Norfolk birding (1 Viewer)

[rob lee]

QUOTE:Must be mindblowing and very exciting counting shags. Nearly as exciting as counting jays :QUOTE

I`snt this part of what we do as birders? It all helps to build up the bigger picture of population/ distribution changes & to document migration. Without a record of these things we would have no future references. I suspect all of this is of no interest to you though as your main interest is probably what your next tick will be.

QUOTE: John. Löök forward to your claims of one (possibly two) probable dcc's in the coming weeks- all seen briefly of course:QUOTE

And there he goes with the snide comments again.
Oh, sorry, forgot to put a smiley on the end of that. :eek!:


QUOTE Could be a good year for waxwings oliver.QUOTE

Thats very insightful of you, but how would you know, if people did`nt count & record them ?

 

[scary-canary]

QUOTE:Must be mindblowing and very exciting counting shags. Nearly as exciting as counting jays :QUOTE

I`snt this part of what we do as birders? It all helps to build up the bigger picture of population/ distribution changes & to document migration. Without a record of these things we would have no future references. I suspect all of this is of no interest to you though as your main interest is probably what your next tick will be.

QUOTE: John. Löök forward to your claims of one (possibly two) probable dcc's in the coming weeks- all seen briefly of course:QUOTE

And there he goes with the snide comments again.
Oh, sorry, forgot to put a smiley on the end of that. :eek!:


QUOTE Could be a good year for waxwings oliver.QUOTE

Thats very insightful of you, but how would you know, if people did`nt count & record them ?

Wish you knew how to do the quote thing properly... smiley face

 

[Nick Moran]

A colleague (more 'civilian' than 'birder', hence didn't fully appreciate the significance of never having seen one round here before!) photographed a Dipper in Thetford at 1:19pm today, just east of the Bridge Pub at TL879829. A contingent from BTO HQ hurtled out the minute we heard (2 hours later), but no sign by 4:10pm.

Picture attached (not for reproduction elsewhere) - make your own mind up on the obvious belly-colour question... and/or come and help us try to refind it in the morning!

ps Nice to see the Brecks continuing it's recent run of form - and a change from all the coast-posts

 

[Stratton Birder]

Well put Rob. All birds should be studied, counted and enjoyed, rare or otherwise.

Scratby was certainly more productive than I expected it to be when I arrived in rather bleak conditions first thing this morning. Poor visibilty offshore at first but still managed to note two close Razorbills and a Goldeneye flyby. A wander along the top of the cliffs and back along the beach got a few nice birds including 10 Redpolls north, a Woodcock low over the cliffs that had almost certainly just flown in-off, and 28 Snow Buntings over the beach.
Visibility over the sea better late morning and several Blackbirds noted flying in off, many of them individually but also a small mixed flock of four Blackbirds, five Fieldfares and a Redwing followed shortly after by a flock of nine Blackbirds and one Fieldfare which flew in from quite high up. Great to see little arrivals like this to brighten up what might have been a very dull day. Starling arrivals also evident with around 450 in-off. Three Med Gulls lingered offshore and I finally managed a couple of hoped for target birds with a Bonxie north and a Little Auk on the sea which also continued north.
Comedy moment of the day was four young Herring Gulls squabbling over an old tennis ball like four kittens with a ball of wool.

 

[postcardcv]

Could be a good year for waxwings oliver.

a good year to see them perhaps but probably not a good year for the waxwings.

 

[ben_lewis]

A colleague (more 'civilian' than 'birder', hence didn't fully appreciate the significance of never having seen one round here before!) photographed a Dipper in Thetford at 1:19pm today

Nice one Nick, I have yet to see a Dipper of any kind in Norfolk despite trying for one several times on the Glaven a few years back. I'll avoid the obvious pun.
Hope you manage to refind the bird and it sticks until Friday!
Cheers for sharing the info

 

[ray roche]

Hoopoe in Old Hunstanton today

Can anyone offer any information on the reported Hoopoe at Old Hunstanton this afternoon? A couple of hours out in this mornings rain had Fieldfares and Starlings going South through Snettisham Coastal park in big numbers, with an accompanying cast of Waxwings. 1 group of 15 South over Ken hill Marsh and a second group of 13 posing in a tree in one of the caravan parks. Ray Roche

 

[sacha]

A colleague (more 'civilian' than 'birder', hence didn't fully appreciate the significance of never having seen one round here before!) photographed a Dipper in Thetford at 1:19pm today, just east of the Bridge Pub at TL879829. A contingent from BTO HQ hurtled out the minute we heard (2 hours later), but no sign by 4:10pm.

Picture attached (not for reproduction elsewhere) - make your own mind up on the obvious belly-colour question... and/or come and help us try to refind it in the morning!

ps Nice to see the Brecks continuing it's recent run of form - and a change from all the coast-posts

As with presumably all the Norfolk birds this looks like a Black-bellied Dipper. Has been very rare in recent years

I haven't seen one in Norfolk for many many years now

Sacha

 

[postcardcv]

I popped over to Welney at lunchtime for the ferruginous duck, a very easy bird and only a handful of people there watching it. Attached are a few shots of variable quality, the flapping shot was through the glass so is fairly horrible!

 

[James Emerson]

Excellent pictures.

On the subject of Fudge Ducks, if I am reading the entry from the latest Norfolk Bird & Mammal Report correctly, no Ferruginous Ducks are going to be accepted onto the Norfolk list in the near future:

"Due to doubts over both the origin and genetic purity of Ferruginous Ducks recorded in the county, records of this species are now to be listed in the appendices"

Whilst accepting that the over-summering bird and hybrids in the broads suggest that records should be looked at with caution, does this mean that each record will just be put straight into the appendices rather than being looked at and assessed for their individual merits?

James

I popped over to Welney at lunchtime for the ferruginous duck, a very easy bird and only a handful of people there watching it. Attached are a few shots of variable quality, the flapping shot was through the glass so is fairly horrible!

 

[firstreesjohn]

no Ferruginous Ducks are going to be accepted onto the Norfolk list in the near future

It looks as if they’re just going to fudge the issue, James.

A dark dipper frequented the Glaven
(There was little confusion with Raven).
It gave birders the slip
Many times (that’s a ‘dip’),
But for weeks used the stream as its haven.

P.S. I'm pleased that those who ventured forth in the dark and were out around Dawn (couldn't resist!) were able to see it (the Thetford DJ). I'm also glad they weren't clubbing it at the time.

I wonder how many of us are following this Pine Grosbeak thread with keen anticipation/interest: http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=243637 ?
One of the last posts relates a 'record-breaking count' in southern Sweden and another states that there are few berries left to hold them for long in Scandinavia.

I'm sure, even with these facts and conditions, we'll never see them here.

 

[ben_lewis]

I wonder how many of us are following this Pine Grosbeak thread with keen anticipation/interest: http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=243637 ?

I am!

You never know one or two may get over here, one would certainly look very good on the pines in the yard at Strumpshaw!

 

[firstreesjohn]

one would certainly look very good on the pines in the yard at Strumpshaw!

More likely in a berry-filled hedge, Ben.

They look good anywhere; but could you make it a bit closer to here, please ?

 

[Nick Moran]

Dipper for breakfast

A good showing from the (Black-bellied) Dipper 7:10-7:35am, before it went off-radar for the rest of the day. Pic - courtesy of Mike Toms - and more gen here.

The attached screengrab (looking northeast from Melford Bridge, by The Bridge pub on Castle Street) shows the spot where it first appeared at 7:10am. It seemed to hop into view from the vegetation on the north side of the dam, rather than fly in from elsewhere, so this may be where it roosted [Edit: I was there until 16:55 this evening but no sign of it returning to that spot].

For those who followed an earlier conversation about 2-letter codes, 'our' Dipper is DI but Black-bellied Dipper goes by the splendidly apt DJ!

 

[FOOON]

Single Waxwing ENE over Alexander Road, Sheringham ay 1240 today.

 

[Stratton Birder]

Also four Waxwings in Long Stratton today. A pleasant distraction while working and one of the advantages of having an outdoor job.

 

[James Emerson]

For those not on twitter, an updated work-in-progress file has been put up on the Norfolk Records Committee website: http://norfolkbirds.weebly.com/work-in-progress.html

 

[Suffolkringer]

I popped over to Welney at lunchtime for the ferruginous duck, a very easy bird and only a handful of people there watching it. Attached are a few shots of variable quality, the flapping shot was through the glass so is fairly horrible!

Can someone give some notes as to why this is a hybrid?

I think maybe
bill shape? Colouration? Overall shape?

I didn't see this bird so have no interest but I am keen to further my knowledge

 

[jimmyg]

Can someone give some notes as to why this is a hybrid?

I think maybe
bill shape? Colouration? Overall shape?

I didn't see this bird so have no interest but I am keen to further my knowledge

I'd like to know too (I do have a vested interest though). Surely if there are Pochard genes in there they didn't enter in the bird's recent ancestry?

 

[FoghornKinghorn]

According to literature in a Pochard x Ferruginous Duck hybrid the subterminal white bill band is more obvious and there is also more dark on the nail. The images here seem to show the direct opposite of this?