28/2/09 North Wootton and Dersingham Bog

Overall a very productive trip out today. A late start birding meant I arrived at the access track at North Wootton Marsh farm at 11:55am. We joined Sue by the side of the access track who had already picked up the original, darker, Rough-legged Buzzard which gave good, if distant, views for about 10 minutes. 5 Common Buzzards were also in the general area and a Yellowhammer was singing from the hedgerow. At this point we decided to drive around to Wolferton as it seemed closer to that side but on arrival there was no sign. A singing Woodlark was located just outside Wolferton Village. On to the bog and the Great Grey Shrike again showed well in the area just past the boardwalk, where it had impaled a lizard on the side of a small tree (see Penny Clarke's excellent shot of the unfortunate lizard here.) 14+ Crossbills and 25+ Siskins were buzzing around calling in the general area, although the cloudy weather meant only a single Woodlark gave a brief snatch of song. There was no sign of the Rough-legged Buzzard from the cliff-top but Barn Owl, Marsh Harrier, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel were all noted in the surrounding area.

25/2/09 Dersingham Bog

Dad had a trip to Dersingham Bog today. The Great Grey Shrike was still showing well aroud the boardwalk.

However, the main highlight for him was a female/juvenile Rough-legged Buzzard which drifted north-west below over the pines below the cliff and out over the marsh behind towards the southern end of Snettisham RSPB. This is one of two wide-ranging birds present in the area which today alone were also noted at North Wootton and from Wolferton Village, with the latter probably being the best place to view from (by the church). From dad's description it sounds like a real cracker, with a striking white patch on the upper-tail and a dark-brown/black tail band, an extensive black belly, slight flecking on the upperparts and a slight grey wash to the head.

21/2/09 Brecks

A visit to the Thetford area was the order of the day today, looking at the potential species combined with the positive-looking weather forecast which thankfully range true. The day started at an undisclosed site where a search for Golden Pheasant proved fruitless, but a surprise group of 48 Whooper Swans flew over and singing Marsh Tit and Woodlark were both present, while 20+ Siskins and a Brambling flew over. Next, at a (relatively well-known) site nearby a surprise Red Kite flew through at 10:02am and stayed on view for a few minutes, while the hoped-for male Goshawk gave good, fairly close, prolonged views from c.10:30am for several minutes, soaring and flapping around in front of the crowd before plummeting from a great height. 3+ Woodlarks were also singing at this site, as were 2 Yellowhammers and 15+ Siskins and 3 Sparrowhawks flew over.

A walk along a stretch of the river Little Ouse failed to produce the hoped for Willow Tit, but 3 Marsh Tits, 2 Treecreepers, 2 Grey Wagtails, 25 Siskins and a Kingfisher were noted. Moving on to a small woodland and associated village nearby there was no sign of any Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers (not really surprising considering the time of day) but a Firecrest was heard calling nearby and 2 Marsh Tits and 5 Siskins were noted. The final stop of the day was at Lynford Aboretum, where 2 Hawfinches, a cracking pair, showed well from 3:00-3:10pm in the paddocks before flying of towards the lake. A Redpoll was calling near the carpark, 10+ Siskins were overhead, a Marsh Tit was by the bridge and 20+ Redwings were also seen.

20/2/09 Dersingham Bog and Flitcham

A fairly productive morning at Dersingham Bog. The Great Grey Shrike was still present though elusive just south of the boardwalk in a line of exposed oaks. 4+ singing Woodlarks were in the area and a group of 23 Crossbills was viewable from the cliff for a short time. Siskins seemed particularly abundant, with 35+ noted and 3+ Sparrowhawks and a Marsh Harrier were also seen. A quick stop at the Sandringham bird table produced singles of Nuthatch and Marsh Tit. The day was concluded at Flitcham where the Little Owl showed well from the hide and a superb finch flock in one of the adjacent fields held 80 Bramblings, 100 Chaffinches, 3 Tree Sparrows, 15 Reed Buntings and a Yellowhammer, while a Sparrowhawk bombed through and 4 Grey Partridges were observed.

19/2/09 Broads and south Norfolk

A trip to the east of the county produced a nice female RING-NECKED DUCK on one of Norfolk's more sensitive (and private) broads, with a female Scaup also being present amongst 350+ Pochards and Tufted Ducks. This was actually my first ever female Ring-necked Duck in Britain and a Norfolk tick, having seen drakes at Grafham Water, Cambs and Loch of Tingwall, Shetland mainland. 20+ Siskins, 1 singing Treecreeper, 1 drumming Great-spotted Woodpecker and 5 Marsh Tits were also present. Unfortunately there was no sign of the Penduline Tit at Strumpshaw Fen RSPB, but 130+ Siskins and a female Brambling were seen. Cantley didn't hold any geese, with only a Marsh Harrier of note. Finally a stop in the south-east of the county at an undisclosed site produced good views of a roosting Long-eared Owl.

16/2/09 Dersingham Bog

Dad went for a quick walk around Dersingham Bog this afternoon. He managed to locate and photograph the Great Grey Shrike in one of the exposed trees at the north end but otherwise little else of note was seen.

15/2/09 Holme NOA

Another half-decent day at Holme today, with a few glimmers of quality. Set out from Thornham Harbour mid-morning. Good numbers of waders on the fields with 16 Snipe and 39 Ruff amongst the throngs of Golden Plovers. While scanning the fields R.R. picked out a well-marked male Lapland Bunting, which I managed to 'lock onto' for a little while before it dissapeared. The Pink-footed Geese contained 2 birds with silver neck collars - one with the letters TUB and one with LBI. One of the Ruffs was interestingly colour-ringed, with a red flag above the right knee, 2 blue rings on the right leg and 2 white rings on the left leg. If you have any info about these birds please email me. Otherwise the Pink-footed Goose flock was devoid of other species. 2+ Rock Pipits and 18 Linnets were flying around calling. Seawatching from the NOA produced a Long-tailed Duck west, as well as 3 Red-breasted Mergansers, 2 Great-crested Grebes and 5 Wigeon while a Woodcock was flushed from the brambles in the dunes. 3 Marsh Harriers and a Kestrel also hunted over the marsh. The gull roost was dissapointing with just 3 species (!) 2300+ Common Gulls, 100 Black-headed Gulls and 2 Herring Gulls.

UPDATE: the colour-ringed Ruff was ringed in the Netherlands at Oosterlittens in May 2005. In June 2005 it was noted at Great Yarmouth. It was then seen in 2007 at Thornham and now again at the same site in 2009.

14/2/09 Holme NOA and Gypsy Lane, Titchwell Village

A good day after an uninspiring start. Following a meeting at the observatory I walked down to the golfcourse, where 4 Long-tailed Ducks were offshore, with singles of Fulmar and Red-breasted Merganser (drake) west and 6 Red-throated Divers on the sea. At least 12 Fieldfare were on the NOA reserve. The day was also something of a goose galore, with 6 species on Redwell Marsh NOA, including a presumed escape, but immaculate nonetheless, Lesser-white Fronted Goose, as well as singles of Pink-footed Goose and Brent Goose - both most unusual on this scrape set back from the coast. Nearby a Great-spotted Woodpeckers was drumming and 3+ Marsh Harriers were around the reserve, as were 3 Stonechats. Late afternoon, on the falling tide, the pale-bellied Brent Goose was again on the beach with dark-bellied Brent Geese (having been noted a couple of times in the week), although it was very mobile because it was flushed by dogs on more than one occasion, resulting in worse views than I would have hoped for. Thanks to a kind lift from Penny Clarke I made the short trip up to Gypsy Lane, just outside Titchwell village, were we had excellent views of the Black-necked Grebe on the large reed-surrounded pool just before the seabank, only the 4th I've seen in Norfolk.

8/2/09 Santon Downham, Lakenheath Fen RSPB and Welney WWT

A slightly quiet day out today but nonetheless enjoyable. I started at Santon Downham, where although no Lesser-spotted Woodpeckers were seen a nice selction of common woodland birds were seen, including 250+ Siskins and 40 Lesser Redpolls, as well as 8 Great Spotted Woodpeckers (including 3 drumming males), 3 Green Woodpeckers, 3 Bullfinches, 3 Nuthatches, 5 Marsh Tits and 10 Redwings, as well a drake Goosander which flew along the river.

Next it was on to Lakenheath Fen RSPB to do the gull roost. Although no Caspian Gulls were located this time 4+ Yellow-legged Gulls were seen (2 adults, 1 near-adult, 1 1st-winter). Also at Lakenheath the Great Grey Shrike was noted again and 4 Bearded Tits were also seen.

I am still very inexperienced with gulls, so thanks to birders who got in touch to provide constructive comments about the identity of the gulls below and it is there comments that make up a large part of the associated commentry.

Adult Yellow-legged Gull (with Lesser-black-backed Gull and Common Gull in foreground.) The first adult to be located but unfortunately fairly distant. Even in this poor photo note the dark mantle colour, the clean white head and distinctive, almost sqaure, head shape.

Adult Yellow-legged Gull, the second adult to be located amongst the masses and a nice close example. Note the same features as on the above adult, as well as the red gonys spot on the lower mandible and particularly the dark mantle shade, general chunky structure, clean white head with distinctive square head shape and small 'bullet' eye.

Near-adult/3rd winter Yellow-legged Gull. An interesting individual, that indeed I had slight reservations about both the species and age, but note the clean white head, dull bill and darker mantle colour than a Herring Gull would exhibit.

A quick stop at Pymoor failed to reveal either of the Great White Egrets and the day was concluded at Welney WWT. Checking through the wildfowl from the B1411 on the far side of the washes produced a nice female Scaup (centre).

After a short wait the dark-breasted Barn Owl (guttata) appeared and over the next half-hour excellent views were eventually obtained of this mobile bird. In this cameo of appearances highlights included a roadside squabble with a Kestrel, watching it kill and eat a vowl and watching it attempt to go to roost in a barn already holding an alba Barn Owl, resulting in a rather scathing fight! It often perched on posts and on the decks but was hard to get close to, with the following record shots obtained.

Even from these poor shots some of the key ID features for guttata can be seen. The bird had a buff-orange wash to the breast and flanks which diffused onto the belly into spotting, as well as extensive buff on the underwing coverts. It also had an obviously dark grey mantle which was very obvious in the field, as was the facial area/eye-surrounding area being a darker colour. One smart owl!

20 Bewicks Swans, 100 Whooper Swans, 1 Common Buzzard and 4 Corn Buntings were also noted at Welney.

7/2/09 Holme NOA

A reasoable few hours on the patch after I trundled in late morning. Seawatching from Gore point produced a drake Velvet Scoter and 2 Long-tailed Ducks, while seawatching from the NOA produced 5 Long-tailed Ducks, 3 Fulmars and a frustratingly distant skua sp. At least 350 Fieldfares were in the area of the area of heligoland trap, as was a Song Thrush. An adult Mediterranean Gull was amongst 335 Common Gulls, 231 Herring Gulls and 41 Black-headed Gulls in a reasonable gull roost.