Lakenheath RSPB 12/5/08

An after school dash to Lakenheath was the order of the day today, on seeing there were 2 Red-footed Falcons present for most of the morning. I did my Physics homework (!) and had dinner and eventually arrived at Lakenheath at 7:00pm. The walk down to the hide was fairly uneventful, with a small spread of common warblers. On arriving at the hide it was clear the female Red-foot had disappeared, although a couple of distant falcon sp. could be seen. A walk down the riverbank was the decisive action taken and eventually after a fairly short walk we were much closer to the area the birds were hunting over. Both the adult female and 1st summer male Red-footed Falcons were picked up fairly quickly and spent most of the time hawking insects together over the poplar plantation, between 7:50-8:20pm at least. The male in particular was a real cracker! 7 Hobbies were also hunting and 2 Grasshopper Warblers reeled distantly.

Cheers,

C.D.R

Holme NOA 10/5/08

A good day at the patch today. Highlights included 6+ Wood Sandpipers on Redwell Marsh NOA, a singing Nightingale in the paddocks, a female Ring Ouzel and 3 Wheatears in the dunes and a Garden Warbler on the NOA reserve. Numbers of common migrants were generally very low, but 2 Cuckoos, 7+ Turtle Doves, 5 Yellow Wagtails and reasonable numbers of common warblers kept interest high. Unfortunately I left before the possible Woodchat Shrike was reported, but hopefully it will resurface tommorow. For full details of all todays news and sightings from recent days visit my Holme page and click on recent sightings.

Cheers,

Connor

Stiffkey and the Cley area 5/5/08

Another good day in the field today (thanks for driving and the company S.G and J.G). Started off at Stiffkey Campsite Woods, where 5 Blackcaps and a Goldcrest were noted and a Yellow Wagtail flew over. Onto to Stiffkey Fen, where on the walk down we were told that the Temmincks Stint appeared to have departed by at least two people. On arrival a quick scan produced not one but two Temminck's Stints, excellent and a self-find tick, with only one having been present yesterday! A Turtle Dove, Cetti's Warbler, 4 Common Sandpipers and 2 Greenshanks were also noted. We were able to put several observers onto the Temmincks Stints and then we departed. At Salthouse (Iron Road) the Green-winged Teal showed distantly on one of the back pools for at least half-an-hour, before disappearing into the tussocky grass. A pleasant stroll around Kelling Heath produced little of note other than a Green Hairstreak butterfly and a pair of Stonechats. Our walk was then rudely interrupted by news of the SUBALPINE WARBLER on Blakeney point. We walked down there fairly fast with a few others, only to be greeted by a large area and no birders. Fortunately David Norgate quickly relocated it and after a big shout and a lot of patience good views, both in flight (several times) and briefly on the ground and in the side of a bush, were obtained. It really was a striking individual with quite a lot of orange/red on the breast, a slate-grey back and that super white moustache. A Willow Warbler was also noted in the Shrike bushes. Finally a quick top at Stiffkey Fen on the way home produced 3 Black Terns.

Pentney GPs 4/5/08

A family day out in the east of the county was nicely punctated on the journey home by a stop at Pentney GPs. A group of 14 Black Terns was an awesome sight, especially when they wheeled high over the lake in a tight ball, calling! Magical! An adult Little Gull was also present, as was a group of 3 Arctic Terns.

Cheers,

Connor