FENLAND: Whooper Swans

8th March 2014

Earlier in the year my mum and Cathy's mum had both expressed an interest in seeing a Swan feed at Welney WWT reserve. The mild winter has meant that fewer swans than usual were present, but we decided to go anyway and have a meal at the cafe before heading to the main hide as an early Mother's Day present.

Much of the site was still flooded, including the paths, so only the main hide was open. From here we watched as around 60 Whooper Swans and loads of Pochard came right up to the hide to be fed. One of the swans had a yellow ring on its leg, but I couldn't read the digits on it. Only a thin strip of land was visible, and this was covered in Black-tailed Godwits, with 12 Avocet, 1 Oystercatcher and 2 Redshanks. Behind them was a flock of Wigeon, including a drake with a clear green streak, similar to the birds pictured on Dave Appleton's blog.

Despite not seeing any Bewick's Swans we all enjoyed the day out, with sunny weather and excellent views. The swan feeds are finishing today (Sunday 9th) until the autumn.

THORPE MARSH: Little Egret

1st March 2014

Since moving house in the autumn Thorpe Marsh is further to walk, so it had been a while since I last visited. I had heard that a couple of Jack Snipe had been seen there in the week, so I headed down more in hope than expectation. As I crossed the railway line a Song Thrush was singing, an embarrassing patch year tick. Further along the path a couple of Reed Buntings were also singing, another year tick. As I reached the cattle pound I noticed a Little Egret amongst the rushes. I took some photos (this was the first time I've seen one here for any length of time, and only my third patch record). I eventually turned my attention to the scrape, scanning from different angles but not seeing any Jack Snipe.

As I went to move off the Little Egret flew into the middle of the flooded scrape, showing even better than it had before. Eventually it flew off, but only to relocate to the flooded path across the marsh. Walking slowly round I spotted a Stock Dove flying over the woods (no sign of any on the marsh itself though), and a Meadow Pipit also flew over. I stopped to look at some fungi and heard an Oystercatcher calling as it flew in to land on the spit. I scanned through the gulls hoping that Ben's Iceland Gull would relocate from Cantley, but despite a flock of gulls flying in from the direction of the sewage works I failed to see anything other than the commonest four species. Hopefully next time I'm here the Little Ringed Plovers will be back, along with the first warblers and hirundines.

NORTH NORFOLK: A glimpse of the aurora

27th February 2014

I happened to glance at Twitter before putting my laptop away, and noticed some excellent photos of the aurora borealis (Northern lights). Reading down the page it appeared it was showing well as far south as Blickling. Cathy jokingly said we should go and have a look, and I not-jokingly said we should go and have a look. We called Margaret, who had gone to bed for an early night but quickly got up and came over to pick us up. We headed north away from the city lights, heading to Cromer, along to Cley and home via Holt. The main activity had died down, but we still managed to see a green band of light along the horizon, which was excellent. We also saw a couple of small deer and a fox on our way round.

WHITLINGHAM: Siskin & a Suffolk Gull

23rd February 2014

I arrived at Whitlingham to the welcome sound of Siskins. They have been scarce locally this winter, presumably because of the mild temperatures, but around twenty were spread across the tops of the Alders. I scanned the Little Broad, counting nine Shoveler and 95 Gadwall. There wasn't much of note on the Great Broad, although I did stop to watch a Sparrowhawk soaring over the broad. Having gone round the broad I scanned the gulls from the bird screen and noticed a colour-ringed Herring Gull on the posts. I have reported it to the ringer, but as it turns out this bird was present last winter so I know it was ringed as a pullus at Havergate Island in Suffolk.

On my way back I glanced at a pile of wood-chips, and noticed a large group of cup fungi (Peziza sp). These can be tricky to identify, but I'll have a look in the next few days.

NORTH NORFOLK: Walsingham Abbey Snowdrops

17th February 2014

Today was Cathy's birthday, so we went for a walk at Walsingham Abbey to see the Snowdrops. The whole area was very tranquil, both along the flooded River Stiffkey and in the nearby woods. The ground was carpeted with Snowdrops and Winter Aconites, whilst Cathy found Harlequin Ladybirds, Garden Snails and a Plume moth on some old tree trunks.

WHITLINGHAM: February wildfowl counts

16th February 2014

Some bright sunshine today for a change, and as I left the car park a Skylark flew over calling. Starting as always with the Little Broad there had been a decrease in Gadwall numbers to 127, but on the up side the 12 Shoveler was my highest count here since 2010.Single Little and Great-crested Grebes were also present, along with 32 Tufted Ducks.

Nothing except Black-headed Gulls broke the hundred barrier on the Great Broad, with 91 Coot and 89 Tufted Ducks coming closest. 20 Pochard, 9 Teal and 36 Mallard completed the duck interest. I finished the main part of the count just in time, as one of the inflatable motor boats then proceeded to do flat out manoeuvres and turns along the length of the broad. Incidentally the south-east corner of the broad is still very muddy, wellies would be recommended if you intend on walking here.

Thorpe was relatively quiet, with no sign of the masses of Snipe present last month (although I presume they are still present just on the marsh rather than the broad). I did count 58 Tufted Ducks, 8 Pochard and 30 Gadwall, along with a Great-crested Grebe and Common, Herring and Black-headed Gulls. 

NORFOLK: Sculthorpe Moor Bullfinches

15th February 2014

Despite the squally weather Cathy, Margaret & I headed out to do a bit of birding. We diverted via Ber Street to check if the Waxwing was still present and it was, although more obscured than yesterday. Handily a birder was already there and pointed it out half hidden amongst some apples.

We then went to Sculthorpe Moor to see some Bullfinches. This had been the plan a fortnight ago until the Whitlingham hibernaculum check - I went to look at the bats instead on the understanding that we would go to Sculthorpe soon and would find Cathy seven Bullfinches (four males, three females).

From the visitors' centre we stopped to shelter from the rain at the first set of feeders and were rewarded with a Coal Tit and a pair of Bullfinches. There wasn't much showing from the Woodland Hide, so we carried on, seeing some Scarlet Elf Cups near the river. Continuing along the boardwalk we were glad the river wasn't an inch higher as it had already flooded much of the area either side of the path. At the Whitley Hide we were treated to close views of loads of Chaffinch, Greenfinch and Brambling, whilst several Reed Buntings favoured the left hand bird table. After a while a pair of Bullfinches arrives, followed by a second pair. Somewhat strangely another male flew in and Cathy's request list was complete - we saw seven Bullfinches in her desired male/female combination. Hopefully these premonition skills will be used again later in the year.

We took a circuitous way home, calling in at Cley Spy for me to get a new tripod head and the heading along the coast road for the first time since the floods, seeing a Little Egret and a Marsh Harrier.

NORWICH: City centre Waxwing

14th February 2014

My walk to work this morning was brightened up when I spotted a Waxwing feeding on an apple tree on Ber Street. It was about time quite frankly, I have checked this tree most weekdays over the winter expecting to see some winter thrushes feasting, but instead most of the apples have just fallen to the ground and started to rot. On my way home it was still in almost the same place, but had stopped feeding and instead was just perching in the rain, quite unperturbed by the pedestrians several yards away. I got a record shot with my point-and-shoot camera, but I recommend you check out David Bryant's website for some excellent pictures of the same bird: http://birdsoftheheath.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/bohemian-like-you.html

30 INTERESTING THINGS - 2/30 Natterer's Bat

1st February 2014

My latest target species from my 30 Interesting Things list was Natterer's Bat, a fairly common bat that I hadn't seen before. Whilst I may have been able to find one by roaming around in the evenings with a bat detector, I had joined the Norwich Bat Group and knew that they sometimes allowed members to come on Hibernaculum visits. As it happened the old Lime Kiln at Whitlingham often has Natterer's Bats over the winter, so that seemed a good bet.

Earlier in the week Jim (who is a committee member of the Norwich Bat Group) had let me know that there was going to be visit on Saturday. I had planned to go out with Cathy, but she very supportively said that I should go and look for bats instead. As a result of this, I met Richard Moores and four other members of the bat group at Whitlingham, and we headed to the Lime Kiln in Whitlingham Woods.

I had been told that Natterer's Bat should be certain here, but things don't always go to plan, and the keys we had been given to unlock the kiln wouldn't work. Whilst we waited for another set to be brought we kept an eye out for birds moving through, and these included a Nuthatch and Marsh Tit. When a member of the Broads Authority turned up with another set, these didn't work either, with the suspicion that someone had tampered with the lock, making it unusable. Leaving him to inspect the lock, we headed back along Whitlingham Lane to Trowse Meadow, where there is a second bat hibernaculum in an old tunnel.

I was now less confident of seeing Natterer's - on the last check this tunnel only held a single Brown Long-eared Bat. With the padlock working first time we squeezed through the narrow entrance and into the tunnel. Several hibernating Peacock butterflies and Herald moths were on the ceiling as we moved further in. I spotted some bat bricks and found our first bat of the day. It was a Myotis sp, and having not seen any of them close up I guessed at the commonest one, Daubenton's. Everyone had a look, and opinion was split, but the majority thought it could well be a Natterer's. Close by in another bat brick was a Brown Long-eared Bat, and then at the end of the tunnel was a definite Daubenton's Bat. With this to compare with we looked again at the debated Myotis, and everyone agreed that it was indeed a Natterer's Bat. Success! Not wanting to disturb the bats I didn't take any photos, so you'll have to make do with this "artist's" impression.

Many thanks to Richard and to the Norwich Bat Group for allowing me to come on the hibernaculum check. It is important to note that all British bats are protected by law and roost sites shouldn't be visited without a licensed bat surveyor . For more information about the Norwich Bat Group and their projects, check out their website: http://norwichbatgroup.org.uk/index.html

WHITLINGHAM: January counts and Yellow Brain fungus

19th January 2014

A bit of a late post as my laptop cable broke last weekend.

It was the first WeBS count day of 2014 so I headed down to Whitlingham without much hope of seeing any more wildfowl. On the Little Broad a Little Grebe and four Shoveler were amongst c180 Gadwall. Reasonable amounts of Coot and Tufted Duck dominated the Great Broad, along with around 20 Pochard and hundreds of Black-headed Gulls. Part way along the south shore I another local birder stopped to tell me he had seen a Bittern in the reeds along the edge of the conservation area. That particular area is tricky to see, so after a chat (during which point a Kingfisher came and perched nearby) I headed back to the footbridge to scan across, without success. This sighting is interesting because previously I had presumed that Bitterns only came to Whitlingham as a result of freezing conditions, but as we are having a mild winter perhaps this one has arrived simply by choice.

Having scanned for 20 minutes or so I had to continue my count, so I continued along the south shore and then onto the bank to scan across to Thorpe. There were reasonable amounts of ducks on the broad, but the main spectacle was along the reed edges, where a minimum of 50 Snipe were crammed in, probably with many more out of sight. As I carried on towards the conservation area I was stopped by a walker who told me that someone with a telescope was watching a Bittern from near the track to the bird screen. I hurried along, but by the time I got there the birder had gone and once again there was no sign of the Bittern in the time I waited. I finished my count and then walked back, on my noticing a bright orangey-yellow fungus growing on some branches. This turned out to be Yellow Brain (Tremella mesenterica), a fungus which parisitises other fungi (Peniophora sp).

Yellow Brain fungus

30 INTERESTING THINGS - 1/30 Winter Stalkball

18th January 2014

Cathy, Margaret & I went to the North Norfolk coast today, and after a pleasant walk around Titchwell (seeing Water Rail, lots of Pintail and a selection of commoner waders) we headed on to Holme to look for the first of my '30 interesting things'.

The target was Winter Stalkball. Unless you are particularly interested in fungi you are unlikely to have heard of the stalkballs, but you may well have heard of their commoner relatives, the puffballs. Puffballs are mostly spherical, and when their spores mature they are puffed out and spread by the wind when the puffball is fully mature or is disturbed (for example by an animal or heavy rain). Puffing spores into the air is a good strategy, but clearly the higher the puffball, the further the spores can go. Some puffballs have a thick stipe* to help raise them higher, such as this Common Puffball, seen at Whitlingham this autumn.

There is a small group of species that have gone one better and developed a long stipe relative to the main 'ball'. The best known of these is the Sandy Stiltball, which despite being rare and indeed protected by law, is known from several sites in the county, including one on the edge of Norwich. I have previously blogged about it here. The Sandy Stiltball can grow up to around 40cm tall, but the Winter Stalkball that we were looking for only grows up to 5cm tall. In fact, the top of one looks rather similar to a sun-bleached rabbit dropping! In Norfolk Winter Stalkballs are only found at a few coastal dune systems, and are easily overlooked, so I was grateful to Rob for his help, allowing me to connect with this interesting species.

Winter Stalkballs

* 'Stipe' is the usual mycologist's** term for a stalk
** A mycologist is someone who studies fungi.

30 Interesting things for 2014

Later this month is my 30th birthday, and I had been wondering what sort of wildlife-related activity would be an appropriate celebration. January isn't a great month for going out, with the short hours of daylight and lack of plant and insect life, so I decided to indulge in a year-long search for 30 interesting species.

Picking the species was trickier than I thought. I wanted it to be a mixture of all of the different groups that I'm interested in, but I had to take into account time constraints amongst other things. Anyway, my provisional list is below. Some species I should be able to see without any problems, some will take a bit of research, whilst others may require local knowledge or specialist group help. Will I see all 30? Probably not, but hopefully it will be fun trying!

Birds
1. Colour-headed Yellow Wagtails - I haven't seen any of the scarcer ones, and even the hybrids are interesting birds. Hopefully there should be some in late April in the Eye field or east coast paddocks.
2. White-winged Black Tern - I'm yet to see one in Norfolk yet, and a possible Whitlingham bird too, either in May or August.
3. Long-tailed Skua - Some sea-watching time will be needed for this one...
4. Pallas' Warbler - I still haven't seen one of these yet.

Mammals
5. Natterer's Bat - I had a probable at Whitlingham a couple of years ago, it would be nice to confirm it though - Seen, Trowse Hibernaculum with Norwich Bat Group
6. Barbastelle Bat - A species I haven't seen yet but present in NE Norfolk. Dipped
7. Bottle-nosed Dolphin - I haven't seen any dolphins before, we have a trip to see them in Wales booked for the spring - Seen, New Quay, Wales with Carl Chapman
8. Yellow-necked Mouse - A scarce species in Norfolk, but one of the sites with them usually has a small-mammal trapping day each year.

Amphibians
-- I would like to see Natterjack, but I don't really fancy wandering about the dunes at night. I am also interested in trying to see Marsh Frog in Norfolk - I know there used to be several colonies including one in the Tas Valley, but the most up-to-date information I can find on these is from the 1980s. Does anyone know of any Marsh Frog sites in Norfolk with public access?

Dragonflies
Having seen all of the usual Norfolk dragonflies the closest lifer for me would be White-legged Damselfly. However I would like to get some decent photos of Willow Emerald.
9. Willow Emerald - Get some decent photos. Photographed at Strumpshaw 24/08/14.

Butterflies
Like Dragonflies I have seen the regular Norfolk ones - the closest lifer for me is Marbled White, which should be a reasonable trip.
10. Marbled White - Devil's Dyke.
11. White Admiral - One of my favourite butterflies but one I've never managed to get a photograph of. Fingers crossed this should be simple at Holt C.P. Photographed at Holt CP.

Moths
12. Hornet Moth - I haven't seen any of the Hornet or Clearwing moths - I hope to see one of these at the North Norfolk coast.
13. Scorched Wing Moth - There are loads of fairly common moths I haven't seen, but this seems a reasonable one to look for.
14. Merveille de Jour - I've wanted to see one of these for ages. We don't seem to get them near the garden I trap in, but Justin has kindly offered to let me know when he catches one this autumn.

Orthoptera
15. Great Green Bush Cricket - I have looked for these before and although we heard them, we didn't see any. Seen at Reedham, 24/08/14.

Orchids
16. Frog Orchid - I meant to look for these last year at their known Suffolk site.
17. Lizard Orchid - Hopefully I can see these whilst looking for Marbled Whites.
18. Pale or white form of another Orchid - There are lots, the alba form of Green-winged Orchid would be nice to see.
19. Common Fragrant Orchid - this has fairly recently been promoted to full species, and the NNNS orchid guide says that it occurs in Norfolk, but I haven't been able to find any sites yet. Updated advise is that this species may have occurred in Norfolk previously, but no current sites.

Flowering plants
There are loads of flowering plants in Norfolk that I'd like to see, including the Bladderworts and Yellow Bird's-nest, however I settled on:
20. Spiked Speedwell - or any of the specialist Breckland Speedwells, it's a place I haven't seen many plants.
21. Purple Broomrape - Common in several places along the North Norfolk coast - I failed to find it at Overstrand a few years ago.
22. Chaffweed - Only found at one site in Norfolk. The good news is that it is near Norwich, but the bad news is that the site is threatened with development. You can out more here: http://friendsofthorpewoodlands.blogspot.co.uk/. Unfortunately Chaffweed is a small green plant, so finding it in a large woods may be tricky.
23. Small-flowered Catchfly - A rare Red Campion-like plant that grows in several places around the county. Seen, Strumpshaw area.
24. Maiden Pink - Another Breckland species I'd like to see.

Ferns
25. Hard Shield Fern - scarce in Norfolk so I need to find some good places to look. Seen, Whitlingham Woods (thanks to Jeremy Halls)
26. Narrow Buckler Fern - fairly common but a fern lifer, so provided I can identify it then it could be something to pick whilst hunting for the other species.

Fungi
27. Scaly or Winter Stalkball - Scarce stalked puffball species. Either would be great, but as they often occur at the same sites I may even luck in on both. Winter Stalkball seen at Holme (thanks to Rob Smith)
28. A scarce bracket fungus. There are quite a few possibles here, I haven't seen Hoof Fungus, Phellinus hippophaeicola (grows on Sea Buckthorn) or Ganoderma resinaceum for starters... Gloeophyllum abeitinum (a 1st for Norfolk) seen at Whitlingham (thanks to Tony Leech).
29. Any Earthstar except G. triplex - Again lots to choose from. Beaked Earthstar is the best bet as it sometimes grows in Earlham Cemetery, although there weren't any fruiting bodies in 2013.
30. Parrot Waxcap - A fairly common Waxcap, present at Earlham Cemetery although I spectacularly failed to find it on multiple occasions in 2013.

So there we have it, my 30 to look for. Hopefully looking for these will provide some interesting blog entries, and if you can recommend any sites for some of the trickier species then please get in touch.

WHITLINGHAM: A few more additions

11th January 2014

Despite the continuing mild weather I went down to Whitlingham in the hope of some new wildfowl (there was a Black-throated Diver at Barton the previous day, plus a few Goosander around the county). Once again there was no sign of any Water Rails along the Little Broad shore, but I did get excellent views of a Sparrowhawk that skimmed low along the ditch before perching up half way along. On the broad itself the large flock of Gadwall were still spread out, and a couple of Shovelers were along the far shore.

On the Great Broad the ducks were mostly Tufted Ducks, with around 25 Pochard and a scattering of Teal in the conservation area. Four Little Grebes were bobbing around in the favoured area in the north-east of the broad, and a couple of Great-crested Grebes were also present, along with a half-submerged Grey Heron. On my way back I walked along the Little Broad and heard a Treecreeper calling nearby. I noticed it on a tree a couple of feet away, and got excellent views as it systematically crept up the nearby trees, never getting more than half way up before flying down to the bottom of the next one.

Sparrowhawk, Little Grebe and Treecreeper were new for my patch list for the year (40) and took my foot it list to 43 (having seen Collared Dove, Jay and Redwing elsewhere in the city).

Out of focus because of all of the branches, but gives the impression of the view

WHITLINGHAM: Goldeneye & 'foot it'

3rd January 2014

The weather on New Year's Day had been quite poor, so I decided to go back today and have a better look round. I walked down in order to ensure that anything I did see would count on my 'Foot It' list (January's birding competition to see how many species you can record on foot from your home). This seemed like a mistake as it began to hail, followed by fairly constant rain.

Along the Little Broad shore I kept an eye out for Water Rails, but didn't find any. Scanning the broad I counted 214 Gadwall and a lone Shoveler. Around 150 Tufted Ducks and 30 Pochard were on the Great Broad, along with a single Goldeneye. Teal were tricky to count as they were up on the island, but there were at least 20. I scanned across to Thorpe and the shingle spit was thick with Snipe, a minimum of 16 were visible along the broad edge. A Green Woodpecker and five flyover Lesser Redpoll completed the avian interest for the trip before I returned home to dry off.

Grey Heron

Goldeneye & Tufted Duck

WHITLINGHAM: First visit of the year

1st January 2014

Happy New Year. As a Red-necked Grebe had been reported from Whitlingham the previous evening we went down there late morning to have a look for it. A flock of grey geese with a white one in the middle would be promising if seen at the coast (Pink-feet with Snow/Ross' Goose), but on the meadows south of the country park it was predictably 76 Greylags with a white Greylag. Scanning the Little Broad we saw a flock of c200 Gadwall, but no sign of last weeks Shovelers. Pochard and Tufted Ducks were showing well on the Great Broad, but there was no sign of yesterdays Grebe. On the slipway we saw a white-ringed Black-headed Gull, which turned out to be the same Oslo-ringed bird we saw here in November.

Before heading off we went into the visitors centre, where John was discussing my blog. We had a good chat, during which it turned out that someone had reported a Red-breasted Merganser to one of the staff today. There has been a couple previously but they remain a rare bird inland, so we went back an had another scan of the Great Broad, but without success. If anyone does have details of this bird (or the Red-necked Grebe) then I would be interested to hear about them.

Inside Whitlingham Barn - this end has been emptied out until a new cafe is put in.

By the time we left it was starting to rain. Deciding that Breydon Water wouldn't be a good idea, we had a quick look at Rollesby and Ormesby Broads, seeing a couple of Shoveler and a Teal at the latter, before doing a loop to Horsey and then home via North Walsham.