VillagerFred
Well-known member
The start of Lesser White front arguments on the Norfolk thread of bird forum ?
Must be winter!
Must be winter!
-
Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.
Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Norfolk birding (13 Viewers)
- Thread starter Edward woodwood
- Start date
Locostella
Guest
Breakfast at Cley
Hello everyone,
Our normal routine of breakfast on Cley beach whilst seawatching today. A nice passage of Little Gull , Kittiewake and Gannet could be seen through most of the morning. A Black throated Diver sat on the sea before flying west, I actually turned to Leila and said 'for christ's sakes not another one' when I picked the bird up. A good number of Red throats on the sea and moving through, plus the normal sprinkle of Auks. Wigeon, Teal, Eider, a single Merganser and Brent Geese made up the wildfowl movement.
Nipped to Glanford to find the female type Black Redstart on the chimney of the cottage, the bird was horribly back lit in the early afternoon sun.
Got to Salthouse seconds too late for the Beans, but did catch up with the White-fronts.
Back home cooking stew now, nice morning. Leila took a few snaps too.....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/frogdiet/6341087964/ flick older to browse our seawatching photos, a lot of white dots I am afraid.
Regards Kieran
Hello everyone,
Our normal routine of breakfast on Cley beach whilst seawatching today. A nice passage of Little Gull , Kittiewake and Gannet could be seen through most of the morning. A Black throated Diver sat on the sea before flying west, I actually turned to Leila and said 'for christ's sakes not another one' when I picked the bird up. A good number of Red throats on the sea and moving through, plus the normal sprinkle of Auks. Wigeon, Teal, Eider, a single Merganser and Brent Geese made up the wildfowl movement.
Nipped to Glanford to find the female type Black Redstart on the chimney of the cottage, the bird was horribly back lit in the early afternoon sun.
Got to Salthouse seconds too late for the Beans, but did catch up with the White-fronts.
Back home cooking stew now, nice morning. Leila took a few snaps too.....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/frogdiet/6341087964/ flick older to browse our seawatching photos, a lot of white dots I am afraid.
Regards Kieran
firstreesjohn
Well-known member
A trek was in order, today: all the way out to the colles orientales.
A couple of Laps flew over, as we squelched over the salt-marsh.
Arriving at the first vegetation, then trees, I was struck by the absence of birds. No thrushes, robins, etc. It was only when we got to the main sycamore glade that a warbler manifested itself- Chiffchaff. In all, there were 3 of these. More Blackbirds were further west- but not many.
Several Woodcocks flashed away, after flushing. (No, not the other way around !)
A small adult Peregrine and a pair of Sparrowhawks comprised the raptors.
Will had a Crossbill. And that was that.
On the way back, presumably the same Bewick’s Swans (2 adults, 2 brown ones) that were at Cley rested far out on the sand-flats.
There was a Merlin, towards dusk, but not dusky.
A couple of Laps flew over, as we squelched over the salt-marsh.
Arriving at the first vegetation, then trees, I was struck by the absence of birds. No thrushes, robins, etc. It was only when we got to the main sycamore glade that a warbler manifested itself- Chiffchaff. In all, there were 3 of these. More Blackbirds were further west- but not many.
Several Woodcocks flashed away, after flushing. (No, not the other way around !)
A small adult Peregrine and a pair of Sparrowhawks comprised the raptors.
Will had a Crossbill. And that was that.
On the way back, presumably the same Bewick’s Swans (2 adults, 2 brown ones) that were at Cley rested far out on the sand-flats.
There was a Merlin, towards dusk, but not dusky.
Attachments
Locostella
Guest
Thanks so much buddy, really nice shots. I do hope everyone that wanted to see the bird saw it.
ben_lewis
Well-known member
Mega day on the local patch today, (Mid Yare).
Buckenham today held 3 Snow Buntings, a female Eider and 2 Whooper Swans. Does not sound fantastic but..
First record of Snobs since 2003 and I cant find any records of Eider in the Mid Yare Valley at all, so must be good!
Great to feel an adrenaline rush for snow buntings and Eider (!) despite the amount I have seen in the past few weeks, gotta love birding on a patch, expect the unexpected.
Buckenham today held 3 Snow Buntings, a female Eider and 2 Whooper Swans. Does not sound fantastic but..
First record of Snobs since 2003 and I cant find any records of Eider in the Mid Yare Valley at all, so must be good!
Great to feel an adrenaline rush for snow buntings and Eider (!) despite the amount I have seen in the past few weeks, gotta love birding on a patch, expect the unexpected.
O.Reville1989
I started off with nothing and I've still got some
That is some fantastic sightings for Buckenham Ben, Congrats!
Its a great site in Winter, really like visiting nearby Cantley and Strumpshaw to.
Stratton Birder
Well-known member
Thornham - Holme 13/11/11
The day started well, when on the way to Thornham I spotted eight Waxwings in a berry tree along the A149 at Brancaster. I spent a few minutes enjoying these beautiful birds before carrying onwards towards my destination, the idea being to park at Thornham Church and walk one way to Hunstanton Lighthouse taking in the Desert Wheatear en-route and then getting the Coasthopper back to Thornham.
The mild weather prompted a Feral Pigeon and a Stock Dove to sing and display at the church (not to each other!) and several Jays were flying around. Plenty of Blackbirds, half a dozen Song Thrushes and the odd Fieldfare were in and around the horse paddocks on the way to the staithe.
A Rock Pipit showed well and a Cetti's Warbler sang near here. A scan of the harbour produced 10 Red-breasted Mergansers, 100 Sanderling, six Little Egrets and a cracking male Kestrel hovering nearby.
Out on the saltings were around 200 Linnets split into two main flocks and a Common Buzzard was perched on a post out on the fresh marsh where there was also 10 Grey Partridges (one calling). Six White-fronted Geese flew west and a Lapland Bunting flew east.
Wasn't over-confident about seeing the Desert Wheatear as on the way I spoke to three independent observers who told me that they had already dipped out, but a Northern Wheatear which had taken its place was of some consolation to one of them. Not giving up too easily I gave the beach a good grilling but alas there was no sign of either Wheatear for me and by now I was feeling hot and bothered so I turned my attention to some theraputic seawatching. There was some good reward here with sightings including four Velvet Scoters, 24 Eiders, 31 Red-breasted Mergansers, 85 Little Gulls and a Short-eared Owl and two Blackbirds in-off. A Spotted Redshank was heard calling as it flew over the dunes.
My earlier dawdling and extended search for the Desert Wheatear meant that I was not going to have time to make it to Hunstanton so I reluctantly went back the way I came and back at Thornham Village the last two birds of note were Chiffchaff and Treecreeper.
I decided to spend the last half hour of dwindling light at Hunstanton Lighthouse where on the sea I counted exactly 40 Red-breasted Mergansers including many drakes (an excellent day for this species) one Goldeneye and a Common Seal. I was just about to pack up my scope and head for home when I spotted a medium-sized white bird flying quickly south which turned out to be a fine drake Goosander bringing the days proceedings to a flourishing end!
SB.
The day started well, when on the way to Thornham I spotted eight Waxwings in a berry tree along the A149 at Brancaster. I spent a few minutes enjoying these beautiful birds before carrying onwards towards my destination, the idea being to park at Thornham Church and walk one way to Hunstanton Lighthouse taking in the Desert Wheatear en-route and then getting the Coasthopper back to Thornham.
The mild weather prompted a Feral Pigeon and a Stock Dove to sing and display at the church (not to each other!) and several Jays were flying around. Plenty of Blackbirds, half a dozen Song Thrushes and the odd Fieldfare were in and around the horse paddocks on the way to the staithe.
A Rock Pipit showed well and a Cetti's Warbler sang near here. A scan of the harbour produced 10 Red-breasted Mergansers, 100 Sanderling, six Little Egrets and a cracking male Kestrel hovering nearby.
Out on the saltings were around 200 Linnets split into two main flocks and a Common Buzzard was perched on a post out on the fresh marsh where there was also 10 Grey Partridges (one calling). Six White-fronted Geese flew west and a Lapland Bunting flew east.
Wasn't over-confident about seeing the Desert Wheatear as on the way I spoke to three independent observers who told me that they had already dipped out, but a Northern Wheatear which had taken its place was of some consolation to one of them. Not giving up too easily I gave the beach a good grilling but alas there was no sign of either Wheatear for me and by now I was feeling hot and bothered so I turned my attention to some theraputic seawatching. There was some good reward here with sightings including four Velvet Scoters, 24 Eiders, 31 Red-breasted Mergansers, 85 Little Gulls and a Short-eared Owl and two Blackbirds in-off. A Spotted Redshank was heard calling as it flew over the dunes.
My earlier dawdling and extended search for the Desert Wheatear meant that I was not going to have time to make it to Hunstanton so I reluctantly went back the way I came and back at Thornham Village the last two birds of note were Chiffchaff and Treecreeper.
I decided to spend the last half hour of dwindling light at Hunstanton Lighthouse where on the sea I counted exactly 40 Red-breasted Mergansers including many drakes (an excellent day for this species) one Goldeneye and a Common Seal. I was just about to pack up my scope and head for home when I spotted a medium-sized white bird flying quickly south which turned out to be a fine drake Goosander bringing the days proceedings to a flourishing end!
SB.
Songkhran
Well-known member
Could have been the single bird we had flying past further East along the saltmarsh, super enjoyable day out in the wilds of Norfolk and great to catch up with an old friend.
http://blakeneyfunnystuff.wordpress.com/
Going back to the Hunstanton swift, is anyone aware of decent shots/ footage taken in reasonable light? These were my efforts in terrible light close to dusk. We all agreed it was a common, though it certainly shows some scaling and would be interesting to see what it looked like in good light. If it was a common it was undoubtedly a juv, maybe even one of those eastern types. Any opinions from my awful pics?
Attachments
Penny Clarke
Well-known member
32 Red-breasted Mergansers all sitting on the sea from Hunstanton Lighthouse this morning, along with 1 Great Crested Grebe, 4 Drake Eiders and a Gannet flew east.
Full update on blog.
Penny:girl:
Full update on blog.
Penny:girl:
Penny Clarke
Well-known member
There was I, thinking I had a fantastic total of 32 there this morning!!!! Congratulations!!!!!:t:
Songkhran
Well-known member
Looks collossal today, with 43 Whitefronts and 20 Barnacle on the Freshes this morning. But there looks like there is also another major fall in progress, with new Thrushes and migrants, including an increase in Reed Buntings and that gentle Easterly still blowing...
stuart white
Well-known member
And an Eye-browed Thrush in Hunstanton !
Robert S J Smith
Well-known member
Yes, Apparently frame filling shots and footage of the bird were taken Saturday morning in good light. Sadly I have no idea who took it, if it will be on the tinternet or if the pics/video confirmed the id!
Cheers,
Rob
David Norgate
Well-known member
Sorry I got confused:
Suggested that the Eye-browed Thrush is still present this morning. If so there must be someone, somewhere who knows something!! If I was able, I know where I'd be today!
Suggested that the Eye-browed Thrush is still present this morning. If so there must be someone, somewhere who knows something!! If I was able, I know where I'd be today!
Last edited:
Daniel Martin
Well-known member
Looks like the Dessie has relocated to Titchwell!
Lightthiscandle
David Bryant
Penny Clarke
Well-known member
Rumours that the Eye-Browed Thrush is in my parents garden are completely untrue!!!!! I would know!!! In fact I rang mother this morning to see if she can find anything out.
Penny
Update: 6pm - anyone know who started this rumour?
Penny
Update: 6pm - anyone know who started this rumour?
Last edited:
