N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 8
November 28th - Mid Norfolk heath
A short couple of hours produced 4 Snipe, 2 Common Crossbill, 1 Water Rail & 1 Green Woodpecker. 1 Roe Deer
November 24th - 25th - TWO DAY WINTER TOUR
NORFOLK COAST & EAST NORFOLK
An excellent two day tour - highlights were 10 Common Crane inclusive of 6 feeding on the ground, 12 Taiga Bean Geese, 30+ Marsh Harrier, 4 Hen Harrier incl 1ad male, Barn Owl, 20,000 Pink-footed Goose, 1000 Golden Plover, 1500 Wigeon, 5+ Scandinavian Rock Pipit, 60+ Curlew, 20 Ruff,
November 15th - Thornham - Holme area
1500 Golden Plover, 1800 Pink-footed Geese, 12 Rock Pipit, 1 Spotted Redshank, 50 Curlew, 70 Skylark, 1 Lapland Bunting, 1 pr Stonechat, 50 Tufted Duck & 1 Red-throated Diver in the channel.
November 2nd & 9th - Autumn leaves photography workshops below are some of the shots taken by those attending
A short couple of hours produced 4 Snipe, 2 Common Crossbill, 1 Water Rail & 1 Green Woodpecker. 1 Roe Deer
November 24th - 25th - TWO DAY WINTER TOUR
NORFOLK COAST & EAST NORFOLK
An excellent two day tour - highlights were 10 Common Crane inclusive of 6 feeding on the ground, 12 Taiga Bean Geese, 30+ Marsh Harrier, 4 Hen Harrier incl 1ad male, Barn Owl, 20,000 Pink-footed Goose, 1000 Golden Plover, 1500 Wigeon, 5+ Scandinavian Rock Pipit, 60+ Curlew, 20 Ruff,
November 15th - Thornham - Holme area
1500 Golden Plover, 1800 Pink-footed Geese, 12 Rock Pipit, 1 Spotted Redshank, 50 Curlew, 70 Skylark, 1 Lapland Bunting, 1 pr Stonechat, 50 Tufted Duck & 1 Red-throated Diver in the channel.
November 2nd & 9th - Autumn leaves photography workshops below are some of the shots taken by those attending
November 1st - Holme
We returned to Holme/Thornham to search for the Black-throated Thrush, despite getting access to the main orchards and seeing lots of thrushes we could not relocate it. 250 Fieldfare, 100+ Redwing in orchards, plus 2 Brambling, 1 Grey Wag over & many Sparrowhawks obviously taking advantage of the vast quantities of prey!
Holme Marsh area - 1 male Bearded Tit, 1 Marsh harrier, 8 Gadwall
Holme reserve - 3 Blackcap, 100's Goldcrest, cracking views of 1 Pallas's Warbler at the Obs
We returned to Holme/Thornham to search for the Black-throated Thrush, despite getting access to the main orchards and seeing lots of thrushes we could not relocate it. 250 Fieldfare, 100+ Redwing in orchards, plus 2 Brambling, 1 Grey Wag over & many Sparrowhawks obviously taking advantage of the vast quantities of prey!
Holme Marsh area - 1 male Bearded Tit, 1 Marsh harrier, 8 Gadwall
Holme reserve - 3 Blackcap, 100's Goldcrest, cracking views of 1 Pallas's Warbler at the Obs
November 29th - 30th - TWO DAY BIRDWATCHING WINTER TOUR IN BRECKLAND, EAST NORFOLK & NORFOLK COAST
An excellent two day tour starting at 06.45 on the Saturday morning we headed off to the Brecks, & the tour started very well as we saw 4 Barn Owls en-route! On arrival in the Brecks it wasn't too long before we had seen 4 Hawfinch, although the first group of 3 were elusive in the tops of the trees and early morning mist, we did then have a lone individual perched.
Also Grey wagtail, Brambling & Green Woodpecker flew over plus both Bullfinch and Marsh Tit were seen. A few frequent stops resulted in several good flocks of tits, including Marsh, Long-tailed & Coal Tit, in with these groups we had several Treecreeper showing very well plus a couple of Nuthatches.
We then headed for the Yare valley, where we fortunate to see our target species Bean Goose c60 & White-fronted Goose c25, but also a perched Peregrine. In this area we also managed to see a large flock of 2000 Golden Plover mixed with 1000 Lapwing, plus Ruff, Snipe, Wigeon & Teal. Also very nice views of Chinese Water Deer.
We eventually managed to tear ourselves away from the Yare valley & head to east Norfolk, finishing up at the raptor roost - again this site did not disappoint, but with a different selction of birds to earlier than in the week - 4 Common Cranes, 60+ Marsh Harrier, 1 Hen Harrier, 2 Merlin, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Barn Owl, 7 Bewick's Swan, 2 Redpoll, 2 Siskin, 3 Snipe, 30 Fieldfare, & 25 Redwing flew over.
The 2nd day of the tour proved more difficult in very wet conditions, but by combining hides & harbours we still managed to see a very good selection of birds.
Overhead at dawn 8000 Pink-feet passed overhead from the Snettisham area.
1500 Golden Plover, 20 Ruff, 12 Grey Partridge, Grey Plover, Scandinavian Rock pipit around Thornham. At Titchwell 80 Pintail, 100 Teal, 50 Shoveler, 1 Bewick's Swan, 1 Hen Harrier, Black-tailed Godwit, Bar-tailed Godwit, Snipe, Goldeneye & 1 Snow Bunting.
We then had a late lunch in one of the harbour areas where we watched Turnstone, Bar-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Redshank & Brent Goose at very close range.
The day finished with 25,000 Pink-feet coming in to roost, plus Marsh Harrier and a selection of wildfowl.
Over the two days we recorded 103 species!
An excellent two day tour starting at 06.45 on the Saturday morning we headed off to the Brecks, & the tour started very well as we saw 4 Barn Owls en-route! On arrival in the Brecks it wasn't too long before we had seen 4 Hawfinch, although the first group of 3 were elusive in the tops of the trees and early morning mist, we did then have a lone individual perched.
Also Grey wagtail, Brambling & Green Woodpecker flew over plus both Bullfinch and Marsh Tit were seen. A few frequent stops resulted in several good flocks of tits, including Marsh, Long-tailed & Coal Tit, in with these groups we had several Treecreeper showing very well plus a couple of Nuthatches.
We then headed for the Yare valley, where we fortunate to see our target species Bean Goose c60 & White-fronted Goose c25, but also a perched Peregrine. In this area we also managed to see a large flock of 2000 Golden Plover mixed with 1000 Lapwing, plus Ruff, Snipe, Wigeon & Teal. Also very nice views of Chinese Water Deer.
We eventually managed to tear ourselves away from the Yare valley & head to east Norfolk, finishing up at the raptor roost - again this site did not disappoint, but with a different selction of birds to earlier than in the week - 4 Common Cranes, 60+ Marsh Harrier, 1 Hen Harrier, 2 Merlin, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Barn Owl, 7 Bewick's Swan, 2 Redpoll, 2 Siskin, 3 Snipe, 30 Fieldfare, & 25 Redwing flew over.
The 2nd day of the tour proved more difficult in very wet conditions, but by combining hides & harbours we still managed to see a very good selection of birds.
Overhead at dawn 8000 Pink-feet passed overhead from the Snettisham area.
1500 Golden Plover, 20 Ruff, 12 Grey Partridge, Grey Plover, Scandinavian Rock pipit around Thornham. At Titchwell 80 Pintail, 100 Teal, 50 Shoveler, 1 Bewick's Swan, 1 Hen Harrier, Black-tailed Godwit, Bar-tailed Godwit, Snipe, Goldeneye & 1 Snow Bunting.
We then had a late lunch in one of the harbour areas where we watched Turnstone, Bar-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Redshank & Brent Goose at very close range.
The day finished with 25,000 Pink-feet coming in to roost, plus Marsh Harrier and a selection of wildfowl.
Over the two days we recorded 103 species!