Norfolk birding (8 Viewers)

[O.Reville1989]

A couple of hours in Wells Woods today was rewarded with calling Yellow-browed. It was not going to be seen, however. This is one maddening bird (if it is the same one Stuart found 3 weeks ago): I've spent hours without seeing it.

It seems to be associated with a mixed flock, which includes 4 Chiffies- one of which is the first ‘published’ photo taken with my new Lumix (FZ150). This is not edited in any way, just saved in a smaller size.

A female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was seen by others in two locations; the second time by the toilet block.

Fantastic photo John! Being another Lumix owner can I ask what the differences are between the FZ45 and FZ150?
Also did you use a teleconverter lens for this shot?
cheers

 

[Cortonbirds]

Did any one watch off Cley/Sheringham after the North westerly had kicked in late in the day. I would have expected you to have got something like the passage off Holland today:
http://www.trektellen.nl/trektelling.asp?telpost=3&land=1&site=0&datum=20111007&taal=2

seems not..o well theres always tommorow.

 

[Songkhran]

Did any one watch off Cley/Sheringham after the North westerly had kicked in late in the day. I would have expected you to have got something like the passage off Holland today:
http://www.trektellen.nl/trektelling.asp?telpost=3&land=1&site=0&datum=20111007&taal=2

seems not..o well theres always tommorow.

jeez Cap Griz Nez and Le Clipon didn't fair to bad either, really odd why it didn't happen off Norfolk especially since the conditions seemed perfect - strong North West with intermittent squally showers. Nevertheless did have a lovely seawatch this afternoon off east bank. Highlight two spoony Poms, one bird that I got on once it had passed 12 was full adult dark phase but seemed relatively pale compared to birds I've seen in the past.

Also another Skua that raised interest was an extremely petite Arctic. it was a very distinctive juv bird as it had white patches on the front of the arm a bit like landing lights (apparently seen off Sheringham this morning) . Seemed a good candidate for LTS but with something wrong, it was as narrow winged as an LT I've seen and only body and extended streamers truly gave it away as Arctic.

Also (with a lot of stuff reorientating West)
2 Sooty Shearwater
40 Manx, many very distant moving in front of the first squall
30 Kittiwake
2 poss juv Poms
20 Arctic Skua
19 Bonxie
also missed a SEO that came in off and put everything up over North Scrape

but yeah can't look at those European totals for too long

my only guess is that emphasis of the blow was in the East side of the North Sea and everything got pushed in that direction early on, still its the first seawatch I've ever done in Norfolk where winds of this quality haven't really produced.
http://magicseaweed.com/msw-surf-charts2.php?chart=1&res=750&type=wind&starttime=

 

[Cortonbirds]

O yea just checked those too:

http://www.trektellen.nl/trektelling.asp?telpost=148&land=3&site=0&datum=20111007&taal=2

http://www.trektellen.nl/trektelling.asp?telpost=7&land=3&site=0&datum=20111007&taal=2

Will be looking off Corton from first light tommorow in hope of that stuff reorienting back north. Cley/Sheringham could well still be productive tommorow as its still blowing down north west overnight. Good luck.

 

[Songkhran]

O yea just checked those too:

http://www.trektellen.nl/trektelling.asp?telpost=148&land=3&site=0&datum=20111007&taal=2

http://www.trektellen.nl/trektelling.asp?telpost=7&land=3&site=0&datum=20111007&taal=2

Will be looking off Corton from first light tommorow in hope of that stuff reorienting back north. Cley/Sheringham could well still be productive tomorow as its still blowing down north west overnight. Good luck.

I'm sure there will be dribs and drabs + the odd reorientating (more chance off Suffolk) but winds off here http://www.xcweather.co.uk/ look like they will swing back West just after dawn. To be honest the conditions look best right at the moment with a strong Northly (probably much better for Leach's - does anyone know whether migrating seabirds call at night or does anyone have a strong torch.

just one further observation. Walking up the high street in Blakeney (about 1 mile from the coast) this evening there is hardly a breath of wind yet you can still hear the roar from the sea - noticed this this morning. Usually when there is a decent seawatch the wind is penetrating at least up to the edge of the Holt/Cromer ridge but this wind is definitely skirting the coast. The birds moving East this afternoon where generally very decent so not being pushed on shore, the birds reorientating were closer.

Footshoot not wanting to be a sourpuss but I think once birds have headed West once into the English channel and probably being aware there have passed through a narrow channel they are gone and will be heading towards the coast of African rather than turning tail - but we'll see!

 

[Happisbirder]

Just checked out those links... wowser! Surely the chance of some reorientation from that lot.

I had a couple of two hour spells off the NE coast, the second one this afternoon being the more productive, but then only single Manx west with 3 Bonxies, 4 Arctic and single juvenile Pom Skuas east. A possible Grey Phal passed west at more than a mile range; one for the bin! Gotta be worth a look come daybreak...

James

 

[Happisbirder]

Footshoot not wanting to be a sourpuss but I think once birds have headed West once into the English channel and probably being aware there have passed through a narrow channel they are gone and will be heading towards the coast of African rather than turning tail - but we'll see!

I totally agree Josh... everything that's gone south past CGN and Le Clipon is no longer in the game as far as Norfolk is concerned and I'm sorry, but I realise my post didn't quite read that way! But there may be some, at least, of each that will not head through the Strait of Dover and probably head back north looking for another way out. Winds have been light here in Norwich overnight and I'd guess the southern North Sea has been pretty much the same - lighter NW'lies and even a ridge of higher pressure preceeding warm fronts forecast - so hopefully some of these birds will choose to pass back along our coastline in calmer conditions. Stuff might just head directly north and we see nothing, who knows, but I'm sure I'm not the only one on here who can remember Skuas, Shearwaters and even the occasional Leach's passing back west over a glassy swell the day after a blow. I hope you can get out early and have a good days birding anyway... :t:

James

 

[firstreesjohn]

The lengths some will go to

I am impressed with the size of your extension !

As someone who both lives high and lives high in the path of the NWs, I can tell you that by far the strongest winds were in the middle of the night, Thurs-Fri. My building was occasionally shuddering. I would assume, therefore, that the best stuff went through ahead of and with this. When it’s storm force, it vibrates continuously.

This reminds me, Stuart: thanks for the kind comments re the impressive length of my camera lens. The difference between the woeful FZ45/100 and the FZ150 is that the latter now actually does the trick once more- as did the earlier FZs. I haven’t had a chance to explore many of its facets, but the image from #13379 tells its own story, in respect of image quality. What I omitted to mention was that this is one of a series in ‘burst’ mode. (No ! bits of the camera didn’t go everywhere.)

Here is another of the same pic, cropped and edited- but not sharpened.

You don’t need a tele-converter, when you have a 5MB pic at 37.5x OPTICAL- or even 46.9x at 3MB. I last used my 1.7x tele-converter with my FZ50 (which ‘began’ at 12x), outrageously stolen at a Spanish airport. With the improved (and increased) zooms of the FZ18 and 38, there wasn’t the need.

James MacC told me he’d seen Lesser Spots there several times, but not since the 80s, I believe. He, too, was thwarted by the Yellow-browed yesterday.

I had a short watch from the S’ham shelter late a’noon. Some hardy souls had been there all day (!), but don’t yet seem to have RBA’d their totals. Perhaps they were too busy reading a Wessex realist novel. They had quite a few Poms, several Sooties and there was a Sab candidate. (No ! not the Swedish car.)

 

[O.Reville1989]

Thanks for the reply John. I have to admit I have felt rather underwhelmed with the performance of my fz45. Is there any specific reasons why you consider it inferior to the fz150 and previous fz models?
Regardless of experience I can safely say I would not get results like your chiff pictures with the fz45.

 

[firstreesjohn]

I'm head over heels with this camera

I directly compared someone else’s FZ100 with my FZ38, as I’ve previously said. (I can’t be bothered to find the post.) The images from mine were of far better quality and not fuzzy: sharper, clearer, better colour.

The FZ150 is more than a step up. With the new and additional features and enhanced specification (http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_...Cameras/DMC-FZ150/Overview/8022100/index.html), it must be a candidate for ‘best camera of the year’, in the bridge category. Panasonic seem, for once, to have heeded the manifold online criticism of their pandering to the populist market and adding faddish features, rather than actually making a model which takes better pictures.

I append two grossly cropped bits of the original, here sharpened. For rarie ID, portions like this may very well prove invaluable.

 

[O.Reville1989]

I directly compared someone else’s FZ100 with my FZ38, as I’ve previously said. (I can’t be bothered to find the post.) The images from mine were of far better quality and not fuzzy: sharper, clearer, better colour.

The FZ150 is more than a step up. With the new and additional features and enhanced specification (http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_...Cameras/DMC-FZ150/Overview/8022100/index.html), it must be a candidate for ‘best camera of the year’, in the bridge category. Panasonic seem, for once, to have heeded the manifold online criticism of their pandering to the populist market and adding faddish features, rather than actually making a model which takes better pictures.

I append two grossly cropped bits of the original, here sharpened. For rarie ID, portions like this may very well prove invaluable.

I was torn between a 38 and the 45 but being an absolute novice at the timr I took thr advice of the camera shop...wish I hadnt now!
Its an upgrade that seems worth making...Just annoying that I dont have £400 sitting around and cant see there being much trade in value for the fz45.
Thanks for the reply, John.

 

[Happisbirder]

7 'til 9 today at Mundesley doesn't compare to Sheringham but I was watching alone and therefore somewhat neglecting the distant waters. Gannets were hauling back westwards in good numbers along with three Sooties and six Bonxies but, apart from Auks and Divers, there were no other 'seabirds'. Immigrant wildfowl were evident with plenty Wigeon, Teal, Scoter etc passing by along with single Scaup, Tufted, Goldeneye and Merg adding a touch of variety.

James

 

[Stratton Birder]

A definate influx of migrant thrushes noted in Hempnall today. A flock of 20 Redwings were in one garden and several more were heard calling throughout the village. 25 Fieldfares flew west and many new-in Blackbirds called from hedgerows, trees and bushes.
Also some larger finch flocks noted which included 50 Chaffinches and 35 Goldfinches. Three or four Siskins flew over

 

[Johny121]

Back from Malta's raptor camp now

http://www.talking-naturally.co.uk/

A podcast on the often quite emotionally draining experiences some of the teams went through, worth a listen if anyone is interested in the problem out there -

Redwing seen from the garden today.


Went to Buck Marshes for the first time in several months yesterday, female peregrine present with what looked like a teal sized bird. 2 common buzzard, female marsh, 5 kestrels, 21 cormorants the highlights.

 

[firstreesjohn]

I may have ‘fared Wells today

Several hours meandering around the largely deserted trees and bushes did yield more Robins, Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, finches and Jays- definitely more Jays.

Not as many Phylloscs today, but possibly more Blackcaps.

The only excitement was a single, flyover thrush, which was presumably a Fieldfare. It didn’t call (was this because it was on its own?), but one of the people I was accompanying saw the grey on the back.

Others had noted Hawfinches and Brambling.

 

[dendroica]

45 Redwing SW over Taverham this morning. I'm ashamed to say that these were my first of the autumn....

 

[O.Reville1989]

45 Redwing SW over Taverham this morning. I'm ashamed to say that these were my first of the autumn....

Don't be! Only got my first today going over the A47 between Norwich and Yarmouth. Probably should have been focused on driving.....

 

[O.Reville1989]

I directly compared someone else’s FZ100 with my FZ38, as I’ve previously said. (I can’t be bothered to find the post.) The images from mine were of far better quality and not fuzzy: sharper, clearer, better colour.

The FZ150 is more than a step up. With the new and additional features and enhanced specification (http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_...Cameras/DMC-FZ150/Overview/8022100/index.html), it must be a candidate for ‘best camera of the year’, in the bridge category. Panasonic seem, for once, to have heeded the manifold online criticism of their pandering to the populist market and adding faddish features, rather than actually making a model which takes better pictures.

I append two grossly cropped bits of the original, here sharpened. For rarie ID, portions like this may very well prove invaluable.

It certainly looks the part, and is priced as such. I always thought the FZ45 was a bit "cheap" to really be a top camera in its class.
I look forward to seeing some more of your shots with it John.
cheers

 

[Winterdune]

John,
Can I ask what ISO, shutter speed and aperture you were on for that Chiffchaff shot?
Thanks
Sean

 

[Songkhran]

48 Skua sp!

anyone watching Skuas off Cley/Sheringham today my sympathies, it was an absolute nightmare!

Arrived at 3pm to see 10 very distant Skuas circling very high up on thermals they were mixed species at differing distances/levels and could have been Bonxies, Poms or Arctics - or all three. More flocks continued and some Skuas passed low against the waves all to distant to positively ID. Pretty desparate state of affairs when you have been seawatching most of your life and cannot ID anything. The temptation to put a name to some of these was very great :eek!: My revised feeling is that most thermalling birds were Arctics with just a few Poms. The only birds coming close enough to positively ID were a few Bonxies and an Arctic that was chasing Gulls over Arnolds marsh. Doesn't really matter just enjoy seeing Skuas soaring up high in flocks regardless of what they are.

Eventually the thermalling conditions gave way to steady drizzle and some of the Bonxies came closer (definite total 14) + an increase in wildfowl. Whenever I leave a seawatch I pan the horizon 5 times on the third pan had a very good candidate for LT - however 'slender-winged, large shearwater-like, pale bellied and distant' i don't think is going to pass the committee radar,

Birds I definitely had were a smart male Merlin flying East and a pair of Long-tailed Duck (presumably another joining up with the bird past Salthouse).