October 2009 birdwatching & photography tours in Norfolk

Day Two - 2^nd October of Norfolk 3 Day Bird watching Tour

We decided that with still few in the way of rare birds around we would walk out at Snettisham - this provided us with the usual spectacle of 20,000 Knot, 1000 Bar-tailed Godwit, 500 Curlew, lots of Grey Plover, Ringed Plover, Redshank, Dunlin, Oystercatcher & Shelduck, these birds were all out on the mud.

The Knot regularly rose up in to a vast cloud of smoke, whirling around in the sky.

As we watched the waders we also noted a Great Skua in hot pursuit of Common Gull out over the wash. From the hides we had lots of duck, 20+ Little Egret & a Buzzard perched on the bank.

We then headed off for a short walk & seawatch at Holme - here we added a few new species Green Sandpiper, Scandinavian Rock Pipit which we had nice comparison views alongside many Meadow Pipit & Grey Wagtail. The sea was fairly quiet now the wind had gone round to the west, but 12 Red-throated Diver, 40 Common Scoter & 12 Brent Goose were present.

We decided to head back to Holkham to look for the Yellow-browed Warbler as it had again been reported. I decided to search one of the favoured areas, and within a few minutes I had brief views, over the 2-3 hours we saw the Yellow-browed Warbler a further three times, but you had to be sharp & quick to get on to the bird as it moved rapidly around with a big roving flock of tits! Whilst searching we also had 3 Siskin overhead & in the fading light we watched an incredible 10,000 Pink-feet tumble out of the sky into their roost.

Day Three - 3rd October Day Three of Norfolk 4 Day Group Bird watching Tour

I slightly more leisurely start at around 8.30am, we drove across country towards the Broads.

We headed off for the Hickling Broad area & set off on a short walk, we instantly had nice views of several Marsh Harriers & after around an hour 4 Common Cranes gave brief flight views at short range. We also saw 4 Red Deer, including a big Stag with a beautiful full set of antlers & bursting with confidence & testosterone! (We gave him a wide berth!). We headed down to Great Yarmouth area & out on the shoreline we had point blank views of 30+ Mediterranean Gulls, including 1^st winter, 2^nd winter & adults.

North of here we stopped off several times & couldn’t find anymore Cranes, we saw plenty more Marsh Harriers & Pink-footed geese, but a seawatch in a strong westerly provided a nice surprise with good views of a juvenile Pomarine Skua passing close offshore, an Arctic Skua distantly & a nice group of 20+ Red-throated Divers sitting just offshore.

A final try for the Cranes came up trumps, we located 15 Cranes in a field adjacent to a lane & had fins scope views at 200m, before they left off for their roost.

The trip ended with a species total of 108 species, not so bad considering the poor drift migrant conditions.

5th October - Day One of Norfolk 5 Day Bird watching Tour

This was the 4th tour of the autumn I met up with the group the evening before at the accommodation and I discussed our plans for the following morning. We settled on an early start for the high tide roost at Holme.

As we headed along the dunes ridge, a small passerine flicked away from us and landed on a post - a late juvenile Whinchat!

We watched on for a while as the shorebird mass took to the skies several times, in beautiful arcs of smoke. Concentration was broken momentarily for a late fly past Swallow & a couple of overhead calling Scandinavian Rock Pipits.

We then walked the dunes, and checked the bushes thoroughly, we found 2 Blackcap, 1 Chiff-chaff, a Lesser Redpoll and another Swallow moved past, then amazingly we watched 5 Bearded Tit calling and flying overhead several 100 feet above us.

Up at the Observatory - I checked the sycamores & was quickly rewarded with nice views of a female Firecrest, this turned out to be a bird that had been trapped & ringed earlier that morning. Up at the Obs, a Marsh Harrier, Common Buzzard passed by and a Water Rail was heard.

We headed to Titchwell, for a quick stop & a point blank Jack Snipe, very obliging & amazing views!

We stopped off for lunch in one of the harbours, and amused ourselves watching the gulls & turnstones fighting over the titbits we threw out.

We spent the afternoon at Holkham & were rewarded with nice views of 3 different individual Firecrest, we found several tit flocks, Blackcap & Chiff-chaff but couldn’t locate any Yellow-browed Warblers. The day came to end with several thousand Pink-feet overhead, before en-route home where we had stunning views of a Barn Owl.

6th October - Day Two of Norfolk 5 Day Bird watching Tour

We headed over to the east of the county, and the day started slowly with a couple of hours searching a dune system, there were very few migrants. Our spirits were lifted with wonderful views on the shoreline of a summer plumaged Red-throated Diver, just 25 metres away hunting and successfully catching flatfish in the surf!
Offshore, a few Brent Geese were arriving from their arctic Russia breeding grounds, lots of Gannets kept us searching & a few Common Scoter, Razorbill, Guillemot & a Great Skua passed offshore.

We headed over to Yarmouth & had point blank views of 30 Mediterranean Gulls, consisting of 1^st winter, 2^nd winter & adults, along with Black-headed, Common, Herring, Lesser & Great black-backed Gulls for comparison, a group of 12 Red-throated Divers were also close inshore here.

We headed off and try looking for some more passerines, but again it was clear there was few passerine migrants along the coastline. I decided to head off inland, and we were soon heading along one of the broadland lanes, a glimpse out the window brought the van to a sharp stop! Out in front of us was the entire broadland population of 37 Common Cranes, all sat about 400m away - an amazing sight & a first for me (all 37 that is!) and a new bird for two of the party!!

We moved to a watchpoint and the day finished with an amazing backdrop and spectacle of 5000+ Pink-footed Geese, 30+ Cranes & 20 Marsh Harriers all in the air in the same area, a Kingfisher also added an extra splash of colour.

7th October - Day Three of Norfolk 5 Day Bird watching Tour

An early start today, with a steady NW wind blowing I decided should head over to Cley, and start the day - seawatching.

Our spirits were high & hopeful as we were immediately into a steady flow of Gannets & Red-throated Divers, we didn’t have to wait too long before the first Great Skua passed offshore the real highlight came around 0820 when Ian called out a Sabine’s Gull, we were all swiftly on to the bird and just halfway out to the horizon a beautiful adult Sabine’s Gull graced everyone’s scope! The bird was pristine, with some moult on the head, but clear black, white & smoke grey, tri-coloured wings, a quick shout ensured the rest of the sea-watchers nearby all got on to the bird!

We worked away through the steady passage of birds over the next 90 mins and the totals were 30 Red-throated Diver, 60+ Gannet, 20 Common Scoter, 1 Scaup west, 1 Manx Shearwater West, 3 Arctic Skua, 2 Great Skua, Auk sp. 100+.

We then filled up with hot coffee & headed off for the hides.
On arrival at there was a mass of ducks and a reasonable spread of waders, within seconds of arrival an unusual wader was located amongst the Dunlin on Simmonds scrape, once I had the scope on to it, my suspicions were immediate, surely it was a Pectoral Sandpiper?!

I took my time over the bird, dropping the zoom lens on to the scope, this confirmed the suspicion, yellowish legs, upright, slightly larger than the surrounding Dunlin, with a leggier & neckier appearance, dense streaking formed a pectoral band, the Pectoral Sandpiper was at the back of the scrape and we had reasonable views for about 10 minutes, it then just did a disappearing act. I put the news out & let a few people know. In the interim we picked out a juv Curlew Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, & numerous Ruff. About 40 minutes later, Mark Golley relocated the Pec Sand on Pats pool, & it then gave lovely views, the chestnut coverts & white scapular fringes, fresh plumage confirming the bird as a juvenile. The bird moved closer eventually giving Steve Gantlett the opportunity to get some nice images - one of which is depicted below.

Image courtesy of Steve Gantlett see www.cleybirds.com

Shortly after the Pec Sand moved off again, but we were now able to relax and enjoy the 500+ Teal, 700+ Wigeon, Green Sandpiper,Kingfisher, 200 Black-tailed Godwits & over 40 Pintail sitting out on the scrapes in front of us. We were also treated to wonderful views of Bearded Tits sitting on the top of the reeds right in front of the hide.

We lunched & then took a long walk out along the East Bank and down towards Salthouse, we were rewarded again for our hard work, with a single Snow Bunting, but great scope views of a Lapland Bunting feeding on seeds on the ground for around 20 minutes before eventually being flushed by walkers (none the wiser as per usual!).

At Salthouse we finished off with a perched and hunting Merlin, screaming around the skyline but unsuccessful in it’s attempts to pin down a Meadow Pipit.

8th October - Day Four of Norfolk 5 Day Bird watching Tour

An slightly later start today, we set out from Burnham Overy Staithe around 8.30am,
the walk out provided the most amazing sight of 20 Bearded Tit sat together in the top of a hawthorn bush, before several exploded up vertically and the rest dropped back in to the sanctuary of the reedbed. A Whinchat suggested that maybe a few more passerines may have been grounded, whilst the constant flocks of Pink-feet ensured our eyes continually strayed skywards. Around 200 Golden Plover flew over and headed out on to the freshmarsh, and a small covey of 8 Grey Partridge were present towards the dunes. Once in the dunes, we worked the scrub systematically, giving the larger areas time for birds to show. It was at this point that a very interesting looking “Lesser Whitethroat” type came into view, instantly I was struck by how sandy brown and pale the birds upperparts were compared with the usual “currucca” we are used to seeing. The birds wings, mantle & even nape and hind neck were concolorous, in a brown sandy colour, the darker area around the eye being more restricted to a “pirates mask”, then a full hood. There also appeared to be a pale panel on the folded tertials. The bird wasn’t heard to call, but did show well on and off for 15-20 minutes, although there was no birds to draw a direct comparison it didn’t appear really small & the underparts did appear whitish rather than any sandy hues, in consideration I believe the bird to be of the form Central Asian Lesser Whitethroat of the form “halimodendri”. We decided on a seawatch whilst eating our lunch, it was clear that many Brents were arriving as a steady passage was evident, we also noted Great Northern Diver flying west, & 15 Eider sat on the sea.

We moved on to Holkham & despite searching we still could not find any Yellow-browed Warblers, but did see several Chiff-chaff & heard 1 Firecrest.

We caught the coasthopper bus back to the car & then headed off to Stiffkey Fen, here we noted 3 Greenshank, 1 Green Sandpiper, Pintail, Wigeon, Teal, Ruff & 1000+ Starlings in small groups heading west. On Blakeney harbour there was Scandinavian Rock Pipit & 160 Brents.

9th October - Day Five of Norfolk 5 Day Bird watching Tour

We started the day in the Brecks, but news of a Yellow-browed Warbler soon had us heading back up to the coast. Back at Holkham, this time we were successful, with short but good views of a Yellow-browed Warbler, and also another Firecrest. We also noted small numbers of Redwing heading inland, and 2 Siskin confirmed the arrival of some more Scandinavian migrants.

Flushed with success, we decided to spend the afternoon seawatching at Cley & after a late lunch, we noted 10 Red-throated Diver, 1 Arctic Skua, 2 Great Skua, 1 Manx Shearwater, 200 Auks sp. 15 Common Scoter. Also evident was a steady arrival of migrating Black-headed Gulls, these were being scoped in small groups several miles out to sea & watched flying in to the shore, for the 5^th day running a Swallow passed overhead, never in October have I seen Swallows on 5 consecutive days.

To round the day off, we were treated by two groups of Snow Buntings flying along the shoreline in front of us, firstly a group of two & then a lovely black & white flurry of 25!

The trip ended with a species total of 130 species.

12th October - Seawatching Sheringham

Having seen the weather forecast & wind direction yesterday evening - I decided to work on my admin tasks Sunday night - I was at Sheringham for 0715 this morning, and it was well worth the effort.

I sea-watched till around 11am, before returning home for slightly more menial taks!

0715- 1100                                      East                            West

Red-throated Diver                        26                                17
Black-throated Diver                     1
Sooty Shearwater                          1
Manx Sheawater                             6
Great Skua                                       20                                 1
Arctic Skua                                       8
Long-tailed Skua                             1
Little Gulls                                        150
Red-breasted Merganser                                                   2
Common Scoter                                                                   c100
Velvet Scoter                                          1 sat on the sea
Arctic Tern                                        2+
Common Tern                                  5+
Common/Arctic Tern                     c20
Puffin                                                 1
Auks sp (mainly Razorbill)            700+
Kittiwake                                           300+

18th October - Guided Walk & Wildlife Photography day in conjunction with Norfolk Wildlife Trust "A Natural Connections Event"

Today we ran a guided walk & offered advice on wildlife photograpy

Over 500 people attended & there seemed to be a really nice atmosphere surrounding the whole day, and I think the glorious autumn sunshine helped, along with all the friendly and enthusiastic wildlife enthusiasts at the event!

If you are interested in Norfolk wildlife then visit http://www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/naturalconnections/

19th October - Norfolk 2 Day Bird watching Tour

We started out from the B&B at around 7.30 & arrived at Holme at around 8.15.

We were straight into a mass of shorebirds, with the Knot of around 25,000 taking to the skies several times, also great numbers of around 1000 Bar-tailed Godwit.

Overhead was an excellent visible migration of Skylarks & Chaffinch, with 500+ of the former passing over in regular parties of 10-20 birds. Mixed in with these were smaller numbers of Redpoll, Siskin, & Reed Bunting. Also a Grey Wagtail moved west.

Out on the sea, we had 1 Red-throated Diver, 30 Common Scoter & 2 Red-breasted Merganser. As we headed back to the car we saw 4 Stonechat & several Scandinavian Rock Pipit called overhead.

We then headed to Titchwell, again the Jack Snipe, showed well after being disturbed by a Water Rail!! Also present were 20 Dunlin, with a Little Stint tucked in amongst the flock, 30 Black-tailed Godwit, 20 Ruff, a lots of wildfowl. A vocal Cetti's could be heard, & down on the beach we had real close up views of all the shorebirds we had seen en-masse earlier in the day, also very close inshore were 3 Eider.
Two Swallows were late birds hunting over the marsh.

We stopped off for lunch in one of the harbours, and amused ourselves watching the gulls & turnstones fighting over the titbits we threw out.

We spent the afternoon at Stiffkey Fen & had lots more wildfowl & waders, and the day finished at a roost site with a Peregrine, Marsh Harrier & wonderfully repeated close views of a Barn owl hunting.

Holkham & were rewarded with nice views of 3 different individual Firecrest, we found several tit flocks, Blackcap & Chiff-chaff but couldn’t locate any Yellow-browed Warblers. The day came to end with several thousand Pink-feet overhead, before en-route home where we had stunning views of a Barn Owl.

20th October - Norfolk 2 Day Bird watching Tour

Today we started a little earlier and were seawatching at Cley by 0800, it was fairly quiet in non-ideal conditions. But 3 Red-throated Diver passed west, 5 Eider & 3 Red-breasted Merganser were rewards for a 40 minute scan. Shortly after seawatching,we refereshed on coffee but a superb male Merlin had us throwing the coffee down & rushing for our binoculars! Fortunately, it landed for a minute whilst we quickly grabbed nice scope views of a young male Merlin. A 1st winter Kittiwake then arrived & flew around coast-guards car park.

A walk along to North hide resulted in more Wigeon around 2000 on the reserve today, also 100 Pintail, 1000 Teal, 100 Brent Geese & 70 Pink-feet, whilst watching the masses of wildfowl 20 Snow Buntings dropped into drink, before quickly departing. We then had nice views of a Red-throated Diver closer inshore fishing

At Arnolds Marsh we found a Spotted Redshank, 2 Avocet & many more commoner waders & more wildfowl.

We finished off the day at Holkham, we searched for Yellow-broweds, but there was no sign in very windy conditions. A walk around the dunes produced nice views of 22 Snow Bunting, I located a single Firecrest but unfortunately it was brief & did not reappear for everyone to see. The sunset with a fine roost of 10,000 Pink-footed Geese, a Peregrine, & 50+ Little Egrets flying to their roost.

24th October - Norfolk 2 Day Bird watching Tour - Day one

We all met up at Holme, & we worked through a scattering of Dunlin, Sanderling, Turnstone, Bar-tailed Godwit, Grey Plover, Knot, & Redshank along the tideline. We momentarily had a Snow Bunting overhead, calling & flying around but it continued out of view. We stopped off for a look on the sea & were delighted to find a pair inclusive of a superb drake Long-tailed Duck, showing very well just a 100 yards offshore, we also found a 5 Eider, 3 Red-breasted Merganser & a Red-throated Diver.

Unfortunately the rain started to get heavier & we decided to spend a couple of hours in the car heading up to look through the Pink-feet just inland, en-route we came across a nice group of 12 Corn Bunting, with a few Yellowhammer & Reed Bunting.

Despite seeing upward of 10,000 Pink-feet (which was a wonderful experience!!) we couldn't locate the Snow Goose.

We headed down to Titchwell & the refuge of the hides mid afternoon, and we had good views of Dunlin, with the Little Stint still in amongst the flock, 150 Black-tailed Godwit, 20 Ruff, a lots of wildfowl.

On the beach we had lovely scope views of 22 Snow Bunting & another chance to scan through a wealth of shorebirds. Just offshore was a fine male Eider & several Great crested Grebe.

We finished off the day with great views of 2 ringtail Hen Harrier, 7+ Marsh Harrier.

25th October - Norfolk 2 Day Bird watching Tour - Day Two

We started the day at Cley around 0900 and from Daukes hide we had a fine mixture of wintering ducks & geese, we also located the juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper, which appears to be the same bird that I found on the 7th October. A Little Stint was seen very briefly as it flew over the marsh. We then took a steady drive over to the east of the county & into the broads, we stopped off at one of the broads & added Pochard to the list, we were soon at Yarmouth. We searched the Cemetery area for around an hour for Yellow-browed, we find 3 Chiff-Chaff, a big flock of tits, including Goldcrest & Treecreeper amongst them but nothing too exciting!

We then headed for the beach & I enticed all the gulls in with some bread.

There was at least 20 Med Gulls, & mainly adults, but a few 1st winter birds, in amongst these were Common, Black-headed, Herring & 1-2 Lesser Black-backeds, also 1 Great Black-backed Gull - so very nice to compare them altogether.

By mid afternoon with an hours less daylight, we headed for the roost area. I again found the Cranes in a favoured area with 17 Common Cranes in the air together & later we saw a further 10 more Cranes! At the roost 20 Marsh Harrier & 2 Barn owl with a backdrop of 6000 Pink-feet provided a lovely end to the day.