Wind 1 - Seabirds 0

A big NW blow this afternoon looked good for seabirds, so I mooched up to Winterton. It was spectacularly rubbish so I came home, to read the reports on t'internet of Long-tailed Skuas and Cory's Shears further along the coast. I had a Fulmar and two Arctic Skuas. Doh!
Same again at dawn?

The wind at 4pm today...

Early Buckenham

Saturday morning an Osprey carrying a fish flew over me and dropped into Buckenham Carrs. Little else of note save 18 Wigeon, the first decent flock of the autumn. Yesterday's waders had cleared out.

Migration

A few hours at Waxham this morning in a fresh northeasterly following loads of rain seemed like a good plan. Very enjoyable birding marred only by the thousands of campers preventing me going too far towards Horsey. Little of note really, though a few migrants about and really enjoyable birding: 2 Whinchats, 5 Wheatears, 4 Lesser Whitethroats and a Yellow Wag over. The sea was rough and in a quick look revealed a pair of Bonxies closely followed by a pair of Arctic Skuas. Lots of ducks moving, mainly Common Scoter, though a few Teal and a lone Tufted Duck were seen.

After lunch, checked Buckenham which held two fine juvenile Wood Sands, plus 6+ Common Sands, 2 Green Sands and 3 Ruff. No sign of any Ospreys circling over Strumpet Fen - apparently there were 2 this morning. I picked up 2 Marsh Harriers, a Buzzard and a Hobby.

Intrigue was provided by the garden when a distinct shrill pee-pee-pee-pee-pee call was heard twice from the tall trees at the foot of the garden...

Dorset Adonis

A brief trip to Dorset camping in a very cool place near where the Sibe Rubythroat was a few years ago at Osmington Mills, yielded few birds, but good family fun and some cracking butterflies. Here are a couple of shots of Adonis and Chalkhill Blues.

A few days without the family

With the family stowed safely at the inlaws, me and Willow have been able to get some birding in, despite being stuck at work 9-5. On Monday evening a northwesterly felt promising, so I headed straight to the coast. Huddling behind the huts at Winterton it felt more like mid-October than mid-August, with a stroppy looking lead sea pounding the shore relentlessly. Within minutes I picked up a Manx Shearwater, followed by another minutes later. Waders, terns and ducks were also passing by, all moving north perhaps surprisingly. Ten minutes in, a dark shape arcing high over the waves appeared; A Sooty Shearwater. Making the most of the strong wind, it powered north, outclassing the low-gliding Manxies. A few more Manxies headed north before I was joined by a local. There followed a lull, but before long I picked up first one and then a second Arctic Skua heading north. In the next 15 minutes we picked up a further half dozen or so skuas, all adults and some of which hung out to clobber the passing terns. A few more Manxies passed by, plus single Common Scoter, Golden Plover and Grey Plover, both looking fine in summer plumage.

Wednesday morning I tried Buckenham, which has been bone-dry and birdless of late. With a little rain, I was delighted to see some water in the scrapes. This had attracted a few waders; Greenshank, 3 Green Sandpiper, Dunlin, Ringed Plover and 2 Golden Plover. More rain is needed!

After work prompted a trip to Breydon. The tide was already high and a large flock of mixed waders were huddled in the sea lavendar. Highlights were a huge flock of several hundred Avocet, 2 Spotted Redshank and a couple of Med Gulls. A trio of Little Egrets haunted the creeks.

Thursday morning saw me back at Buckenham. No waders today, save a Redshank and 3 Snipe, but a Wheatear was my first of the autumn here and a fine Hobby cruised around low over the grazing marsh, picking off dragonflies. Lots of passerine activity also, with a large flock of wagtails around the cattle, plenty of Mippits and Starlings and lots of finches. Whitethroats, Sedge and Reed Warblers are jumping around in the bankside vegetation in noisy family groups.

Day out of the office

Very little birding done recently. Checked out Rush Hills last night, but it was flooded out, so no waders sadly. Checked out the fields near Oby; several scruffy looking Golden Plovers and a big gull flock, but nothing of interest.
Much better at Cley today in a quick look on my lunchbreak. Fine Wood Sands, Spotshanks and Ruff on a cracking looking Pat's Pool. Could have spent all afternoon there had I not been working. Nice to see Bernard down there too, who was showing off his head scar gained from trying to open a gate in the marsh with his noggin.
A handful of the 20 or so Spoonbills were huddled behind an island over on North Scrape, visible from the centre.
On to Holme for a chat with Gary and Kelvin who were in fine fettle, having had a Monties earlier on. Nothing for me, even the resident flock of Hummer Hawkmoths failed to show up on the buddleia by the centre.

River Warbler helps wetlands!

Over £1,800 was raised by this little skulker! Thanks to the generosity of the finders, Chris and Alison Allen and assistance from RBA's Dick Filby, much-needed funds were raised for Norfolk Wildlife Trust and BirdLife's Southern Ethiopian Endemic Birds Appeal. This is a fabulous result and will hopefully inspire more finders of birds on private land to organise similar events. Great stuff.
Full stories on the RBA and NWT websites.
See http://www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/Home/News/Rare-river-warbler-raises-funds-for-wetland-conser.aspx

Ok...

...so in case you couldn't see a thing, here are a couple of grabs...

Check oot the beaut

A couple of supersharp vids for your viewing pleasure...

Locust-fest

A call from Reg first thing Sunday morning was a surprise, as was the news that there was a River Warbler near Norwich!! Panic - wait - no details of the location have been released. Mad scramble for my phone, and sure enough, this wobbler was present somewhere near Norwich and the details would be released later...
After the longest day ever, the news finally came through that the bird was at Thorpe just west of Haddiscoe - damn, the wrong side of the river and just a few stones' throw from the patch...very close indeed. I promptly joined the traffic jam on the A47 caused by a broken down caravan and wasted the best part of an hour in my slow cooker of a car (broken air con). Eventually got to the back of a small convoy heading up Crab Apple Lane, and shortly arrived at a field which resembled a festival car park, complete with bucket wielding nippers on the door flogging tickets for this exclusive event at £2 a throw. They should have charged a tenner - I would have paid!!
I joined the throng, noting several familiar faces in the crowd. The bird had been singing earlier but had remained out of view in a small alder bush, possibly due to the brisk breeze. A calling Little Owl remained hidden in the oaks bordering the car park, whilst a Treecreeper squeaked from a copse. Out over the marshes at least one Hobby and a Marsh Harrier did fly-pasts and I checked every passing gull hoping for a Barton style Yank. Sadly nothing...
At about 7.15pm the hidden Locustella suddenly let rip with a loud, piercing sewing machine-esque rythym. An awesome song! I moved round to the car park and picked up the dark shape of the warbler sitting motionless on a low twig. The next 20 minutes were a little fraught as we struggled to keep on the bird among the obstructive birders' heads. Luckily nothing got too out of hand. After a while, it stopped singing and scurried down the twig and out of sight. It almost reached 9pm before it cranked it up again and on the exact same twig. A few people had departed and this enabled a much less impeded view. When the bird sang, it literally just gaped and moved its head around. The bird was very dark, particularly at the rear end, with dark undertail coverts. I couldn't make out any pale fringing. The bird had a narrow pale eye ring and short superC, with a neat gorget of streaks on the upper breast. The legs were noticeably pink. A smart little bird.
Big thanks to the finders of this bird and for the efforts they went to to organise this excellent twitch. Thanks too to Dick Filby and others who assisted with the organisation and to all the fellow twitchers who remained patient and well behaved, and generous in allowing initial scope views.

Still ill

...but managed to see a Norfolk hawker in the garden.

Mid June and all is quiet

...at Buckenham this afternoon. The stillness interupted by an unexpected LRP on a muddy puddle opposite the pub, plus c20 Blackwits (presumably non-breeders?) and a Hobby. Lots of Red-eyed Damselflies on the channel by the pump, plus an Azure D.

Acrobatic vocals

Good views of a Marsh Warbler this morning singing in some willowherb and meadow sweet infested dry phragmites. It did some great impressions of Blackbird, Blue Tit, Goldfinch etc and at times conspicuously perched atop reed stems. The bird seemed to be sharing the same habitat as a Sedge Warbler pair, which were busy feeding their young. The Marshy definitely had a cute look, a fairly neutral brown appearance with a slightly warmer rump. The tips to the primaries were a little pale, not hugely obvious, but making the individual feathers separable from a distance. A white throat, short, dull white supercilium and a white eye ring also noted. Mid-afternoon, the bird remained hidden giving occasional bursts of song, unlike a nearby Reed Warbler that was singing away continuously.