EAST NORFOLK: Looking for migrants and damselflies

Late August 2019

Near the end of the month Adam & I had set a day aside for birding. There had been an arrival of Wrynecks and Whinchats along the east coast a few days previously and also several sightings of Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly on the pools at Winterton, a species I've never seen, so we decided to head to Horsey and then walk to Winterton and back.

We arrived in light drizzle, which was eventually replaced with bright sunshine by the time we left. Despite the seemingly favourable weather conditions there were not many migrants about. Several local Stonechat families were seen, as was a big mixed Linnet/Goldfinch flock, two Whinchats and a few warblers. Surprise sighting of the day went to a Green Sandpiper that flew up off one of the pools, and a Pied Flycatcher was heard but not seen within some willows.

Unfortunately there wasn't much better luck with the Damselflies. There were lots of Emerald Damselflies, but the only other damsel found was a female Blue-tailed, which proved a bit of an ID challenge because it looked particularly small and dowdy. I assumed it was teneral, but actually some old females look like that. Some Donacia beetles were also noted on the pools, although I'm never completely convinced I've keyed them out correctly so I still need to double check the ID.

The highlight of the visit therefore was the leaf mine of the Nationally Scarce B micro moth, Phyllonorcyter quinquegutella on Creeping Willow. Back at Horsey Mill car park we stopped for a drink and had a walk around the garden, seeing several Rhingia campestris hoverflies.

EAST NORFOLK: Duck hybrid, unsuccessful Eagle watch

22nd April 2017

On Friday night a White-tailed Eagle was found in the broads. They are fairly frequent visitors to the county, but can be rather difficult to see as they roam widely. As it was still present on Saturday morning Cathy kindly agreed to temporarily postpone our planned Bluebell walk to look for the eagle. It had last been reported in the Martham area, so I decided to head for Rollesby in the hope that it would show over the broad. Whilst at Rollesby we had a quick look at the widely lauded/derided (delete as applicable) Cinnamon x Blue-winged Teal hybrid that has been present of late, paired up with a female Mandarin. I also realised that the Common Terns flying about were my first of the year.

(there are many better photos of this bird online - see those taken by Dave Appleton, Chris Lansdell, David Norgate etc.)

With no sign of the White-tailed Eagle, and no further news from anywhere, we drove through Marsham and then along the Horsey straight, before parking up for a cup of tea. I heard a Cuckoo calling in the distance (another year first), and saw Marsh Harriers and Buzzards up, but no luck with the eagle. After a few hours we gave up and went to lunch at Waxham Barn. The Eagle was later seen around Fritton, although on Sunday it was seen over Sculthorpe. My only chance now is if it flies over the city centre whilst I'm on a lunch break!

EAST NORFOLK: New year's day Swallow

1st January 2016

Happy New Year.

We stayed over with friends on the 31st December, so awoke in Badersfield. Very few birds flew over whilst I was looking out of the windows, Woodpigeon and Black-headed Gull the only recognisable ones. As we left I had to stop to de-ice the car, something of a novelty in recent times, and we added Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Rook and Jackdaw. Back on the North Walsham-Norwich road a Grey Heron flew over from the direction of Horstead mill, and the most interesting bird of the journey was a Little Egret flying over the White Horse at Crostwick.

After calling in at home (adding Magpie on the TV aerial nearby) we headed to Whitlingham with Margaret, which I shall post about separately. After a walk there and some food in the cafe, we set off for a leisurely circuit taking in Acle, Horsey and Walcott.

Along the A47 we picked up the expected Kestrel and Pheasant, before turning off at Acle. Usually there are Lapwings in the fields here, but we could only see corvids and Starlings. Some Red-legged Partridges near Martham were the only addition up to Horsey, where a Marsh Harrier was hunting over the marsh, appropriately enough. Around 30 swans were feeding in the distance, but there was nowhere convenient to stop and they looked like Mute Swans.

Carrying on to Horsey Corner we got stuck in a queue of traffic. It became apparent that this wasn't due to an accident, it was due to the large number of people wanting to park up to see the seals. A field had been converted into a car park and was heaving with cars. I was a bit bemused by this. The seals at Blakeney Point have been popular for ages, but never elicited this type of reaction. Could the difference really be it was a bit cheaper to pay for parking than a boat trip. I know that I should probably be pleased that so many people want to connect with nature in this way, but the impact of this sheer volume of people on the local roads and dunes are hopefully being monitored. Of course a big part of it could be the 'January the 1st effect', where everyone goes out for one walk a year. Apparently North Norfolk was also very busy, which seemed to annoy some birders visiting from out-of-the county, with no apparent sense of irony.

Anyway, as I considered all this (and read the new-looking Horsey Estate seal viewing area sign) a Swallow flew over the car heading north-west. I knew there had been one at Winterton recently, but it was still a complete surprise to see it here. I got it in my binoculars to check that it wasn't Red-rumped, but was chuffed to have 'just' Swallow on my January 1st list. Once we got past the queuing traffic we carried on, and as we reached Sea Palling I suggested we have a look for the Cattle Egret nearby. There was no sign of it (I later found out it hadn't been seen all day) but there was a flock of Fieldfares and Starlings milling about, which was nice to see. Further along the road we saw a black tenebrosus Pheasant and a small skein of Pink-footed Geese flew over.

We back-tracked a little and headed to Walcott, but there was no space to park along the front and no sign of the Turnstones on the wall either, so we headed back to Norwich. My final day total was 47 (+ Robin heard only!), a nice start to the year.