NORWICH: Early April at Mousehold Heath

Early April 2021

A family walk at Mousehold Heath was notable for the large number of Green Tiger Beetles seen - at least 20, probably quite a few more than that. They were very active, often first seen flying past and landing on a sandy bank. I kept an eye out for bees in the hope of finding my first Ashy Mining Bee, but only found a handful of species, including Orange-tailed Mining Bee. We also saw a couple of False Puffballs (Entiridium lycoperdon), slime moulds that form whitish half-spheres on tree trunks. Judging from social media it is having a good year. On our way back Cathy noticed a Treecreeper on a tree trunk close to the path, which showed very well.

WHITLINGHAM: Arctic Redpoll and a new arrival

A bit of a compendium post, this one.

On Saturday 24th Feb I headed down to Norwich waterworks where on two of the past three days the Glaucous Gull that has been seen periodically around Norwich had called in mid afternoon. Beforehand I had a look along the river and cut up through Sycamore Crescent Wood. At the waterworks reservoir, which is only partly visible through the gate, there were the common four gull species but no sign of the Glauc. Craig Robson joined me and said that there were less large gulls there than the past few days so it was probably somewhere else. I did check Wensum Park where there was a good gathering of gulls (220+ Black-headed, and a handful of others) but no luck there either. Thetford gets lots of gulls on the roofs of a business park - does anyone know of any equivalent areas around north Norwich where large gulls go to loaf?

On Sunday morning I got a text from Gary to say he had found a drake Mandarin on the river near Whitlingham. This would normally be the sort of thing I'd go and have a look at, but I didn't, because Cathy had just gone into labour! I drove her to the hospital in the sunshine and we had a baby daughter the following day. Whilst in hospital the 'beast of the east' struck, but the midwives were a hardy bunch with many battling the conditions to get into work or staying to do extra shifts - a big thank you to them all. I don't intend to remodel the website as a parenting blog, but I mention it here as undoubtedly having a young child will affect the amount of time I spend in the field, the places I visit and who knows, perhaps even my outlook on some things.

Whilst in hospital I rationed my phone battery (it already doesn't connect to the internet) and on one of the occasions I turned it on I had a text from Justin - he had found a Coues's Arctic Redpoll at Whitlingham! Whilst I was delighted for him and pleased that a new species had been added to the site list, I did feel a pang of longing to go and see it. Still, I had more important things to worry about.

Come Saturday 3rd March and with the redpoll still present Cathy encouraged me to pop out in the afternoon to have a look. When I arrived a small group was watching the redpoll flock, but the poor light was silhouetting the birds and it was a struggle to be nail down all the relevant features. Part of the flock flew off, so I went to look for them before returning to the favoured area of Alders. By now everyone else had left and the birds came down lower. I got good views of the Coues's Arctic Redpoll, at least two Mealy Redpoll (I think three, but I never saw two similar looking birds together) and at least 10 Lesser Redpoll. My attempts at photos were even worse than normal - there will be some good ones about though, for example keep an eye on James Lowen's blog). This was my 148th patch species, so my medium-term target of 150 is within striking distance. Two from Garganey, Wheatear, Yellow Wagtail, Osprey or Firecrest would do it - let me know if you find any of those please! Whilst scanning the Alders I saw several Treecreepers, including one singing loudly. A Smew was present but I didn't see it on a quick scan and was eager to head back home. This was an excellent end to an exciting but exhausting week.

WHITLINGHAM: Treecreeper and spring additions

29th March 2016

Monday's visit to Whitlingham had been successful in finding hirundines, but later on in the evening a singing Firecrest had been reported. Firecrests are exquisite birds, and a species I've still not seen at Whitlingham (or in the Norwich area at all), so I headed back to Whitlingham early on Tuesday morning. It was a relatively warm day and there was a lot of bird song, so I was fairly optimistic. Just past the slipway I noticed a Treecreeper speedily working its way up an Alder. Seeing a gap in the branches above it, I focused my camera there and managed to get one photo where it wasn't obscurred!

On the Great Broad itself there seemed to be even less Tufted Ducks than before, but six Sand Martins were flying low over the water (presumably last nights birds, but possibly new arrivals passing through). I heard some 'chakking' and looked up to see two small flocks of Fieldfares flying north-eastwards. The winter has been a rather mild one, so these were my first patch Fieldfares of the year.

I loitered around the east end of the broad for a bit, hoping to see or hear the Firecrest, but to no avail. Whilst picking through the rest of the birds I got good views of Chiffchaff, Long-tailed Tits and a further three Treecreepers. Continuing my walk round I stepped off the path to allow some walkers past, and in doing so flushed a Red-legged Partridge! An unusual bird here, but one that does turn up at random intervals, being present nearby on farmland to the south of the sewage works. A final overdue new patch bird of the year was a Reed Bunting, calling from the north shore of the Great Broad.

WHITLINGHAM: March wildfowl counts

13th March 2016

A particularly busy weekend meant that it was around three o'clock before I got down to Whitlingham to carry out the March wildfowl counts. It was still bright, but with a chilly breeze. Starting as always with the Little Broad I heard a few Siskins flying about nearby, and located a singing Treecreeper. It showed well, although as usual the branches and catkins meant I struggled to get an unobscurred photo before it spiralled out of sight.

Reaching the slipway I happened to look up and saw a bird of prey overhead. Earlier in the day a Marsh Harrier had been photographed heading along Prince of Wales road, so I thought it could be that, but a better look showed that it was a Buzzard. It was circling above the visitors' barn, and in fact was still circling a couple of hours later as I finished the count. A quick scan revealed no colour-ringed gulls, but I did spend a bit of time looking at the plumage of the Common Gulls.

Only one Egyptian Goose was present (and that on the meadow opposite the CP rather than on the Great Broad), suggesting that the females are incubating. A selection of species and the equivalent count last year [in brackets] are listed below:

• Mallard 47 [48]
• Gadwall 23 [11]
• Tufted Duck 121 [77]
• Pochard 6 [0]
• Coot 29 [45]
• Cormorant 12 [17]
• Black-headed Gull 365 [159] 

As you can see from the figures, whilst duck numbers seemed low at the time, the wintering species are actually more numerous than this time last year. Mallard numbers are level, whilst for some reason Black-headed Gull numbers have held from February (c390) whilst last year there was a strong drop-off from 410 in February to 159 in March.

If I had heard a singing Chiffchaff today it would have equalled my earliest patch record, but I didn't. There was no sign of other early arrivers such as Sand Martin or Little Ringed Plover either, but it shouldn't be too long now...

WHITLINGHAM: Chiffchaffs and Treecreepers

22nd March 2015

I had a bit of free time on Sunday afternoon and headed down to Whitlingham to look for early spring migrants. As with my previous visit the sunny weather had brought many families and walkers to the country park, making for a busy circuit. A Chiffchaff was calling close to the second car park and was visible high up in a nearby tree. Further round I heard another one singing from Thorpe, whilst a third bird was too busy flycatching do do any singing.

Other than the Chiffchaffs, it was all a bit quiet really. There was still quite a few Tufted Ducks about, but only a single Gadwall and several Teal on Thorpe Broad. Walking slowly back along the south shore of the Little Broad I stopped to watch some Goldcrests close by, and whilst stopped noticed two Treecreepers on nearby Alder trunks.

WHITLINGHAM: A better look at the Slav Grebe

26th January 2013

A surprisingly frozen Whitlingham today, with only isolated areas of open water. One of these is always near the Visitors Centre, and today it held the Slavonian Grebe (present for its 9th day), a Goldeneye and 132 Pochard (a decent count here). Despite most of the rest of the broad being frozen I did still walk round, seeing three Shoveler and a scattering of Teal. Thorpe Broad was almost completely frozen, three Lapwings standing on the snow-covered shingle. I checked along the Little Broad, where the Siskin and Redpoll flock were AWOL, and got good views of a Water Rail in the open as it ran across a frozen ditch. A Treecreeper was the only new bird of the year, whilst I also saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker in a regular tree near the Little Broad. Before leaving I returned for another look at the Slav Grebe. Seeing loads of Black-headed Gulls on the ice I checked them for colour-ringed birds, but there weren't any.