NORWICH: UEA Great Grey Shrike

21st October 2016

Having failed in after work trips to see a Yellow-browed Warbler reported on St Benedict's Street earlier in the week, or Bearded Tits at Whitlingham last week and Thorpe yesterday, I was in two minds about trying to see a Great Grey Shrike found at UEA late this afternoon. Given the scarcity of this species around Norwich, I decided to give it a go anyway.

The area around the hospital was busy, so I parked further along and walked back through part of UEA woods. When I first got to Lusty Hills there were students quadratting, so I knew the bird wasn't going to be in that area. Initially I only saw one birder, who didn't look particularly happy and didn't say anything, suggesting that the shrike may have either gone or been out of sight. Near the compound I heard Dunnocks and Blackbirds alarm calling - surely the shrike must be in that hedge? I couldn't see it, so I kept going further round and thankfully saw a small group of friendly faces. At the head of the group was Ricky, who had his telescope trained on the Great Grey Shrike.

We watched it for a while, and assumed that it was going to roost as it wasn't very active. More birders arrived, and as we watched the shrike it seemed to perk up, before diving further into the bushes and flying out back onto Lusty Hills. At this point I headed home, but the bird continued to show and apparently went to roost nearby, so hopefully it will still be there tomorrow for those who couldn't get there tonight.

NORWICH: UEA Wheatear

4th September 2016

On Sunday morning I noticed on Twitter that Nick Watmough had found a Wheatear at UEA. Having not seen one in the Norwich area I decided to go and have a look, and headed down after lunch. There had been no reports either way since it was first seen, around 8, so I wasn't particularly optimistic as the area is popular with walkers. I had drawn level with Suffolk Terrace when I spotted Drew watching something close by. Looking past him I saw the Wheatear on a small grassy mound. It was quite active, running along the ground then flying up onto the building.

Having got some good views (and not wanting to be staring through peoples' windows with binoculars!) I left the Wheatear and decided to walk back around the broad. I spent a bit of time looking for insects on Ragwort, and spotted a Roesel's Bush-cricket. At the end of the broad I checked for terrapins, and noticed that the yellow water-lilies were actually Fringed Water-lily, which clearly I had seen here before but not recorded. Further round there was a fallen willow with lots of Chicken-of-the-woods growing on it. Before leaving I checked the horse paddocks near Bluebell Road, but there weren't any migrant about.

NORWICH AREA: Puffball & Slider

4th September 2012

Possibly against my better judgement I went for a ten mile walk around the south of the city, taking in Marston Marshes, Cringleford and UEA. I stopped at the Roadside Nature Reserve on Ipswich Road and counted at least 62 Sandy Stilt Puffballs, which was a very good showing. I then moved on to a surprisingly busy Marston Marshes. Not much bird action, but the sight of Banded Demoiselles darting about over the river was particularly nice. 

Sandy Stilt Puffball - one of only four fungi protected by law 

under Schedule 8 of the Wildlife & Countryside act.

I decided not to elongate my walk any further by going around Eaton Common, so I made my way to Cringleford and rejoined the river. As I got closer to UEA I found a pair of Kingfishers, which shot off past me along the river. Walking west around the broad I spotted the larger of two resident Red-eared Sliders (terrapin-type things) basking on a log. It was close to the shore and swam off when I got near, but I waited nearby (almost being landed on by a Kingfisher that diverted away at the last moment) and was able to get some photos when it returned. Nearby a Nuthatch called noisily and landed in a dead tree.

Hide and seek

Victory! Incidentally you may notice that for something called "Red-eared Slider", it doesn't seem to have any red on it. I can assure you that in the field there was a bit of a reddish area, but this is a variable characteristic apparently. And lets face it, there are loads of birds with completely inaccurate names, so we'll let this one off.

NORWICH: Students in not drinking shocker

21st September 2011

It wouldn't have happened in my day. Anyway, it appears that someone on the UEA campus wasn't in the student bar, and as a result found a lone Snow Bunting wandering around on the grass outside some of the new accommodation blocks ('new' as in not Waveney Terrace/Prison). I found out about the bird when I got home from work (thanks to James G for the text) and after a cup of tea decided to walk down to UEA and see if it was still around. To my surprise it was, and was every bit as tame as Snow Bunting usually are at the coast. It was walking around, picking at white feathers and dandelion clocks as if to check that they weren't snow. Eventually it flew in a tight arc around two other birders, landing even closer to them on the next bit of lawn. Well done to the finder, and to any new birders starting uni here - its not always like this!

NORWICH: RSPB Birdwatch & UEA

30th January 2011

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I did my bit for citizen science in the morning with an hour watching my feeders for the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. I managed 11 species, fairly representative of the day-to-day birds I get. The best bird was a Nuthatch. Numbers were restricted to ones and twos as a result of the boistrous activity of the Woodpigeons and Squirrels. The squirrel in particular was a pain, firstly stealing the half-apples and then coming back with a small blow-torch made from a discarded toothbrush to open up the peanut feeder.

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In the afternoon Cathy & I went for a walk in Earlham Park and UEA grounds. The broad was quiet as ever, so we had a look at the feeders in the conservation area. No sign of any Bramblings, but at least five Redpolls included two showing a deep pink colour were on the feeders. Incidentally over the weekend I have also seen Black-headed Gulls and Great Crested Grebes in summer plumage.