27th Aug 2019 – Intro to UK Birding, Day 1

Day 1 of a two day Private Tour for a guest from Hong Kong. We would spend the two days along the North Norfolk coast looking for a good selection of both our commoner breeding birds and any more interesting species we might come across. We would be trying to get photographs of as many of the birds as possible too. Today was sunny and hot, although with a bit of hazy cloud in the afternoon and a pleasant light breeze on the coast which meant it didn’t get too uncomfortable.

Our first stop was at Wells. As we walked down along the track, there were lots of Reed Buntings in the bushes. A couple of Common Whitethroat flitted off ahead of us – we could see their rusty wings when they perched in the open briefly. A much greyer warbler was a Lesser Whitethroat which landed together with one of them in a bush at one point.

Reed Bunting – there were lots in the bushes along the track

Looking up, we saw a Spoonbill flying in from the direction of the harbour, its neck held outstretched in front. It landed at the back of the pool on the other side of the track, and training the scope on it we could see there were now five Spoonbills together there, along with several more Little Egrets too.

The pools nearest the track are drying up fast now, so most of the birds were over towards the back. There were lots of Greylag Geese and in with them a mix of ducks, Teal and Shoveler. We could see several Black-tailed Godwits in the deeper water and a single Common Snipe probing vigorously in the mud with its long bill, but it was rather distant and we were looking into the sun.

On the other side of the track, we found a single Green Sandpiper in the shallow pools and an adult Mediterranean Gull flew over, flashing its white wing tips, disappearing out towards the saltmarsh. There were lots of birds in the distance over Wells town, mostly Starlings but we picked up a few lingering Common Swifts still too, zooming back and forth. It won’t be long now before they have all left us.

Long-tailed Tit – we watched a tit flock moving through the bushes

Continuing on past the pools, we decided to have a look in the bushes to see if there were any more warblers here, given the early activity along the track. We could hear Blackcap and Chiffchaff calling and although they proved hard to see initially, we eventually got views of both species here. There were Chaffinches in the hedge too, and a flock of tits zipped through pausing to feed in the bushes, the Blue Tits attacking some elder berries and a Long-tailed Tit showing well in the top of a hawthorn.

When the tit flock moved on, we walked round to see if we could find it further along. There were more birds here but no sign of the Long-tailed Tits so maybe a different group. We stopped by one hawthorn on the edge of a reedy ditch, where there was a succession of birds moving through. Several Blue Tits and another Lesser Whitethroat. Then a couple of Reed Warblers, which gave good views up out of the reeds here.

Reed Warbler – feeding in the bushes with the tit flock

As the flock moved on again, we continued round. A small bird appeared on the top of one of the bushes in the middle. Its bold pale supercilium caught the morning sun, a Whinchat, a passage migrant and a real bonus to find one here. It perched up nicely a couple of times for us, before disappeared behind the bushes. When we turned round, a different bird was perched on the top of a small hawthorn behind us, this time a Wheatear. Another passage migrant passing through, it flicked away over the reeds flashing the white base to its tail.

Whinchat – a migrant, appeared on the top of the bushes

As we walked back along the track, there were still lots of Reed Buntings which flew up from the vegetation and landed in the bushes. A Yellowhammer flew in calling and joined them briefly, before dropping down into the long grass out in the middle.

When we got back to the minibus, a couple of other birders had their scopes on the pools and had found a wader asleep on one of the islands at the back. It was hard to tell what it was, hunkered down and at distance in the heat haze, but as we started to pull away they called over to say that it had woken up and started to walk around, a Greenshank.

Our next destination was Cley, but we ran into gridlock in Stiffkey village, with a long tailback of vehicles, probably due to one of the much bigger buses they are using for the revised Coasthopper service these days – it seems to be an increasing problem. Thankfully, we could take a diversion inland and were not held up this time. Two Stock Doves on the roof of a barn by the road were a nice bonus, the iridescent green on the side of one of the bird’s neck glowing in the sun.

When we got to Cley, we decided to head out to Bishop Hide first. As we walked into the hide, we were pointed to six Common Snipe on the mud right in front. We had a good look at them but they were already looking round nervously and were quickly spooked and flew off further back.

Common Snipe – one of six in front of Bishop Hide when we arrived

There were lots of other waders on the scrape here further back. Two juvenile Curlew Sandpipers were feeding in with a few Dunlin. A delicate, spangled-backed Wood Sandpiper was picking around the lumps of mud in front of one of the islands with several Ruff. Black-tailed Godwits were scattered liberally around and there were a handful of Knot too.

When someone in the hide announced there was a Bearded Tit, we initially thought they meant it was in the reeds right at the back, where they have often been recently. But they had heard one calling from the reeds just out to one side of the hide, so we walked over to take a look. A cracking male Bearded Tit climbed up one of the reed stems. It quickly shuffled down again, but then came up a second time and perched in full view. We had a great look at its powder blue head and black moustaches, before it flew across in front of the hide and disappeared into the reeds the other side.

Bearded Tit – this male climbed up the reeds just outside the hide

As we made our way along the skirts path to the other hides, we could see a Marsh Harrier distantly hunting out over the reeds towards the West Bank. It gradually worked its way towards us and we eventually met it halfway, a dark male. When it saw us, it turned and heading off over the scrapes, flushing everything in the process.

Marsh Harrier – flew past us over the reeds as we walked out to the hides

There were a few more waders on Simmond’s Scrape when we got into Daukes Hide. Four Avocets were asleep on the front of the nearest island – they did wake up later and a couple spent some time feeding on the mud in front of the hide. There were several Ringed Plovers on the mud further back and a single Golden Plover which was easily overlooked in the lumps where the cattle had churned up the scrape. The tiny Little Stint was even harder to find in the same place!

Looking out of the side of the hide, we could see 3-4 Green Sandpipers on Whitwell Scrape. One gradually worked its way down to the front, where it was hidden behind some small wisps of reed from where we were. We decided to head round to Avocet Hide to try to catch it right in front – with our cameras – but just as we got into the hide, one of the other Green Sandpipers flew over and chased it off. The two of them flew over the bank to Simmond’s Scrape.

Green Sandpiper – one of 3-4 on Whitwell Scrape again today

There were also two juvenile Black-tailed Godwits on the scrape here too and one of them did walk over and round the edge right in front of the hide. Some consolation for the photographers! Their rusty necks and extensively marked feathers on the upperparts showed they were both juveniles of the Icelandic race.

Before we raced round to try to catch the Green Sandpiper, there had been a Wood Sandpiper feeding on the mud in front of Teal Hide. By the time we made it round there, the Wood Sandpiper had moved further back but we could see several Dunlin feeding on the mud just to the right of us with one of the two Curlew Sandpipers in attendance. They were busy feeding and working their way towards us and eventually passed in front of the hide giving us a great view.

It was time for lunch now, so we made our way back to the Visitor Centre and made good use of the picnic tables. It was a lovely day to be sitting outside looking out over the marshes. After lunch, we popped into the Centre briefly and when we came out again we could hear Whimbrel calling. They responded to a whistled response and two of them flew in towards us, at least until they realised that the impression was not really as good as it sounded at a distance. They circled back and dropped down towards the scrapes.

Whimbrel – flew in over the marshes calling

We drove round to Walsey Hills next. As we got out of the minibus, we could see a Little Grebe on the pool, though it was doing its best to hide in the cut reed stems at the back. We had a quick walk in along the footpath through the bushes, to see if we could pick up any more passerines for the list, but it was rather quiet – perhaps not surprising in the middle of a hot afternoon. A few Blue Tits were in the bushes around the feeders and we could hear a couple of Chiffchaff calling.

There was no sign of the Common Pochard which has been on Snipe’s Marsh, but we found it instead on Don’s Pool along with another Little Grebe, as we set off to walk up the East Bank. There were more ducks on the Serpentine – mainly Gadwall and Shoveler, and lots of Shelduck. None of them are looking their best at the moment, with the drakes currently in their drab eclipse plumage. A Green Sandpiper flew up from the mud, there were a couple of Redshanks along the edge of the water and several Lapwing in the grass.

Continuing on to Arnold’s Marsh, we could see a single Great Black-backed Gull standing in with all the loafing Cormorants on the island at the back, leaving not much room for anything else. One Sandwich Tern was standing on the mud further across. There were quite a few Curlew over in the vegetation in the back corner and several Redshanks on the mud, but nothing else on here today.

As we walked on towards the beach, we noticed some movement in the vegetation on the side of the path. A Willow Warbler flicked out. It started to fly off but then circled round and dropped back in to the spot it had just left in a seedy dock. This is not a place you would normally expect to find a Willow Warbler, so this was probably a migrant which had just arrived in off the sea, over from Scandinavia. Exhausted, it was trying to feed and was obviously reluctant to leave the plants where it had found something to eat.

Willow Warbler – an exhausted migrant probably fresh in off the sea

A little further on, a couple of Meadow Pipits were also looking for insects in the vegetation along the side of the path and flew off as we approached. We carried on out to the beach and had a quick look at the sea, which was mostly quiet apart from a single immature Gannet which flew past.

Having made our way back to the minibus, we drove back west to our last stop of the day at Stiffkey Fen. The permissive path is very overgrown at the moment, so we walked rather carefully down along the road to get to the footpath. The bushes down by the river were quiet, but there were lots of House Martins over the field.

When we got to the spot where the brambles are low enough to see over, we had a look across at the Fen. We could see lots of white shapes in amongst the hordes of geese – mostly Spoonbills, along with a good number of Little Egrets. We had a better view from up on the seawall, from where we could get a more accurate count – we could see at least 47 Spoonbills today, mostly doing what Spoonbills like to do best and sleeping! One or two were preening or bathing so we could see their distinctive spoon-shaped bills.

Spoonbills – at least 47 were roosting on the Fen over high tide today

It was high tide out in the harbour, which was why the Spoonbills had gathered here to roost. An impressive sight at this time of the year, they are birds which have dispersed from the breeding colony at Holkham, a mixture of adults and juveniles from this year’s breeding season.

There was a good selection of waders on the Fen too, also roosting over high tide. We counted at least 14 Greenshanks, half in a group on their own but half roosting with some of the Common Redshanks. There were lots of Black-tailed Godwits and a few Ruff, with several more of the former still flying in from the harbour while we were there. Scanning round the edge of the reeds we found 2-3 Green Sandpipers too.

The geese were mostly Greylags but there were several Canada Geese with them and at least one Greylag x Canada Goose hybrid! Looking carefully through the mass of ducks produced one rusty eclipse drake Wigeon, an early returning bird back for the winter from spending the breeding season in Russia.

We carried on round to the harbour to see if we could pick up any different waders round the shore, but despite it being midweek there were still lots of holiday makers here making the most of the lovely weather, swimming, sailing and walking out across the mud. There was a big flock of Oystercatchers right out in the middle of the harbour on a sandbank, and through the scope we could see about ten Bar-tailed Godwits with them. But there was nowhere else which was undisturbed enough for birds to roost.

It was time to head back. A Chiffchaff was calling in the hedge and in the sallows along the river we came across another tit flock, which gave some more opportunities to try to get Long-tailed Tit photos. It had been a great day – let’s hope for the same again tomorrow…

26th Aug 2019 – Summer Birding

A Private Tour today for guests over from the USA, so we were trying to see a good variety of as many different species as possible, common and less so. It was a glorious sunny day, in the middle of a short burst of hot weather, most unusual for a late August bank holiday, and producing record-breaking temperatures for the time of the year. We were pleased to find a light breeze on the coast which stopped it from being too hot, a lovely day to be out birding.

When we got to the beach car park at Wells, it was already filling up fast. We wanted to have a quick look in the woods before it got too busy. We stopped by the boating lake, where a (Great) Cormorant was fishing close to path. There were several Little Grebes scattered around the edges of the water along with the usual Mallard and Coot.

As we walked into the trees, we could hear Coal Tits high in the pines by the path and looked up to see two flitting around in the tops. We found a flock of tits further in, in the birches – Long-tailed Tits, Blue Tits and Great Tits, accommpanied by a few Chiffchaffs and a Blackcap, though the latter was rather skulking. We had good views of a Treecreeper and a couple of Goldcrests in the pines nearby. We could hear a couple of Jays calling further in but they moved off before we could track them down.

Treecreeper – we had good views of one in the pines

As we got back round to the main path it was already getting busy, so we headed back to the minibus. The car park was already completely full and the attendants were turning away cars now at the entrance.

Our next stop was just the other side of Wells. The pools here are drying up quickly in the hot weather, especially the areas close to the track. We could still see lots of Little Egrets in the deeper water over towards the back and one Spoonbill. We had a look at that through the scope, admiring its spoon-shaped bill, and a second Spoonbill appeared from behind the rushes nearby. A Grey Heron was standing on the dry mud on the edge of the water.

Spoonbill – there were two at Wells this morning

Walking on down the track, we started to find a few waders too. There were several Green Sandpipers on the pools, a few Common Snipe doing their best to hide behind the clumps of willowherb, and a single Greenshank. Three Curlew were standing out on the mud before flying off towards the saltmarsh, calling.

Despite the already increasing temperature, there were still a few smaller birds here too. A flock of Linnets as bathing in the shallow pools out in the middle and several Reed Buntings were in the bushes by the track. A Meadow Pipit flew over calling and dropped back into the grass. We could hear a Sedge Warbler calling from the reeds, and it eventually gave nice views in the top of one of the nearby bushes, showing off its bold pale supercilium.

We picked up a Sparrowhawk circling over Wells way off in the distance, but it was not a particularly good view. Thankfully a second Sparrowhawk then circled across over the fields much closer, accompanied with a Kestrel for comparison. They were mobbed by a large flock of hirundines, Swallows and House Martins, as they climbed in the sky and we picked up several Common Swifts circling higher up too. Many of the Swifts which spent the summer here have already left and it won’t be long now before they are pretty much all gone, on their way to Africa for the winter.

We headed further east along the coast to Kelling next. The hedges were fairly quiet as we walked down the lane, apart from a couple of Chiffchaffs calling, but when we got to the gate overlooking the Water Meadow a tit flock came noisily though the copse, several Long-tailed Tits pausing briefly on the corner before they headed quickly off up the track.

Long-tailed Tit – a flock came through the copse and up the lane

Scanning from the gate, the best we could find was a Pheasant hiding in the grass. But as we carried on up the track, we spotted a covey of Grey Partridges in the field the other side. Several juveniles appeared out of the tall vegetation first, followed by two greyer adults, and they all scuttled off up the hill and disappeared back into the weeds. It is always a treat to see our native British partridge, as the population has declined markedly in recent years, and good to see that they have bred successfully here this summer.

There were two Mute Swans on the Water Meadow pool, along with several Black-headed Gulls. A pair of Egyptian Geese were asleep in the grass and a flock of Starlings was busy bathing in the shallow water on one edge. Looking across the Quags the other side, we noticed a large gathering of Swallows flying round hawking for insects behind the beach.

Further along the track, we spotted several chats on the barbed wire fence on the hillside which on closer inspection turned out to be at least three Whinchats. One was much closer than the others and we had a good look at it through the scope, with its well marked pale supercilium and peachy-orange coloured breast. It kept dropping down to the short grass in the field below, looking for insects. Whinchats are just passage migrants here, stopping off on their way south, probably from Scandinavia. There were one or two Linnets along the fence line too.

Whinchat – there were at least three on the fence

It was time for lunch now, so we made our way back up the lane to the minibus, and headed round to the visitor centre at Cley where we made good use of one of the picnic tables. It was lovely weather to be sitting out, looking across the marshes. A Kestrel was hovering over the grass just beyond the road and a Marsh Harrier flew across and turned inland over the fields, presumably looking for food in the stubbles, where the crops have been newly harvested. A Wood Sandpiper was just about visible on Pat’s Pool from here, but there was a little too much heat haze.

There would be a much better view of the scrapes from the hides, so after lunch we made our way down to Bishop Hide. As we walked through the reeds, a movement caught our eye at the back of the small pool next to the path. We stopped and looked and after a couple of minutes the Water Rail reappeared. We watched it feeding in and out of the base of the reeds along the back edge, a great view of this often very secretive species.

Water Rail – feeding on the pool by the path out to Bishop Hide

There were two Wood Sandpipers feeding right down at the front of the scrape, not far from the hide, a much better view than the one we had seen distantly over lunch.We could see the pale-spangled upperparts and pale supercilium. There were more Wood Sandpipers further back too – we counted at least eight on Pat’s Pool this afternoon.

Wood Sandpiper – there were two in front of Bishop Hide

There were lots of other waders here as well, mostly Ruff and Black-tailed Godwit. We managed to pick out a couple of Bar-tailed Godwits and a few Knot too. A juvenile Curlew Sandpiper was feeding with a few Dunlin over towards the back and a single Ringed Plover was in the far corner.

The scrape was liberally scattered with Black-headed Gulls too, with many of them asleep on the short grass on the edge of the islands. Looking through them carefully, we managed to find a single Mediterranean Gull in amongst them. It was an immature in its second calendar year, moulting from 1st summer to 2nd winter, and still with black wing tips. Its more extensive black bandit mask and heavier dark bill set it apart from its commoner brethren.

We headed round to Dauke’s Hide next, where we found four Avocets still lingering on Simmond’s Scrape, what looked to be a family party of three browner juveniles and an adult. One of the juveniles came feeding down in front of the hide, sweeping its not yet fully grown bill from side to side through the shallow mud.

Avocet – one of the juveniles, feeding in front of Dauke’s Hide

From one side of Dauke’s Hide, we could see a couple of Green Sandpipers on Whitwell Scrape, with one right down at the front. We watched it feeding in the water by the short reeds. We raced round to Avocet Hide hoping to get it out in the open as it worked its way round, but just at that moment a second Green Sandpiper flew in and chased it off.

Green Sandpiper – feeding at the front of Whitwell Scrape

Looking out of the other side of Dauke’s Hide, across to Pat’s Pool, we had a better view of the Curlew Sandpiper from here. There had been a Little Stint this morning too, on Simmond’s, but we couldn’t find it now. We realised why – it was feeding along the back edge of Pat’s Pool, not visible from where we had been earlier in Bishop Hide. It was clearly very small, with a noticeably much shorter bill than the Curlew Sandpiper and Dunlin.

There were a couple of Reed Warblers and several Bearded Tits in the reeds at the back of Pat’s Pool too, but they were hard to see as they kept disappearing into the vegetation. Having seen everything we hoped to find here, we decided to head back to the Visitor Centre and drive round to the East Bank. A Turnstone flew overhead calling as we made our way along the boardwalk.

We parked at Walsey Hills. There was a lone Common Pochard still on Snipes Marsh, along with a Little Grebe. The Common Pochard bred here this year, raising at least a couple of broods, so this was probably the last of the lingering youngsters from the summer.

Walking out along the East Bank, the breeze had picked up a bit. The reeds were fairly quiet – we heard a brief bout of pinging from some Bearded Tits but they kept well hidden. Looking out across the grazing marshes the other side, we could see a large gathering of Curlew tucked down in the long grass. A Green Sandpiper flew up from one of the pools.

There were a few ducks on the Serpentine, mainly Teal and Shoveler, but including also at least five Wigeon, early returning birds back from Russia already for the winter. Four Canada Geese were in with all the Greylags out on the grass.

Out at Arnold’s Marsh, a single adult Great Black-backed Gull was standing in with the loafing Cormorants on the small island towards the back. There were more Curlews over in the far corner, and several Redshanks, but no sign of any of the terns which had been reported here this morning. We carried on out to the beach for a quick look at the sea – you can’t come all this way and not see the sea – but there was nothing of note on the water and no sign of birds moving offshore this afternoon either.

It was time to head back now, so we turned and walked back along the East Bank listening to the rustling of the reeds. It had been a lovely day out birding along the coast.