June 2009 birdwatching & photography tours in Norfolk

We headed off for a well earned tea-break, and then undertake an evening session. The evening started in full daylight at 7.30PM - & before we had got started I located our local Little Owl perched in full view on a barn roof!

At the heath, we had an excellent views of 3 male & 2 female Nightjars, including a male at 10m perched in full view on the track. We drove back & then located a Tawny Owl showing well 20m from the car, & the evening finished off with lovely views of a Barn owl & another Little Owl at point blank range in the van headlights. We arrived back at the accommodation just after 11PM, concluding a very successful day.

3rd June - Norfolk 3 day Guided Bird watching tour

We again had nice views of Montagu's Harrier, male & female. We then spent a long vigil through the afternoon scouring the skies for Honey Buzzard, our patience paying off at 16.10 PM, there was just my group and one other birdwatcher left (there had been up to 30 birders mi-afternoon), when the male Honey Buzzard flew straight over our heads & then started wing clapping!! The bird showed well for about 7-8 minutes before drifting of west.

4th June - Norfolk 3 day guided Birdwatching tour

This was day three for one of the group whom joined us on the second day of the tour - he decided he wanted a general days birdwatching on the coast. At Burnham Overy we had 2 Bearded Tit calling, 2 Marsh Harrier, 4 Grey Plover, 40 Shelduck, 25 Little Tern, lots of Reed, Sedge Warbler & Whitethroat, several Black-tailed Godwit & a nice mixture of the more regular species.

We then moved on to Cley where there was 70 Black-tailed Godwit, several Bearded Tit, 3+ Marsh Harrier, 20 Dunlin, 4 Teal & 1 ad Little Stint plus a mix of the more expected birds. Up at Walsey Hills there was a Cettis' Warbler with at least 2 chicks just out of the nest.

5th June - One to One Wildlife Photography Tutorial

Today was spent with a photographer from Boston, Lincs. David was a fairly experienced photographer with some excellent previous results but with a lesser knowledge of wildlife. We split the day into long lens & birds in the morning, and macro insect/flower photography in the afternoon. I showed David how to get in close to both, how to improve composition & ensure you have more predictable results. David's knowledge once in closer to both subjects ensured he made the best of some good opportunities. His favourite images from the day are shown below.

8th June - Mid Norfolk

I had a wander around a local site, & had a couple of surprises! I was sat at 6.30am photographing 2 Barn owls, when an adult Night Heron flew over, a pair of Marsh Harriers performed well from 7.30am & just as I was trying to get some shots a male Mandarin passed overhead, also present at the site, lots of Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat, 1 Cuckoo & 2 Little Egret.

9th June - Mid Norfolk heathland

A short visit & walk around this delightful heathland resulted in no less than 4 species of flowering orchids, Southern Marsh, Early Marsh, Heath Spotted & Common Spotted. Also noted was the first flowering Marsh Gentian of the year. Butterflies were on & off the wing in the cloudy conditions & I saw Common Blue, Speckled Wood, Small White & the first Silver-studded Blue of the year. Dragonflies were few - but Large Red Damsel & a teneral Four-spotted Chaser were seen. Birds were not to be overshadowed with a purring Turtle Dove, Woodlark & 4 juvenile Swallows being fed by an adult.

10th June - North Norfolk - Two Day Birdwatching tour

Excellent views of male Montagus Harrier, plus 2-3 Marsh Harrier, 3+ Common Buzzard, Sparrowhawk & Kestrel, nearby sev Tree Sparrow. We then headed for a harbour estuary & had great views of Little Tern, Common Tern, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Little Egret, 2 Marsh Harrier. In one of the freshwater channels we located 2 juvenile Little Grebes & we also saw a Reed Bunting with recently fledged chick. The harbour buildings held 8 House Martin nests & these gave excellent views below us off the sea wall along with a nice group of low flying Swifts.

Moving on to Cley we saw a nice if small selection of birds, 50 Black-tailed Godwits with a single Red Knot amongst them, 100 Shelduck, 3prs at least of Marsh Harrier, & nice slightly brief views of Bearded Tit. Lunch sat on the beach afforded lots of nice views of all 3 regular tern species, Sandwich, Common & Little, the latter we saw around 20+ passing along the shoreline.

The weather finally (as promised by the forecasters) fell apart - with heavy showers, clearly Honey Buzzard was off the agenda! But some improvisation provided us with Grey Wagtail, a drake Mandarin & reasonable views of Cuckoo - most of these were seen through a very wet telescope!

11th June South Norfolk - Two Day Birdwatching Tour

This morning the rain was still falling & as we headed south I was doubting the possibilities that lay ahead. But as we walked out at Lakenheath Fen, the clouds eventually broke & soon we were bathed in hot sunshine. Not soon after arriving I was pointing out "booming" Bittern & we heard 3 different individuals a wonderful sound in the humid, damp & warm conditions. A surprise came as I snapped on to a male Golden Oriole flying from the plantations south & over the railway line, unfortunately one person got on to the bird, the other left empty handed! But this was soon to be rectified, but not before we had superb views of 2 male Bearded Tits both perched high on the reed stems just 20m from us, certainly one of the males was feeding young, back & forth from the same spot. The day got better & better at this irresistible site! 5+ Hobby in the air including one screaming down to snatch a "big" dragonfly from the just above the reeds, at least 2 male, 2 female & 2 imm Marsh Harrier, at least 5 Cuckoo with 2 males chasing a female right overhead & this topped off by watching a pair of Golden Oriole feeding young at the nest. Warblers were also aplenty - Reed, Sedge, Whitethroat were very numerous, & several Blackcap & Garden Warbler were vocal.

Oh & sorry I forgot to mention Scarce Chaser, Broad-bodied Chaser, Painted Lady & Small Tortoishell that were all seen in passing whilst enjoying the plethora of birds

We stopped off for Stone Curlew & saw 3 birds, and then headed into the forest the day finished with us dodging the thunder, lightning & rain but not before seeing an adult & freshly fledged Wood Lark and a singing Tree Pipit.

13th June Norfolk - One week Birdwatching, Butterfly & Dragonfly Tour

This was one of our 6 day summer tours taking in a mixture of birds, butterflies, dragonflies & orchids.

On arrival we had a light lunch together & then headed off to take in a mixture of local sites. We started with a walk around a local woodland, where we had a good look at a beautiful Greater Butterfly Orchid, a Bee Orchid & many 100's of Common Spotted Orchid. We also saw a range of commoner woodland species, the highlights being Garden Warbler & Bullfinch, there were a few insects on the wing, the more noteable 1 Broad-bodied Chaser, several Speckled Wood & the first Meadow Brown of the year.

We then took in an area of the Wensum valley with a mill pool, and had a good mix of birds, the best birds being Marsh Tit, Spotted Flycatcher, pair of Grey Wagtail, Turtle Dove, Cuckoo & close views of Marsh Harrier, including the birds making a majestic food swap right in front of us.
The most noteable insects were the first hatch of the year of Banded Demoiselles with around 20 seen along the river banks.

14th June Norfolk - One week Birdwatching, Butterfly & Dragonfly Tour

Today was forecast hot & sunny & the forecast proved to be correct. We made the most of the conditions by visiting two of Norfolk's premier Norfolk Hawker & Swallowtail sites.

At Strumpshaw we started with wonderful views of Norfolk Hawker, both in flight & perched. Other insects were Four-spotted Chaser, Emperor, Hairy Dragonfly, Azure Damselfly & Scarce Chaser. Whilst walking the paths we notched up a few more birds, singing Grasshopper Warbler & another Bullfinch. We then had brief tantalising views of a rapid Swallowtail, before heading off to another area.

We then had pretty amazing point blank views of up to 4 Swallowtail & quite an excited crowd of people had gathered around these rare & most beautiful insects. Walking back we were surprised to find a family group of Grey Wagtails around the sewage farm area.

At Catfield Fen we had a nice walk around & here we saw one more Swallowtail, several more Norfolk Hawker, 1 Black-tailed Skimmer a pair of Marsh Harrier & we got to practice some more Sedge & Reed Warbler song recognition!

15th June Norfolk - One week Birdwatching, Butterfly & Dragonfly Tour

Today was forecasting a bright start with heavy showers later. We made the most of the good early conditions by visiting a small Little Tern colony, we had excellent views of 20 Little Terns, also present were breeding Ringed plover & Oystercatcher. Along the shoreline we also found 5 Curlew & 2 Grey Plover. We walked back through the dunes & found a family party of Stonechat. On the freshwater lagoon there was 2 pairs of Pochard with 8 juveniles.

As the rain moved in we moved into the hides at Titchwell! We started with a nice selection of birds Redshank, Teal, 1 Wigeon, lots of Avocet, & Shoveler with 12 young. As the storm swept in and the hi-tide reached it's peak we were delighted to watch 800 Red Knot, 20 Bar-tailed Godwit and a Turnstone alight & start feeding on the freshmarsh right in front of us.

16th June One week Birdwatching, Butterfly & Dragonfly Tour

Today we headed off into south Norfolk & just over the border into Suffolk, at Lakenheath we met up with Graham who was joining the group just the day. The tour started very successfully with excellent views of both male & female Golden Oriole, keeping up our 100% success rate this year with this species! We saw a good range of other birds whilst at the site, including 4 Hobby, 4 Marsh Harrier & a pair of Bearded Tit feeding a fresh juvenile.

Moving on to heathland habitat we eventually located 1 Wood Lark & 2 male singing & displaying Tree Pipit, a pair of Stonechat

The day finished with reasonable views of a singing male Firecrest.

17th June One week Birdwatching, Butterfly & Dragonfly Tour

Today was a midday start with the intention of running through to a late evening session.

We were very fortunate to arrive at a local raptor watchpoint and immediately drop on to a male Honey Buzzard, showing extremely well, the bird was not displaying but at such short range identification of both the plumage, shape & jizz were easy to work through.

After this we headed out on to a locally restored area of wet heathland, and netted several species of dragonfly - each specimen being viewed in a magnifying jar.

The highlights were Keeled Skimmer & Four-spotted Chaser, also in the wet areas there was an excellent spread of orchidae, including identifiable Common Spotted, Heath Spotted & Southern Marsh.

Away from the wet areas we saw a few Silver-studded Blue & heard a purring Turtle Dove.

Unfortunately the weather deteriorated & I took the decision to postpone the Owls & Nightjars until the following evening, as we drove back to the accommodation our decision was vindicated when the wind & rain prevailed!

18th June One week Birdwatching, Butterfly & Dragonfly Tour

Today was the last day of the 6 day tour, but overlapped with a new 3 day tour. So we revisited a couple of sites, but were still managing to add new species. We had reasonable views of a female Montagu's Harrier, also in the air 2-3 Buzzard, 3+ Marsh Harrier, not faraway I found the usual colony of Tree Sparrows with about a dozen of these birds in & out of the gardens & hedgerows, also close by was a singing Corn Bunting, the hedgerows abounded with plentiful Yellowhammer & Whitethroat.

We then wallked out into a local harbour & dunes, out towards the sea we had wonderful views of Little, Common & Sandwich Tern - also Ringed Plover & Oystercatcher with eggs & young were watched.

We headed back to the accommodation, had a "high" afternoon tea, relaxed for a couple of hours in the garden meadow & then headed out into the evening sunshine, a much better evening for Owls & Nightjars!

We soon had nice views of Little Owl, giving us an evil stare with it's piercing yellow eyes!! A Barn Owl crossed the road & we eventually reached the heath.

Around 9.45 we were treated to amazing views of 2 males & 2 female Nightjars, churring & butterfly display flights.

19th June 3 Day Birdwatching Tour

Today we headed off into south Norfolk & just over the border into Suffolk, at Lakenheath The tour started very successfully with excellent views of both male & female Golden Oriole, keeping up our 100% success rate this year with this species! We saw a good range of other birds whilst at the site, including nice views of Bittern in flight, 4 Marsh Harrier

Moving on to heathland habitat we eventually located 2 Wood Lark & 2 males singing & displaying Tree Pipit, a pair of Stonechat.

Briefly stopping off we had nice views of a Stone Curlew, before moving on to another area we were really surprised to find another Spotted Flycatcher, also here Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker & another Tree Pipit.

The day finished with reasonable views of a singing male Firecrest.

20th June 3 Day Birdwatching Tour

Today we headed off & visited Titchwell & Holme. We started at Holme & had reasonable views of Turtle Dove & Grey Partrdge in the
dunes, as well as studying the song & calls of several warblers, eventually getting very nice views of a family group of Lesser Whitethroat. We also took time to take a look at the orchids, the "coccinea" Southern Marsh Orchid being very evident.
Up at the Observatory, we took the chance to watch some birds being ringed & processed, including a Whitethroat - nobody appreciated how small these birds are until they see them in the hand - incredible to think these birds will shortly heading back to Africa!

Titchwell produced a nice slection of waders & also 2 Spoonbills!

21st June 3 Day Birdwatching Tour

We visited Cley today & had a nice selection of waders, returning adult birds were in evidence, with 2 superb breeding plumaged "black" Spotted Redshank, also several summer plumaged Knot, Dunlin, 2 Ruff, 70 Bar-tailed Godwit lots of Redshank & 200+ Black-tailed Godwit. Several Curlew were out on the marsh & several passed overhead. Several Avocet chicks were present & I checked in on a Swallows nest now with 4 featherless youngsters!

We had several flight views of Bearded Tit & eventually a male perched to give us reasonable views.

Teal & Wigeon numbers were also starting to creep up, & many Gadwall & Shoveler were starting to enter their cryptic moults!

23rd June 1 Day Birdwatching Tour

This tour was a one day tailored tour, starting at midday & running through into the evening.

We started with a walk out into a harbour area & dunes. We studied lots of Sedge & Reed Warblers along the walk & practiced song recognition. As we walked out we had nice views of a selection of commoner waders, Black-tailed Godwit, Redshank, Oystercatcher & Bar-tailed Godwit. Out in the dunes we spent time watching "parachuting" Meadow Pipit, and were treated to at least 5+ Dark Green Fritillary, starting with tantalising flight views we eventually found two settled and took in their stunning vivid orange patterned wings.

We watched 20+ Little Tern, most successfully catching fish along with 2 Common Tern.

As we walked back we had a lovely surprise, as 2 Spoonbill dropped into the saltmarsh.

We headed off for a "norfolk" pub meal, and then finished the rest of the evening with stunning views of Nightjars, plus 2 Little Owls.