NORWICH: Sprowston Rose-coloured Starling

12th June 2020

This spring there had already been several Rose-coloured Starlings (I'm stubborn and still call them this rather than Rosy Starlings. Don't get me started on "Rosy Pastor" either) in the county, but I was content to stock up my feeders and hope that one would tag on to the large family group that were regularly visiting my garden. This changed when one turned up in Sprowston, 2.5 miles away. I do keep a Norwich bird list of sorts, and having failed to see one at Costessey a couple of years ago decided to go and look for this one. Ideally I would have walked there, but having worked out how long it would have taken to get there and back, plus waiting time, I couldn't do it before going to work so took the car.

Upon arrival the bird was out of sight in a nearby garden, being staked out by a handful of local birders. Twitches in urban areas can be rather awkward, but here everyone was very friendly, and I tried to repay this by answering questions from locals who stopped to ask what we were looking at, and in several cases told me about how they had been enjoying seeing the birds in their gardens during lockdown. After about twenty minutes I spotted the Rose-coloured Starling fly up into the top of an Elder, where it stayed for a while, in view but partly obscurred. Incidentally I read a tweet around this time that someone said seeing so many pin-sharp pictures of rarities made them not want to go and see them as they felt they had already had the experience via the internet - well my friend, this record shot is for you.

NORWICH: Not seeing a Rose-coloured Starling

Mid October 2018

When news emerged mid-week that there was a Rose-coloured Starling in New Costessey, I was cautiously optimistic that it would stay for a while and I would therefore be able to catch up with it at the weekend. As it turned out, this was half right. Despite only being about 5 miles away as the crow flies, Costessey is a good 20-25 minute drive, sometimes more at rush hour. Rose-coloured Starlings often turn up in gardens, but usually at least show for a lot of the time on nearby hedges or rooftops. This one was spending a lot of time in one small garden, out of sight of the road. In total I visited three times, twice after work and once after a day out, without seeing it. Apparently early mornings were better, but that didn't fit in with my other commitments. A shame, as I would have loved to have seen one around the city, but there is only so much time you can spend on a housing estate before deciding to cut your losses.

Still, good to see Ricky Clovelly* Cleverley in the news discussing how much the bird stuck out like a sore thumb :-)

EDP link - http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/environment/rare-bird-new-costessey-rose-coloured-starling-1-5735366

* In an otherwise nice article about Ricky's patch birding at Thorpe Marshes for 'Tern', they mispelled his surname, which some of us haven't forgotten.

NORTH NORFOLK: Surf Scoter & R-c Starling

17th November 2012

Whilst at home today I got a phone call from Gary mid-morning to tell me that a juvenile Surf Scoter had been found off the cliffs between Sheringham and Weybourne. Ducks are probably my favourite group of birds, and Surf Scoter was one of the three species on the Norfolk list that I hadn't seen (Canvasback and Blue-winged Teal are the others), so I decided to get the next train to Sheringham to go and have a look. After a long walk along the cliffs (failing to see a Richard's Pipit that was seen sporadically throughout the day) I reached the right place, where a couple of birders were watching the Surf Scoter with a small group of Common Scoter. The flock were actively feeding, but when seen in profile the head and beak of the Surf Scoter really stuck out. A little while later Neil and Gary arrived, and after watching the scoter for a bit longer we headed back.

On my way to the scoter I had been told that a Rose-coloured Starling had been found in Northrepps, so we headed that way. A birder at the village hall car park gave us directions to the garden that the bird was frequenting, and we found a small group of birders watching the juvenile Rose-coloured Starling in a small tree, where it showed well. Interestingly the bird had at least one dark adult covert, and the end of the beak had turned pink. We also clocked up a Cormorant and a Lapwing over the house, and saw a flock of Pink-footed Geese fly over near Southrepps on our way back to North Walsham to round off an excellent days birding.

Many thanks to Dave Appleton for finding the Surf Scoter, and to the owner of the garden that the Rose-coloured Starling was in.