Chris Lansdell's Birding & Nature Diary

Brecks Botany, 19 October 2020

With some precise directions I headed off for a quick half day excursion to Icklingham in the Brecks. As a bonus I was able to see Common Calamint in lovely condition by the church before I set off on a walk for my main quarry - White Horehound. The walk was gorgeous and with several fly-over Crossbills and Redwings I arrived at the spot in fine fettle. And my target was very easily found. Although late in the season a few plants still had some flowers on so all was good.

The walk had yielded loads of fungi too so on the return walk I examined many of them and also explored a nearby beech wood. Coprinellis impatiens was a great find under the beech together with Chanterelle, Porcellain Fungus and probable Coprinopsis stercorea. The grassland had many many Parasols, Common Rustgill, Egghead Mottlegill (on dung), Fools Funnel, Soft Puffball, Mosaic Puffball and Macrolepiota konradii. A huge Chicken of the Woods was spotted from the track on the way back too.

Nearing the end of the walk back a flock of c20 Mistle Thrushes and about the same number of Fieldfares was something I'd not seen before.

Common Calamint

White Horehound

Coprinellis impatiens

Chanterelle

Macrolepiota konradii

Egghead Mottlegill

Fools Funnel

Common Rustgill

probable Coprinopsis stercorea

Chicken of the Woods

A fungus foray in Tyrrel's Wood, 18 October 2020

I spent a thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours immersing myself in the dark autumn wonderfulness of Tyrrel's Wood on Sunday. Despite the dog walkers it's a place it's easy to lose people in, and also to lose yourself sometimes!

Fungus was my main focus and I found a few new ones for me - Blackening Brittlegill, Lemon Disco, Yellow Stainer and Crystal Brain. Into the bargain there were plenty of other fruiting bodies about too - Wood Blewit, Stump Puffball, Sulphur Knight, good numbers of both False Deathcap and Shaggy Parassol, Blushing Bracket, Birch Polypore, Common Inkcap, Glistening Inkcap, Clouded Agaric, Honey Fungus, Ochre Brittlegill and Oyster Mushroom. 2 slime moulds were also found - Wolf's Milk and Ceratiomyxa fruiticulosa. As ever I am indebted to various members of the Norfolk Fungus Study Group for id assistance!

A Nuthatch was calling in the centre of the wood providing the only bit of avian noteworthyness.

Blackening Brittlegill

Lemon Disco

Yellow Stainer

Crystal Brain

False Deathcap

Wood Blewit

Sulphur Knight

Ceratiomyxa fruiticulosa slime mould

Wolf's Milk slime mould

A true mega - Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin at Stiffkey, 17 October 2020

They don't come a great deal rarer - the first UK record since 1980 and the first twitchable one since 1963! It's already being called Norfolk's 'Bird of the Century'

I was still in bed when the news broke but was up like a shot and hastily making excuses as I left Belinda laying there! Deciding to cut through the city as it was reasonably early was a good call and I was up at the coast in double quick time. It was parking mayhem in the Greenway at the western end of Stiffkey village but I kept driving down towards the carpark and luckily managed to find a bit of verge to sling to car up onto. I was greeted with the sight of masses of birders just starting out across the saltmarsh. The bird had flown out to an area near the wooden bridge ealier and been lost to view. Until that moment the tide had been too high to walk out and look for it but now it had receded and it was 'game on'. After much sploshing and dyke-skipping I reached the clump of sueda it had chosen. Luckily it was on the far side of a big creek so there was no danger of flushing. Within about 10 minutes it flicked up on the top of the bushes only to flop down again a second later fanning it's tail as it did so. Brief but Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin was in the bag! Making a long walk almost back to the carpark and out again I gained access to see the other side of the sueda clump and this was the side the bird preferred. Over the next couple of hours it showed intermitently and at times really nicely before returning to the depths of the vegetation, presumably to feed. It looked slightly bedraggled but was active enough, regularly flying short distances and cocking it's white-tipped rufous tail. It was a grey eastern bird of the race 'syriaca' a bird I am familiar with from several trips to SE Europe and the Middle East.

Apart from the bird itself it was a great occasion and crowds like of which have not been seen in Norfolk for many a long year.

On the way home I popped in to Whitlingham CP to see some fungi - in particular the bizarre White Saddle which I'd been given directions to. Also there I paid a visit to the regular clump of Wrinkled Peach and also saw a few Death Caps nearby.

Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin

Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin twitch

White Saddle

Wrinkled Peach

Waxham goodies, 16 October 2020

With all of my paint and supplies shopping done by late morning I ventured up to Waxham for the afternoon. c20 Fieldfares were along the Horsey straight on the way. Parking by the bend in the coast road just north of Brograve Farm I walked to the dunes and then south towards the pipe dump. En-route it was evident that there were loads of migrant Goldcrests but other than a couple of Redwings and c15 Long-tailed Tits moving south migrants were quite limited. Arriving at the copse just north of the pipe dump I was delighted to find the active and obliging Red-flanked Bluetail showing on and off including some lovely views of it on the wire fence at the front of the copse. c40 Siskins moved north overhead.

Having had my fill I walked back north and onwards to the Shangri-la area noting yet more Goldcrests, 2 Song Thrushes and 3 Redwings on the way. Searching the trees by the Bide-a-Wee chalet for a long time and looking through countless Goldcrests I eventually located the Pallas's Warbler high up in the trees and watched it for about a minute before promptly losing it again.

As I started the drive home I spotted a Common Crane flying over the field opposite Poppylands cafe at Horsey. Stopping for a better view I immediately heard the unmistakeable call of a Richard's Pipit over the beet field which flew away and right into the distance.

All in all a thoroughly entertaining afternoon. Little did I know but it was to get much better...

Red-flanked Bluetail

Goldcrests

Brown Rat

The Lammergeier, Thorney, Cambs, 10 October 2020

Until now I'd resisted the temptation to go for the long-staying wandering Lammergeier. Probably due to the combination of erratic sightings, long drives, the question over its origins and the fact I've seen plenty abroad.

But with the bird seemingly settled a bit in fields north of Thorney on the A47 and having been seen until late the yesterday evening in a roadside tree I cracked and went early this morning! And in the end I was mighty glad I made the effort. With the sun still rising the bird was present in said tree on arrival as it must have roosted there. It showed very nicely, preening occasionally for about 30 minutes before deciding to fly over the field away from us only to land in the middle of the road! After grabbing a piece of roadkill and holding the traffic up for a few minutes it retired to the field to have its breakfast. After walking along the road for closer views the sun came out giving some lovely viewing and photographic conditions as the bird fed completely unconcerned by its admirers.

It appears to be a 1w bird now looking rather paler than when it arrived and was in more juvenile plumage. It has also now replaced its remiges so has a complete wedge-shaped tail. There has been much discussion about its origins. Has it come from the Alps re-introduction scheme? If so, is that population now self-supporting. I have heard both yes and no as the answers to that one! It is certainly not unusual for young Lammergeiers to go wandering long distances into northern Europe and concerns about it being able to find enough food seem unfounded because it has survived OK since it arrived in June. Luckily the Vulture Conservation Foundation who run the Alps re-introduction scheme have two feathers collected from 'our' bird and are running analysis on them to determine its origin/parentage. We shall see...

On the way home a brief stop at Wighton revealed the Hoopoe there has departed overnight so I compensated with a stop in Attlebridge where a lovely big patch of Fluted Birds Nest fungi found by Matt Shore was easily found.

Lammergeier

Lammergeier twitch

Fluted Birds Nest fungi

Marvellous Migration! 3 & 4 October 2020

With rain (and more rain) combined with SE winds this weekend saw some of the best migration conditions for a long while. Best for us east coast birders, not necessarily the birds!

Despite the weather the coast was calling and we headed out to Lowestoft, in particular the Links Road carpark at the north end of North Denes/Gunton. A Rustic Bunting had been found and it's been an age since I last saw one. Initially only some flight views were obtained but within a short space of time it decided to appear on the edge of Links Road feeding along the double-yellow line at the base of a low wall. Here it gave some really great views before it hopped up into brambles and sat in full view at ridiculously close range! In the wet and murky conditions Song Thrushes were pouring in with a small group of Redwings and a single Tree Pipit also seen.

We then walked into town and while Belinda did some shopping I checked Maltster's Score and Wilde's Score seeing yet more Song Thrushes, Robins, 2-3 Chiffchaffs and several Goldcrests but nothing to get the pulse racing. Later, while in Sparrows Nest Gardens having a coffee I got a message about a Wryneck on North Denes so we made the short walk finding a Yellow-browed Warbler on the slope just north of the Denes Oval. The Wryneck proved elusive and nervous but with a bit of fieldcraft I managed to get some great close views and got several others on to it as well. The decision not to walk to Dip Farm for a Radde's Warbler was the right one as it wasn't seen again.

Rustic Bunting

Fast forward to Sunday and after a lazy start I headed down towards Sizewell for a Booted Warbler. Only to get as far as Darsham to get negative news. A u-turn on the A12 had me heading back north and to Southwold. Here, in the SE corner of the campsite some patience was rewarded with really fantastic views of a Radde's Warbler found that morning together with a Firecrest for good measure.

After that a check of the churchyard in town revealed only Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaffs and again loads of Song Thrushes, Blackbirds and Robins. I returned to the Radde's Warbler with my camera but typically it didn't show anywhere near as well so I remained photo-less! Ian Porter kindly let me use his excellent photo below.

Radde's Warbler (courtesy of Ian Porter)

Flava fun at Dickleburgh Moor, 1 October 2020

It was 3rd time lucky for me down at the moor when I finally caught up with the Blue-headed Wagtail of the last few days. It was favouring the sheep field by the carpark and in 2 visits in the same afternoon I managed to see it both times. A nice smart bright male bird and unusual to see one in the autumn. It didn't end there either because there were 2 other Yellow Wagtails present. One a bog-standard flavissima but the other rather interesting with a dark head, obvious narrow short supercilium and blotched breast sides. No unusual calls were noted though. Loads of Pied Wagtails and a single Grey Wagtail made it a bit of a wagtail-fest. A single late House Martin was also noted.