RonClark28
Well-known member
Yesterday Sunday 20 September 2009 I joined Nuneaton Bird Watching Club on a birding trip to Hickling Broad in the hope of seeing the Common Cranes flying in to roast. Well, there’s 2 of my ‘firsts’ and here’s the list of them.
1.This is the first time I’ve been part of a birding club and I’ve been birding since the late 1980s.
2.Sunday was my first organised birding trip.
3.On the way down we found out about glossy ibris south of Norwich which we went to look for but didn’t get making it my first ‘twitch’, followed by another one to Winterton-on-Sea (a place I’d never heard of before so making it yet another first time I’ve been there),[4] for the red-breasted flycatcher which we did get, making it my first ‘twiched’ bird [5] that I got.
[6]On to Hickling Broad, another first time visit. OK, let’s now look at the birds, or at least those that I saw.
The trip organizer and the bus driver saw a red kite, lucky beggars but the rest of us as didn’t but on the way down via the M6, A14, A11 and then local roads we saw the usual assortment of birds and I got wood pigeon, greater black backed gull, crows, rooks, pheasant, mute swan, jackdaw before we stopped for a break just off the A11. While there I got a jay, chaffinch and willow tit. Once back on the road I got a kestrel very quickly and on the local roads we got a very large covey of red legged partridge. Once at Winterton we walked towards the bushes for the twitch and on the way I got a blackcap, blackbird, black headed gull, swallow and eventually after a fairly long wait I got a number of very quick flashes and fluttering of the red breasted flycatcher. As I said above this was my first successful twitch but although I did see the objective of the exercise no matter how fleetingly, I’m not at all sure that I actually agree with the practice. At times there were as many 50 or so birders there but we were all very close to the bushes concerned and I’m not sure that it actually does anything to help the bird, or any other bird subject to this practice. The bird was seen flying from one end of the bushes to the other and I wonder if the bird was wanting to fly off somewhere but couldn’t do so for fear of the all the people around there. Whatever, that’s a subject for elsewhere. Once back at the car park I got a wheatear and as we drove off to Hickling I caught sight of a mallard and a herring gull. The group did discuss going off to Gorton for a reported ortolan bunting but after a short debate we decided to go off to Hickling instead.
I was slightly surprised that that Norfolk Wildlife Trust would not allow any concessionary entrance fees even for members of other wildlife trusts. The fee of £3.50 was worth it though, at least for me. The first bird I saw was a Jay quickly followed by 2 little egrets as well as very quick glimpses of a beard tit. From the first hide I saw 2 marsh harriers flying around in the distance. Off we went to the next hide where there were good views of lesser black backed gull, common gull and a gadwall. From the third hide I saw a pied wagtail, green sandpiper, snipe, moorhen and another (perhaps the same birds?), little egret and a gadwall flew in. From there we headed off down to Stubb Mill and set up there waiting for the cranes to show ... if they would. While there I got views of a kestrel, marsh harrier, swallows, wood pigeon, and another bird which was first thought to be a yellowhammer but was eventually decided upon as being a whinchat. Crow, rook, chaffinch, magpie, long tailed tit, blue and great tits, chiffchaff, graylag goose, greenfinch, and a flock of starlings all showed up. Then someone shouted, “The cranes are here!”, so we all turned round and there was a flock of around 23 common cranes flew from right to left about 300 meters off. On the way back to the bus I saw my last birds of the day, 4 red legged partridge on the edge of a field.
So then, after 6 ‘firsts’ for me and a total of 46 species for the day and I was a very happy birder as we set off back home but what made it for me was the really magical view of the cranes and that alone made the day well worth while indeed for me.
1.This is the first time I’ve been part of a birding club and I’ve been birding since the late 1980s.
2.Sunday was my first organised birding trip.
3.On the way down we found out about glossy ibris south of Norwich which we went to look for but didn’t get making it my first ‘twitch’, followed by another one to Winterton-on-Sea (a place I’d never heard of before so making it yet another first time I’ve been there),[4] for the red-breasted flycatcher which we did get, making it my first ‘twiched’ bird [5] that I got.
[6]On to Hickling Broad, another first time visit. OK, let’s now look at the birds, or at least those that I saw.
The trip organizer and the bus driver saw a red kite, lucky beggars but the rest of us as didn’t but on the way down via the M6, A14, A11 and then local roads we saw the usual assortment of birds and I got wood pigeon, greater black backed gull, crows, rooks, pheasant, mute swan, jackdaw before we stopped for a break just off the A11. While there I got a jay, chaffinch and willow tit. Once back on the road I got a kestrel very quickly and on the local roads we got a very large covey of red legged partridge. Once at Winterton we walked towards the bushes for the twitch and on the way I got a blackcap, blackbird, black headed gull, swallow and eventually after a fairly long wait I got a number of very quick flashes and fluttering of the red breasted flycatcher. As I said above this was my first successful twitch but although I did see the objective of the exercise no matter how fleetingly, I’m not at all sure that I actually agree with the practice. At times there were as many 50 or so birders there but we were all very close to the bushes concerned and I’m not sure that it actually does anything to help the bird, or any other bird subject to this practice. The bird was seen flying from one end of the bushes to the other and I wonder if the bird was wanting to fly off somewhere but couldn’t do so for fear of the all the people around there. Whatever, that’s a subject for elsewhere. Once back at the car park I got a wheatear and as we drove off to Hickling I caught sight of a mallard and a herring gull. The group did discuss going off to Gorton for a reported ortolan bunting but after a short debate we decided to go off to Hickling instead.
I was slightly surprised that that Norfolk Wildlife Trust would not allow any concessionary entrance fees even for members of other wildlife trusts. The fee of £3.50 was worth it though, at least for me. The first bird I saw was a Jay quickly followed by 2 little egrets as well as very quick glimpses of a beard tit. From the first hide I saw 2 marsh harriers flying around in the distance. Off we went to the next hide where there were good views of lesser black backed gull, common gull and a gadwall. From the third hide I saw a pied wagtail, green sandpiper, snipe, moorhen and another (perhaps the same birds?), little egret and a gadwall flew in. From there we headed off down to Stubb Mill and set up there waiting for the cranes to show ... if they would. While there I got views of a kestrel, marsh harrier, swallows, wood pigeon, and another bird which was first thought to be a yellowhammer but was eventually decided upon as being a whinchat. Crow, rook, chaffinch, magpie, long tailed tit, blue and great tits, chiffchaff, graylag goose, greenfinch, and a flock of starlings all showed up. Then someone shouted, “The cranes are here!”, so we all turned round and there was a flock of around 23 common cranes flew from right to left about 300 meters off. On the way back to the bus I saw my last birds of the day, 4 red legged partridge on the edge of a field.
So then, after 6 ‘firsts’ for me and a total of 46 species for the day and I was a very happy birder as we set off back home but what made it for me was the really magical view of the cranes and that alone made the day well worth while indeed for me.
