Its not looking good for my 5 Grebe haul

I'm sure it hasn't escaped anyones notice that after my last post, a Slavonian Grebe did indeed turn up at Whitlingham. The thing is, I haven't seen it. Bollocks. The main problem with winter is the going to work and returning in the dark, and accordingly I only managed to get down to the country park today (fridays are POETS days). In the fading light I picked out Red-necked Grebe, 2 Smew and a Goosander, whilst the Great Northern Diver was also there. I'll be back down in the morning in case it was just sheltering from the rain, but I have a nasty suspicion its left for good. Darn darn darn.

4 out of 5 grebes prefer Whitlingham*

* based on a non-scientific observation study of grebes on Whitlingham, carried out Jan 2010. When asked to explain the absence from said water body, a Slavonian Grebe replied that "I would rather freeze my arse off being battered by waves a mile off Titchwell than turn up at that hellhole". Which I think was rather offish.

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The day started in Big W carpark (Soon to be Big W SSSI), where we watched the rather tubby Waxwing, still gorging itself on apples. We then went down to Whitlingham, where we watched the diver, still going strong. There were only a couple of other birders there, but as luck goes the one I talked to told us that one of the first birds he had seen that day was a Red-necked Grebe. The bird was soon relocated, close to the bank near the watersports centre. A lovely little bird, starting to gain summer plumage, with a deal of red on the neck. I also counted 28+ Great Crested Grebes and a Little Grebe. This brings up the strange situation where a Slav Grebe in the next fortnight would bring the complete set within a month, so cross any spare limbs!

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A series of quick and fruitless trips to several locations in the west of the county were interspersed between trips to Snettisham and Titchwell. At Snettisham I added to my meagre wader list for the year, with Knot and Grey Plover. A Water Rail happily fed in the open in the paddock near the carpark. At the far end, a Shorelark happily hopped around, although whenever I tried to photograph it, it turned its back on me.

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At Titchwell the carpark was heaving, anyone would think that something good had been seen there. After a lengthy queue for hot food, we sat down for lunch. Walking down the main path we saw some Ruff fly over, and 2 Water Pipits on the freshmarsh. The sea was full of Goldeneye, and Adam made a failed attempt to direct us to a bird by announcing "it's to the left of it", without telling us what he was referring to as it. This quickly became a catchphrase, and may appear at opportune moments. A small flock of Common Scoter were also offshore, as were 3 Red-breasted Mergansers.

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What should have been a happy day with the Red-necked Grebe at Whitlingham was slightly soured with the news that a Bittern (and a Scaup) was seen in the afternoon, as I know I can't get down there until next weekend. Still, no-one can see everything. On another note, I again failed to see Little Owl and Tawny Owl today, if anyone knows any good local sites then I'd appreciate an email or pm :)

More snowy bird related fun

9th January 2010

With a thick coating of snow, ice everywhere and minus temperatures, driving very far would have been madness. Luckily, Gary laughs in the face of madness, so we just went a bit slower than normal. We had a few targets for Gary's yearlist, with the first being Blackborough End Tip for Iceland Gull. On the way we stopped off at Flitcham, missing the access road the first time as it blended in with the rest of the snow covered bank. A heart-warming scene along the hedge, where a rat was up on its hind legs getting seed from a Pheasant feeder, whilst a Field Mouse sat alongside, eating the leftovers. No sign of the Little Owl, but we did see Grey Partridge, Curlew and Tree Sparrow. The Tree Sparrows were welcome vindication for Gary, who had been hearing them for ages, possibly echoing around in his head. 4+ Bullfinches and a Yellowhammer were also made to look even better against the pale backdrop.

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It was my first trip to Blackborough, and I won't be putting it on a list of favourite holiday destinations. The cold weather minimised the smell, but the sheer volume of gulls was rather overwhelming. We saw a 2nd winter Med Gull, but no sign of any Caspian or the Iceland Gulls. On the way back to the car a Green Woodpecker flew from tree to tree out of site of Cath & Claire, and a Buzzard did a fly past. The second part of our gull double-header was to look for the Glauc at Titchwell, so we headed north. We turned off towards Wolferton on the off chance, and I spotted a stunning male Golden Pheasant just in from the roadside. Regardless of their introduced status, they still look great, and much nicer than the juvenile male I saw last year.

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We called in at Thornham, where the Red Kite was out of sight, though no doubt still around. This was my first North Norfolk site of the year, so almost everything was a year tick, Golden Plover, Ringed Plover, Redshank, Bar-tailed Godwit and Black-tailed Godwit etc. We arrived at Titchwell to be greeted by a Robin. Knowing how hard it must be for small birds, I offered it part of my jaffa cake. It flew over, looked at me, then flew straight over my shoulder, ignoring my offering. Haughty little bugger. Cath continued to live up to her "Queen of the Water Rails" status by finding another two by the main path. The Island hide was pants, but we did see Pintail and the juvenile Glaucous Gull, woohoo. We didn't spend much time at the beach as the wind was ridiculously strong, but there were Sanderling on the beach and Eider on the sea.

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Sunday was mine & Cath's anniversary, so no birding. I did manage two decent birds on the bird table, Long-tailed Tit and Pied Wagtail, the latter has been for mealworms for the past three days. I also caught the last 10 minutes of Bill Bailey's Birdwatching Bonanza on Sky. What a load of bollocks that looks. Serious question, what is the target audience of that programme? I was going to make a suggestion, but I won't in case anyone who reads this loves it, I don't want to upset either of my readers. I will give a complete show a look, just in case I saw a duff bit, but if you saw it, do comment and let me know what you thought.

Keep off the ice, fools.

Whitlingham looks very nice in the snow, but I still couldn't believe that a camera crew had braved the weather just to film some snow. It turns out that people have been walking out onto the ice, with some enterprising muppet even moving a bench out onto the Little Broad! There is a strong arguement for seeing it as evolution in action, but unfortunately if people start getting hospitalised it will no doubt reduce access for non-suicidal visitors. Read the story on http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/.

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Anyway, there were also some birds in the ice holes. The Great Northern Diver continues to shoot up and down the shoreline, the Ruddy Duck was asleep but drifting equally quickly, and redhead Smew and Goosander were near the bridge. The most interesting bird was a large gull, with a slate grey back, fleshy yellow-pink legs, dark streaking around the eye and a distinctive greyish bill with a bright yellow tip. The bill doesn't match exactly with any pictures I've found, but I'm presuming it was a 3rd winter graellsii. If you can make out anything else from my poor quality photo (intermedius, maybe Britain's first Heuglin's Gull etc) then please do.

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There were two candidates for bird of the day, the first being a male Sparrowhawk. I was drawn to it by the agitated calls of Long-tailed Tits, and it sat in a tree close to the side of the road before gliding into the woods. The second bird was a Cetti's Warbler in reeds alongside the river. It hopped about, regularly coming to the top of the reeds, providing me with my best views of this species for ages. I also got my first Whitlingham Song Thrush and Great Spotted Woodpecker of the year, plus a Kingfisher at Trowse Meadow.

Whitlingham ice rink

4th January 2010

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Yes that's right folks, the GN Diver is still here so why not come and slide your way around the huge ice basin. All of the Little Broad and most of the Great Broad was completely frozen when I arrived. The Great Northern Diver and Ruddy Duck were still about, but it looks like the Smew has buggered off. Adam had seen the Shag early morning, but I couldn't locate it. Around 100 Teal had managed to keep a small amount of water near the island ice free. Around 20 Snipe were around the edges, and I fortuitously found a Jack Snipe.

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The conservation area bay was frozen completely, but the alders held a small group of Redpoll, all Lesser that I could see. Long-tailed Tit was a whit-year tick. Finally scanning through the masses of gulls standing on the ice paid off as I refound a Little Gull that had been seen earlier in the day (and possibly on the 1st as well, I vaguely remember someone mentioning seeing one). A paltry 2 Siskin were in the alders along the Little Broad, and 2 Collared Doves were in the Little Broad car park.

Stubb Mill

3rd January 2010
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An afternoon visit to Stubb Mill saw Merlins evade me for a 3rd time. Or maybe they're just too quick for me to see. Other than that, about 20 Cranes in, including a group of 7, loads of Marsh Harriers, an obliging Yellowhammer, Sparrowhawk, Barn Owl and a Chinese Water Deer. Bird of the evening was a male Hen Harrier, which glided through from left to right without stopping. On the way back several Woodcock shot over our heads, and a Tawny Owl hooted deridingly, knowing I'm not due to see another one until 2019.

Whitlingham & East Norfolk

2nd January 2010

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Gary's bid to take the Norfolk yearlist title began on the 1st with a commendable 107 species, but he still needed some Whitlingham goodies. We got there about 9, and soon refound the Black-necked Grebe, Goosander and Great Northern Diver, a now famous trio. Whilst we were there a redhead Smew was seen briefly, so we decided to stick around to try and relocate it. In doing so, Gary found a female Ruddy Duck, my first Whitlingham tick of 2010. RBA didn't put it out, so we told some other birders onsite, and eventually we saw the Smew too. Bonza.

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We then proceeded to take a tour around the east of the county, aiming to see some winter wildfowl before it buggers off. First stop, Cantley, where we found the White-fronted Geese and Taiga Bean Geese, along with a couple of Marsh Harriers. Two Chinese Water Deer were also mooching about. Next stop, Strumpshaw. We heard a redpoll calling, and tracked it to the woods - Lesser Redpoll. Also in the woods, GS Woodpecker, Nuthatch and lots of Marsh Tits. After scanning each one, a thick-necked individual showing the white cheek area and buff flanks of Willow Tit. Wanting to be sure, we waited until it called. Whilst listening to a recorded version, the Willow Tit flew onto the path next to us, responding to the call with some Willow Tit beats of its own. A session in the fen hide saw us record lots of ice.

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We arrived at Wroxham Broad, and along with Bob Cobbold and Andy Kane we stood in the scrub by the fence waiting for the Ring-necked Duck to emerge from the Yacht Club. Bob had gone by the time Gary picked it up. It had been in front of us for a little while, but remained asleep. We headed to a heavily frozen Barton where the male Ferruginous Duck was still around, although spending most of its time behind a reedy spit. We cut through Ludham and scanned the Bewick's Swan flock, picking out a few Whooper Swans.

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We ended the day at Stubb Mill, although it was already gloomy. A flyover Yellowhammer was a year tick, and a steady stream of Cranes flew in. Many Marsh Harriers, but no sign of any Hen Harriers or Merlin. A Little Egret and a Barn Owl flew through, last bird of the day was Woodcock, with at least 5 flying out of the trees.

New Year's Day at Whitlingham

1st January 2010

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The early morning walk home from the Playhouse was birdless with the exception of a Robin singing in the darkness. 9 hours later and it was off to Whitlingham to start the birding year. Predictably it was a popular destination for first of January birders, thanks to the Black-necked Grebe and Great Northern Diver, both of which I had watched on my own a few days ago, but now attracted crowds. Still, there was a good atmosphere and was nice to see some familiar faces.

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We started in the car park, where two Marsh Tits fed from the bird table along with Blue Tit, Great Tit and Robin. On the way down Whitlingham Lane an Egyptian Goose had been surveying its territory from a cut tree, Canada and Greylags were on the slipway. The broad was awash with Mallard, Tufted Duck, Gadwall and Coot, whilst Cormorants were also present. A look through the gulls produced only Common & Black-headed. I was quickly put onto the Black-necked Grebe, still diving a lot. A snow flurry lowered visibility, but the Great Northern Diver was bulky enough to stick out regardless.

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Looking across the river we saw a Grey Heron and some Herring Gulls. The conservation area bay held around 20 Teal, 1 Wigeon and a Snipe, but no Shoveler. Further along we saw three Bullfinches, including a nice perched male. We had also added flyover Skylark and Redwing by this point. Near the watersports centre a redhead Goosander was a bonus, meaning we had seen about 40 species with the Little Broad still to stomp round.

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Walking along the alders we saw a small flock of Siskins feeding above us. Waiting near the east end I found a Kingfisher, which to my delight had just caught a fish, and proceeded to bash it against a branch before eating it. I can't remember if I've actually seen one eating before, so many sightings are of the back of one! Along the road we saw Mistle Thrush and Treecreeper, with House Sparrow back at Cath's to make a round 50 for the day. A nice day to start the year.

100th patch bird of the year...

30th December 2009

I was still in bed when I got a text from Adam, telling me there was a Black-necked Grebe at Whitlingham. After a half-asleep "are you sure?" message, it was established that the bird was indeed a Black-necked Grebe, and I had to see it. I left without any breakfast and walked down to Whitlingham in the drizzle. I spotted a Kingfisher and a redhead Goosander close in to the shore as I walked along, stopping level with the island. At first I couldn't see any grebes other than GC, but a second look revealed the Black-necked Grebe, which promptly dived. I watched it for a while, periodically wiping my telescope and glasses. A local birder came over and we watched the bird for a bit longer, before continuing round the broad. There was no sign of the GN Diver, although it had been seen ealier in the morning. Through the flooded north-east corner, and along the back path we saw little, until a Bullfinch flew out of some brambles.

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When I got home I had a tot up and found that the grebe was my 100th Whitlingham bird of the year. I had been aiming for 100, so to finish on 101 (Bullfinch was also new) was particularly pleasing. I had missed a fair few birds; Garganey, Mandarin, LRP, Wood Sand, Brent Goose, all the terns, plus fly through Crossbill and Whooper Swan, but all in all a good year. My best self-found bird was probably an Avocet on Thorpe Broad. Here's to 110 next year!

Goose watching

28th December 2009

Gary & I had originally agreed to go to Wayland Wood to see if there are still any Golden Pheasants there, but on the day we decided to head for the coast to fill in a few gaps in my year list. We arrived at Docking and scanned through thousands of Pink-footed Geese in the hope of finding the Snow Goose, but no luck. On to Holme, and we suceeded in seeing Long-tailed Duck, Gary picking up three just offshore. We cut inland towards Wighton to look for more geese, and duly found another flock. We scanned this one for a while too with no luck. I later found out the Snow Goose was at Holkhma, but hey, you can't win them all.

Giving up on geese, we called in at Cley, where a flock of Twite have been recently. Suffice to say they weren't there whilst we were, but we did see a Kigfisher and a Jack Snipe, whilst a Kestrel proved an obliging subject for a while. The last target of the day was Merlin, so we headed to Stubb Mill. We were doing well, Gary called 4 Cranes and I spotted a ringtail Hen Harrier, but banks of mist/fog rolled in and put an end to the fun.

Fudge & Diver

...the new detective series starting on ITV3. Not really, they only show repeats.
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27th December 2009
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With Cath & her mum having joined the NWT over Christmas, they wanted to go to a reserve. I suggested Barton Broad, certainly not just so I could have a look at the Fudge Duck. After braving the boardwalk, slippery with water and ice, we reached the viewing platform where four birders were looking fairly close in. I soon found the male Ferruginous Duck with a small group of Pochard near the tern platforms. As the bird was giving good views, I took the chance to use one of my Christmas gifts, a hardbacked sketch book. This is useful because a) my digiscoping is crap, and b) I realised this year I don't take enough notes, and if I want to get birds through rarity committees I need to start taking more! Below is todays masterpiece (yep, I took pencil crayons too!). All in all a success, but I don't think many birds are going to make as obliging subjects. There were 20+ Goldeneye on show too, and lots of Fieldfares.

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My Fudge notes. The blue line on the left is a scanner artefact.

We took a slow drive along the coast as far as Walcott, but didn't see the Cranes. Lots of Lapwings around Brograve farm though. Back in Norwich we stopped at Whitlingham, and after a short walked along the south shore my scope was full of diver. Presumably the Strumpshaw bird, I had hoped it would drift along to Whitlingham before Christmas, but better late than never. It was diving a lot, and will hopefully make its home there for a while so I can get better views later in the week. The broad was full of Coot and Gadwall, and a Grey Heron looked uneasy on a post, as if it was minding the space for a Cormorant and hoping it wouldn't be long. I might put a photo of the diver up, but its hardly worth it, it was so low in the water you can only see a third of its body!

Merry Christmas!

Thank you to everyone who reads this blog, those who have left comments or that I have met in the field this year.

A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!

James

Whitlingham snowy extravaganza

19th & 21st December 2009

Saturday was still snowy, so I ditched any ideas of heading to the coast and instead went to Whitlingham. A flock of around 30 Siskin and Goldfinch were in the alders, and Cath noticed a Water Rail skulking near the path. At the end of the Little Broad a Grey Heron and a redhead Goosander (a long overdue patch tick) were standing on the bank.

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The Great Broad held a vast number (400+) Gadwall, and probably a similar number of Coot. Cath spotted a Weasel near the path to the bird screen, whilst a Cetti's Warbler flew up out of the reeds. The north-east corner of the broad had flooded the path, so we hurried around the final part of the lap to go home and dry off!

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On Monday I decided to spend a whole day at Whitlingham, hoping to catch some winter migration. The Little Broad had frozen almost completely, but along the back 11 Shoveler represented an increase on previous numbers. I started counting the Gadwall, when I heard some children chanting ho-ho-ho. Never a good sign. The ducks started moving as Santa arrived on a boat. I bet people who patch-bird at Cley never have these problems. A few Teal and Wigeon were on the Great Broad, but no sign of anything better until I stopped to talk to a fellow birder who picked up a redhead Goosander flying past us.

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Small numbers of Lapwing flew west all day, the biggest group around 55. There had clearly been an arrival of Snipe recently, I saw 15, several in flight but most flushed. More impressively was my first patch Woodcock, making a nice change from Snipe! A group of 13 Skylark also flew west, a notable record. Other decent birds included 3 Kingfishers (Trowse Meadows, Little Broad and Great Broad), a Marsh Tit, several Song Thrushes and some Redwing. The snow may be over, but hopefully there is still time for a rare grebe or diver to find a temporary home.

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A white-bearded dude goes duck spotting

Winter Blackcap

13th December 2009
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A shopping trip in between the showers took me & Cathy past Grove Road, where we found a male Blackcap in the trees opposite the mini-roundabout. It takked a bit and then flew off into the gardens behind. My first overwintering one, although many do now apparently.

Sleeping Ducks in West Norfolk

6th December 2009

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Having decided to have a pre-Christmas birdwatch with Gary at the weekend, I was pleased to see that a female Ferruginous Duck had been found on Friday. To add to this, an American Wigeon was found on Saturday, so we set off in the rain for a wildfowl extravaganza. On the way we stopped at Denver Sluice to look for Goosander, but with no luck. I did spot a Barn Owl flying across the channel, which was some consolation. The approach road to Welney held large flocks of Whooper Swans, with some Bewick's mixed in too. We arrived, I coughed up the £6.30 entrance fee (they get you to pay before telling you the whole reserve is flooded too ;-o) and we proceeded to the observation hide, where the guide/hostess/volunteer cheerily told us she had seen the American Wigeon earlier but had no idea where it was now.

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After a few false starts, Gary "eyes of a hawk (or hwak, which I originally typed)" White, spotted the American Wigeon about 6 miles across the lagoon, sleeping on the bank. We spent about 30 minutes staring at the side of a sleeping duck, until it indulged us for 30 seconds with it's head up, showing the pale face and green facial stripe. Gary managed to record this feat, and leaving a number of birders to stare at the yank wigeon until it woke up again, we left, rubbing our eyes.

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Next stop was Snettisham RSPB and the long walk to the pools. We slipped along the path (Adam's balance being particularly suspect) until we got to Rotary Hide, noting Goldeneye and Little Grebes on the way. A first scan of the bank turned up nothing, but a second scan turned up the female Ferruginous Duck, asleep. Lazy things, ducks. It woke up a few times, stretching its wings and going for a quick swim and walk, enough to note all of the fudgy features (chestnut colour, white vent, white belly patch, white underwing, sloping forehead, longish grey bill and dark eye). A large flock of Greylags held two hybrids (presumable with Canada), both looking like Greylag but with white on the face, unlike the commoner "brown necked Canada" type.

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On the way back we cut through via Docking in the hope of catching up with the/a Snow Goose. We did find a pre-roost flock of thousands of Pink-footed Geese, but no rarer stragglers. These were flushed by something behind the field and flew over us, a spectacular sight. We arrived at the Dun Cow as the sun was setting in the hope of getting an owl for our pub list. No such luck, but we did manage Little Grebe, Shoveler, Brent Goose, Lapwing and Pink-footed Goose amongst others, before we left in the dark.