Red-backed Shrike
Red-backed Shrike
Northern Wheatear
Black Redstart
Lowestoft, 19 October 2014
With us both needing a walk and some sea air today we made our way to Lowestoft and parked at Ness Point. Walking north I'd soon caught up with the long-staying juv Red-backed Shrike which showed very nicely indeed in scrub close to the Birds Eye factory fence. A walk around North Denes/Denes Oval produced very little but a fly over Woodlark was a nice addition. Back at Ness Point a look at the turbine yard proved very worthwile with a late Northern Wheatear and 2 Black Redstarts chasing each other about.
Cley and Walsey Hills, 18 October 2014
With me needing to escape the house I decided on a Saturday afternoon at Cley.
First up was the 1w Grey Phalarope of the last few days on Eye Pool. It duly obliged but with the fencing now set further back than in the good old days I couldn't get as close as I'm sure it would have allowed. A Common Buzzard flew hight west and the Eye Field was full of Brent Geese and Golden Plover while a Rock Pipit popped in briefly
With not a huge amount of interest further along the coast I then spent a fruitful couple of hours mooching around Walsey Hills with 2 Yellow-browed Warblers and then I jammed in on a Pallas's Warbler found late on in sycamores at the rear of Snipes Marsh. All afternoon Redwings were passing over as well as smaller numbers of Chaffinches.
First up was the 1w Grey Phalarope of the last few days on Eye Pool. It duly obliged but with the fencing now set further back than in the good old days I couldn't get as close as I'm sure it would have allowed. A Common Buzzard flew hight west and the Eye Field was full of Brent Geese and Golden Plover while a Rock Pipit popped in briefly
With not a huge amount of interest further along the coast I then spent a fruitful couple of hours mooching around Walsey Hills with 2 Yellow-browed Warblers and then I jammed in on a Pallas's Warbler found late on in sycamores at the rear of Snipes Marsh. All afternoon Redwings were passing over as well as smaller numbers of Chaffinches.
Grey Phalarope
Yellow-browed Warbler
Yellow-browed Warbler
Steppe Grey Shrike, Burnham Norton, 14 October 2014
After 10 days in Belgium and then a day of atrocious weather yesterday I finally managed to catch up with the Steppe Grey Shrike on the marshes at Burnham Norton this morning. With the sun out and a showy bird it was a shame I had to dash back to north Suffolk for work much sooner than I wanted to! Another county tick though - yay!
Bearded Tit, Reed Buntings, Stonechat, Brent Geese and Pink-footed Geese completed the brief picture.
The dodgy photo below was phone-scoped.
Bearded Tit, Reed Buntings, Stonechat, Brent Geese and Pink-footed Geese completed the brief picture.
The dodgy photo below was phone-scoped.
Belgium non-birding trip
Strictly a non-birding trip around Belgium but a few (not very exciting) things seen.
A walk in the woods and hills around La Roche-en-Ardennes yielded 2 bigs flocks of Crossbills (40+ and 20+), Crested Tit, Willow Tits, Short-toed Treecreeper, 2 Grey Wagtails and several Black Redstarts in the town itself.
Another pair of Black Redstarts were at an abandoned coal mine near Liege.
On the way back to Calais a quick stop at Oye Plage added 6 Spoonbills, 3 Little Egrets, 2 Cetti's Warblers, Curlew, Stonechat, Linnets and a singing Chiffchaff.
That was it!
A walk in the woods and hills around La Roche-en-Ardennes yielded 2 bigs flocks of Crossbills (40+ and 20+), Crested Tit, Willow Tits, Short-toed Treecreeper, 2 Grey Wagtails and several Black Redstarts in the town itself.
Another pair of Black Redstarts were at an abandoned coal mine near Liege.
On the way back to Calais a quick stop at Oye Plage added 6 Spoonbills, 3 Little Egrets, 2 Cetti's Warblers, Curlew, Stonechat, Linnets and a singing Chiffchaff.
That was it!
Olive-backed Pipit and Barred Warbler, 21 Sept 2014
I admit to have been very slack with birding in the last month, mainly because I've been so busy with work and other commitments. This afternoon I had a little time to spare after some urban exploring with Belinda and as we were in Fakenham it would have been very shoddy not to have had a little time on the coast. Before really birding I'd almost had a Barn Owl take my head off while exploring some old farm buildings and a Red Kite flew over the B1105 just south of Wells.
My main target was the Olive-backed Pipit in Wells Dell, a species I'd not seen for some years. It didn't disappoint, showing nicely on and off on the south side of the Dell under the trees to a small assembled crowd.
Then it was a streak along the coast to Salthouse to fill my boots with some great views of Barred Warbler in brambles on Gramborough Hill. Unusually I jammed in within 2 minutes of arrival having expected to need some patience!
My main target was the Olive-backed Pipit in Wells Dell, a species I'd not seen for some years. It didn't disappoint, showing nicely on and off on the south side of the Dell under the trees to a small assembled crowd.
Then it was a streak along the coast to Salthouse to fill my boots with some great views of Barred Warbler in brambles on Gramborough Hill. Unusually I jammed in within 2 minutes of arrival having expected to need some patience!
Peak District, 21 - 23 August 2014
A walking trip to our beloved Peak District that turned into a limping trip. But that's a whole new story!
Not a great deal of nature worthiness compared to our spring trips but the Bleaklow Head area revealed 4 Ravens, at least 12 Red Grouse and Mountain Hare while the River Bamford held a confiding Dipper, 4 Grey Wagtails and an overhead Hobby mobbed by the local hirundines. Around the grounds of Eyam Youth Hostel were Tawny Owl, Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Common Buzzard plus plenty of Red Grouse, Stonechats and Linnets on Eyam Moor but there was little else to trouble the scorers!
These 2 pics were taken with Belinda's bridge camera as I'd not taken my big lens.
Not a great deal of nature worthiness compared to our spring trips but the Bleaklow Head area revealed 4 Ravens, at least 12 Red Grouse and Mountain Hare while the River Bamford held a confiding Dipper, 4 Grey Wagtails and an overhead Hobby mobbed by the local hirundines. Around the grounds of Eyam Youth Hostel were Tawny Owl, Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Common Buzzard plus plenty of Red Grouse, Stonechats and Linnets on Eyam Moor but there was little else to trouble the scorers!
These 2 pics were taken with Belinda's bridge camera as I'd not taken my big lens.
Dipper, River Bamford
Red Grouse, Bleaklow Head
Franklins Gull dip, Cley, 17 August 2014
Franklins Gull is fast becoming my Norfolk bogey bird - having missed a bird at Breydon by minutes some years ago I proceeded to miss this years Breydon bird by 30 minutes about 2 weeks ago and again last night at Cley it failed to show despite having come in on 3 of the previous 4 nights.
3 hours of scanning and re-scanning gulls on Pats Pool and Simmonds until it got too dark to see resulted in 1 juv Mediterranean Gull, 1 Yellow-legged Gull, 4 Spoonbills, 1 Little Egret and eventually a Little Stint picked out in the failing light but nothing was much consolation for missing the star attraction. Little Ringed Plover, Ringed Plover, Ruff, Dunlin, Avocet and Black-tailed Godwit brought up the rest of the waders.
The Painted Lady below was photographed at Happisburgh the previous day.
3 hours of scanning and re-scanning gulls on Pats Pool and Simmonds until it got too dark to see resulted in 1 juv Mediterranean Gull, 1 Yellow-legged Gull, 4 Spoonbills, 1 Little Egret and eventually a Little Stint picked out in the failing light but nothing was much consolation for missing the star attraction. Little Ringed Plover, Ringed Plover, Ruff, Dunlin, Avocet and Black-tailed Godwit brought up the rest of the waders.
The Painted Lady below was photographed at Happisburgh the previous day.
Spotted Flycatchers breed locally - again!
Having had just one brief view of an adult Spotted Flycatcher in the garden back in May I've not seen anything of them all summer. This morning I opened the bedroom curtains to see this fledged juvenile preening just a few feet from the window! They've bred somewhere nearby which makes 3 consecutive years. We've only been here 3 years so I've no idea if the breeding run goes back further. A single lingering Swift was also still hanging on in. In the afternoon a Hobby was over Goodies Farm Shop harrassed by the local Swallows.
Violet Helleborine in Suffolk, 26 July 2014
Violet Helleborine has been on my radar for a while and with yet another scorching day the shady woods of south Suffolk seemed like a good option. After a long walk around the wood and many mozzie bites (shorts were not a good idea!) I eventually located a small group of loosely scattered plants and pleasingly they were all in flower and in good condition. This species is a very scarce one in East Anglia with only a couple of Suffolk sites that I know of. It's stongholds are the beechwoods of the Chilterns where I'd seen my only other ones many years ago and Kent/Surrey/Sussex. Whilst stumbling through the woods I also found a nice patch of Herb Paris and some long gone remnants of Early Purple Orchids. At a woodland pond there were loads of Ruddy Darters and a single Southern Hawker.
Well worth the attack of the killer mozzies and probably my last local orchid of the year.
Well worth the attack of the killer mozzies and probably my last local orchid of the year.
Violet Helleborine
Violet Helleborine
Violet Helleborine
Ruddy Darter
Herb Paris
Invasion of the Black-winged Stilts! 25 July 2014
With 2 breeding pairs of Black-winged Stilts in the south being well documented this summer there was another pair breeding in west Suffolk that were completely off the radar! News broke of this successful pair near Cavenham Heath about a week ago when the young had fledged. They must have bred at one of the gravel pits in the area and either been completely overlooked or just kept quiet. I made the trip this morning and an adult was on view on my arrival on the far side of the main gravel pit. With some patience I eventually had 2 adults and 2 juveniles as they flew in from an unseen pit behind the main one. The juveniles appear fully grown whilst one of the adults has a clean white head/neck and the other a black hind neck. Distance and heat haze prevented photography but even at range I also managed to pick up a Wood Sandpiper, several Lapwings, Great Crested Grebes and a Little Egret while Green Woodpeckers were a regular sight. Reed and Sedge Warblers were still in full song.
On nearby Cavenham Heath an impressive post-breeding flock of c25 Stone Curlews were very welcome. An Emperor Moth caterpillar crawled across the Icknield Way track and butterflies included Small Heath, Small Copper and Common Blue amongst the more numerous species.
On nearby Cavenham Heath an impressive post-breeding flock of c25 Stone Curlews were very welcome. An Emperor Moth caterpillar crawled across the Icknield Way track and butterflies included Small Heath, Small Copper and Common Blue amongst the more numerous species.
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