B i r d w a t c h i n g i n N o r f o l k
M a y 2 0 0 9
M a y 2 0 0 9
Double click to edit
1st May - Norfolk one day Guided Bird watching tour
After a lot of scanning and waiting we eventually started the day with nice views of male & female Montagu's Harrier. Also here 2 Buzzard, 2 Marsh Harrier, several Sparrowhawk & kestrel.
The rest of the day of the tour was centred around Breckland & Lakenheath.
We saw 1 & located 4 singing Firecrest, with reasonable views of male singing, , also in this area a nice selection of woodland birds including Treecreeper, Nuthtatch, Marsh tit, Sparrowhawk & Goldcrest, 3 Stone Curlew 1 Woodlark, 6 Redpoll, 5 Siskin, sev Whitethroat, 1 Tree Pipit, 1 male Cuckoo & several Yellowhammer.
3rd May - One day April Norfolk Guided Bird watching tour
A guided days birdwatching for 2 novice birdwatchers concentrating on seeing a good range of commoner birds well, inclusive of learning songs & calls.
We visited a mid Norfolk heathland where we saw an excellent mixture of birds, including Willow Warbler, Chiff-Chaff, Blackcap, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Stonechat, Yellowhammer, Redpoll, Siskin & Woodlark.
During the afternoon we visited a very different wetland/reedbed habitat where we had a different mixture of birds the highlights were 2 Marsh Harrier, 1 Buzzard, 40+ Hobby, Cuckoo, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Gadwall & Common Tern.
4th May - Norfolk one day Guided Bird watching tour
Another guided days birdwatching for a couple whom were novices and wished to concentrate on seeing a good range of wildlife and birds typical of Norfolk.
We visited a mid-Norfolk woodland & Cley marshes where we saw an excellent mixture of birds of 80 species, plus some flowering Early Purple orchids
The highlights for them were close up views of 6+ Marsh Harrier, 2 singing Willow Tit, 2 Common Sandpiper, lots of Avocets, & 2 Little Ringed Plover.
7th May - Evening Norfolk Guided Bird watching tour
This was an evening birdwatching session for 4 birdwatchers mainly targeting Owls & Woodcock.
This 4 hour tour started at 5.30PM, and we were able to do some general birdwatching around woodland & heathland before dusk arrived.
We saw a nice array of commoner birds, but also had wonderful scope views of 12 Crossbill, plus distant views of a Hobby.
A strong gusty wind made it hard work once dusk arrived, but we still managed to see 4-5 Woodcock, plus 2 Barn Owl.
8th May - Tawny Owl chicks
During the past few weeks we have been watching a Tawny Owl coming and going from our home made Nest box in the front garden. We were fairly confident the adults were feeding chicks and today we were able to confirm this & ringed 3 Tawny Owl chicks!!
9th May Two Day Norfolk Guided Spring Bird watching Tour
Day One
We collected the group of three at 8.30 from our Wells B&B and started this two day tour on the North Norfolk coast at a coastal dune/saltmarsh site. We made slow progress as we had wonderful views of lots of warblers, shorebirds plus both passerine & aerial migrants.
Passage overhead was very evident with around 1000 Swift plus 250 Sand Martin west, 100 Swallow & a few House Martin, also overhead 3 Yellow Wagtail passing west in 4 hours.
This passage was evident throughout the day well into the late afternoon, and the numbers for the day could easily be tripled.
The walk along the saltmarsh & reedbed produced lots of Reed Warbler 12+ & Sedge warbler 20+, Whitethroat 2+, plus 2 Marsh Harrier & 1 Little Egret, 2 beautiful summer plumage Grey Plover, 5+ Little Tern, 2 Common Tern, 1 Common Sandpiper, lots of Avocet, Oystercatcher & Redshank - many of which were displaying.
Out in the dunes, we had 1 Whinchat, 10 Wheatear, at least 2 were clear cut Greenland Wheatear. We then had fine scope views of 5 Whimbrel feeding in the dunes, and this was all topped off by a migrating Hobby passing by over the sea.
We stopped for lunch and eventually had nice views of a female Montagu's Harrier, along with Marsh Harrier & Buzzard in the same area.
We then travelled on to Titchwell, en-route we took in 12 Corn Bunting & found 4 more Wheatear.
At Titchwell we had 100 Brent Geese (good number for this late!), 1 pr of Wigeon, 1pr of Teal, 10 Shoveler, 1 drake Pochard, amazing views of Marsh Harrier with at least 3 prs present, 12 Dunlin, 1 Knot, 80 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Common Sandpiper, 1 stunning summer plumaged "black" Spotted Redshank, we heard 2 Cetti's warbler & after a lot of effort were rewarded with excellent views of male & female Bearded Tit.
We walked back to the car park with a constant passage of very low Swifts, martins & swallows whizzing past us! Very satisfied we all headed off for our early evening meal.
Once re-energised we headed off for the evening session & I was pleased to find the wind had dropped. The evening went like clockwork - with 4-5 rhoding Woodcock, 4 Barn Owls & 2-3 minutes unhindered view of an adult Tawny Owl perched right in front of the van! We also saw Grey Partridge, and must have seen well over 30 Brown Hares, several affording very close views
We eventually finished around 10PM, dropping the group back at 10.30PM.
10th May Two Day Norfolk Guided Spring Bird watching Tour
Day Two
We started a little later today at 9.30am after yesterdays long day.
First up was woodland at a Breckland site where we saw 1 Firecrest, with reasonable views of male singing, we also heard 4 more , also in this area a nice selection of woodland birds including Nuthtatch, Sparrowhawk & Goldcrest, 1 Siskin, Blackcap & 1 Tree Pipit.
We then visited heathland habiatat where we saw an excellent mixture of birds, including Willow Warbler, Chiff-Chaff, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Whitethroat, Stonechat, Yellowhammer, Redpoll, Siskin, Tree Pipit & Woodlark. Plus a surprise was a migrant Wheatear.
A brilliant 2 day tour with 112 species of bird & 8 species of Butterfly recorded.
Clients comments below:-
"Thanks for one of my best ever weekends. We had a superb time. We appreciated your enthusiasm and vast knowledge about the birds and environments we saw with you and enjoyed the conversation. We were absolutely bowled over by your knowledge of birdsong.I am looking forward to another weekend at a different time of year! Thank you again for a tremendous experience."
15th & 16th May Two Day Norfolk Guided Spring Bird watching Tour
We started the day at Cley hunting down some of the scarcer/rare birds that had arrived in the last few days. From the North hide we soon tracked down 2 Temminck's Stint & a Kentish Plover, there was also a nice group of 15 Red Knot just reaching their superb "orange" breeding plumage. Other birds of interest were 15 Brent Geese still present, 2 Common Sandpiper, 2 Little Ringed Plover & 30 Gannet passed east offshore as well as small numbers of Little & Sandwich Tern.
We then headed off for one of our target species and after a short wait we managed to get reasonable views of a female Montagu's Harrier, also in this area 5+ Common Buzzard & 2 Marsh Harrier, 1 Hobby, 2 Kestrel & 1 Sparrowhawk, lots of Yellowhammer & Whitethroat singing from the hedgerow & we also heard 2 Grey Partridge.
A short drive from this area and we also located 4 Tree Sparrow, 5+ Corn Bunting, 1 Yellow Wagtail.
We moved on to Titchwell we were very surprised around the visitor centre area when we found a Lesser Redpoll & 2 Siskin. These were soon overshadowed by superb views of 9 summer plumaged Black Tern floating & hawking over the Thornham pool, further along the path we were treated to great views of 2 prs of Bearded Tit collecting nesting material from the near path side pools.
Out on the freshmarsh there was lots of Avocet, & also a scattering of 25 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Grey Plover & a good mix of commoner wildfowl. Shortly after entering the Parinder hide we were treated to the arrival of 2 Spoonbills that dropped into the freshmarsh.
Tonight we did our first evening session of the year & scored with Barn owl, 1 Little Owl & 2 Nightjar.
16th May Two Day Norfolk Guided Spring Bird watching Tour
The day started well at Lakenheath with lovely views of a male Golden Oriole & we also heard another male & had brief views of female. Flushed with early morning success we did a circuit of the reserve and had 5+ Hobby in the air, 3+ Marsh Harrier, we heard several Bearded Tit & 3 booming Bittern. On the main lake we located 3 Garganey inclusive of a smart drake, plus an excellent array of warblers including Sedge, Reed, Whitethroat, Blackcap & also heard a Garden Warbler.
Moving on into the Brecks we had 3 adult & 2 juvenile Stone Curlew, and 3 singing male Firecrest with a single bird eventually giving us reasonable views.
22nd May Three Day Norfolk Guided Spring Bird watching Tour
22nd May Day One - Coastal & Nightjars
Covering 3 North Norfolk coastal sites & finishing with an evening session we recorded just over 90 species today! Highlights during the day were Red-crested Pochard with 10 young, 2 beautiful adult Little Gulls, lovely views of fishing Little Tern & Common Tern, good views of Bearded Tit & real close-ups of Marsh Harrier. By searching two harbour outlets on the incoming tide we managed to locate some late passage waders 3 Bar-tailed Godwit, 10 Red Knot & 50 Sanderling & 5+ Grey Plover amongst these were 40+Ringed Plover & 100+ Dunlin.
The evening session proved to be the best thus far this year - with point blank views of 5 Nightjars, both in flight & also a bird perched on the ground about 25 metres away, there was 3 males & 2 female Nightjar, the males flaring their white tail patches whilst displaying .
We also had 2 rhoding Woodcock, 1 Barn Owl & also heard Tawny Owl before returning to our drive way where I was bale to show everyone a cute fluffy Tawny Owl youngster fresh out of our nestbox.
23rd May Day Two - Lakenheath & the Brecks
We kept up the 100% record at Lakenheath with reasonable views of a Golden Oriole & we also heard another male & had brief views of female.
We then spent a bit of time looking from the watchpoint where we noted 2+ Hobby in the air, 3+ Marsh Harrier, & 2 booming Bittern.
On the main lake we located a single drake Garganey - again this site provided an excellent array of warblers including Sedge, Reed, Whitethroat, & Blackcap. In the Car park we had brief flight views of Turtle Dove, but excellent close views of 2 Cuckoo.
Moving on into the Brecks we had 3 adult & 2 juvenile Stone Curlew, and nice views of a male Firecrest.
A visit to another heath produced more good birds - 1 Crossbill, 1 singing male Wood Lark, 1 Tree Pipit 1 pr of Stonechat, 2 Siskin & a nice surprise a male Goshawk.
Also of note was 50+ Speckled Yellow moths on the wing.
24th May Day Three - Scarce & Rare Breeding birds
Today we concentrated mainly on target species & had fantastic views of 2 male Montagu's harriers, but despite 3 hours of trawling the skies we were unable to locate Honey Buzzard, but did see lots of Common Buzzard, several Sparrowhawk & 1 Hobby & also managed to see several Tree Sparrow.
Also most noticeable today was a steady passage of 1000's of Painted Lady, we counted 90 passing in just over a minute through two gaos in the hedgerow near Hunworth.
25th May - Local walk
Today we took a day off & we had the chance to walk some of the local woodland & farmland. Nice surprises were a Spotted Flycatcher at Thursford, 10 Tree Sparrow nr Thursford & a Turtle Dove present in our rear garden!
28th May - Days guided birdwatching in the Brecks
The day started well at Lakenheath with good views of a female Golden Oriole & we also heard the male.
We did a circuit of the reserve and had 1 Turtle Dove, 3 booming Bittern, 5+ Hobby in the air, 3+ Marsh Harrier, we heard & saw several Bearded Tit & .
On the main lake we located a drake Garganey. On the reserve we also noted an array of warblers including Sedge, Reed, Whitethroat, Blackcap & also heard a Garden Warbler.
Moving on into the Brecks we had 3 adult & 2 juvenile Stone Curlew, 2 Tree Pipit, a family group of Woodlark and 1 singing male Firecrest. A nice surprise was a Red Kite that passed over heading west.
Another guided days birdwatching for a couple whom were novices and wished to concentrate on seeing a good range of wildlife and birds typical of Norfolk.
We visited a mid-Norfolk woodland & Cley marshes where we saw an excellent mixture of birds of 80 species, plus some flowering Early Purple orchids
The highlights for them were close up views of 6+ Marsh Harrier, 2 singing Willow Tit, 2 Common Sandpiper, lots of Avocets, & 2 Little Ringed Plover.
7th May - Evening Norfolk Guided Bird watching tour
This was an evening birdwatching session for 4 birdwatchers mainly targeting Owls & Woodcock.
This 4 hour tour started at 5.30PM, and we were able to do some general birdwatching around woodland & heathland before dusk arrived.
We saw a nice array of commoner birds, but also had wonderful scope views of 12 Crossbill, plus distant views of a Hobby.
A strong gusty wind made it hard work once dusk arrived, but we still managed to see 4-5 Woodcock, plus 2 Barn Owl.
8th May - Tawny Owl chicks
During the past few weeks we have been watching a Tawny Owl coming and going from our home made Nest box in the front garden. We were fairly confident the adults were feeding chicks and today we were able to confirm this & ringed 3 Tawny Owl chicks!!
9th May Two Day Norfolk Guided Spring Bird watching Tour
Day One
We collected the group of three at 8.30 from our Wells B&B and started this two day tour on the North Norfolk coast at a coastal dune/saltmarsh site. We made slow progress as we had wonderful views of lots of warblers, shorebirds plus both passerine & aerial migrants.
Passage overhead was very evident with around 1000 Swift plus 250 Sand Martin west, 100 Swallow & a few House Martin, also overhead 3 Yellow Wagtail passing west in 4 hours.
This passage was evident throughout the day well into the late afternoon, and the numbers for the day could easily be tripled.
The walk along the saltmarsh & reedbed produced lots of Reed Warbler 12+ & Sedge warbler 20+, Whitethroat 2+, plus 2 Marsh Harrier & 1 Little Egret, 2 beautiful summer plumage Grey Plover, 5+ Little Tern, 2 Common Tern, 1 Common Sandpiper, lots of Avocet, Oystercatcher & Redshank - many of which were displaying.
Out in the dunes, we had 1 Whinchat, 10 Wheatear, at least 2 were clear cut Greenland Wheatear. We then had fine scope views of 5 Whimbrel feeding in the dunes, and this was all topped off by a migrating Hobby passing by over the sea.
We stopped for lunch and eventually had nice views of a female Montagu's Harrier, along with Marsh Harrier & Buzzard in the same area.
We then travelled on to Titchwell, en-route we took in 12 Corn Bunting & found 4 more Wheatear.
At Titchwell we had 100 Brent Geese (good number for this late!), 1 pr of Wigeon, 1pr of Teal, 10 Shoveler, 1 drake Pochard, amazing views of Marsh Harrier with at least 3 prs present, 12 Dunlin, 1 Knot, 80 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Common Sandpiper, 1 stunning summer plumaged "black" Spotted Redshank, we heard 2 Cetti's warbler & after a lot of effort were rewarded with excellent views of male & female Bearded Tit.
We walked back to the car park with a constant passage of very low Swifts, martins & swallows whizzing past us! Very satisfied we all headed off for our early evening meal.
Once re-energised we headed off for the evening session & I was pleased to find the wind had dropped. The evening went like clockwork - with 4-5 rhoding Woodcock, 4 Barn Owls & 2-3 minutes unhindered view of an adult Tawny Owl perched right in front of the van! We also saw Grey Partridge, and must have seen well over 30 Brown Hares, several affording very close views
We eventually finished around 10PM, dropping the group back at 10.30PM.
10th May Two Day Norfolk Guided Spring Bird watching Tour
Day Two
We started a little later today at 9.30am after yesterdays long day.
First up was woodland at a Breckland site where we saw 1 Firecrest, with reasonable views of male singing, we also heard 4 more , also in this area a nice selection of woodland birds including Nuthtatch, Sparrowhawk & Goldcrest, 1 Siskin, Blackcap & 1 Tree Pipit.
We then visited heathland habiatat where we saw an excellent mixture of birds, including Willow Warbler, Chiff-Chaff, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Whitethroat, Stonechat, Yellowhammer, Redpoll, Siskin, Tree Pipit & Woodlark. Plus a surprise was a migrant Wheatear.
A brilliant 2 day tour with 112 species of bird & 8 species of Butterfly recorded.
Clients comments below:-
"Thanks for one of my best ever weekends. We had a superb time. We appreciated your enthusiasm and vast knowledge about the birds and environments we saw with you and enjoyed the conversation. We were absolutely bowled over by your knowledge of birdsong.I am looking forward to another weekend at a different time of year! Thank you again for a tremendous experience."
15th & 16th May Two Day Norfolk Guided Spring Bird watching Tour
We started the day at Cley hunting down some of the scarcer/rare birds that had arrived in the last few days. From the North hide we soon tracked down 2 Temminck's Stint & a Kentish Plover, there was also a nice group of 15 Red Knot just reaching their superb "orange" breeding plumage. Other birds of interest were 15 Brent Geese still present, 2 Common Sandpiper, 2 Little Ringed Plover & 30 Gannet passed east offshore as well as small numbers of Little & Sandwich Tern.
We then headed off for one of our target species and after a short wait we managed to get reasonable views of a female Montagu's Harrier, also in this area 5+ Common Buzzard & 2 Marsh Harrier, 1 Hobby, 2 Kestrel & 1 Sparrowhawk, lots of Yellowhammer & Whitethroat singing from the hedgerow & we also heard 2 Grey Partridge.
A short drive from this area and we also located 4 Tree Sparrow, 5+ Corn Bunting, 1 Yellow Wagtail.
We moved on to Titchwell we were very surprised around the visitor centre area when we found a Lesser Redpoll & 2 Siskin. These were soon overshadowed by superb views of 9 summer plumaged Black Tern floating & hawking over the Thornham pool, further along the path we were treated to great views of 2 prs of Bearded Tit collecting nesting material from the near path side pools.
Out on the freshmarsh there was lots of Avocet, & also a scattering of 25 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Grey Plover & a good mix of commoner wildfowl. Shortly after entering the Parinder hide we were treated to the arrival of 2 Spoonbills that dropped into the freshmarsh.
Tonight we did our first evening session of the year & scored with Barn owl, 1 Little Owl & 2 Nightjar.
16th May Two Day Norfolk Guided Spring Bird watching Tour
The day started well at Lakenheath with lovely views of a male Golden Oriole & we also heard another male & had brief views of female. Flushed with early morning success we did a circuit of the reserve and had 5+ Hobby in the air, 3+ Marsh Harrier, we heard several Bearded Tit & 3 booming Bittern. On the main lake we located 3 Garganey inclusive of a smart drake, plus an excellent array of warblers including Sedge, Reed, Whitethroat, Blackcap & also heard a Garden Warbler.
Moving on into the Brecks we had 3 adult & 2 juvenile Stone Curlew, and 3 singing male Firecrest with a single bird eventually giving us reasonable views.
22nd May Three Day Norfolk Guided Spring Bird watching Tour
22nd May Day One - Coastal & Nightjars
Covering 3 North Norfolk coastal sites & finishing with an evening session we recorded just over 90 species today! Highlights during the day were Red-crested Pochard with 10 young, 2 beautiful adult Little Gulls, lovely views of fishing Little Tern & Common Tern, good views of Bearded Tit & real close-ups of Marsh Harrier. By searching two harbour outlets on the incoming tide we managed to locate some late passage waders 3 Bar-tailed Godwit, 10 Red Knot & 50 Sanderling & 5+ Grey Plover amongst these were 40+Ringed Plover & 100+ Dunlin.
The evening session proved to be the best thus far this year - with point blank views of 5 Nightjars, both in flight & also a bird perched on the ground about 25 metres away, there was 3 males & 2 female Nightjar, the males flaring their white tail patches whilst displaying .
We also had 2 rhoding Woodcock, 1 Barn Owl & also heard Tawny Owl before returning to our drive way where I was bale to show everyone a cute fluffy Tawny Owl youngster fresh out of our nestbox.
23rd May Day Two - Lakenheath & the Brecks
We kept up the 100% record at Lakenheath with reasonable views of a Golden Oriole & we also heard another male & had brief views of female.
We then spent a bit of time looking from the watchpoint where we noted 2+ Hobby in the air, 3+ Marsh Harrier, & 2 booming Bittern.
On the main lake we located a single drake Garganey - again this site provided an excellent array of warblers including Sedge, Reed, Whitethroat, & Blackcap. In the Car park we had brief flight views of Turtle Dove, but excellent close views of 2 Cuckoo.
Moving on into the Brecks we had 3 adult & 2 juvenile Stone Curlew, and nice views of a male Firecrest.
A visit to another heath produced more good birds - 1 Crossbill, 1 singing male Wood Lark, 1 Tree Pipit 1 pr of Stonechat, 2 Siskin & a nice surprise a male Goshawk.
Also of note was 50+ Speckled Yellow moths on the wing.
24th May Day Three - Scarce & Rare Breeding birds
Today we concentrated mainly on target species & had fantastic views of 2 male Montagu's harriers, but despite 3 hours of trawling the skies we were unable to locate Honey Buzzard, but did see lots of Common Buzzard, several Sparrowhawk & 1 Hobby & also managed to see several Tree Sparrow.
Also most noticeable today was a steady passage of 1000's of Painted Lady, we counted 90 passing in just over a minute through two gaos in the hedgerow near Hunworth.
25th May - Local walk
Today we took a day off & we had the chance to walk some of the local woodland & farmland. Nice surprises were a Spotted Flycatcher at Thursford, 10 Tree Sparrow nr Thursford & a Turtle Dove present in our rear garden!
28th May - Days guided birdwatching in the Brecks
The day started well at Lakenheath with good views of a female Golden Oriole & we also heard the male.
We did a circuit of the reserve and had 1 Turtle Dove, 3 booming Bittern, 5+ Hobby in the air, 3+ Marsh Harrier, we heard & saw several Bearded Tit & .
On the main lake we located a drake Garganey. On the reserve we also noted an array of warblers including Sedge, Reed, Whitethroat, Blackcap & also heard a Garden Warbler.
Moving on into the Brecks we had 3 adult & 2 juvenile Stone Curlew, 2 Tree Pipit, a family group of Woodlark and 1 singing male Firecrest. A nice surprise was a Red Kite that passed over heading west.
