Twitches, ditches and dips

The next morning (10th) and tons of common migrants (especially thrushes) were still on the move during a walk round Warham Greens. Also a sighting of Warwickshire birder John Harris!

As soon as the tide had receeded sufficiently, I was off after the Olive-backed Pipit. Across the marshes to the small patch of gorse where the bird had been showing the previous day. Tensions were running high and one pleasant chap was shouting abuse and threatening other birders. Mind you, the numpties walking right into the gorse were unbelievable. After about an hour and a half all I'd had were brief (and untickable) flight views, however the pipit then began to work its way across the the bottom of the gorse near where I was standing and eventually I was able to see it out in the open from 5ft away. Lifer. Hurrah!

Argy-bargy at the OBP Twitch!

This patch of gorse was something of a mini migrant trap, with a female Redstart, Chiffchaff, Brambling, Wheatear and several Goldcrest also noted here.

Birdguides reports stated 'wellies recommended'. I had none with me so returned very muddy indeed after falling a few times and traipsing through ditches. Who cares though; as two birders I met later in the Titchwell car park so eloquently put it; 'if you come back from Norfolk looking like that, you know you've seen a good bird'.

It was a day for twitching and Titchwell was soon abandoned as news came of a report of an Eastern Olivaceous Warbler in Wells Wood. Arrived on scene to find frustrated and disappointed Norfolk birders combing the pines. The finder was now nowhere to be seen and people weren't exactly sure where to look for the bird (a potential first for Norfolk). Very odd.

Again migrants were abundant here, including Brambling. This female was feeding on the path and didn't flush when birders passed or paused to take her picture. Exhausted no doubt.

The 11th was a very good morning's birding Another lifer in the form of a stunning Pallas's Warbler at Burnham Overy Staithe. This bird showed well as it flitted around the bushes near the boardwalk. Also here a Short-eared Owl came in high over the dunes, 2 Lapland Bunting over, Brambling, Wheatear, Chiffchaff and Marsh Harrier as well as the now ubiquitous Goldcrests and Redwings. Seawatching produced 2 Great Skuas and a Manx Shearwater.

Pallas's Warbler twitch

Little Egret

A later walk near Kelling produced an unexpected sighting with this Long-eared Owl sitting in a meadow! Not too much else here of note though, apart from 3 Wheatear and a Marsh Harrier.

On the 12th the morning was spent around Cley. The undoubtable highlight here was the 5 Shore Lark on the shingle ridge above Arnold's Marsh. Super little birds, it was fantastic to watch them feeding on the bank at close quarters. Also here a nice Curlew Sandpiper and a group of Ruff feeding on the muddy field.

The final day and a half it did go a bit quiet again, although there were still smaller numbers of thrushes, Goldcrest and Brambling etc passing through. Attempts at trying to find my own rarity at Holme, Stiffkey and Warham never worked out, but was enjoyable birding all the same. The final highlights included Rock Pipit, Garden Warbler, 4 Grey Partridge and a Sparrowhawk catching an unfortunate Goldfinch.

More Norfolk

A large proportion of Wednesday 6th October was spent deliberating over a binocular trade-in. Although never any doubt over quality, my trusty Swarovski SLC 8x32s, never gave quite the magnification and field of view I required. After much umming and arring, I struck a deal with the extremely helpful and patient folks at Cley Spy. I came out heavier around the neck and much lighter in the purse, with a pair of 10x42 SLC HDs. I have to say the improvement has been staggering.

Spent the rest of the next day or so testing them around Titchwell and Cley. Titchwell held a fair selection of waders; Greenshank, Ruff, Golden and Grey Plover, Snipe, Sanderling, Dunlin etc, however the place seemed generally quiet with the ongoing work causing some disturbance.




Notable sightings from the Cley area included 2 Spoonbills east over Arnold's Marsh (6th), 3 Whinchats in the reedbed from East Bank, Wheatear, 2 Spotted Redshank on Arnold's Marsh (7th) with other waders including Ringed Plover, Ruff, Knot and Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwit. Hunting Barn Owl, Peregrine and 4 Marsh Harriers with 8 Buzzards circling high over the distant church roof. At sea, plenty of Gannets (mainly juvs), Guillemot, Red-throated Diver and Brent Geese. A Tawny Owl was accidentally flushed at Wolsley Hills. Bearded Tits continued to show well.

A flock of 20 or so Snow Buntings were present at Holkham and seemed to be favouring the west of the beach.

By the afternoon of Friday 8th the easterly winds at last began to bear fruit. A cracking juvenille Red-breasted Flycatcher turned up in the pines at Holme NWT and a female Black Redstart hopped around the roof of the visitor centre. There had been a massive fall of Goldcrests and tons of thrushes were passing overhead, with some dropping in; mainly Redwings and Song Thrush but also quite a few Blackbirds. Also a few Chiffchaffs, Wheatears and Siskins around and it was very surprising to see a Cuckoo. Apparentely the latest Cuckoo record for Holme.

The next morning Holme continued to be good. This Pectoral Sandpiper put in an appearance on the marshes NE of the golf course. The long walk out there and the resulting missing of a few other good birds was worth it for the views of this confiding wader.

Also here 3 Common Redstart, 5 Chiffchaff, many Siskin and every bush in sight crawling with Goldcrests. The movement of thrushes continued with 100's of Redwings and smaller numbers of Song Thrush (official counts from Holme included 400 Siskins, 500+ Goldcrests, 1000+ Redwings, 400 Song Thrush and 70 Blackbirds. See here for more sightings from Holme). A Kingfisher was on the marshes.

News came through of an Olive-backed Pipit at Stiffkey, however by the time I got back , the tide was coming in and filling up the channels on the very boggy marsh. I didn't fancy getting caught out overnight so had to wait and hope the Pipit would remain till low tide the next day.

To be continued......

Phalaropus Trios

My spiritual home, the north Norfolk coast. I'm currently holed up in the village of Cley-next-the-sea birding away the remainder of this year's annual leave entitlement (which expires 1st November!).

Sunday 3rd October

First stop had to be a walk of the East Bank down to Arnold's Marsh. Plenty of Bearded Tits pinging about and flitting over the reeds. (they are dead easy there at the moment). Unfortunately no sign of the earlier reported Spoonbills and there didn't seem to be anything particularly unusual about. 15 Little Egrets were noted, along with Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, the odd Knot etc. Out at sea 2 juv Gannets, 2 Sandwich Tern, Razorbill and a distant diver sp.

Next down the road to Gramborough Hill to look for the Barred Warbler, a bird I've dipped before. It continued to elude me as I waited hopelessly for an hour in strong southerly winds. Two Wheatears, lots of Meadow Pipits and Egyption Geese were all that was about.

It was now raining, not heavily, but persistently during a visit to Burnham Overy Staithe. The reported Grey Phalarope was nowhere to be seen, however things were suddenly on the up with a flyover Spoonbill heading NNE and a ringtail Hen Harrier quartering the fields. Also here; Peregrine, Kestrel, Wheatear, lots of Dunlin and Redshank with the odd Grey Plover and Black-tailed Godwit, also 5 Little Egret.

Final stop for the day was back at Cley Marshes, where a Red-necked Phalarope could be seen swimming and spinning around the gulls at the back of Simmond's Scrape. Also around 15 Avocet here.


Monday 4th October

Southerly winds, rain and fog at Cley this morning, so I headed inland to Welney WWT where a first-winter Wilson's Phalarope had already been present for a couple of days. A bird I first met on the famous day of 23rd September 2007 at Upton Warren. Older, supposedly more wiser and definitely more jaded and cynical these days, it was nonetheless great to get reacquainted with this superb little bird. I never tire of watching Phalaropes and the Wilson's has so much character.

Seriously stretching the term 'record shot' here....if you squint you can just see a light shadow near the centre of the photo, near the end of the peninsula. That's the Wilson's Phalarope. Honest.

This very enjoyable visit to Welney also included sightings of 2 Little Stint, several Snipe and Ruff, a Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit and 3 hunting Short-eared Owls, 2 Barn Owls and a Marsh Harrier. Surprisingly Swallows were still nesting inside the Lyle Hide with the unfledged young being fed.

Finally a visit to Hunstanton Cliffs to catch up with a Wryneck, another bird I've not seen for a while. The Wryneck was very active and confiding, a super bird.





Tuesday 5th October

Scaling the dizzy heights of Gramborough Hill once again, this time the goods were produced with a sighting of the Barred Warbler (lifer!). The large warbler showed well on the brambles, but not for very long. Also here a Whinchat, 3 Wheatear and many Meadow Pipits.

A seawatch from Cley Beach produced a distant Arctic Skua, Guillemot, Red Throated Diver, 4 Sandwich Tern, a small raft of Common Scoter, Eider, Gannet and a Great Crested Grebe.

Two Spoonbills were on Cley's North Scrape for most of the morning and other birds I saw around the reserve that morning included a ringtail Hen Harrier, Peregrine, 2 Marsh Harrier and the expected range of waders and ducks.

Later on, I heard the Grey Phalarope was back at Burnham Overy, so decided to complete the hat-trick of Phalaropes. The third Phalarope in as many days, the Grey Phalarope showed well in a small pool in the cattle fields just south of the dunes.

As the day drew to a close, skeins of Pink-footed Geese could be seen coming in, a Short-eared Owl quartered the fields at close range, with at least 3 Barn Owls and a Marsh Harrier were also out hunting. Three Wheatears were on the barbed wire fence and a number of Swallows gathered overhead.

Migration is clearly happening, although a bit more slowly than I'd like. The constant southerly winds mean that migrants are a bit thin on the ground, but with winds set to swing round to easterlies by the end of the week, my hopes are high for this weekend....