Suffolk Birding (1 Viewer)

[Cortonbirds]

Do you know anything about the Red-throated Pipit claimed at Martlesham Creek?

Sean

David Craven saw a small pipit with "braces" near Martlesham Creek and reported as such to BINS. As far as I know it was not pinned down.

 

[lostinjapan]

David Craven saw a small pipit with "braces" near Martlesham Creek and reported as such to BINS. As far as I know it was not pinned down.

Cheers for that. I had read what information there was on BINS, but didn't know the circumstances..always difficult to pin down pipits.

Sean

 

[Stratton Birder]

Sea-watching off Southwold this morning between 0730-1030 produced a nice southerly movement of Dunlin totalling c500 birds and other totals included 84 Knot, 21 Bonxies, three smaller skuas (probably Arctic) 66 Brent Geese, 10 Common Scoter, two each of Sanderling, Goldeneye, Grey Heron, and Snipe and singles of RB Merganser, Pochard, Little Gull and Redshank.

 

[Lightthiscandle]

Great Grey Shrike

Lovely GGS right by the road between Chillesford and Butley this pm,

 

[GiG]

Lovely GGS right by the road between Chillesford and Butley this pm,

Nice find, was it along the main road, B1084, past Wantisden Corner or along the back road - Mill Lane?

Gi

 

[Lightthiscandle]

Nice find, was it along the main road, B1084, past Wantisden Corner or along the back road - Mill Lane?

Gi

Hi!
It was along the 1084 somewhere before the Oyster pub. There was a really approachable Little Egret by the road just before Shingle Street too! (I know they're not rare, but it was really close!)

 

[GiG]

Hi!
It was along the 1084 somewhere before the Oyster pub. There was a really approachable Little Egret by the road just before Shingle Street too! (I know they're not rare, but it was really close!)

Cheers. It's great when you can species up close, there was a little egret on my patch earlier in the year, which didn't seemed fussed when I stopped to look at it. I got some nice digi photos of it catching an elver.

Gi

 

[NoSpringChicken]

Just a heads up to anybody who hasn't been to Minsmere recently. With the improvement work going on at the moment, some parts have had to be closed, such as the North Wall and Island Mere hide. To make up for this, new temporary trails have been opened.

The trail through the North Bushes is open again and is superb and the trail through the reedbeds by West hide should be great for Bearded Tits in the right condiions (not in the wind and rain like this afternoon). There is a wader trail at the South Levels near the sluice but the best of all in my opinion is the Circular Woodland trail near the Canopy hide.

We tried it for the first time this afternoon and it is brilliant. It takes you through some of the woods not normally accessible to the public and is surrounded by superb desciduous and conifer trees. Unfortunately it was late and drizzling with rain, so there weren't many birds about but I imagine that it would be beautiful early on a sunny, autumn morning.

Ron

 

[Cortonbirds]

Was October 2011 the best ever bird month in Suffolk. There were a lot of rares reported and im struggling to think of a better month off the top of my head, any ideas?

Sandhill Crane, Fea`s Petrel, Booted Warbler, Daurian Shrike, 2 Red-flanked Bluetail, Little Bunting, Dusky Warbler, Pallid Swift, Olive-backed Pipit, Woodchat Shrike, 2 Glossy Ibis along with fodder such as 30+ YBW, 8+ GGS and a Short-eared Owl influx.

 

[Paul Woolnough]

October rare birds seen by me
Suffolk seven
Sandhill crane lifer don't do Scotland, glossy ibis, red-flanked bluetail, Daurian isabelline shrike, olive-backed pipit, booted warbler and dusky warbler.

Norfolk only one a second isabelline shrike for the year seen after the Suffolk bird.

 

[Jonny Rankin]

Was October 2011 the best ever bird month in Suffolk. There were a lot of rares reported and im struggling to think of a better month off the top of my head, any ideas?

Sandhill Crane, Fea`s Petrel, Booted Warbler, Daurian Shrike, 2 Red-flanked Bluetail, Little Bunting, Dusky Warbler, Pallid Swift, Olive-backed Pipit, Woodchat Shrike, 2 Glossy Ibis along with fodder such as 30+ YBW, 8+ GGS and a Short-eared Owl influx.

Sandhill eclipsed everything for me - defo best Oct, year and Suffolk bird I can think of ever!

As per your list above not a bad supporting cast either

Cheers,

Jonny

 

[lostinjapan]

Hi guys

Thought I'd put some of my sightings on since I got back to Suffolk.

Highlights this week between East Lane & Bawdsey Quay included: 2 brief hunting Peregrine 2m & f, a dashing Merlin imm male, Woodcock 1, Green Sandpiper 3(scarce around here), Firecrest 2+, Snow Bunting 1, two late Swallows, and a couple of Stonechat.

Today a seawatch from Bawdsey Cliff produced the following:

Guillemot 2N
RT Diver 1S 1 on water
RB Merg 11S 1 on water
C Scoter 7N 20S
Shelduck 17S 11N
Teal 41N 42S 8 on water 11 in off
Wigeon 8 N 92S 34 on water 15 in off
Pintail 1 on water
Mallard 6S 1N 2 in off
Shoveler 1 on water
Goldeneye 1S
Scaup 1 in off 2N
T Duck 1 N
PF Goose 1 in off 2 S
Brent 336S 2N 11 on water
Dunlin 3N,
Golden Plover 1S,
Knot 1N,
Ruff 1 in off
Lapwing 215io
Skylark 5 in off
Fieldfare 5io
Redwing 2 in off
Blackbird 2 in off
Stonechat 1
Snow Bunting 1 in off & NW
Starling 175 in off

 

[Jonny Rankin]

Liveremere

Hi all,

Possibly of interest to other Suffolk birders I've done a page on me blog about Livermere & it's birds. See:

http://t.co/QP7Vdi6

If anyone has any further photos they'd be happy for me to use then please drop me a line.

Cheers :t:

Jonny

 

[jimbob]

Thanks for sharing Jonny, a great page and clearly a labour of love! I keep meaning to add my own Surlingham Church Marsh page on my blog. You are right, the site does have a formidable track record and I know you have added to that in recent years. Judging by your signature I assume you have been off to the Scillies; time to give the patch some attention now then?
What would you expect Livermere to throw up, with Autumn turning into Winter?
Cheers,
Jim.

 

[Jonny Rankin]

Thanks for sharing Jonny, a great page and clearly a labour of love! I keep meaning to add my own Surlingham Church Marsh page on my blog. You are right, the site does have a formidable track record and I know you have added to that in recent years. Judging by your signature I assume you have been off to the Scillies; time to give the patch some attention now then?
What would you expect Livermere to throw up, with Autumn turning into Winter?
Cheers,
Jim.

Hi Jim / all,

I canne claim to added any firsts for L'mere I am afraid - think best to date was a Black-necked Grebe... watch this space tho

Dont worry was only 3 days on Scilly - a very good 3 days mind!

It'd be good to get modern records of a Diver sp and Bittern over the next couple of months down L'mere. The absolute dream bird for me personally would be a Green-winged Teal! One has got a couple of mile away at Micklemere SWT - but none on the books for L'mere as yet. A massive bogey bird for me - dipped the s*#t outta several! Now resided to finding me own :t:

There is always the unexpected however - so who knows!

Cheers,

Jonny

 

[Cortonbirds]

Moderate north east wind promised a few birds and we were not dissapointed. Parked up at the coast guards at Ness Point early morning to do a spot of seawatching. 7 Little Auks flew north close in...2 extremely close in..just past the rocks only a few metres from my car window...magical.

After noting good numbers of Thrushes in the parks while looking for the Great-grey Shrike (unsuccessfully) I decided to see how many were in at my local patch. Very large numbers indeed as it happened. A grounding of 500+ Thrushes were noted in the Hopton-Gunton area. The biggest numbers were in the morning and the count was cut short by a call to say Paul Read had noted a Petrel sp with white underside flying north off Kessingland for which I then searched off Corton for a while. In the morning the activity was intense. Parking at Dip farm Gunton...Thrushes were everywhere with very many Blackbird and Redwing flushing out from the trees by the water. Thre leaside of Gunton railtrack had 30 Blackbird and 20 Redwing feeding in the very first part..this was when I got the call about the Petrel and left..had I stayed it seemed very large numbers would have been counted. Many were flying out and moving inland into Gunton Wood including good numbers of Fieldfares.The indicator site at Hopton railtrack..indicated that this was a large arrival. I intended to walk the leaside as usual but on scanning and seeing 80+ Thrushes feeding in the field by the hedge side and many flushing out from the hedge on my first few steps..i decided to leave them to feed in peace and they were undoubtedly tired and hungry. Had I walked it as normal the tally would have no doubt topped 200. I think most Thrushes had arrived overnight and were now filtering inland, indeed in morning 30+ were in the Corton osw hedge but few were there in late afternoon...and none seemed to be flying in off the sea or overhead unless flushed. They seemed to be busy feeding rather than flying. Conservative estimate totals as follows:

Gunton: 150+ Blackbird, 80+ Redwing, 50+ Fieldfare.

Hopton: 100+ Blackbird, 50+ Redwing, 10+ Fieldfare.

Corton: 150+ Blackbird, 50+ Redwing, 20+ Fieldfare, 10+ Song Thrush

All in all probably one of the biggest Thrush falls ive seen in this area.

 

[lostinjapan]

Hi all

Love the website for Livermere Jonny. Hope you can add a few more goodies to the list in the coming years . Has inspired me to start doing a blog/website for the Wilford Peninsula where I'm based.

On a similar vein to Cortonbirder I went down to Bawdsey Cliff hoping the NE winds might pull in some birds & though not as busy as yesterday it was still a good day. Highlight was 5 Little Auk, with one cheeky chappy plopping down just 10m from the beach in front of me.

Other seawatching highlights were: Arctic Skua 1N, Great Skua 1N, Red-necked Grebe 1N, Red-throated Diver 1N, as well as small numbers of Eider, Common Scoter, RB Merganser & 2 Scaup.

Inland there were 100's of Blackbird, with smaller numbers of Fieldfare, Redwing & Song Thrush and 1 possible R Ouzel.

Birds coming in off the sea was limited to 1 Woodcock & 11 Starling.

Other goodies included: Peregrine, Merlin, Firecrest (only heard), Little Owl, Barn Owl, Brambling & 2 Pinkfeet feeding in clifftop fields.

All in all another good days birding .

Just wish that 'fregatta' petrel had flown past me!!

Sean

 

[lostinjapan]

When you go down to the woods today

Hi all

After a quiet but productive seawatch from Bawdsey Cliff with GN Diver, Shag & Little Auk the highlights and nice views of Eider, C Scoter, Pinkfeet & WF Goose I decided to search for passerines in more sheltered areas.
I decided to check the small private copse just opposite Bawdsey Manor to see if I could relocate a Firecrest I'd heard but not seen well the day before.

After briefly hearing it sing & still not great views I delved deeper into the copse as there were plenty of Robins, Goldcrest & thrushes calling.

After 10 minutes I'd worked my way to a small area of shrubs below a thick canopy of oak & sycamore, suddenly I was drawn to a short sharp 'tsueep' call & a brief glimpse of a small warbler flitting in the top of a small oak. Further glimpses revealed a ' browed' phylloscopus warbler...but with a call unlike any Yellow-Browed I'd heard before. It could only be a Hume's Warbler!!

Over the next 90 minutes I heard it call intermittently & took the following notes:

The bird was very elusive, staying in the canopy of small oak trees & bushes. *

The bird gave a short 'tsueep' call at intervals, and a sparrow-like chip on several occasions.*

It wasn't seen to flycatch, & indeed seemed slightly less frenetic than some YB Warbler I've seen.

Overall structure was as YB Warbler, but duller *green above than Yellow-browed & greyish-white underparts. *

The legs appeared dark, as did the bill, but light was poor.*

The ear coverts were pale & diffuse, compared to greenish lores of YB Warbler.

The crown colour wasn't discernible, but the mantle was light greyish-green.

The greater covert bar was quite obvious, but lacked the black between greater & median coverts of YB warbler. The median covert bar was not as obvious as on YB either.

The tertials were also not as dark-centered black as YB Warbler with limited light greyish edging.

The supercilium appeared off white & a little more diffuse than YB Warbler.


Alas I was unable to get any photos.This bird was in a private copse, but thankfully the owner is a birder & carries out ringing on site.

We will try to refind and possibly net the bird tomorrow morning. If refound news will be released & access arranged.

Sean

 

[GiG]

Hi all

After a quiet but productive seawatch from Bawdsey Cliff with GN Diver, Shag & Little Auk the highlights and nice views of Eider, C Scoter, Pinkfeet & WF Goose I decided to search for passerines in more sheltered areas.
I decided to check the small private copse just opposite Bawdsey Manor to see if I could relocate a Firecrest I'd heard but not seen well the day before.

After briefly hearing it sing & still not great views I delved deeper into the copse as there were plenty of Robins, Goldcrest & thrushes calling.

After 10 minutes I'd worked my way to a small area of shrubs below a thick canopy of oak & sycamore, suddenly I was drawn to a short sharp 'tsueep' call & a brief glimpse of a small warbler flitting in the top of a small oak. Further glimpses revealed a ' browed' phylloscopus warbler...but with a call unlike any Yellow-Browed I'd heard before. It could only be a Hume's Warbler!!

Over the next 90 minutes I heard it call intermittently & took the following notes:

The bird was very elusive, staying in the canopy of small oak trees & bushes. *

The bird gave a short 'tsueep' call at intervals, and a sparrow-like chip on several occasions.*

It wasn't seen to flycatch, & indeed seemed slightly less frenetic than some YB Warbler I've seen.

Overall structure was as YB Warbler, but duller *green above than Yellow-browed & greyish-white underparts. *

The legs appeared dark, as did the bill, but light was poor.*

The ear coverts were pale & diffuse, compared to greenish lores of YB Warbler.

The crown colour wasn't discernible, but the mantle was light greyish-green.

The greater covert bar was quite obvious, but lacked the black between greater & median coverts of YB warbler. The median covert bar was not as obvious as on YB either.

The tertials were also not as dark-centered black as YB Warbler with limited light greyish edging.

The supercilium appeared off white & a little more diffuse than YB Warbler.


Alas I was unable to get any photos.This bird was in a private copse, but thankfully the owner is a birder & carries out ringing on site.

We will try to refind and possibly net the bird tomorrow morning. If refound news will be released & access arranged.

Sean

Hi Sean,

Nice find! May see if I can get a lift there tomorrow if it's refound.

Gi

 

[StuartReeves]

Nice one Sean; a potential second for Suffolk if I remember rightly.