8th March 2024 – Winter & Brecks, Day 1

Day 1 of a 3-day Winter & Brecks tour today. After a grey start, it brightened up nicely by mid-morning and we had some good sunny spells before it clouded over again later in the afternoon. It was cold in the nagging E wind, but warmer in the sunshine when you go out of it. We spent most of the day down in the Brecks.

There had been a Rustic Bunting found yesterday at Helhoughton and with early news that it was still there this morning, and with it being almost on our way down to the Brecks, we decided to call in there first. There were quite a few cars parked along the verge already by the time we arrived but we found somewhere to pull off the road not far from the crowd. As we got out, we could see they were all watching something so we hurried down. The Rustic Bunting was perched in the top of the hedge along one side of the field so we got the scope on it quickly. Most of the group got a look at it through the scope before all the birds too off and the Rustic Bunting was lost in the flock as some flew off across the road and others dropped down out of view into the tall vegetation in the wild bird seed mix strip where the birds were all feeding.

We waited a while to see if it might come back up again. There had been a nice mixed flock of Redpoll here too yesterday, and having heard one flying over when we got out of the minibus, we hoped there might still be some around today. There are lots of Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings feeding in the field here and from time to time one or two would perch on one of the hedges so we could get a good look at them in the scopes. There were a few Chaffinches and Goldfinches too, but it gradually became clear that the Redpolls were not around. There was no further sign of the Rustic Bunting, but it did disappear at times for several hours yesterday. A Kestrel was hovering further back and a few Common Buzzards and a Red Kite appeared over the trees beyond. With the sun looking like it might be starting to break through, we decided to move on.

We drove on down into Thetford Forest and over over to the usual spot on the high ground looking over the trees to scan for Goshawks. We were here a bit earlier than we would normally, but we had an idea it might get busy today and with some sunshine for the first time in a couple of days we thought we might get lucky with some early activity. There were several Common Buzzards up when we arrived, including a strikingly pale one, and a Red Kite low above the trees.

We didn’t have to wait too long before we picked up a distant Goshawk circling. We got it in the scope and as it turned and caught the sun, we could see its very pale underparts and silvery grey upperparts. A good start. Not long after, another Goshawk came up out of the trees much closer to us but it was flying with the wind and, hugging the tops, it was carried quickly west. Down in the corner, it paused to chase in and out of the trees flushing all the Woodpigeons, before continuing on and out of view.

Goshawk – flew across

A couple of Lapwings were displaying over the field behind us and a Mistle Thrush perched in the very top of a spruce in the sunshine. Several Skylarks were singing and one fluttered up into the sky in front of us. We heard a Woodlark call too and turned to see it hanging in the air behind us before it was carried by the wind quickly away. After a while, the Goshawk we had seen earlier, chasing pigeons, flew back in. It cut the corner, across the edge of the field, and flying into the wind now it was making much slower progress which made it easier to get on. We had a good view now as it flew across over the trees in front of us, before dropping back in.

We waited a little longer and another hawk flew up out of the trees. It was clearly darker and came up with a couple of bursts of rapid flapping before it started to circle, a female Sparrowhawk and nice to contrast it with the Goshawks we had just been watching. Even better, it stooped at a nearby Common Buzzard a couple of times so we could see just how much smaller it was – otherwise it is very hard to judge the size properly of a lone object in an empty sky.

More cars had arrived and it was getting busy here now. The raptors seemed to go a little quiet too – the Common Buzzards mostly dropped back into the trees. Even though it was sunny, there was a distinct chill to the easterly wind and the air wasn’t really warming up. We had already enjoyed good views of the Goshawks so we decided to move on and go for a walk elsewhere, so we could warm up a little!

We drove deeper into the Forest. Several cars were parked at the head of a ride, and we found somewhere to pull off the road too. As we walked in, the sun was out and it was sheltered in the trees, but as we got out into the clearing and turned into the wind it felt very cold. Scanning the trees, there was no immediate sign of the Great Grey Shrike we had come hoping to see. We walked down a little further, where someone was standing on the track with a scope, and he told us that apparently it had been here about ten minutes ago, so we figured it had to still be here somewhere.

We continued to scan and it wasn’t long before one of the group spotted the Great Grey Shrike fly up into one of the trees. We had nice views through the scopes now, closer than it had been on our previous visits. Several times we watched it drop down and come back up with beetles which it quickly devoured.

Great Grey Shrike – in the clearing

We had heard a brief snatch of quiet song from a Woodlark when we arrived, but they were fairly quiet in the cold today. Now a pair of Woodlarks flew up and across in front of the Shrike, before dropping down on the path ahead of us. We watched them feeding on the edges of the track and walking across from side to side.

Woodlark – by the path

A pair of Stonechats perched up on some tall dead mullein stems in front of us too. When the shrike flew off further back, we were just packing up to leave when we noticed a Goshawk circling up in the distance. It was then joined by a second Goshawk, the male and female circling together. They kept low, repeatedly disappearing behind the tops of the trees, but they were mostly in view on and off for about fifteen minutes before we eventually lost sight of them. It was definitely time to head off and get some lunch now.

Stonechat – perched up

We drove over to Lynford and made good use of the picnic tables in the sunshine, sheltered from the wind by the surrounding trees. After lunch, we walked across the road to the Arboretum and down to the gate. There were lots of birds feeding down on the ground, some very smart Yellowhammers and lots of Chaffinches, with Nuthatch, Coal Tit and Marsh Tit all darted in and out. A Jay dropped down and started gulping down peanuts.

Yellowhammer – one of several

A few Siskins came down to drink in the small pond. A Great Spotted Woodpecker appeared on a tree trunk at the back and we had nice views of a Stock Dove with a Woodpigeon just behind the pond. There were no Bramblings at first, but after a while they started to drop down. Several duller females at first, then a few males with their brighter orange shoulders. One or two of the males are sporting very black heads now.

Stock Dove – with Woodpigeon

It was a bit of a wait today but eventually a Hawfinch appeared at the back, a female, which we got in the scope. It didn’t stay long though, and flew back up into the trees and disappeared. We waited, but there didn’t seem to be too much Hawfinch activity now- it was early afternoon, and we started to wonder whether they might have gone off already to gather pre-roost, although it was still a bit early even for them. Finally a male Hawfinch appeared at the back, and even though it too spooked and flew back up this time it quickly came down again, and was then joined by a slightly closer female. They stayed a bit longer now, allowing us better prolonged views.

Hawfinch – the male

When the Hawfinches flew up again, we moved on and walked down to the bridge. There were a few tits coming and going form the feeders, and we had nice close views of a Marsh Tit. There were more Siskins feeding in the alders overhead. Scanning the tops of the poplars, we found two Common Crossbills in the branches, a smart red male and a greener female, and we had a good view of their distinctive crossed bills in the scope before they dropped down through the branches to drink.

Common Crossbill – the male

We had already enjoyed good views of Hawfinches up at the gate, so we were not particularly concerned when a quick scan of the trees in the paddocks from the corner appeared fairly quiet, so we decided not to walk on round. Two of the group did walk along a bit further, so as we were planning to walk back now, we went up to collect them. We had heard Fieldfares calling as we arrived at the bridge, and when we looked back at the tops of the poplars, two were perched now in up in the trees.

The sun had gone in by the time we walked back up, and there was a distinct chill still to the easterly wind. We cut in through the Arboretum, thinking it might be sheltered, but it was cold in the trees now and very quiet. We admired the selection of fir trees as we walked round and back at the car park, there was a bit more activity. A few Coal Tits and Blue Tits were chasing round through the trees in the picnic area and two Goldcrests were feeding in the top of one of the pines.

There was time for one last stop on our way back, so we drove over to an area of farmland with a small field planted with a wild bird seed mix. It was cold and grey now and there was no sign of any Tree Sparrows at first. We scanned their favourite bushes but they were particularly exposed to the wind, and we wondered whether some might be hiding deep in the brambles and blackthorn. There were birds flying in and out of the crop, and a few perched in the trees at the back, mainly Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings, which were joined by a small flock of Linnets. We were about to leave when several Tree Sparrows appeared in the bushes, though through the scope we could still just see them tucked in tight at first. After a minute or so they flew out, five of them, across the field, but then turned and landed on top of the hedge now. After a good look through the scope, they disappeared back in.

Tree Sparrows – in the hedge

We were getting cold now, so it was time to head back for tea and cake. We had another day to look forward to and more excitement tomorrow.

23rd Feb 2024 – Winter & Brecks, Day 3

Day 3 of a 3-day Winter & Brecks tour in Norfolk. With better weather forecast, we were heading down to the Brecks today and it was even better than expected, with some nice sunny (sun!) spells, even if there was a bit more of a chill today when out in the fresh breeze at times.

It was a slow drive down this morning and we were later than expected arriving at Lynford Arboretum. There had been some Hawfinches around first thing, so we went straight over to see if we could find them. We were disappointed to discover first that there was no food out from the gate, at least on the ‘public’ side of the green plastic sheet which is still hung across the tree tunnel. There were very few birds dropping down our side, just a single Yellowhammer, and a brief Brambling which didn’t even descend from the trees.

We decided to try down at the paddocks, so walked down to the bridge. The feeders looked empty here too and although someone had just sprinkled some food on the pillars there were just a few Blue Tits and Great Tits coming in so far. Continuing on, we scanned from the track along the side of the paddocks and couldn’t see anything in the hornbeams. Someone else there told us that there had still been five Hawfinches an hour earlier, but they had flown off towards the Arboretum.

It seemed like the best idea would be to head elsewhere and try again here later, so we walked back up towards the car park. We were not back to the gate when we looked up to see two Common Cranes circling low over our heads and we watched them as they drifted slowly away east. A real surprise to see them here and a very nice bonus. Presumably they had circled up in response to the sunshine, and with a couple of Common Buzzards up now too, we decided to head straight off and see if the Goshawks were coming up already too.

Common Cranes – circled over

We drove over to the usual spot on the high ground looking over the forest and when we arrived and got out there were lots of Common Buzzards circling up already. We counted at least twelve in the air at the same time at one point. There was a good breeze blowing, which usually stimulates raptor activity and a couple of Red Kites were chasing each other round in circles further back too.

We didn’t have to wait very long before a Goshawk appeared. It was rather distant, but it circled up and started to display, slow flapping with exaggerated deep wingbeats. We got it in the scope before it slowly drifted back over the trees and was lost to view. Then an adult male Goshawk appeared much closer, circling up quickly before starting to display too. After a bout of slow flapping it broke into full on rollercoaster display, descending in a series of dramatic swoops and climbs before folding its wings and plummeting back into the trees.

There were one or two more browner juvenile Goshawks which then appeared further back, and started to display too, slow flapping again. We managed to get those in the scope too. Then it seemed to go quiet for a bit, and even the Common Buzzards appeared mostly to disappear back into the trees too. With several more things to try to do today, we decided to move on.

Acting on a tip-off, we headed off deeper into the forest, parking at the head of a ride and walking in through the pines. As the trees started to thin out, we could hear a Woodlark singing ahead and as we came out into a large clearing we could hear a Stonechat singing too. Scanning the standing trees which had been left in the clearing, we quickly found what we had come here to look for, a Great Grey Shrike was perched half way up in the branches. We got it in the scope and watched it as it swooped out a couple of times after prey, then it flew out and we lost sight of it.

Woodlark – in the grass

We were planning to walk on along the track through the clearing to see if we could locate the Woodlark, which had now stopped singing, but before we could one flew in and landed on the edge of the track not far in front of us. We got it in the scope, but it kept disappearing into the taller grass, before emerging again in a different place. Eventually we had some very good views.

We found the Stonechats out in the clearing now, a pair of them which showed typically well, perching up on the tufts of vegetation. A bright male Yellowhammer flew up and landed in one of the trees, before dropping down into the grass again. A Common Buzzard was in one of the trees too. The Great Grey Shrike then reappeared, closer to us now, perching on some old tree stumps a little closer to us.

Great Grey Shrike – perching on the stumps

The Woodlark started singing again, and we looked across to see it perched half way up one of the trees. It was much easier to see now and everyone had a chance to get a really good look at it in the scope. A pair of Lesser Redpoll dropped down into the vegetation in front of us too, before flying up and one of them landing on a branch over the track.

It was time for lunch, so we walked back along the track to the minibus and drove back to Lynford Arboretum. The sun was out and it was nice to be able to eat outside today, making use of the the picnic tables in the car park, very different from the last couple of days.

After lunch, we walked back over to the Arboretum. The Hawfinches had apparently been seen from the gate again, but as we walked up, the person standing there had not seen them. We could hear Hawfinches calling now, from somewhere in the trees above us. We walked up towards the orchard gate, to see if we could look back and find them, but before we got there three Hawfinches flew out of the trees and we watched them disappearing off towards the paddocks. There was just a Goldcrest left feeding in the blackthorn blossom now. We headed down to see if we could find them there.

There was more food in some of the feeders now and more birds coming in and out, so while we went to scan the paddocks from the start of the lakeside path, the rest of the group stopped to watch the feeders. It didn’t take long though to find the Hawfinches feeding on the ground below the first hornbeam, along with a small flock of Chaffinches and a couple of Bramblings, so we called everyone over to see them in the scope. The Highland Cattle have not been grazing in the paddocks this winter so the grass is longer than usual and the birds are harder to see as a result. Before everyone could see the Hawfinches, all the birds spooked and flew up.

We couldn’t see the Hawfinches in the hornbeam above now and looking further down the paddocks we realised they had flown on down to the ash trees and were perched more distantly in the tops. Everyone had a quick look through the scope, but we were looking into the sun from here, so we walked back to the track which runs along the side of the paddocks and down to see if we could get a better look.

When we arrived at the gap in the hedge opposite the ash trees, there was no sign of the Hawfinches but scanning the branches we found a female Common Crossbill picking at the end of one of the twigs instead. Through the scope we could see its distinctive crossed mandibles, before it dropped down out of view. A nice bonus, as they have been more elusive here in recent weeks.

Hawfinch – perched in the sunshine

The Hawfinches were back feeding down under the first hornbeam, so we got the scope on them again. We could see a huge head and bill come up out of the grass from time to time. We were hoping to get them perched in the trees, and we didn’t have to wait too long before all the finches spooked again and a female Hawfinch flew across and landed in the middle hornbeam straight in front of us. We had a much better view now as it clambered around in the branches higher up and then dropped down to the bushes lower down and perched facing us in the sunshine.

Nuthatch – at the feeders

When the Hawfinches dropped down into the grass again, we walked back to the bridge. Two Nuthatches were coming in and out, grabbing a nut from the feeders and taking it back up into the trees beyond. After a while, the Marsh Tit reappeared too and we finally had good views of it as it came in a couple of times and landed on the ground below the feeders where some food had been spread.

Marsh Tit – flew in

We were planning to walk down round the lake to see if we could find the Siskins, but several flew in and landed in the alders above the bridge now. We had some nice looks at them, before they moved off through the trees on the edge of the water. A Little Grebe laughed at us from somewhere deep in the reeds.

We had one last stop planned for this afternoon, so we made our way back to the minibus and drove over to an area of farmland with a small field planted with wild bird seed mix. As we got out of the bus, we could see large numbers of Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings flying in and out of the crop, perching in the tops of the trees along one side.

Tree Sparrows – in the hedge

Scanning up along the hedge the other side, we could see the birds we were hoping to see here, a small group of Tree Sparrows. They were coming and going from the crop and disappearing into the thick brambles and blackthorn, but we counted a minimum of 11 in view together at one point. This is a species which has declined dramatically in southern Britain in recent years, and there are very few places you can see them here now, so it is always to catch up with them, and particularly to see a reasonable number rather than just ones or twos.

It was time to head back for tea and cake. It had been a great day down in the Brecks and although the weather had been challenging at times the previous two days, everyone had enjoyed a very good time in Norfolk and we had managed to see some good birds.

18th Feb 2024 – Brecks Tour

A single-day Tour down in the Brecks and Thetford Forest today. The weather forecasters couldn’t decide in the last few days whether the overnight rain would linger. Unfortunately it did! Thankfully we could keep track of its progress on rainfall radar and could see that it should clear through by around 12pm, which it also did on cue. It brightened up in the afternoon and we made the most of the dry weather, seeing all the birds we had hoped to see and more.

We met in the car park at Lynford Arboretum. Given the rain, we figured we would concentrate on the birds here first this morning, which we could probably still see more easily in the rain, and concentrate on some of the other species which required better weather in the afternoon.

We walked into the Arboretum and down to the gate. All the birds had been spooked from the ground when we arrived, so we stopped to wait for them to come back down. We hadn’t been there more than a minute when a Hawfinch flew in and landed high in the trees above our heads. We looked up and could see that it was a female, but we were looking straight into the rain. It was chased by a Chaffinch, and both flew out towards the orchard, so we walked up to see if we could find them in the trees there. The birds normally like to perch here in the early morning sunshine but it was not the weather for them today!

We looked up to see a flock of birds flying in, more Hawfinches, around fifteen of them! They started to land in the top of one of the trees, but flew out again and disappeared off into the arboretum. We walked across to the folly and scanned the tops of trees there but there was no sign of them, so we figured they had gone on down to the paddocks. As we walked down the main path a couple of Song Thrushes were singing, one perched right up against the sky in the trees by the path.

Down at the bridge, there were lots of tits coming in to the feeders including a Marsh Tit which darted in to the bushes briefly. We could see Hawfinches in the first hornbeam in the paddocks beyond, so we walked on along the path to the gate and got the scope on them. Three were perched right in the top but flew across to the trees further along before we all got a look at them. Thankfully, there were still several lower down, so we turned the scope onto them. Despite the rain, we had a really good look at them now.

Hawfinch – library picture

When those Hawfinches dropped down through the branches, we walked on to the next gap in the hedge to see if there were any perched up in the other trees. We couldn’t see any from here but there were several Redwings in the top of the ashes now. A Great Spotted Woodpecker flew in and landed on the dead trunk at the top of one of the trees.

Looking back to the first hornbeam, we could see the Hawfinches feeding on the ground below the tree now. The highland cattle have not been grazing in the paddocks this winter so the grass is a little longer, but still we had a good look at them on the ground. When they flew back up into the tree above, we counted at least seven perched in the branches. We could see their distinctive vertical perching stance, all head and massive bill and short tail.

We continued on along to the far corner of the paddock, flushing lots of tits which were feeding down in the short grass by the path at the end. A Treecreeper flew across over our heads and landed low in a nearby tree, where we watched it climbing up the trunk. We decided to walk back round the far side to have a look at the lake. There were still several Redwings in the trees in the paddocks and others flying across and up into the fir trees along the west side.

There were three or four Siskins in the alders as we started to walk round the lake, with one coming down onto the ground just ahead of us to feed. The resident pair of Canada Geese swam over to see if we had any food for them and a couple of Gadwall were out on the water with the Mallard. Further along, we turned the scope on the ground under the first hornbeam again where we could see the Hawfinches were still feeding along with several Chaffinches. We were a bit closer from here and it was a good view of them alongside their much smaller cousins.

The Little Grebes were laughing at us from the reeds behind – we were just about the only people mad enough to be out this morning! We hadn’t seen any sign of the large flock of Siskins as we walked round the lake but a succession small groups flew in now and landed in the alders the other side of the lake. We could hear them chattering away. Another Great Spotted Woodpecker flew up from the feeders into the trees behind as we got back to the bridge. We could hear a Nuthatch piping but it didn’t come in.

Yellowhammer – from the gate

We walked back up to the gate, and there were lots of birds feeding on the ground now so we stopped to watch. Several Yellowhammers dropped down, including a particularly bright yellow-headed male, and a selection of Bramblings. A Nuthatch dropped down onto the ground too, and a couple of Coal Tits. There was no sign of any Hawfinches coming down to feed here today, though we could not tell whether they might have been hidden behind the green plastic sheet which has been strung across between the gate and the hide. They seem to have been coming down less often since the sheet has been put up, so hopefully it is not putting them off coming in to feed here now.

It was still raining and we had all got quite damp on our walk round. Two of the group, who didn’t have waterproofs, decided they would call it a day and the rest of us decamped to the Shepherd’s Baa for a hot drink under the shelter. We checked the rainfall radar again and it still looked as though the rain was on track to clear through by midday. It was already mid morning, so we thought we would head round to Santon Downham next and then be ready to go looking for Goshawks once the weather improved.

We stopped on the way to look for Woodlarks. The most we were hoping for at this stage was to find some feeding on the ground and the first place we tried was very wet and birdless. As we walked into the next clearing, two Woodlarks flew up from the grass ahead of us but disappeared off over the trees. We thought we might have to settle for that, but then a third Woodlark fluttered up and started singing. We watched it circling round over the clearing, rounded wings and short tail a bit like a butterfly. Either one of the first two or perhaps even a fourth individual appeared over the clearing further down and started singing too. It was great to just stand and listen to them – although sounding slightly melancholy, the song of Woodlarks over the forest clearings early in the year is a wonderful sound and a real herald that spring is on its way.

The closer Woodlark dropped down onto the ground. We scanned the grass and had just found it in a small dip when it flew up again. The rain was just starting to ease and there was even a hint of the sun behind the clouds as it towered up high over our heads. We had a look further down the path, but there was no sign of the other Woodlarks on the ground here, so we decided to move on.

We parked in the Forestry Commission car park at Santon Downham and as we got out of the minibus, a Sparrowhawk flew over – a good sign that the weather was improving. As we walked back down to the bridge, there weren’t so many birds in the gardens now and most of the Siskins were up in the tops of the trees. Someone was just filling up the feeders down by the river. There had been some Crossbills down along the river bank in recent days, although only the first section of the path is passable at the moment and the river has flooded over the bank further down, and two other birders we passed also told us they had seen some redpolls along here so we thought it was a good place to try.

It was rather damp down by the river, both underfoot and with the water still dripping off the trees. Three Mute Swans were enjoying all the water and a pair of Egyptian Geese flew past over the other side of the river, calling noisily. There were a few Siskins in the sallows but no sign of any crossbills or redpolls now. A Marsh Tit showed nicely in the branches over the path ahead of us. When we got to the end of the raised section of the path, we turned to come back. A lone drake Mandarin zipped past us through the trees.

Siskin – library picture

Back towards the bridge, three Lesser Redpolls dropped in to a small willow on the other bank, including a smart red-breasted male. Another dropped down onto the feeder briefly, but had gone by the time we got the scope on it and had to make do with a very smart green and gold male Siskin instead. As we walked back over the bridge, several birds were perched in the trees above the gardens now. We got the scope on three Redpolls and noticed that one which was back on to us, preening, had a distinctive dark-streaked pale rump – a Mealy Redpoll! It dropped down towards the garden but there was no sign of it on the feeders when we walked up and just a succession of more Lesser Redpolls dropped in. As we walked on back to the car park, a Goldcrest was singing and flitting around in a fir tree next to the road.

The forecast was still suggesting the sun might break through around 2pm, so although it was still rather grey now, we decided to head off to try our luck with Goshawks while we ate lunch. As we drove past, several flocks of Fieldfares came up out of the fields. When we got to the usual spot on the high ground looking over the forest the wind had picked up a bit and there were some patches of bright sky, which looked more promising. Several Common Buzzards were already up above the trees along with a single Red Kite, and we hadn’t been scanning more than a couple of minutes before we picked up a very distant Goshawk displaying away to the NW.

We barely had a chance to enjoy our sandwiches today, as it was all action from now on. A big adult female Goshawk flew low along the front edge of the trees in front of us before circling up and starting to display, flying back the other way with very deep, exaggerated wingbeats. Silvery grey above and white below, at times when it stopped to circle we had some good views through the scope.

Goshawk – displaying

Then a browner juvenile Goshawk with orange-tinged streaked underparts appeared from the right and started displaying too. As it flew in towards where the adult female was still displaying, she headed straight towards it and the juvenile appeared to back off, moving back off to the right while the female then turned back to left and resumed what she had been doing. The juvenile hadn’t learnt its lesson though and after a minute or so flew back in towards the adult. This time the female set off in pursuit, chasing off after the juvenile and pursuing it off away over the trees.

Having seen off the juvenile, the adult female Goshawk flew back in low and dropped down into the trees. We could still see the juvenile displaying in the distance away to the NE and now it brought up another adult from the next territory over, which started displaying too. At least four different Goshawks up and displaying in the space of 45 minutes while we were trying to eat our lunch! A Woodlark flew over singing too and a pair of Stonechats were on the fence by the road next to where we were parked.

Stonechat – next to the parking area

Once we had finished eating, we decided to move on. We stopped again by a small field planted with a wild bird seed mix and as we pulled up we could see lots of Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings in the bushes across the road. From the edge of the field, we looked up along the hedge and quickly found one or two Tree Sparrows in the brambles which we got in the scope. A couple more appeared briefly on the bushes further up, but they were mostly keeping to the vegetation today.

Tree Sparrow – in the hedge

We would normally head back to Lynford around the time, to be sure of catching the Hawfinches, but after having seen them this morning, albeit in the rain, we decided to try something else. We headed back to the area we had seen the Common Crossbill perched last week and this time walked in along a different ride, straight along the line of firs where we thought it had probably been. We hadn’t gone very far in when we heard Crossbills calling and looked up to see a small flock fly out of the tops of the firs and across the ride above us. They disappeared over the pines the other side but thankfully flew back over and landed in the tops of the firs.

Crossbills – landed in the top of the firs

We got the scope on the Crossbills now, perched very obligingly in the top of a tree. There were several bright red males higher up and a few greener females lower down, and through the scope we could see their distinctive crossed mandible tips which they use for prying open fir cones. They weren’t feeding now though, or certainly the ones perched in the top were not. We couldn’t see all the flock though, and when they eventually took off again we counted thirteen in the group. They disappeared back into the block of firs from where they had first come and we could see them perched in the top of one tree further in briefly before they dropped down out of view.

Crossbills – nice views

Now we did make our way back to Lynford. Not surprisingly, there were a lot more cars in the car park than there had been this morning, now that the weather had improved. We walked in to the Arboretum and down to the gate. It was nicer standing here now that it was not raining and we spent a bit more time admiring the Bramblings, noting the variation in the males, some with much blacker heads already than others.

Brambling – a male

There were even more Yellowhammers coming down now, with at least ten on the ground together at one point. A Treecreeper appeared in one the dead trees very close to where we were standing.

Treecreeper – in the tree next to the gate

There was still no sign of any Hawfinches up at the gate, so we walked back down to the paddocks to see if they were there. They had apparently been in the hornbeams still earlier in the afternoon, but we were probably just too late and there was no sign of them when we arrived. They do have a habit of going off to roost early, so we were not entirely surprised. We checked the tops of the fir trees at the back, but there was no sign of them there either. There were a few Chaffinches and a couple of Bramblings in the hornbeams, and a couple of Mistle Thrushes flew in and landed in the top of one of the trees, a nice last addition to the day’s list.

Then it was time to call it a day and head back to the car park. It may have been a very wet start today, but despite that we had enjoyed a very successful day down in the Brecks and seen all the birds we had set out to find and more.

11th Feb 2024 – Brecks Tour

A single-day Tour down in the Brecks and Thetford Forest today. After heavy rain overnight again, it was a rather cloudy day but thankfully it remained dry and we did even have some brief sunny spells during the morning.

We met this morning in the car park at Lynford Arboretum. A few Hawfinches have been coming down to feed in front of the gate there in recent days, so we walked over the road to have a look first. Despite the new green plastic sheet strung across the tree tunnel behind the pond, obscuring the view, we could still see there were plenty of birds coming down to the seed – including at least 20 Bramblings, with some of the males already starting to get their summer black heads, several Yellowhammers and a couple of Nuthatches. We stood and watched the comings and goings for a while, admiring the variation in the Bramblings and listening for any sign of the Hawfinches in the trees above.

Bramblings – down to feed

The clouds appeared to be breaking and a few rays of morning sunshine broke through. We walked a bit further down to see if there were any birds sunning themselves in the tops of the trees. At first, we could just see several of the Bramblings up in the branches but we didn’t have to wait too long before a Hawfinch flew in and landed above them, followed by a second which dropped in a little lower down. We were looking into the sun from here, so we moved a bit further still and looked back, where we had a much better view. They were two female Hawfinches, rather grey-brown with a less extensive black mask and bib. After a while, they dropped down through the branches – a good start to get them under our belts first thing. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was calling from the top of a tree in the Arboretum.

Hawfinch – a female

We decided to try to make the most of the morning brightness to see if we could find any Woodlarks singing. It was a short drive round to a nearby clearing. As we walked in through the trees, a large group of Redwings was chattering and singing further down and from the other side we could see several of them perched in the bare branches. A Song Thrush was singing above us too.

As we walked along the track around the edge of the clearing, a pair of Woodlarks flew up from the middle. One dropped down again over the far side but the second landed on a side branch of a tall tree stump which had been left nearby. We got it in the scope and could see its well marked supercilium. When it dropped down to the ground, we walked on a bit, stopping again for another look when if flew back up. It dropped down again and we continued on to the track through the middle of the clearing. We thought we might be able to find the Woodlarks on the ground from there, but they are so well camouflaged and they had probably moved considerably now from where we saw them drop. Despite the rays of sunshine through the clouds, the male was not really singing this morning and only when we were just about to leave did we hear it start to sing quietly from somewhere further back.

We made our way out onto another track which led back to the road and as we walked along we kept scanning the trees. We hadn’t gone far when this paid off in the shape of a male Common Crossbill perched in the very top of a fir tree. We got it in the scope, but unfortunately it dropped down before everyone had a chance for a closer look.

Continuing on, we had a brief glimpse of a pale raptor through the trees back beyond where we had parked and when we got back to the minibus we looked across to see an adult male Goshawk flying over. It turned and flew back the other way, then turned away again, although only very briefly did it engage in any display – just a quick burst of slow flapping – before it disappeared back over the trees beyond. We were planning to head off elsewhere to look for Goshawks now, thinking there might be some activity as the sun broke through the clouds, but it was nice to see one here already.

A Marsh Tit appeared in the bushes just across the road from where we were parked and, as we were just about to get back into the minibus, a Woodlark started singing a little further up the road. We walked up to listen to its slightly melancholy song, such a typical sound of late winter/early spring in the forest clearings here, and it came fluttering high over over the road and over our heads.

Woodlark – singing

Sticking to plan A, we drove north to see if we could see any more Goshawks but quickly found ourselves heading back into thicker cloud. On the way, we pulled up to scan an overgrown field which was full of Fieldfares, along with a few Redwings, Chaffinches and Skylarks and a couple of Red-legged Partridges. When we got to the usual spot on the high ground looking over the forest it was very grey and felt rather cold as we got out of the minibus, not ideal conditions for displaying Goshawks.

We didn’t have to wait long before all the Woodpigeons erupted from the trees away to our left and we looked across to see a large female Goshawk flying out over the fields. It flew up through the belt of pines the other side, sending more Woodpigeons scattering, before it came out above the trees. It was rather brown and streaked below, a juvenile from last year. Then it dropped down into the trees and disappeared.

There were several Common Buzzards which circled up above the trees and one or two came right over where we were standing. A Red Kite drifted over the field away to our right and then another four Red Kites circled over the trees off to our left. The bigger surprise was three Marsh Harriers which circled up together with a Common Buzzard, before drifting off NE, not a regular bird to see here.

When all the pigeons started to come up out of the trees to our right, another Goshawk appeared briefly flying through the tops, before dropping away from us and out of view. Then the juvenile female we had seen earlier came up again from the pines behind us and circled up, lingering in the same place long enough for us to get it in the scopes this time. With the stubborn cloud, it seemed unlikely the Goshawks would be displaying today, so we decided to move on before we got too cold.

We stopped again by a small field planted with a wild bird seed mix. As we got out of the minibus, several Reed Buntings were perched in the hedge and small groups of Yellowhammers flew in and out of the crop. From the edge of the field, we looked up along the hedge and could see a few Tree Sparrows perched in the brambles. The more we stood and watched, the more appeared – at one point we counted up to twenty Tree Sparrows in the same view. A sadly very scarce and declining species here these days, it was a real treat to watch them.

Tree Sparrow – sadly very scarce now

It was just about lunchtime now, so we drove south again, down to Brandon Country Park, to make use of the facilities there. As we ate on the picnic tables, several Coal Tits came in and out of the feeders. A Brambling perched in the top of the taller trees behind the cafe briefly and a Sparrowhawk flew over, before folding its wings back and plummeting dramatically down into the forest just behind the car park.

After lunch, we had a quick look at the small lake. As expected at this time of year, there were several Mandarins on the water. We counted at least five drakes and two females, though there were probably more hiding in the reeds. A Moorhen was lurking on the edge of the vegetation. We had a quick scan of the trees around the lake, but there was very little activity here, so we decided to move on.

Mandarin – a gaudy drake

Our next destination was Santon Downham, where we parked in the Forestry Commission car park. A Treecreeper was singing in the trees as we got out of the minibus and several Redwings were perched in the top of a nearby bush. There were lots of Siskins in the trees in the back gardens of the cottages and a couple of Bramblings. A Lesser Redpoll flew up into one of the trees just as the homeowner came out to her back gate with her dog, and everything flew off.

Out onto the road, we stopped to look at the feeders in the front garden of one of the cottages. There were more Siskins here and we were quickly rewarded with another Lesser Redpoll which flew in too, a smart male with bright red breast as well as the red ‘poll’. A succession of Lesser Redpolls came in to the feeders while we stood there, with at least three birds in total. Several Coal Tits appeared too and a Marsh Tit made a brief visit. A couple of Great Spotted Woodpeckers landed in the top of one the taller trees further back. We had a quick look from the bridge. More finches were coming and going from the feeders down by the river, including more Lesser Redpolls.

Lesser Redpoll – coming to the feeders

We planned to finish the day back at Lynford Arboretum, so we headed back round there now. The car park was very busy but we managed to find somewhere to park and most people seemed to be here for coffee at the Shepherd’s Baa. We walked past and on up to the gate, where one person was standing watching the birds coming down to feed. He told us the Hawfinches had been down earlier, although not for a while.

We hadn’t been there long before one of the group standing by the far end of the gate realised that there was a Hawfinch down feeding, but behind the green plastic sheet. The bottom corner of the sheet was missing and from time to time the Hawfinch hopped to where it was just visible from the right spot, a smart male. Thankfully, the birds all kept spooking and flying up into the trees before dropping down again, and the Hawfinches were doing the same, and sometimes coming down on our side of the sheet. We had lovely views of both male and female now, with the male at one point hopping out to the small pond for a drink.

Hawfinch – check out that bill!

Hawfinch – the male drinking

After a while, we had to tear ourselves away and continue on down to the paddocks. We stopped at the bridge where the feeders had been filled up since this morning. We had nice views of a Treecreeper in the trees here, although as usual it spent most of its time round the back of the trunks. There were plenty of Blue Tits, Great Tits and a couple of Coal Tits coming in and out, but no sign of any Marsh Tits while we were here today. Several Siskins were feeding on the alder cones.

Siskin – feeding in the alders

From the edge of the paddocks, we could see a couple of Greenfinches in the top of the first of the hornbeams and as we got the scopes on them, three Hawfinches hopped up into view too. One flew out and over our heads, landing in the top of the poplars behind us, before all three then flew into one the other hornbeams further along. A ‘big ole thrush’ was perched in the same tree, local vernacular for a Mistle Thrush!

Walking on, there were lots of finches flying in and out of the trees, Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Goldfinches and Siskins. The Hawfinches flew up into the tops of the firs beyond where they perched for a while before dropping down to roost. We did a circuit of the paddocks and pack down to the path alongside the lake. A large flock of Siskins was still feeding feverishly in the alders here, at least a hundred of them, which was great to watch. Several Gadwall were out on the water but we couldn’t find any Canada Geese at first. Disappointment for all the group was averted however, as only when we walked further along did we find a pair of Canada Geese hidden behind the trees on one of the islands with a Mute Swan. A Little Grebe was laughing at us from somewhere deep in the reeds.

Song Thrush – singing

We stopped again at the bridge – the Treecreeper was still in the trees there, along with a Great Spotted Woodpecker, and a Nuthatch came in to the feeders briefly. As we walked back up towards the car park, a Song Thrush was singing its heart out in a tree above the path. The ground in front of the gate was quiet now as we passed, with the birds mostly having headed off to roost already. It was time for us to head off too.

8th Oct 2022 – Autumn Tour, Day 3

Day 3 of a four day Autumn Migration Tour today. It was mostly bright and sunny, with the wind continuing to ease through the day.

To start the day, we headed down to the coast at Cley. We parked at Walsey Hills, but there was no sign initially of the Jack Snipe on Snipe’s Marsh where it had been yesterday – it was probably hiding in the vegetation. The sun was catching the reeds over the far side and we could see several small birds flitting in and out – a couple of late Reed Warblers, a Chiffchaff, a Robin and one or two Blue Tits.

We had a quick walk down along the footpath through the trees. A few birds were coming and going from the feeders, mainly Goldfinches and Chaffinches, plus a few Blue Tits and Great Tits. The Greenfinches were slightly less obliging, mostly flying round overhead and wouldn’t land where we could see them.

We continued on down to the far end. There had been a Yellow-browed Warbler reported here earlier, just heard by someone, but there was no sign now, although we did find a Chiffchaff in the willows at the back. Out into the open beyond the trees, there were lots of Red-legged Partridges at the back of the first field and we could just see lots of Pink-footed Geese in the next field, through the base of the hedge. A Stock Dove flew over with a group of Woodpigeons and two Ruff flew round with some geese.

As we made our way back through the trees, a Greenfinch had now come onto the feeders, so everyone could finally get a look.

We stopped for another quick scan of Snipe’s Marsh, and noticed a Water Rail in the reeds in the corner now. It was hard to see over the reeds so we walked further down to where there was a gap and set the scope up on it. While we were watching it, someone found the Jack Snipe back along the near edge, skulking in the cut reeds, so we walked back and got that in the scopes next. It wasn’t feeding, so wasn’t bouncing, but we got a good look at it.

Jack Snipe – in the cut reeds

From there, we walked over to the East Bank. Several Cetti’s Warblers were singing in the ditch by the road and in the reedbed but remained typically well hidden. All the geese came up from the fields behind North Foreland wood and circled overhead – a few Greylags flew out onto Pope’s but the Pinkfeet headed back down to the fields from whence they had just come.

There was a Little Grebe on the pool by the Skirts path today. We stopped and set up the scopes on Pope’s Pool – there were a few Avocets roosting behind the near bank and lots of Black-tailed Godwits out in the water, along with more Greylags and Wigeon. A good number of Lapwings were hiding in the grass in front. As we walked on, a small group of Canada Geese flew in over the reedbed, a new one for the trip list.

We could hear Bearded Tits calling ahead of us, and looked over to see several perched in the top of the reeds. Before we could get the scopes on them, they flew across, and then dropped back into the reeds again. They were very vocal and very mobile this morning, then they started flying up higher, circling round above the reeds. Several times they erupted from the reeds, before changing their minds and plummeting back in. It was hard to tell if there were several different groups or just changing numbers in the same group, but there was a lot of activity.

Bearded Tits – erupting

It is a feature of Bearded Tits at this time of year – they are not really migrants, but do disperse, particularly after years with very successful breeding. This morning’s display was classic Bearded Tit dispersal restlessness, working up the courage to go. Fantastic to watch!

At one point we looked out across the reedbed, and noticed a pale shape in one of the bushes out in the middle. It was a Barn Owl! It had possibly just come out onto the edge to sun itself, as it didn’t stay long and disappeared deep in, presumably to roost. A nice surprise. There were a couple of male Stonechats in the reedbed too.

There were more ducks on the Serpentine and while we were scanning we noticed a Wheatear on the short grass in front of the water – nice to catch up with an autumn migrant passerine, as they are a bit thin on the ground at the moment.

Wheatear – on the Serpentine

We saw a message to say that the two juvenile Little Stints were still present, up on the brackish pools, so we walked on to see them. We quickly picked up one on the mud towards the back, then the second appeared in among some Shoveler along the north side, where we could really appreciate how small it was as it walked between their legs. It then flew in closer and started picking its way along one of the spits towards the front.

It hasn’t been a particularly big year for Little Stint this autumn, so it was good to be able to catch up with a couple still. There was a single Pintail on here too, and a Common Snipe roosting with a couple of Teal on a small island at the back.

Little Stint – on the brackish pools

The migrant wader theme continued on Arnold’s Marsh with one or two Curlew Sandpipers. One was feeding closer to, but disappeared from view behind the saltmarsh vegetation, and a little while later we picked up the same or another with the Dunlin at the back. A Grey Plover was on the shingle islands too.

Out at the beach, there was a steady movement of Teal today, several small groups coming in low over the sea, as well as a slow stream of Common Gulls past. With a fresh SW wind, the trickle of Gannets passing were rather distant, out towards the wind turbines, although one did come through a little closer. A few Razorbills and Red-throated Divers were out on the sea.

As we made our way back, a Marsh Harrier came in over the marshes, flushing everything. The Jack Snipe was still there, in much the same place as it had been, but it was now fast asleep, its bill tucked in. We made a quick visit to the Visitor Centre to use the facilities, then drove down to Kelling for a quick walk before lunch.

Blackcap – in the lane

It was sheltered in the lane, and warm now out of the wind in the sunshine. A male Blackcap appeared in the top of a hawthorn by the track and a little further on a smart male Chaffinch perched up on the other side, preening. A Chiffchaff flitted in and out of the hedge calling. There were several Ivy Bees still too, enjoying the sun.

There were lots of Rooks and Woodpigeons on the hillside behind the Water Meadow and a few Red-legged Partridges along the fenceline at the bottom. The field opposite the Water Meadow has just been cultivated and more Rooks were feeding in here, looking very smart, there plumage glowing purple in the sunshine.

Rook – in the sunshine

There were a few ducks on the Water Meadow, but nothing out of the ordinary. We stopped to watch a group of at least six Stonechats at the crosstracks, perching on the dead dock heads and dropping down into the grass. Several Linnets flew in and out of the brambles. Then it was time to head back for lunch. A Peacock butterfly perched up in the lane as we passed.

We drove back to the Visitor Centre at Cley for lunch on the picnic tables. There were lots of Lapwings and a few Ruff on Pat’s Pool and when everything erupted we looked over to see a young Peregrine flying over, and watched it disappear off west.

After lunch, we drove down to the Brecks for the remainder of the afternoon. Our main target here was to try to see one of the autumn gatherings of Stone Curlews and we were in luck straight away. We pulled up opposite a field and walked carefully over to the gate overlooking it. We could immediately see several Stone Curlews out in the middle, so got them in the scopes. We could see their large yellow eyes staring back at us.

Stone Curlews – staring back

Some Stone Curlews were standing up and were more obvious, others were sitting down in the furrows and much harder to see. The more we looked the more we saw. We eventually got to a count of at least 60 in the field, and there were almost certainly quite a few more as there is a large dip in the middle of this field. Either way, it was an impressive sight and well worth the drive down to see it.

Stone Curlew – one of at least 60

There were several Tree Sparrows in the hedge nearby too, occasionally dropping down into the field margin. Three Swallows flew over, one stopping just long enough for a drink in a puddle, before heading on south.

The pig fields in the Brecks can be good for gulls and we had a quick look through a large gathering of Lesser Black-backed Gulls in one. They were rather distant, but we could see just a couple of paler mantled gulls in with them. When one stood up, we could see it was an adult Caspian Gull – distinctively shaped, with a long beaky nose and long, parallel sided bill, full breast and long wings.

We still had about half an hour before we had to head back, so we decided to have a quick look to see if any Goshawks were up. But just when we would have wanted it to be windy, the wind seemed to have dropped completely! Consequently, there was no sign of any Goshawks, but we did see a couple of Common Buzzards up. A Sparrowhawk flew past and disappeared into the trees on the other side of the field in front, and later a male came past closer and stopped to have a go at some birds in a cover strip in the middle. A Mistle Thrush flew over the trees at the back, and landed in the top of a lone pine. A large flock of Skylarks flew in.

Then it was time to head back.

11th July 2021 – Summer Tour, Day 3

Day 3 of a three day Summer Tour, our last day. It was cloudier than forecast, particularly in the afternoon, warm & slightly muggy, but it was generally bright and it stayed dry all day. We spent the day down in the Brecks.

On the drive down, we diverted round via some likely areas looking for Stone Curlews. At our first stop, two Eurasian Curlews flew up alarm calling as we got out of the minibus. They landed again in the field opposite. Not quite the ‘curlews’ we had hoped for, but nice to see, particularly as the breeding population of Eurasian Curlew here is so small. A covey of Red-legged Partridge walked out of the crop and into an open ploughed area.

Curlew – not the one we were looking for!

Our next stop was by some pig fields. As we looked out we could see a Stone Curlew preening out in the middle. A great start, we got the scope on it, and while everyone was taking a look, we continued to scan across. We realised there were lots more there too! In the end, we counted at least eleven Stone Curlews scattered around the field, although there may have been more hidden behind the small ridges of dirt and vegetation. They are already starting to gather together post-breeding.

Stone Curlew – 2, with an Oystercatcher

There were a few Oystercatchers in the field with the Stone Curlews too, and several Egyptian Geese. Scanning the bushes in the middle, we noticed a couple of Tree Sparrows perched in the top of one. We got the scope on them for a closer look. When they dropped down out of view, we heard one calling much closer to us and looked up to see another Tree Sparrow on the wires by the road a little further up. Tree Sparrows used to be common here but have disappeared from most of Norfolk now, as they have from much of southern Britain, victims of agricultural intensification. An increasingly rare sight here, so good to see there are some clinging on.

Tree Sparrow – perched on the wires by the road

That was a great way to start the day. Having enjoyed some excellent views of the Stone Curlews, we moved on, driving over to Lakenheath Fen next. We stopped for a coffee break at the Visitor Centre, overlooking the feeders. There were several Blue Tits, Great Tits, Goldfinches and 1-2 Greenfinches in the bushes, coming and going.

As we set off to explore the reserve, it had clouded over now – not what we were expecting. Despite the cloud, there was still a good selection of insects – Blue-tailed and Common Blue Damselflies, diminutive skippers on Viper’s Bugloss which refused to sit still and allow us to see the underside of their antennae, Meadow Brown and Ringlet, and a smart Longhorn Beetle (Rutpela maculata).

Longhorn Beetle (Rutpela maculata)

We stopped at New Fen Viewpoint and scanned over the reedbed from the benches. We could hear Blackcap and Common Whitethroat singing in the poplars behind us. A Reed Warbler kept flying in and out of a small island of reeds in the middle of the pool.

A Bittern came up out of the reeds towards the far corner of the reedbed, flying across behind the bushes, before it dropped back in. We saw Bittern flights several times over the next few minutes – this is the best time to see them, when they are feeding young – but it was hard to tell how many birds were involved. One Bittern flew up from the back again, and headed out towards the river. We expected it to land back in the reedbed, but instead it continued over the riverbank, and appeared to drop down just beyond. There are some pools along the river here, so we headed over straight over to see if we could find it.

By the time we got there, there was no sign of it. Perhaps it continued on upstream, or maybe it was just hidden out of view. We stopped here to scan, hoping it might come out of the vegetation or come back from wherever it was feeding. One or two Common Terns were commuting up and down river – one flew past carrying a fish, presumably to feed a hungry youngster on the Washes.

Common Tern – flying up and down the river

A Cuckoo called from the willows across the river. Most of adults have gone south already, many are already in Europe and some already in Africa, so this one was rather late to still be here. We couldn’t see it in the trees and it went quiet. We did then see another Cuckoo, flying across between the woods right over on the other side of New Fen, but it was too distant to tell whether it was an adult or an early fledged juvenile.

A young Marsh Harrier, dark chocolate brown with a rusty orange head, was exercising its wings, circling back and forth across the river, waiting for its parents to bring in food. A Hobby flew in, hawking for insects ahead of us, low over the washes beside the river, then it flew up over the bank, across over the back of the reedbed and up over West Wood. A Kestrel was hovering behind us too, and then we got the scope on it when it landed in one of the willows across the river.

Marsh Harrier – a juvenile, waiting to be fed

Continuing west along the river bank, we finally had good views of a family of Sedge Warblers in the edge of the reeds below us. A Great Spotted Woodpecker flew into the edge of West Wood, but disappeared into the trees. The other side of West Wood, some of the group saw two Kingfishers chasing over the reeds just beyond, but they had disappeared before we could all catch up.

We cut back in to the reserve at Joist Fen, and got out the sandwiches. We had brought lunch with us today, so we wouldn’t have to hurry back. There were some distant Marsh Harriers out over the reeds and a Red Kite circled high over the railway line. More Reed Warblers zipped about, and another Sedge Warbler flew in and out of the big elder by the last bench, singing. A Kingfisher whizzed low over the reeds across in front of us, before dropping down into the channel where it was lost to view. Almost immediately, it was followed by a second Kingfisher – possibly the two which some of the group had seen earlier.

After lunch, we decided to walk slowly back. Another Kingfisher shot across the path just in front of us, and out over the reeds. We called in at Mere Hide, which is open again, although we had to wait a few minutes to all get in (there were already some people in there and there were six just of us). There were a couple of Greylag families on the water, one with lots of almost fully grown juveniles and the other with only one, before they flew off. Several Reed Warblers were flicking around the water’s edge. There were not so many dragonflies and damselflies flying round the pool today, perhaps not helped by the cloud.

The rest of the walk back to the Visitor Centre was fairly uneventful, and we rewarded our long walk with a sit down and ice cream when we got there (rhubarb & ginger today!). We had to ensure a prompt finish today, so people could get away in good time, but we still had an hour or so of the day left. So on our way back to where we had left the cars this morning, we diverted into the forest.

We stopped by a track, which leads down to a large clearing. For some reason the gate at the top of the track was locked today, so we couldn’t drive in. Instead, we parked by the next ride and walked down through the forest. It was hot and muggy and the mid afternoon lull now, so the trees were rather quiet. We could hear a Nuthatch calling, and a flock of Long-tailed Tits in the pines. The gate into the clearing at the far end was locked too, so we couldn’t get into the clearing, and we had to scan from the fence. A family of Stonechats were on the gate, a female and two juveniles, with the male further down along the fenceline.

We circled back through the trees. There were lots of butterflies on the flowers along the track, Meadow Browns and Ringlets and several skippers. One eventually stayed still long enough so we could get a look at the tips of its antennae – pale on the underside, a Small Skipper.

Small Skipper – not showing the undersides of its antennae here

A little further on, we heard a bird calling quietly, and looked up to see a Tree Pipit in the top of a dead tree ahead of us. We got it in the scope and had a closer look at it – it was pumping its tail up and down as it called, and we could see the yellow wash behind the heavier breast streaking, white on the bellow, with pencil fine streaks on the flanks. It flew and landed again on another dead tree right next to us, then flew back and we lost site of it over the trees.

Tree Pipit – calling quietly above the track

Tree Pipit was one of the birds we had hoped to find down by the clearing. We had been thinking we might have to try to squeeze in one last stop to get it somewhere else on our way back. But we had succeeded at the last here, which meant we could have an unhurried journey back and finish on time. A very enjoyable three days.

11th Oct 2020 – Four Autumn Days, Day 4

Day 4 of a four day Autumn Tour in Norfolk, our last day. The weather was much better than yesterday – the showers much less frequent and even some nice bright intervals and patches of blue sky. There was a rather fresh and cool NW wind though on the coast today which made it feel a little colder.

Our first destination for the morning was Kelling. There were several Chaffinches and a couple of Greenfinches around the village as we got out of the minibus, and a small group of Goldfinches feeding in the tops of the birches by the school. We could hear more Chaffinches calling in the next hedge over as we started down the lane, and several flew out of the bushes ahead of us. They had possibly arrived from the Continent overnight and roosted here.

There had been reports of a large movement of Redwings inland at dawn, and we had thought we might see some thrushes on the move here today. But they had clearly come in overnight and moved quickly through. There were none moving now on the coast, and all we could find here were several Blackbirds in the bushes down the lane. We could here Bullfinches calling and several Robins ticking in the hedges as we walked along.

We stopped at the gate north of the copse to scan the Water Meadow. A Brown Hare ran across the field beyond. A family of Mute Swans, two adults and five dusky grey cygnets, were wading through the wet mud in the middle of the meadow. We remarked how good it was looking for a Jack Snipe now, how if you could walk about in the middle you would be sure to flush one, but despite a good scan we couldn’t see anything in view from the gate. There were lots of places to hide and they are always most active at dawn and dusk too.

A Marsh Harrier was flying over the field the other side of the track, flushing lots of Red-legged Partridges from stubble. A Reed Bunting flew ahead of us along the hedge as we continued north. There were more Blackbirds and finches in the bushes as we got out into the open.

A couple of dogs came past us and ran down the track, their owner following a couple of minutes later. Lots of ducks and Curlew came up off the Water Meadow as the dogs raced round the corner. Some of them resettled, but a flock of Teal flew off west.

Curlew – flew up from the Water Meadow

With a mixture of dark shower clouds and patches of blue sky, it was a good day for rainbows. Our first of the day was a corker – a double, with the inner one double sided too. The first of many today.

Rainbow – it was a good day for them today

When we got to the gap in the hedge where we could see across to the water, several of the Curlew had landed again on the grass. There was a mixture of ducks on the pool, still a couple of Teal, several Shoveler, one or two Gadwall and a small group of Wigeon feeding in the grass. A single Little Grebe was diving continually out in the middle.

We stopped to scan the Quags from the crosstracks. Two Common Snipe came up from the beck and disappeared off west. A Stonechat flew in and landed in the dead umbellifers on the bank, then across into the reeds in the beck. A single Egyptian Goose and two Little Egrets were out in the middle.

As we carried on down to the corner, another Common Snipe came up from the edge of the Water Meadow. A couple more Reed Buntings chased each other in and out of the reeds, and another Stonechat was perched up in the top of the brambles in the corner, a smart male. We had a look in the grass in the corner of the Water Meadow where it had been trampled by the cattle, but there was no Jack Snipe here either.

Stonechat – perched in the top of the brambles

Continuing on down the track, a Linnet landed in the brambles briefly. We could already see small groups of Gannets passing just offshore, beyond the shingle ridge, so we carried on up and over to the beach to see what else we could see.

Standing on the shingle ridge, we could see small groups of auks whizzing past offshore – this continued pretty much all the time we were on the beach. There were a few auks on the sea closer in too, so we continued down to the lee of the pill box and set up the scopes. We had a nice view of a couple of Razorbills on the sea, up and down riding the waves. A Guillemot was close in too and a Red-throated Diver.

There was steady passage of Gannets past all morning too. One small group stopped and spent a few minutes shallow diving offshore. A juvenile Gannet was resting on the sea very close in, just beyond the breakers. We had a great look at it as it drifted past us with the tide. After a while, it took off and flew further out.

Gannet – resting on the sea just offshore

The wind was not really strong enough to get other seabirds close inshore, but we did pick up three or four Great Skuas passing by. The first was very distant, but later we had one closer in, chasing a Great Black-backed Gull, trying to get it to regurgitate it’s last meal. We could see the Great Skua’s white wing flashes. A single Arctic Skua flew past very distantly too, and what was presumably the same bird paused briefly to chase a distant tern.

There was a trickle of wildfowl moving west this morning – always interesting to see migration in action at this time of year. Two groups of three Brent Geese, and several small flocks of Wigeon and Teal flew past, birds arriving here for the winter from Russia and across Northern Europe. We picked up a distant flock of Common Scoter too, but then we had two lone birds much closer flying west which were much easier to see, the first a pale cheeked female or juvenile, then a black male.

Brent Geese – arriving for the winter, coming in from Russia

There were not many waders moving today, but there was quality rather than quantity. The first wader we spotted, a small dark bird flying west just behind the breakers, was a Purple Sandpiper. Not a common sight passing by here, although we do get small numbers which spend the winter along the coast. Otherwise, we singles of Knot, Curlew and Oystercatcher.

There were a few passerines moving too. Several Rock Pipits flew west along the beach just in front of us. A Skylark came in over the beach calling too.

We could have spent all day here, watching the birds moving, arriving. It is slightly addictive, you never know what will come past next. But we could see lots of gulls off Weybourne beach, so with a shower approaching in over the sea we decided to head back and drive round there for a closer look. A Brown Hare was sheltering from the north wind behind the brambles on the hillside above the track, looking towards the sun and enjoying a bit of warmth as it poked out between the clouds.

Brown Hare – enjoying some sunshine, sheltered from the wind

As we walk back up the lane, we stopped again at the gate. There were a couple of people here now with scopes and they thought they might have seen a Jack Snipe. They were not sure though, and it could have been a Common Snipe. We stopped to scan, but they showed us where it had disappeared into a very thick area of rushes. A Brambling called overhead as we waited but despite giving it a few minutes, the Jack snipe didn’t reappear, so we decided to move on.

Round at Weybourne, there was only a small group of gulls on the beach to the west, beyond the fishermen – Herring, Great Black-backed and Black-headed Gulls, we couldn’t see anything of more interest. There was a black bird on the beach further west, preening. It was hard to see clearly through the spray coming off the sea, but it looked like a Shag through the scope. We walked over the shingle and up onto the low cliffs beyond for a closer look., but by the time we got there the Shag had gone, presumably flown back out to sea. A small group of Turnstones were busy feeding on the top of the cliff, flicking over the small stones.

Turnstones – turning stones on the top of the beach

Looking to the east, we could see many more gulls scattered all along the base of the cliffs towards Sheringham. Again it was hard to see far, with the combination of the misty spray off the waves and the shade from the cliffs. We scanned through the closer ones, but couldn’t see anything unusual.

We needed to use the facilities, so we drove back to Cley now. It was time for lunch too, and we wouldn’t say no to a welcome hot drink from the cafe. Thankfully it was dry now so we could sit outside on the picnic tables to eat. From up by the Visitor Centre, we scanned Pat’s Pool. There were lots of ducks, particularly Gadwall, and several Shelduck. Two lingering Avocets were feeding in the shallower water. A Marsh Harrier flew past over the reeds beyond.

A message came through that there was indeed a Jack Snipe at Kelling, from the gate where we had looked earlier, though it was hard to see. So after lunch, we went back for another look. The Bullfinches were still calling in the lane as we walked along, and this time flew across in front of us, the male flashing pink underneath in the sunshine. A Chiffchaff was in a hawthorn overhanging the lane now too.

There was no sign of the Jack Snipe from the gate when we arrived. They can be very elusive at the best of times, so we scanned carefully around the tussocks and wet mud. A Common Snipe came up out of rushes and flew off, and a little later what may have been the same or another dropped back in to the same area. Several Curlew flew in too. A Grey Heron was walking about between a couple of cows further back. Three Pied Wagtails were flitting around in the mud.

It was starting to look like we might be out of luck again. Then the two cows started to come a bit closer, and they had still not made it to the wet mud when they flushed a small bird from the thick grass at the back – a Jack Snipe. It towered straight up, and broke the skyline above the hillside beyond. As well as its small size, we could see its shorter bill compared to Common Snipe. It turned and dropped straight down again, down into the thickest rushes and brambles at the back.

We figured the Jack Snipe might not come out from there for a while, so we set off back. We were told that a Purple Sandpiper had been on a small pool back along the coast at Salthouse, maybe the one we saw past Kelling earlier. It can be very disturbed here, but we thought it worth a look as we were passing.

When we got to Beach Road, we had a quick look through the gulls in the field opposite, but there was nothing different with them here either. We could see lots of people walking out along the shingle towards Gramborough Hill now, right past the pool, and several dogs, so we didn’t fancy our chances. We had a quick look anyway, and not surprisingly there was nothing there now.

It was exposed out by the beach and very blustery here in the wind. Another shower blew in as we walked back to the minibus, so we decided to head inland for the rest of the afternoon. We drove down to the Brecks to look for Stone Curlews.

We stopped by an empty rutted field and scanned over the hedge. There was no sign of any Stone Curlews initially, but a little further along the field we found some. A small group were very close, and flew up when they saw us peering over the hedge, but thankfully they circled round and landed straight back down again. Some others were still standing in the field, and as we scanned across we counted at least eleven here, although some were hard to see in the ruts.

We had a great view of a couple of the Stone Curlew now through the scopes, their bright yellow legs, irises and bill bases catching the afternoon sun. Well worth the journey down to see them.

Stone Curlew – good views in the bare field this afternoon

The Stone Curlews gather together in large groups at the end of the breeding season. Numbers are dropping now, as they head off to Iberia or North Africa for the winter, but we knew there had been more than this here in the last few days.

We drove further down the road and stopped in a gateway to scan across to a distant bare stoney field. There were more Stone Curlews, further away than the ones we had just seen, but we counted at least twelve. There were lots more places for them to hide here though, so there were probably quite a few more. Always a nice way to wrap up a trip this time of year, with the autumn gathering of Stone Curlews.

There were a few other birds here too. A large flock of Linnets out in the middle, kept flying up, whirling round and dropping back to feed in a weedy strip on the far side of the field in front. We had seen a big flock of sparrows here a few weeks ago too, but there was no sign of them now. Carefully scanning the nearby brambles we did find a small group of sparrows though, three Tree Sparrows with single House Sparrow. They perched up nicely on top, giving us a good view in the scopes.

There had been several Red-legged Partridges out in the closer field, and we were just about to leave when one of the group spotted a covey of seven Grey Partridges off to the right. They came out into the open and ran out across the middle of the field to the far side. A nice view and a nice late bonus.

Grey Partridges – part of a covey of seven

It was time to head back now. As we drove back north, we admired the last rainbows of the day as we drove towards and then into a brief heavy shower.

5th Sept 2020 – Early Autumn Tour, Day 2

Day 2 of a three day, small group, socially-distanced Early Autumn Tour in Norfolk. It was mostly bright with some sunny intervals and although it clouded over for a bit around the middle of the day, the rain (which wasn’t in the forecast!) skirted round to the west and north of us. Another nice day to be out birding.

Our first destination for the morning was Stiffkey Fen. As we walked down along the permissive path beside the road, a Common Buzzard flapped up out of the copse ahead of us. As we got into the trees, a Chiffchaff was singing – not too unusual at this time of year, and possibly a young bird practicing.

There were more warblers in the trees down by the river, as we came across the back end of a mixed tit flock, Blackcaps, more Chiffchaffs and a brief Reed Warbler. Warblers will often join up with the roving tit flocks at this time of year. The flock was moving quickly through the trees and we tried to follow them. They crossed over to the Fen, where we caught them a couple of times through a gap in the vegetation and at one point we had several Long-tailed Tits feeding in one the sallows above us. A Bullfinch was piping plaintively further back.

It was quite breezy this morning, but sheltered down beside the river. There were lots of insects along here – several Speckled Woods and a smart orange Comma butterfly basking on the bushes. A couple of Migrant Hawkers were hawking back and forth across the path and one of two Common Darters were enjoying the sunshine on the vegetation.

Comma butterfly – basking on the bushes by the path

When we got to the point on the path where you can look across to the Fen beyond, we could see a sizeable collection of large white blobs over towards the far corner. Spoonbills! The vegetation is quite tall now though, so it is hard to see clearly from here, so we continued on and up onto the seawall. There were lots of Linnets and Goldfinches on the bushes as we walked out and looked back across the Fen.

We had a much better view of the Spoonbills from here, and we could see that there was indeed still a good number of them. Most were doing what Spoonbills seem to like to do best – sleeping – but one or two were preening and a juvenile was relentlessly pursuing an adult nearby, bobbing it head up and down and demanding to be fed. It was hard to get an accurate count with so many asleep in a tight bunch, but there were at least 44 Spoonbills here and probably a few more than that.

Spoonbills – we counted at least 44 still on the Fen today

The Spoonbills gather here at the end of the breeding season, with most of the birds probably coming from the breeding colony at Holkham. It has become quite a spectacle to see them at this time of year. They will be heading off south at some point this month, so it was good to find we hadn’t missed them yet.

Close to the Spoonbills, a group of pale looking waders were roosting in the shallow water, ten Greenshanks waiting out the high tide here. There was a big flock of roosting Black-tailed Godwits on the island and a group of Common Redshanks over at the back. A scattering of Ruff were feeding on the muddy edges and scanning round the margins of the Fen, we found two Green Sandpipers. We walked a bit further up and looked back to the other side, which produced five more Greenshanks to add to the total.

There were lots of Greylag Geese on the Fen and plenty of ducks, mostly moulting Mallard, the drakes in drab eclipse plumage, but also with a few Wigeon and Teal. A small group of Shoveler were feeding, heads down, in the deeper water in the far corner.

Black-headed Gulls were coming and going, with a large group loafing on the islands and others preening in the shallow water. A single Common Gull in with them allowed a good opportunity to compare. A grey-winged male Marsh Harrier came up out of the reeds at the back and landed briefly in one of the trees.

Looking out across the harbour, the tide was in. It was a big tide today too, so the saltmarsh was flooded with just the tops of the taller bushes poking out above the water. Two Kingfishers shot across, flashing electric blue, following the course of the channel before cutting across the saltmarsh towards the harbour.

There were a few more Redshank out here, and some Curlew out here, and we could see two Knot trying to roost on one of the shingle islands in the distance. There were lots of seals hauled out on the end of Blakeney Point, and we could even hear one barking at one point.

News came through that the Wryneck had been seen again at Weybourne Camp, so we decided to head over there and have a go for that, and we thought we might possibly pick up some things over the sea at the same time. We parked at Weybourne beach and walked west along the coast path. The sea looked disappointingly quiet, but as we got almost to the small group of people gathered staring over the fence across the Camp, we did come across a single Wheatear in the short grass.

Wheatear – feeding on the short grass on the edge of Weybourne Camp

There was no sign of the Wryneck and we were told it had not been seen for the last hour, but there were lots of other birds. Several Stonechats were flitting between the bushes and the short grass, including a couple of still streaky juveniles. One or two Common Whitethroats and a Lesser Whitethroat popped up out of the brambles from time to time.

A Guillemot was pulled out on the beach, lying on the shingle some distance above the receding tide now. It looked like it might be unwell, but could perhaps have just been resting.

Guillemot – pulled out on the beach at Weybourne

There had been a Spotted Flycatcher seen here earlier, and after a while it reappeared on the front edge of the pines, perching on a dead branch where we could get it in the scope. It kept flying off and coming back. There had apparently been a Pied Flycatcher seen on the Camp too this morning, but it is private land, fenced off with a particularly aggressive barbed wire fence, and the bird was not visible from the coast path.

Still, it all hinted that there were some migrants around today, which was supported by the Meadow Pipits which came in off the sea and or our heads, a couple of singletons and a small flock of seven, fresh arrivals coming in for the winter.

Then someone called that the Wryneck had appeared – it had flown up and was perched in some dead branches sticking out of one of the bramble clumps. We got it in one of the scopes quickly, and it stayed just long enough for most of the group to get a quick look, before it dropped down again. We waited a short while to see if it would reappear again, but it didn’t. Those who hadn’t seen it were not fussed about missing it, so we decided to move on. As we walked back along the coast path, a small flock of Knot flew past just offshore – more migrants on the move.

Knot – flew past offshore as we walked back

We drove round to the Visitor Centre at Cley to make use of the facilities and have our lunch on the picnic tables there. Scanning Pat’s Pool from the picnic area, we could see that the three juvenile Curlew Sandpipers we had seen yesterday were still present, albeit they were very distant from here.

After lunch, we could see some rather ominous dark clouds to the west and it was clearly raining offshore. It was forecast to remain dry here all day (not that this means anything!), and we figured the worst of the cloud should miss us, so we decided to head back to Kelling to walk down the lane to the coast. With some migrants around this morning, we hoped we might find something in the bushes here this afternoon.

It was rather cool in the lane with the grey cloud and the freshening breeze. There is normally a good selection of butterflies and dragonflies along here, but the only thing we came across today was a single Willow Emerald damselfly hanging on an overhanging wild rose branch. A single Chiffchaff hooeeted from the copse, but otherwise there were disappointingly few birds on the walk down.

Willow Emerald damselfly – hanging on a rose branch over the lane

There were a few ducks on the Water Meadow – Teal, Wigeon, Mallard – and a few gulls flying in and out from the water. The best birds on here today were two Little Grebes. Three Egyptian Geese flew over and landed on the Quags as we carried on along the cross-track.

The bushes above the track to the Hard produced just a single Stonechat and there was only one Pied Wagtail out on the short grass on the Quags. We walked a short way up the permissive path towards the gun emplacements, and stopped to scan the sea. Another Stonechat was in the bushes here but we couldn’t see anything passing offshore.

It was clear there were no migrants to be found here, so we decided to head back and try something different. A Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over and landed in the top of one of the trees by the school when we got back to the minibus.

It was a bit of a drive from here down to the Brecks, but when we got there we pulled off the road to scan a large area of pig fields. Almost as soon as we got out, we could see a Stone Curlew out in the middle. They can be remarkably well camouflaged down in the bare stony ground and there is restricted visibility from here, but the more we scanned, the more we found, until we could see at least six.

One Stone Curlew was not too far out, so we got it in the scope and had a closer look, its bright yellow iris, black-tipped yellow bill and rather knobbly yellow legs all helping to give it a rather prehistoric appearance.

Stone Curlew – one of six we could see from our first stop

The Brecks is the most important breeding area for Stone Curlews in the UK, and they traditionally gather together at the end of the breeding season, so it is another must see sight at this time of year. There was a Wheatear feeding out in the pig field here too.

Driving on, we scanned some other fields but couldn’t see any more Stone Curlews at first. Then we stopped at another gateway and scanned the pig fields from here more distantly. They were a long way off from here, but we counted another 15 Stone Curlews giving us over 20 in total, a respectable total, particularly given there are probably only just over 200 pairs in the Brecks.

There was a huge flock of sparrows feeding in the weedy vegetation on the front edge of the pig field. It was impossible to make out any detail when they were feeding down in the vegetation, and not much easier when they weren’t given the distance and a lot of shimmer coming off the stubble field in front. But when a small group of them flew across and landed in the top of a nearby bramble bush, we could make out several Tree Sparrows in with the fifteen or so birds in view. How many might there be in the whole flock?

It was unfortunately not quite as windy here – either the wind had dropped, or it was not as strong inland as on the coast – but we decided to have a quick look to see if there were any raptors up enjoying the breeze. We stopped somewhere with a good vista looking across the forest and got out to scan over the trees. All we could see from here were just one or two Common Buzzards.

We hadn’t been here very long when one of the group saw a large black bird flying over the field away to our right. A Raven? Unfortunately, it disappeared behind the trees just as the rest of us turned to look. We walked round and scanned the sky the other side and had another glimpse of it as it appeared to drop down to the fields beyond the next hedge. It did look like a Raven, so we hopped back in the bus quickly and drove back up the road.

Sure enough, there was the Raven in the field. We got it in the scope and could see its massive bill. At one point, it was harassed by a Carrion Crow, which looked tiny next to it. It was a nice bonus to end with – Ravens are spreading east but are still scarce birds in Norfolk. With a long drive back, we unfortunately had to call it a day.

16th Jan 2019 – A Big Day on the Coast

A Private Tour in North Norfolk today. It was to be a different day to normal, as we were planning to try to catch up with a selection of the scarcer winter visitors along the coast, as well as aiming to see as many different species as possible. We would need to cover quite a bit of ground, a bit of a whistle-stop tour of North Norfolk. After a grey start, it brightened up for a time during the morning, though it was rather breezy all day. We were forecast rain in the afternoon, and it arrived a bit earlier than forecast, but it didn’t stop us having a great – and very successful – day out.

It was an early start. As we drove up towards the coast, it was just getting light. We stopped off on the way, just in time to catch a Barn Owl out hunting still, before it went in to roost. An over-wintering Chiffchaff was calling from some trees nearby and the first Pink-footed Geese flew over, heading inland to feed.

Barn Owl – one of the first birds we caught up with, early this morning

At our next stop, as we walked out beside the grazing marshes, the first bird we saw was another Barn Owl out hunting. It flew round over the field, disappeared over the bank, then came back again and did a couple more circuits before landing down in the grass. It stayed there for a minute, looking round, before flying off round the trees beyond. It was still early and rather cold here, and there didn’t seem to be many other birds awake yet. A Marsh Harrier quartered the grazing marshes.

We looped round to Cley and headed down to the beach. There has been a large flock of scoter on the sea here in recent days, but there was no sign of them this morning. While we were scanning, we noticed a flock of small birds fly up from the beach away to the east. Snow Buntings. We walked down along the shingle for a closer look.

The Snow Buntings were very flighty, flying up well before we got anywhere near, and heading further down the beach. Thankfully, as we got to where they had been feeding, they flew back in and landed on the shingle right in front of us. They were remarkably well camouflaged against the stones, but they were really close so we got a good really look at them. We counted at least 70 of them in the flock here today, although it was hard to get an accurate figure as they wouldn’t stop moving!

Snow Buntings – very well camouflaged on the shingle

While we were walking out for the Snow Buntings, we noticed a couple of gulls on the beach beyond. One was rather pale, and through the scope we could see it was the juvenile Glaucous Gull which has been hanging around here for a few days now. It has been feeding on dead seals washed up on the beach in last week’s storms, but this morning it was loafing. When we got down the beach, it was lying down on the beach, dozing. Still, we could see its very pale wing tips, much paler than the rest of the bird.

Glaucous Gull – the juvenile was dozing on the beach first thing this morning

Looking out across North Scrape, there were several Shelducks scattered around the water. A small group of ducks closer to the front were all Pintail, busy upending in the shallows. As we turned to walk back, several groups of Brent Geese flew in, from the direction of the harbour where they had presumably roosted last night.

We stopped to have another scan of the sea when we got back to the beach car park. There was still no sign of the scoter flock, but we did pick up a Red-throated Diver on the water just offshore. A Guillemot flying past was a nice bonus too.

It was a very successful stop at Cley, but we had a busy day ahead and no time to explore the rest of the reserve today, so we moved on. We headed inland again next, to check out some farm buildings where there are sometimes Little Owls. It didn’t feel like a particularly good day to be looking for them – given the grey skies and wind – and they have not been very active recently anyway, but we thought we would have a quick look. Our luck was in. The first place we stopped, we spotted a Little Owl. It had found a sheltered spot, out of the wind, in the window of an old barn.

We moved on again, heading back across and down to the coast at Holkham. As we drove up along Lady Anne’s Drive, we could see more Pink-footed Geese out on the grazing marshes. There were lots of Wigeon out on the grass too, and a scattering of Teal around the pools.

Parking at the north end of the drive, we could see a large flock of Brent Geese feeding in the field next door. Most of them are Dark-bellied Brents, the regular form here which breeds in Siberia and spends the winter along the coast here. Looking through them carefully, we found one which was noticeably paler below, brighter white on the flanks and round under the belly. It was a Pale-bellied Brent, a scarce visitor here.

There was also a darker goose with them, with a more striking white collar than the others – one of the regular Black Brant hybrids, the result of a past pairing between a Black Brant (the third form of Brent Goose, which normally winters along the Pacific coasts) and one of our Dark-bellied Brents. They are regular here, with as many as three in the Wells / Holkham area, returning to the same fields each winter. A pitfall for the unwary, they are often misidentified as pure Black Brants.

Black Brant hybrid – one of the regular birds, with the Brents by the Drive

A careful scan around the field produced a Grey Partridge, over towards the back. We could see its orange face and the distinctive dark kidney mark on its belly through the scope. We were heading out for the beach, so we cut through the trees, which were quiet today.

Since Christmas, the Shorelarks have been more elusive and spend a lot of their time feeding in the taller saltmarsh vegetation where they can be hard to see. Thankfully, as we walked out towards the cordon, someone had already found them and a small group of people had gathered to watch them.

The Shorelarks were only a few metres out from the path, but were still very difficult to see, creeping around in the vegetation. Thankfully, one stopped to preen on a little tussock and we were able quickly to get it in the scope. We could see its bright yellow face and distinctive black mask. Once we had found one, we could see there were more around it. Probably there were all 26 here, but we could see no more then 3-4 at any time and at times it was hard to see any at all!

Shorelark – hard to see in the taller vegetation on the saltmarsh

Continuing on to the cordon, a flock of small birds flew up from the edge of the sandy path ahead of us, and landed back down again. More Snow Buntings. There were eighteen here now (they were joined by another two when we walked back), the flock having declined since Christmas as some of the birds seem to have moved on. They are very obliging though, and let us walk right past them without flying off.

Snow Buntings – another 20 were at Holkham today

The sea at Holkham has been quiet in recent days, but we thought we would try our luck here, as we were doing so well. There were several Cormorants out on the sandbar just offshore, drying their wings. A few Oystercatchers were out there too, and a small flock of Sanderling whirled round and landed in with them.

Having set up the scope, we found it happened to be pointing right at a small party of Red-breasted Mergansers which were bobbing about on the water in front of the sandbar. Otherwise, the sea looked pretty empty on our first scan – just a single Common Scoter offshore.

On our next scan across, we spotted a diver quite close in, behind the breakers. We assumed it would be one of the two Great Northern Divers which we have seen here regularly in the last couple of weeks, but when it surfaced again from behind the waves we realised it was actually a Black-throated Diver. We could see the distinctive white patch on the rear flanks. A good bird to see here, the rarest of the three regular divers in Norfolk. Further down the beach, we then found a Great Northern Diver just offshore too. A three diver day – a rare treat indeed in this part of the world!

Back at the car, we made our way on west. We could see a lot of geese in one of the fields by the road, more than usual, so we pulled into a conveniently placed layby to check them out. A quick scan with binoculars revealed there were several Russian White-fronted Geese in with the regular Greylags and Egyptian Geese. Unfortunately, just at that moment a Marsh Harrier drifted across. The geese put their heads up and, as the harrier began to circle over them, they were off.

Russian White-fronted Geese – flushed by a Marsh Harrier as we pulled up

As we quickly got out of the car, we realised there were more White-fronted Geese out here – probably at least 120 in total. We watched as they all disappeared off over the grazing marshes towards the pines. The one thing we failed to find here was a Great White Egret, but rather than linger we figured we could have another quick look on our way back later.

A quick diversion down to the harbour at Brancaster Staithe added Black-tailed Godwit and Bar-tailed Godwit to the day’s list, as well as Little Egret. But there didn’t seem to be anything much else here, so we continued on to our next destination, Titchwell.

The feeders in front of the Visitor Centre were well-stocked but rather unusually devoid of birds when we arrived. There were a few Chaffinches, Goldfinches and a single Greenfinch on the feeders the other side, as well as Blue Tits and Great Tits for the list. We headed straight out onto the reserve, and a quick look in the ditch by the main path as we passed quickly revealed a Water Rail lurking in the water in the bottom.

Water Rail – lurking in the ditch by the main path

The sun was out as we walked along the path by the reedbed. It almost felt for a moment as if the forecast of rain later might be too pessimistic. The reedbed pool produced Gadwall and Tufted Duck, and we could see a single Grey Plover and a Curlew on Lavendar Marsh, but was otherwise fairly quiet, so we continued out to Parrinder Hide.

The Freshmarsh is very full of water at the moment, so there are not many places for waders here currently. There were a few Lapwings and a little group of Dunlin on the small remaining muddy island by the junction to the hide. Scanning through the ducks on the bigger, drier fenced-off island we were struck by the lack of Golden Plovers today – they must all have been feeding in the fields inland. Well, almost all, as we eventually found just a single one pretending to be a Wigeon.

There has been a Water Pipit regularly on this island, but it can be very elusive in the vegetation. Thankfully today, we found it pretty quickly, feeding on the spit on the front edge.

Common Redshank – on Volunteer Marsh as we passed

With not much else on here, we decided to head straight out to the beach. Apart from a few Redshanks and a couple of Grey Plover, there wasn’t much to see on Volunteer Marsh either. The now non-tidal ‘Tidal Pools’ are very full of water after last weeks high tides, which means there is very little island space left for roosting waders. There had apparently been some Knot on here earlier, but all we could find now was Oystercatchers and Bar-tailed Godwits, along with a small number of Dunlin and a couple more Grey Plovers.

The sea has been very productive at Titchwell in recent weeks and was one of the main reasons for coming here today, but when we got to the dunes one of the reserve volunteers was just leaving and told us there wasn’t much out there. He wasn’t wrong. All we could see on the sea was a single Common Scoter. We could see some cloud building from the west, and it started to spit with rain, so we decided to cut our losses. On the walk back to the car, the raft of Common Pochard and Tufted Duck which hadn’t been on the Freshmarsh on our way out had now reappeared.

We did a quick loop inland via Choseley on our way to Thornham, but the hedges along the side of the road here were quiet again, as they had been at the weekend. We decided to stop for lunch at Thornham Harbour and try for the Twite. While we were eating, the Twite first flew up and landed on the fence by the old sluice gate, then flew in over the saltmarsh and over to the coal barn, where they landed on the roof. After a couple of minutes they flew back in past us and landed down by the puddles in the car park for a drink, where we finally got a good look at them.

Twite – flew in and landed in the car park while we were having lunch

After lunch, we headed round to Holme. As we drove down the track towards the Firs, we could see a photographer with a long lens pointing it into one of the gardens, his car abandoned in the middle of the road with the door still open. As we passed, we looked across to see what he was trying to photograph and saw a Barn Owl on a pile of brash in the back garden. A couple of Mistle Thrushes were in one of the trees on the other side of the road.

When the seaduck are not at Titchwell, Holme can be a good place to look instead. As we got down to the beach, there didn’t seem to be much offshore at first, apart from a trawler being followed by a huge mob of hungry gulls. As we scanned across, we first found a few Great Crested Grebes out on the water. Then we picked up some Eider a bit further offshore, which helpfully started to fly in much closer after the trawler had passed, lots of females, several 1st winter drakes and one or two very smart adult drakes.

A paler bird caught the light a bit further out, on the sea away to the east. It didn’t look like a gull and when it surfaced again from behind the waves we could see it was a drake Long-tailed Duck, one of the birds we were hoping to see today.

There were more waders on the beach here, over towards Thornham Harbour, with a small group of Knot in with the Grey Plover and Dunlin. It had brightened up again while we were at Holme, but now we could see some very dark clouds heading our way. We got back to the car, just as it started to rain.

Our next destination was Snettisham. As we got out onto the seawall, the tide was well out. There was a big flock of Golden Plover out on the mud, and a large huddle of Oystercatchers on the beach away to the north. More waders scattered liberally around, mostly Bar-tailed Godwit, Grey Plover and Dunlin. But it was raining hard now and windy and exposed up here, so we couldn’t spend long standing and scanning without risking getting very wet.

We had come here mainly to try to see the Smew which has been at Snettisham on and off for several weeks now. It can disappear at times, but thankfully today it was on the first pit just south of the cross bank, diving with three drake Goldeneye. We had a quick look at it – it was a bit more sheltered on the inland side of the seawall – and then continued on down towards the hide.

Smew – still at Snettisham on one of the pits today

The Short-eared Owl, which had gone missing at the weekend, was apparently back under its usual bramble bush yesterday, so we made our way round to see if we could see it. Sure enough, there it was. It looked a bit bedraggled in the rain, and we were in danger of becoming the same, so with our mission here accomplished we made a swift retreat. Still, it meant we had racked up three different owls on our travels today.

Short-eared Owl – back under its usual bramble bush in the rain

Back in the car, we made our way back east inland. We made a quick stop by a field with a strip planted with seed mix. We were looking mainly for Yellowhammers, and could see lots of birds in the hedge right at the back. They were mainly Reed Buntings, but as we scanned through them we found several Yellowhammers in with them. Even in the gloomy conditions, the bright yellow males really stood out.

Then we spotted a Tree Sparrow too. It dropped straight down out of sight, but as we scanned back we found a second Tree Sparrow a bit further back which stayed put until we all got a look at it. We could see the black spot on its white cheek. Not a great view in the driving rain, but a real bonus and not one we were expecting to get today.

There were a few common farmland birds which we had missed on our way out, so we had a look to see if we could find them on the way back, cutting across back to the coast road at Holkham. But it was a bit of a struggle to find much in the rain now. A quick stop back at Holkham was more productive though. Having drawn a blank on Great White Egret this morning, we found four together out on the grazing marshes this afternoon. For what was not that long ago a rarity in the UK, four together is quite a sight (well, away from Somerset at least)!

We had planned to finish the day at one of the raptor roosts, but when we got there the conditions were really dreadful. It was getting dark, but the driving rain meant visibility was much worse than it should have otherwise been. We headed for shelter and were told by the two people already there that they had just seen a male Hen Harrier land out on the marshes. Unfortunately they couldn’t find it again now – they couldn’t even find the post it was next to at first!

Thankfully, as we scanned across trying to find it, we spotted a harrier fly up at the back of the saltmarsh. It was not the male, but it was a ringtail Hen Harrier. We could see the flash of the white square at the base of its tail. It landed again and we could just make it out, perched on the ground.

That was more than we thought we would see, given the conditions, so we decided to call it a day. When we got back to the warm and dry, we tallied up the day’s list. 100 species! Not bad at all for a mid-winter day, and even more so given the conditions this afternoon. It just goes to show…

 

27th March 2018 – Brecks Birding Again

A Private Tour down in the Brecks today. The forecast earlier in the week was for heavy rain all day, which by yesterday was tempered to heavy rain clearing mid morning. As it was, we didn’t get any heavy rain at all, although it did rain in the morning and stayed stubbornly grey and misty all afternoon. Still, the weather almost never stops us getting out and seeing some good birds.

Our first target for the day was Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. As we parked in the Forestry Commission car park it was drizzling still, so we donned boots and waterproofs and set off. On our way down to the bridge, we could hear Bramblings singing in the trees – more of a wheeze than a song. We found several in the trees by the feeders and had a good look at one male in particular which perched nicely above us.

Brambling – several were singing down by the bridge

 

As we set off along the river bank path, a Treecreeper was singing in the first poplars and we eventually located it in a tree right above the path. A little further along, we found a Chiffchaff flitting around in the sallows above the ditch. This was the first of several we came across this morning, feeding low down along the edge of the river.

Although there has been the odd Chiffchaff singing here in recent weeks, these seemed like they might be new arrivals, returning for the summer.

Chifchaff – feeding feverishly along the river bank

We hadn’t gone much further when two Kingfishers flashed past, one over the reeds on one side of the path and the other back past us along the river. With a shout of ‘Kingfisher‘, half the group watched one as half saw the other and only afterwards we realised we were looking at different birds!

The Kingfisher which had flown along the river landed in one of the bushes overhanging the water just behind us, where we had a nice look at it, before it dropped down into the river and then flew off again.

Kingfisher – one of the two which flew past us simultaneously

As we were walking on along the path, we heard a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker call in the distance. Unfortunately, it was a long way back from the river and on the other side to us. We stood for a minute or so and listened in case it should call again, but it would be impossible to see it here anyway, so we decided to carry on to another favoured spot and try our luck there.

A little further on, and we found our first Mandarins of the day, a pair. At first we noticed the female, on a grassy pool just beyond the far bank. Then the drake swam out into view too. Stunning birds, and the first of many we would see today – they were hard to count!

Mandarin Duck – our first pair of the day were on a grassy pool by the river

It was non-stop action along the river bank at first, but once we got to the area where we hoped to find the Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, all was quiet at first. As we walked slowly along, scanning the trees and listening carefully, we heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker calling and drumming and then found it high in a poplar by the river.

There were flocks of Redwings in the trees too and Siskins flying back and forth. We heard a couple of Marsh Tits singing and found a pair of Nuthatches flying around high in the trees. Thankfully the rain eased off a little as we stood and waited.

Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait too long. A series of sharp ‘ki,ki,ki,ki…’ calls alerted us to the arrival of a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and a few seconds later we spotted it as it flew over to another tree. We got it in the scope and could see it working its way up a dead branch high in one of the poplars. It stayed just long enough for everyone to get a quick look at it through the scope, and then flew across to another.

We could still see the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker through binoculars, but it was on the move constantly. When it flew again, we lost sight of it in the branches further along. We walked up to where it had seemed to land, and a minute or so later flew again. This time it seemed to go a long way, although again we lost sight of it from where we were and couldn’t see whether it had flown across the river.

We walked back slowly along the path, listening and scanning the trees, but the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker didn’t call again, so perhaps it had gone away across the river. Having seen it already, we decided not to wait any longer for it to reappear and started to make our way back. Another pair of Mandarins had been flying round constantly as we waited and now we found them perched up in the trees beside the river. A different male landed on the water below, before they all flew off again.

As we got back to the bridge, a pair of Siskins were flitting around in the sallows and the male started songflighting. We had a quick look in the poplars by the road, but all was quiet. When we got back to the car, we heard Mandarin calling and looked up to see a group of five flying over the trees up towards the church.

It was time for a coffee break, so we drove down to the picnic area at St Helens. As we got out of the car there were lots of Redwings chattering in the trees. A male Grey Wagtail was singing from the handrail of the footbridge before flying off upstream. Yet another pair of Mandarins flew over calling and dropped down towards the river.

The coffee stop was quickly interrupted as a pair of Woodlarks dropped down into the cultivated field nearby. We managed to get one of them in the scope, but they quickly flew again, the female Woodlark up into a nearby beech tree while the male started to sing, fluttering round in circles on butterfly wings over the field.

Woodlark – the female turned out to be colour-ringed

 

When the female Woodlark dropped down into the field again to feed, much closer this time, we could get a better look at her. We could see that she was colour-ringed, with a combination of different coloured plastic rings. This normally would allow us to find out the details of where and when she was ringed and has been seen since, but at the time of writing this is proving harder to find out than it should! We watched as the Woodlark crept around in and out of the clods of earth.

It had stopped raining now, but it was still showing no signs of brightening up. We had been hoping to look for Goshawks, but we knew it would be difficult in the cold, grey and misty conditions. We headed over there anyway, but took a detour on the way to see if we could find any Stone Curlews. They are only back in very small numbers so far, possibly not a surprise given all the recent cold weather, and they proved elusive today too.

We did have nice views of a Tree Sparrow in a hedge while we were looking. There were a few Shelducks and a couple of Oystercatchers in the pig fields. A rather pale Common Buzzard was perched in a tree, but a second Buzzard flew low past us and we noticed a Red Kite circling over a nearby wood. The first raptor activity we had seen today.

Tree Sparrow – hiding in the hedge

 

 

 

It was time for lunch so we decided to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, and headed over to an area to try our luck for Goshawks. As we ate, we scanned the trees, but there was not a single raptor visible, not even a Common Buzzard up here today. A little group of Yellowhammers perched up in a bush with a couple of Reed Buntings. Several Roe Deer were out feeding in the edge of one of the fields and a pair of Greylag Geese were hiding in the winter wheat too.

The highlight was a pair of Curlew which flew in calling and circled down slowly into one of the fields. They are still very scarce breeders here, so it is always good to see a pair presumably back on territory.

After lunch, we decided to move on and try our luck with Willow Tits instead, while waiting to see if it might brighten up. We walked in to an area of plantation where some feeding tables have been set up for them. Just as we arrived, a brief sighting on one of the tables looked good for a Willow Tit, but it didn’t hang around or reappear.

As we stood and watched for a few minutes, a succession of Coals Tits, Marsh Tits and other tits came in and out. Then a Willow Tit started singing from the trees nearby. We followed the song, and eventually found a Willow Tit high in one of the pines. It seemed like there might be a pair here today, as at one point there appeared to be two birds present.

Barn Owl – out hunting in the early afternoon

 

It was still cloudy and grey, but it felt like the cloud had lifted a little, so we thought we could have one last look to see if there were any raptors up. On our way round, we spotted a Barn Owl on a post out among the bushes in a grassy meadow. They can be seen out hunting much more often in the daytime at the moment, probably still hungry after the recent snow.

Our efforts were rewarded with a lone Red Kite which appeared briefly above the trees, but there was still no sign even of any Common Buzzards taking to the air. Then the cloud base descended again and it started to rain once more, so we decided to admit defeat.

 

Our final destination for the day was Lynford Arboretum. Thankfully we drove out of the rain and it was dry again when we arrived. As we got out of the car, we noticed a small bird flitting around in one of the deciduous trees by the car park and a quick look confirmed it was a Firecrest.

Firecrest – flitting around in the trees by the car park

 

It was hard to make out any detail on the Firecrest at first, high in the trees, but it would periodically chase after an insect on the wing and flutter down lower, where we could see its strongly marked face pattern and brighter green upperparts than a Goldcrest. A second Firecrest then started singing from one of the fir trees nearby, but it was presumably deep in the thick foliage and we couldn’t see it.

We made our way quickly down towards the paddocks, stopping briefly to look at the feeders from the gate. Even though there were more fatballs today and more seed spread on the ground, it was rather quiet here, just a few tits and a Chaffinch. There was very little seed left out for the birds at the bridge, so we added a couple of generous helpings of sunflower seeds and headed down to check out the paddocks.

As we walked up to a gap in the hedge, one of the group spotted the first Hawfinch high in one of the hornbeams. We had a good look at it through the scope – it was a smart male, bright chestnut coloured. Shortly afterwards, it was joined by a duller grey-brown female and then a second male Hawfinch appeared with them too.

Hawfinch – a bright male up in one of the hornbeams

 

When the Hawfinches all dropped down out of the tops of the trees, we scanned the ground underneath. We couldn’t see them there, but we did find a female Hawfinch right out in the open, in the middle of the grass with the Redwings! It hopped around for a couple of minutes, in and out of the tussocks, picking at the ground, before it flew back to the trees.

Hawfinch – this female was hopping around in the middle of the grass

 

Having enjoyed great views of the Hawfinches, we made our way back to the bridge to see what was coming in to feed on the seed we had put out earlier. There were plenty of tits coming in and out, and we had great close views of several Marsh Tits here. Three different Nuthatches kept zooming in to grab beakfuls of seeds too.

Nuthatch – coming in for sunflower seeds down at the bridge

Then suddenly all the birds spooked and disappeared off into the trees. We looked around but couldn’t see any sign of something which might have frightened them. We decided to go and have a look around the lake. As we set off along the path, a quick look up into the trees in the paddocks and we noticed lots of birds in the tops. A closer look through the scope confirmed there were now at least seven Hawfinches here, though they were hard to count from here as there were several well hidden in the branches.

The Hawfinches all gradually dropped down through the branches, and we continued on. A Treecreeper was feeding on the trunk of one of the trees by the path and proved remarkably tame, allowing us to walk almost alongside. A second Treecreeper appeared too and we followed them for several minutes as they moved ahead of us along the path.

Treecreeper – great views feeding by the path beside the lake

There were not many ducks on the lake today – just a couple of pairs of Gadwall and a Mallard or two. Two Canada Geese were on the lawn beyond, along with several Moorhens. Our final pair of Mandarins for the day flew over the paddocks calling. We could hear Little Grebes laughing at us and eventually found one hiding in the reeds.

It was time to start heading back now. A quick glance back over the trees revealed a large, long-winged, long-tailed raptor in the distance, flying steadily towards us out of the clouds. Through the scope, we could see it was a Marsh Harrier, not what we were expecting here and possibly a bird migrating back north. When we got back to the bridge, the birds had all returned to feed again, including a female Reed Bunting now.

Then it was a nice gentle walk back to the car and off to make our way home. Despite the difficult weather, we had enjoyed a great day out and seen a very good selection of Breckland birds.