WHITLINGHAM: June WeBS count etc

19th June 2022

There were notable counts, if not species, on the June WeBS count, with 414 Greylag Geese my highest ever count here. Of the other large species there were 110 Mute Swans (including 2 pairs, both with 2 cygnets, the latter not included in the total), 64 Canada Geese and 46 Egyptian Geese.

It was a good day for invertebrates, although not everything identified to species. Selected highlights included Aphis pomi on Hawthorn, a black tumbling flower beetle, possibly Mordellistena pumila, larva of Nematus septoniatrialis on willow, an unidentified large hairy click beetle sp and Pterocallis alni, an aphid on Alder.

WHITLINGHAM: December wildfowl count & Scaup

18th December 2016 

Justin had texted me on Saturday to wish me good luck with the final WeBS count of the year, a reference to the heavy fog that would have made counting the far edges impossible. Fortunately for me, Sunday was clear and there were no issues with the count. That said, with handover of our rented house looming and Cathy’s sister visiting from Germany, I had set myself a two-hour limit to get the count completed in. 

The Little Broad was still tricky to view because of the vegetation that has grown up around it, but it didn’t seem as busy as it has on previous occasions, 50 Gadwall being the only count of note. Moving to the Great Broad it was immediately obvious where most of the birds were! Huge numbers of Tufted Ducks and Coot in particular were spread out over the whole broad. Scanning from the west end I was mid-way through counting Tufted Ducks when I spotted a female duck that had more white on around the bill than the rest of the Tufties. A closer look revealed that the white didn’t quite meet in the middle above the bill, so when I went round and looked from a different angle the seed of doubt had been put in my mind. Side-on it looked good for Scaup, but didn’t seem noticeably larger than the Tufted Ducks in front of it. Knowing that I had a big job on to count everything I digiscoped some shots, recorded it as Scaup-like Aythya sp and carried on. At my in-laws I uploaded a photo to Twitter to ask hybird guru Dave Appleton his opinion, and having reviewed my photos and seen feedback from others it was clear that the bird was a ‘pure’ Scaup, presumably a first-winter, hence the brown centre above the bill. So a bit of a cock-up, but a reminder that this was only my third Scaup here in 10 years and fortunately it was still present by the time news went out. 

I carried on around the broad, tallying up the ducks. I don’t actually add up the final number until I get home, so whilst I knew it would be a big number (I had to go onto the next page for both Tufted Ducks and Coot), I hadn’t realised that the Tufted Duck count actually appears to be a new high count for Whitlingham – 384 birds, whilst the 371 Coot is the highest since 2010 as far as I know. It is interesting that despite the winter not being a harsh one, several species are present in markedly higher numbers than in 2015. 

December comparison figures below (2015 in brackets)

• Gadwall 252 (106) 
• Pochard 31 (48) 
• Tufted Duck 384 (198) 
• Coot 371 (261) 

Other birds of note included a drake Wigeon in the conservation area bay but only visible from the south shore, and the female Ferruginous Duck x Pochard hybrid.

WHITLINGHAM: Bittern!

23rd February 2016

The short winter days can be frustrating, with no opportunity to look for wildlife in the evenings. Now we are near the end of February this situation is starting to change, allowing the possibility of brief excursions. On Tuesday I got a phonecall from Justin, telling me that he was watching a Bittern at Whitlingham. This bird has been reported a couple of times so far this year, but presumably been present for much of the winter, unobtrusively going about its business amongst the reeds. I decided to make the most of the sunshine and slightly later sunset by hurrying down to Whitlingham after work.

I power-walked along the southern edge of the broad, stopping to look at my first patch Oystercatchers of the year standing on one of the floating rafts. A Kestrel flew low over the picnic meadow. The reedy areas along the northern shore of the conservation area bay cannot all be viewed from one place, so I stopped in several places and scanned, hoping that the different angles might help locate the Bittern. With no luck west of the island, I carried on past the island and set up my telescope on the area of reeds just to the east.

The area I was focusing on hosts quite a large Magpie roost over the winter. As I was going to be staring in that direction for some time, I decided to count the roosting Magpies. Some were alrady in the bushes, so I started by counting all of the perched up birds (around 30), and then counting the rest as they flew in. I ended up with a count of 148, easily my highest ever, although a way short of the record count here. With the light beginning to fade, I started to walk back, but stopping again west of the island to scan. And there it was, the Bittern, standing amongst the reeds. It took a step right to the edge of the broad then turned side on, clambering onto some debris before launching into flight. Its legs dangled down like a giant Water Rail, suggesting that it wasn't flying far. A brilliant end to a very pleasant evening.

WHITLINGHAM: December wildfowl counts

13th December 2015

Today was the final WeBS date of the year, so it was off to Whitlingham to carry out December's wildfowl count. Carol & Rob had asked to come along so I met them at the start of the path down to the Little Broad. There was still a bit of mist hanging over the trees, and I stopped on the way along to photograph some lichens growing on the curb - still to be identified.

We walked along the edge of the Little Broad, stopping to watch a small flock of Siskins fly over and a Kingfisher zoom past. A Grey Heron squawked as it flew across the broad. Transferring to the Great Broad we stopped near the ruin to get some more photographs of the Pintail x Mallard hybrid, which was still sticking to that small length of broad edge.

 
There were lots of birds on the broad, including the most Coot I've seen here this year (264). Two drake Goosanders were along the far shore but still visible with the naked eye (earlier in the day an extra one had been seen). The most interestingly from the counts was the large number of Grey Herons. We counted seven on the Great Broad, although one was probably the one from the Little Broad. There was another at Thorpe, making eight in total, two more than my previous highest count here. The combined Whitlingham/Thorpe duck counts were 87 Mallard, 106 Gadwall, 198 Tufted Ducks, 48 Pochard and 42 Teal. A Little Grebe, two Lapwing and another Kingfisher were also of note.

WHITLINGHAM: November count & Goosander

15th November 2015

Another overcast day on Sunday for the Whitlingham WeBS count. The most interesting bird was the Goosander that has been seen in the area on and off since the summer. It had been showing very well on the main slipway, but had been disturbed by the time I worked my way round, and I caught up with it a bit further east. 

Two other interesting sightings were a Goldeneye on Thorpe Broad (the 2014/15 winter was quite mild so I didn't see any here earlier in the year) and a combined Whitlingham/Thorpe count of 65 Cormorants, which is my highest ever count here, and possibly the highest count in general. Other species with reasonably high counts included 92 Greylag Geese, 67 Mallard, 133 Tufted Ducks, 157 Coots and around 300 Black-headed Gulls.

New species were rather hard to come by. Last time I was at Whitlingham I had noticed a leaf miner in Hazel and been told that in order to separate two similar species of moth caterpillar I had to have a closer look at the pattern of the frass (a posh word for leaf-miner poo). I did this, and it looks like this one is Stigmella floslactella.

WHITLINGHAM: Lots of Pochard & pale Egyptian Goose

3rd February 2013

Having missed out on a flock of Cranes flying over the previous day, I had high hopes for the day. Looking out from the slipway I noticed a very pale (possibly leucistic?) Egyptian Goose. There was a bird here a few years ago that lacked the brown patch around the eye, but this is the palest bird that I have seen here.

Duck numbers had decreased further since my last visit, but there were three sizeable flocks of Pochard together with another five in the conservation area. The total of 182 birds is a new site record as far as I am aware. A Little Grebe and five Shovelers completed the interesting wildfowl. Looking over to Thorpe there appeared to be at least 100 Gadwall and a decent number of Teal, but they were mostly behind the spit, making an accurate count tricky. I photographed a few Cormorants to double-check the gular angle at home, and was alerted to the presence of a Buzzard flying over by the Jackdaws mobbing it.

Before leaving I went up to the farmland at the top of the lime tree avenue, where I added Stock Dove to the year list. I also managed to add a few bits and bobs to my TG2507 all taxa list, including Dog's Mercury, Lesser Burdock, Lesser Celandine, Turkeytail and three species of lichen.

Turkeytail (Trametes versicolor)

WHITLINGHAM: Crossbill-less.

5th June 2012

A small influx of Crossbills and yesterdays Black Tern at Rockland seemed to be a good enough reason to brave the bank holiday crowds at Whitlingham.  There are a couple of large coniferous trees along Whitlingham Lane that I have earmarked as possible Crossbill trees, but my best chance is probably just being in the right place at the right time. I kept my ears peeled, but with no joy (well done to Jim, who had some over his house at about the same time though!).  No sign of the Black Tern over the Great Broad, I think I may have to wait until the autumn for another shot at them now.  There were two Common Terns still, presumably the pair that were mating last week.  I did notice that there seemed to be a lot of Mute Swans and Greylag Geese about, so I did a count on my way back, 103 Swans and 91 Greylags, both decent counts.

EAST NORFOLK: Loads of Cormorants and a winter Skua

29th January 2012

We spent Sunday afternoon doing a spot of leisurely birding in the Great Yarmouth area. The Velvet Scoter that has spent the past week or so close offshore was easily picked up from near the Britannia monument, whilst a couple of Med Gulls were being buffeted by the strong winds. We had a look around Bradwell for the Ruddy Shelduck, which wasn't visible from the main road but was found behind some farm buildings close by. Returning to Yarmouth we stopped at Caister beach. Scanning out to sea I saw a raft of Cormorants that continued for an age. The choppy water meant an accurate count was impossible, but there were at least 350 birds there. A couple of Red-throated Divers flew past whilst I was trying to count the Cormorants, and once I'd given up I found three very close inshore, barely past the fishermens' lines. A Great Skua flew past heading south, I'm pretty sure its my first winter record. An Eider north was also of interest. A couple of Little Egrets flew over the road at Ludham Bridge on our way back.

Red-throated Diver close in to shore

WHITLINGHAM: After the day of the owls

14th October 2011

I don't often let myself get too bothered by missing a particular bird, but I couldn't help wishing I'd been at Titchwell the previous day to see the mass influx of Short-eared Owls. Surely a once in a lifetime moment for those present. With my inland patching hat on, it struck me that if ever I was going to see a Short-eared Owl locally it would be now. This was further brought home when I found out that one had got as far down the river as Strumpshaw (c6 miles away). Even without the SEOs there was an influx of Great Grey Shrikes and Yellow-browed Warblers, so more than enough to keep the interest up.

I headed down to Whitlingham after work, arriving around 5. After scanning the meadows and the scrub around the Little Broad (Adam had a Brambling here earlier in the week, a scarce bird at the C.P.) I went for a quick scan of the Great Broad. Gulls were pouring onto the broad for a pre-roost bathe, the 250+ Lesser-black backs on the water were only a fraction of the birds passing through. At the east end of the broad 213 Greylag Geese was an unusually high count. Today though the waterfowl were secondary. I had identified Whitlingham Marsh and the sewage works as being the most likely spots, so I headed past the woods (quickly scanning Thorpe Marsh on my way). Of course I didn't see any owls, and no shrikes were perched on the fence, but it was worth a shout. As I walked back along Whitlingham Lane in the vanishing light I wondered what fun and games were going on at the North Norfolk Coast.

WHITLINGHAM: Lots of gulls

18th September 2011

What a difference a day makes. In contrast to the previous day when I had the country park almost to myself, the sun had brough out hundreds of people. Wildfowl numbers were accordingly down, the whole Wigeon flock had gone. The only new arrival was a drake Pochard in with the Tufted Ducks. A Shag had been reported near the island in the morning, so I checked and re-checked all of the Cormorants, but with no joy. If anyone who reads the blog knows anymore details (adult/juvenile, time seen etc.) I would appreciate it. Whilst scanning from the bird screen a flock of 146 Lesser Black-backed Gulls dropped in, and I spent a while scanning through to check for Yellow-legged Gulls. There definitely weren't any adult YLG, but it did highlight the fact that I don't know how to separate juveniles and 1st winters, so some evening reading needed!

2nd winter Lesser Black-backed Gull. Maybe.

WHITLINGHAM: Big arrival of Wigeon

17th September 2011

A couple of weeks since my last visit, and with Grafham Water showing the potential of inland reservoirs (albeit much larger ones) I thought an early morning visit was in order. Upon arrival I was scanning from the slipway when I heard the whistling noise made by Wigeon, and sure enough six were swimming around near the far bank. As I continued round I found a further 37 mixed in with a similar sized flock of Gadwall. It wasn't long before the ducks were disturbed by a speedboat sent out by the watersports centre, but when they landed again I was able to confirm that there were 43 Wigeon, far and away my highest count here. In the conservation area bay another 25-odd Gadwall and a Little Grebe were loafing around. Three Chiffchaffs were singing around the site, and five Cetti's Warblers were singing too. A Speckled Wood and a couple of White sp. were the only butterflies, whilst a Shaggy Ink Cap was by the path at the east end.

Shaggy Ink Cap