Danby wood in Norwich has an excellent display of violets and primroses at the moment, as well as winter aconite in flower. The goosander's were still on uea broad yesterday - but no sign of lespot (that's a good acronym) in the trees leading down to the broad (there was a female greater though).

Incidently UEA has the best display of bluebells (when they arrive) - well worth a visit later in the year if you're in the city.

 

[aythya_hybrid]

Greetings Norfolk birders.

I shall be gracing the county with my presence on sunday and have one or two quick questions.

1) any bean geese still in the Cantley area or have they departed?
2) anyone been for the American Wigeon at Buckenham? Is it reasonable easy to see?

And finally one which I know has been gone over countless times already, for which I sincerely apologise, but...

3) whereabouts would one recommend going to get good views the cranes?

Apologies for asking dull and predictable questions!

 

[Penny Clarke]

I have just noticed on NOA website that 2 Night Herons were seen at Sparham Pools on Monday!!!!!!!



http://norfolkornithologistsassociation.pbwiki.com/FrontPage

 

[dbradnum]

Greetings Norfolk birders.

I shall be gracing the county with my presence on sunday and have one or two quick questions.

1) any bean geese still in the Cantley area or have they departed?
2) anyone been for the American Wigeon at Buckenham? Is it reasonable easy to see?

And finally one which I know has been gone over countless times already, for which I sincerely apologise, but...

3) whereabouts would one recommend going to get good views the cranes?

Apologies for asking dull and predictable questions!

Bean Geese have departed, I think.

I saw the Am. Wigeon last Saturday morning - it took a bit of finding amongst the grazing hordes, but then showed extremely well (i.e. down to about 50 yards). However, today it was reported as very distant.... just the luck of the draw, I suppose.

Cranes: to just see them, I'd recommend the raptor roost from the Hickling Stubb Mill side, but they often come in very late giving poor views. Sometimes there will be a couple of birds feeding in front of the watchpoint during the afternoon though, so you may strike lucky. Aside from this, to see them well, try scanning the fields west of the B1159 (coast road) near Brograve and Walnut Farms, between Horsey and Waxham, and perhaps a wander around the south and east side of Martham Broad might turn up trumps as well. Nice area for a stroll, anyway!

 

[Touche]

I have just noticed on NOA website that 2 Night Herons were seen at Sparham Pools on Monday!!!!!!!
http://norfolkornithologistsassociation.pbwiki.com/FrontPage

Hello Penny

I'd treat Night Herons in the Wensum Valley with caution.

Talkin' about their provenance; they're not dangerous!

Great Witchingham Park was (is?) home to a small population of free-flying Nerons that were quite often seen outside the park.

They could be daytrippin' Sparham with ease.

 

[Penny Clarke]

Hello Penny

I'd treat Night Herons in the Wensum Valley with caution.

Talkin' about their provenance; they're not dangerous!

Great Witchingham Park was (is?) home to a small population of free-flying Nerons that were quite often seen outside the park.

They could be daytrippin' Sparham with ease.

I see!!!!!!! Thanks for that.

Best Wishes Penny

 

[trappeddownsouth]

come on then own up, who saw the king eider at salthouse, does any one know its sex and age and what it was up too.