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.

WHITLINGHAM: Week 5 - Naff all and some Waxwings

29th January 2011

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Another dreary Saturday morning at Whitlingham. What a difference a year makes, last year we had scarce grebes and ducks on every patch of clear water, this year I've been driven to praying for a Goosander or a Smew. I haven't heard of any at UEA this year, so it's not like I can go and grab one for translocation from there either. 40+ Siskin, 7 Wigeon and a few Shoveler were a level above the rest of the usual birds. Two year patch ticks were both seen from Trowse Meadows, Greenfinch (remember when they were common?) and Kestrel. On the way back to Cathy's I found a flock of Waxwings around the ring road, which eventually flew off south towards Old Lakenham.

The worst picture of Waxwings you are likely to see. Ever.

BEER: Burns Night

25th January 2011

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A hypothetical scenario. Inspired by watching repeats of Who Do You Think You Are?, you've delved into your ancestry and found that you're 1/128th Scottish. That qualifies you to celebrate Burns Night. You go to Sainsbury's and buy some Haggis, but what can you drink with it? The only person to reply to this desperate request on Facebook is the eccentric and slightly camp posh guy you used to work with, who replies that "it's Pimms o'clock." You delete him, but you still have a drinking dilemma.

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Well your problem is solved, the excellent Shepherd Neame brewery have brewed a special Burns Ale. As with a few of their beers details are sketchy (it isn't even mentioned on their website), but I managed to source this one from that well-known beer emporium that is North Walsham Lidl. Enjoy!

NORFOLK: Walcott seafront

23rd January 2011

Following pre-birthday drinks at the Garden House on Saturday night, Cathy & I went for a meal on the Sunday at the Poacher's Pocket in Walcott. Afterwards we braved the sea air for a quick look along the seafront, seeing a Med Gull loafing wth the Black-headed Gulls, and watching the always-entertaining clockwork Turnstones.

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Turnstone, taken at Sheringham

WHITLINGHAM: Week 4 - Pink-footed Geese

22nd January 2011

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With a number of resident species still to see (Kingfisher, Water Rail etc) and recent movements of Pink-footed Geese over Norwich, I decided to get down to Whitlingham just after dawn. There was no sign of the Kingfisher that often frequents the river along Trowse Meadows, but I did hear some stilted bursts of song from a Cetti's Warbler for the first time this year. There were already a number of cars parked along Whitlingham Lane, but most appeared to be people getting ready to row on the river.

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Walking along the edge of the Little Broad a flock of Siskin (one of several seen) flew over but didn't settle. A Great Spotted Woodpecker finally gave itself up having been heard calling throughout the month. Three Wigeon, a few Shoveler and loads of Gadwall were on the broad. The Great Broad was quiet, although over 200 Coot were crammed into the conservation area bay. Still no Snipe on the edges of the islands. A pair of Mistle Thrushes near Whitlingham Barns was a belated year tick, and a skein of Pink-footed Geese flew over heading east, a bird I missed at Whitlingham last year. Walking back from the sewage works I saw two Marsh Tits, a Treecreeper and a Coal Tit on the car park feeders. The patch list is now up to 58 for the year.

WHITLINGHAM: Week 3 - The day of the joggers

16th January 2011

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Some days the birding gets better and better, but today peaked with the first bird seen on the patch - a male Blackcap. Having never seen an overwintering one until 2008, this was my third in the last three years. It was in scrub alongside the river at Thorpe Meadows, which were flooded. A flyover Pied Wagtail was also a patch year tick.

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Whitlingham was ice free, which made a nice change. The large number of cars on Whitlingham Lane suggested some sort of watersports, but it turned out that most of them were joggers. Not as annoying as canoeists or irresponsible dog owners, but it is a little bit annoying having an army of brightly-coloured people running at you repeatedly. Sometimes I wonder if I've always been this grumpy or whether its developed over time. Anyway, nothing out of the ordinary on either broad, although notable increases in Teal and Shoveler numbers. The Yare Red-necked Grebe has clearly decided to sit at Rockland instead of checking out Whitlingham. Leaving the country park I walked up the lime avenue and past the old hospital, adding Stock Dove. The short grassy area near Trowse Woods held its regular Green Woodpecker, but the wood itself was quiet.

NORFOLK: Cley jaunt

15th January 2011

Having not been up to the North Norfolk Coast for a while, me & Cathy got a lift to Cley. Just past Hevingham village we almost saw a Peregrine sitting on an aerial - a second look showed that it was a model decoy. We had a quick stop at Salthouse, sitting in the car and watching the Snow Buntings and Turnstones feeding close by on the raised bank. In the fields nearby thousands of Pink-footed Geese were feeding and wheeling overhead.

Snow Bunting, taken at Salthouse last January

It started to drizzle, so we sat in Bishop's Hide for a while. We didn't see anything out of the ordinary, mostly Wigeon, Teal, Shelduck, Black-tailed Godwit, Ruff, Dunlin and Golden Plover. A Sparrowhawk flew in and perched close to the hide, just out of view of my viewing slot. Instinctively I moved my head to try and see it, banging my head in the process. Damn hides. Walking towards east bank Margaret twisted her ankle on the slippery mud, and after some persuading went back to the car to rest it. Cathy & I continued to east bank, but a combination of high winds and the lie of the land meant that we failed to find the American Wigeon. A quick check on Arnold's Marsh revealed loads of Dunlin and a scattering of Grey Plover, and four Little Grebes were in the storm drain.

WHITLINGHAM: Week 2 - Red-breasted Goose

8th January 2011
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New Year's Day had been a bit bird-light, so my main aim for today was to catch up with some of the commoner stuff I missed then. A night without a sub-zero temperature meant that there was also the outside chance of a Smew or something. As I walked along Whitlingham Lane in the drizzle I racked up Pheasant, Redwing and Jay, whilst 115 Greylags were on the meadows. There were only a couple of Siskin in the Little Broad Alders, but while looking for them I found a Treecreeper. Walking to the east end of the Great Broad, I immediately picked out a Red-breasted Goose with the Mallard! It was clearly an escape, and a rather tame one (it began swimming over to me like it wanted a hug, but its Mute Swan bodyguard were having none of it). Figuring that other local birders might still be interested in seeing it, I texted the news in. I can understand most people not caring, but some can enjoy watching birds regardless of their origins. I thought seeing last years Chilean Flamingos at Cley was rather excellent for example.

Moving on I saw that the bird feeders near the car park had been filled up. A short stakeout and I had seen the Nuthatch and a Marsh Tit, whilst four Brown Rats were eating the spilt seed. I located the missing Siskin flock along the south shore of the Great Broad, mixed in with some Goldfinches and a couple of Lesser Redpolls. No new wildfowl on the broad to speak of, a Little Grebe and some Shoveler the pick of the bunch.

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Continuing my trip around the patch I walked through the woods, hearing the third of four unseen Great Spotted Woodpeckers. I looked over onto Thorpe Marshes but there wasn't a Lapwing in sight. I did get to watch a flock of Redwings in the scrub near the river, which is always a pleasure, and a Marsh Tit was calling like a Great Tit. Whitlingham Marsh was rubbish as always, and nothing rare was lurking on the river. Even the sewage works was quiet, just a couple of Jackdaws around the stirring containers. Cathy met me back at the car park to say "aww" at the goose, and that was it for another visit.

NORFOLK: East Norfolk

3rd January 2010

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Gary & I decided to have a day out in the east of the county. After picking me up we made a quick stop off on Clarence Road to have a look at a flock of Waxwings busy eating some rather manky-looking yellow apples. After having a good look, we carried on to Cantley to have a look at the geese. Gary's damaged foot ligaments meant that long walks were inadvisable, so we looked over from School Lane rather than walking towards the river path. A large number of White-fronted and a small number of Taiga Bean Geese were on the marshes, but there was no sign of the LWFG. We also managed to get some good views of Fieldfares hopping about in fron of us.

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The next bird required a trip into Suffolk, but we decided an Iceland Gull was worth it. Arriving at Hamilton Dock in Lowestoft a birder was already looking at the Iceland Gull, and after flying around the harbour it eventually flew close to us and landed on the fence. Easily my best views of this species, and having not seen Ross' or Ivory, it has to be my favourite gull. High praise indeed. Back across the county border (or not if you are a political boundary denialist we stopped at Breydon Water south shore. We found out that the Brent Geese and a flock of Lapland Buntings were quite a way along, so we contented ourselves to scan the estuary. A huge swathe of Wigeon covered the mud, and every wader species was a year tick, including a flock of c30 Avocets.

Heading towards the broads we pulled in to admire the sight of a field of wild swans. There looked a healthy number of 1st winter birds with them, although they were being annoyed by what was either a one-man or large toy helicopter being flown nearby. We carried on to the Eels Foot Inn for our first visit. The garden has a brilliant panoramic view over Ormesby Little Broad, which was unfortunately frozen. We got ourselves a drink and then crossed our fingers for a Bittern. No such luck, but we did clock up 24 species, including three pub ticks - Jay, Red-crested Pochard and Marsh Tit.

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Next up was Barton Broad, where I hoped to see drake Smew. A quick scan around the open water and there they were, two drake Smew amongst the Goldeneye. Whilst I feasted my eyes on the Smew, Gary had found a Peregrine sat on a post and being eyed warily by the Teal. Our final stop on the way back to Norwich was at Wroxham Broad. We scanned through the Aythya flock, interrupted for a while by the arrival of a mixed Redpoll flock in alders near the boat club. I was ready to give up, but another flock of ducks flew in, and amongst them was the 1st-winter male Scaup that had been seen that morning. Who needs colour when you have Iceland Gull and Smew?

WHITLINGHAM: New Year's Day

1st January 2010

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A new year, but the same cold and cloudy weather greeted me as I stuck my head out of the window. A leisurely morning, with ten species seen in Cathy's garden whilst I chain-drank tea, the first of which lest you care was a Blackbird. It was then time for our new years jaunt around Whitlingham.

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Along the lane the flock of Greylag Geese was present, although smaller than the previous visit (c100 birds). Investigating the feeders near the car park we found that almost all of them were empty, which didn't help the tally. The best bird here was a Coal Tit, making a mockery of my 10-month Coal Tit drought last year. Heading down onto the slipway we saw that most of the Great Broad was still frozen, with two main open areas. Scanning the first bit of water we saw the normal wildfowl (Pochards, Tufties etc) along with a pair of Wigeon and a Canada Goose. On the ice a number of Black-headed and Common Gulls were loafing, as was a 1st-winter Herring Gull.

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Walking further around the broad a couple of Skylarks flew over, calling. Another decent patch bird followed in the form of a female Goldeneye, which flew west from the second patch of open water. Scanning the area around the island we added Shoveler, Teal, Little Grebe and 29 Cormorants. The walk around the north shore was relatively quiet birdwise, probably directly linked to being rather noisy peoplewise. The Redpoll that had been in the alders along the Little Broad in midweek were absent, but a reasonable flock of Siskins had replaced them. Last bird of the visit was a Magpie, the 36th species. This total is well short of last year, but thinking positively that increases the fun of finding the missing birds.

Whitlingham - last visit of the year

28th December 2010

Firstly I would like to thank everyone who took part in the Lesser White-fronted Goose poll. The poll attracted 22 votes (one of them mine). Views were polarised, with ten people believing the goose to have arrived from a foreign population and ten believing it to be an escape. Of the remaining two, one was mine (I'm reserving judgement to see whether it leaves with the Bean Geese or moves to a feral flock) and the other was content to wait for the BBRC to judge the occurrence.

So, back to actual birding. With Gary crocked, Adam & I decided to spend the day sliding around Whitlingham. The first birds of note were Greylags, a flock of 145 on the meadows alongside Whitlingham Lane. They were accompanied by the usual little hybrid goose. At least two of the birds had a domestic goose white "belly-band". This could allow them to be tracked later in the year, which will amuse me as I look at geese in the Yare Valley. The flock was the largest I can remember at Whitlingham, although it appears there was a flock of 260+ there last winter.

Walking along the edge of the Little Broad my second patch Coal Tit of the year was in the alders, as were a small number of Lesser Redpoll. With most of the Little Broad frozen, we moved on to the Great Broad, which also was mostly iced over. Scanning through the gulls Adam spotted a bright red leg, which turned out to be a ringed juvenile Herring Gull. The ring was on the left leg and had YZC in white lettering. The right leg had a more subtle metal ring. Preliminary research suggests that it was ringed at Landguard, so I have emailed them for confirmation. The first of two large holes in the ice was jam-packed with birds. I click counted 375 Coot and 125 Gadwall, whilst Adam saw a female Goldeneye which we failed to relocate.

[Edit] I have heard back regarding the ringed gull pictured above. It was ringed as a pullus at Havergate Island, and has been reported twice in the autumn from Southwold. So now you know!

Following up on a report of a Nuthatch in the bit of woods near the carpark, we kept watch on the bird feeders. Around ten Long-tailed Tits surrounded a fat ball, and then hurrah, a Nuthatch! My target of 110 Whitlingham birds for the year was achieved, and a patch tick to boot. In the second ice hole a lone drake Teal and loads more Coot and Gadwall, taking the overall counts to 560 and 303 respectively. Further along on the ice were two Shovelers, and a Fox ran across the frozen east end of the broad. The woods held little of interest, although a few Redwing flew over.

A good year all round, how to top it in 2011? A few targets:

Whitlingham - List target 112. Realistic patch ticks include Garganey, Bewick's or Whooper Swan as a flyover, Black-tailed Godwit, Little Egret, Slavonian Grebe.

Birds to try and find myself - Marsh Warbler, Icterine Warbler

Birds that realistically I'm not going to find, but would like to see: Blue-winged Teal, Bee-eater, White-winged Black Tern, Red-footed Falcon.

As well as following my progress with these, there will be more pub birding, more moaning about canoeists, some lifers for Cathy as she begins her third year of birding and probably some pictures of bees when she gets annoyed with her third year of birding and switches interest to insects. Heres to a productive 2011!

Merry Christmas!

A big thank you to everyone who reads and/or contributes to my blog! I'd probably do it anyway, but it is nice to think that somebody out there reads it. Even bigger thanks to those I've spent time with in the field or have given me lifts etc, it is all much appreciated.

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Merry Christmas, and a Happy New year to all!

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Ps. One more day left of the goose poll and it's a close-run thing, if you haven't cast your vote yet stop dithering and go for it ;-)

Cantley to Strumpshaw

22nd December 2010

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Adam had the day off work so we agreed to get the train to Cantley and have a look at the Lesser White-front. I may on occasion moan about the trains, so it is only fair to say that this one was running on time and was not affected by the temperature or snow. Taking the path down from Burnt House Lane we located the Bean Geese, but due to the lay of the land we couldn't see them all. Moving further round we got a better view, and eventually found the Lesser White-fronted Goose with a group of 90+ Bean Geese. There was also one White-fronted Goose with a smaller group of Bean, providing a pitfall for the unwary.

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As well as admiring the snowy landscape, we continued scanning as we walked along the riverbank to Buckenham. We saw a ringtail Hen Harrier, two Peregrines and a Buzzard at the Cantley end, whilst a Barn Owl ghosted across the path nearer Buckenham. Large numbers of Wigeon were on the river, as was a Black Swan. At least four Chinese Water Deer were wandering in the snow. We checked out the new hide at Buckenham (it looks nice, but is there really a need for one here?), and saw two Dunlin flying over. In the woods at Strumpshaw we saw a couple of flocks of Redpoll fly over and had a chat with Ben, before walking on to Brundall where we got the train back to Norwich.

Frozen Station Marshes

21st December 2010

With the Wensum frozen over (for the first time since 1987 according to the EDP), I didn't hold out much hope for a productive day. I decided to have a look at Thorpe Station Marshes in the hope that a displaced Bittern may be lurking. Thorpe Broad was completely frozen, with 52 Lapwing, 24 Moorhen and a number of Black-headed and Common Gulls standing on it in discust. A mixed flock of Goldfinch and Siskins were in the alders along the railway line, whilst the bird of the day was Meadow Pipit, at least six trying to feed near the path across the grazing marshes. In a hole in the ice on the river a Little Grebe, 2 Tufted Ducks,6 Malland and 6 Mute Swans were keeping the cold at bay.

Local stuff and a Goose poll

18th December 2010

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With more snow overnight I contented myself with a walk around the Golden Triangle, finding three Waxwings, a Fieldfare and three flyover Cormorants.

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Looking on Birdguides as I listen to the Norwich match on the radio I see that the Lesser White-fronted Goose has been seen again today, but a caveat has been put on that there has been an escaped one at Buckenham since August. From what I understand, this is not the case. The bird that has been there since the summer was a hybrid, and not the bird that is with the Taigas. That certainly doesn't prove that the LWFG is wild, but it seems that people are going over the top in dismissing it. If I am wrong and there has been a feral pure Lesser White-front seen regularly at Buckenham this year then feel free to correct me. I would be interested in peoples views in general, so have set up a poll (on the right hand side). You have until Christmas Day, please vote for something or I'll be sad looking at a load of zeros at Christmas.