29/11/09 Holkham and Roydon

In the afternoon dad trundled down to Holkham and had nice views of the 12 Shorelarks east of the gap. The in the evening I visisted the Roydon Common roost again and I was rewarded with 2 Hen Harriers, the same 2nd cy male and a ringtail, both of which showed well.

22/11/09 Holkham Bay

An excellent afternoon watch at Holkham bay. The star of the show was a close Black-necked Grebe which Josh kindly pointed out shortly after I had arrived, only the 3rd I have seen in Norfolk. The rest of the bay was also stuffed with other bits and pieces including 4+ Great-northern Divers, a distant Black-throated Diver that flew east, 3 Slavonian Grebes, a Red-necked Grebe, 10 Red-throated Divers, a Velvet Scoter, 2 Goldeneyes, 15 Red-breasted Mergansers and an adult Little Gull west, while a flock of 35 Snow Buntings was on the beach.

On Tues 24th Nov a train journey to a conference in London produced good views of a flock of 250 Bewick's Swans and a Marsh Harrier near Littleport.

21/11/09 Holme

A pretty productive day at Holme. The sea was surprisingly good, with a watch from 8:15-10:15am produced a Great Skua west, an Arctic Skua west, 11 Little Gulls (10 east, 1 west), 15 Kittiwakes, 4 Long-tailed Ducks (all drakes), 80 Gannets, 26 Red-breasted Mergansers, 13 Red-throated Divers, 4 Fulmars and 2 Goldeneye. A Lapland Bunting flew over east calling, 71 Snow Buntings flew west and a Merlin whizzed west over our heads, while a stunning drake Goosander did a couple of laps of the marsh from the observatory. The reserve and the stream were practically devoid of any birdlife though. A look at the beach by the golf-course produced nice views of a flock of up to 85 Snow Buntings during the afternoon and the day finished with brief views of a Woodcock.

Dad visisted the Roydon roost and recorded 3 Hen Harriers, 2 ringtails and the same 2nd cy male.

15/11/09 Roydon Common

A trip to the evening roost produced nice views of a male Hen Harrier, aged as a 2nd cy on account of the dusky brown mantle and inner arm. Little else was noted other than a Common Buzzard, 40 Fieldfares, 450 Starlings and 2500 mixed 'corvids' (mostly Jackdaw/Rook) into roost.

14/11/09 Dersingham Bog

An afternoon walk at Dersingham Bog produced nice views of the Great Grey Shrike, while a male Peregrine was buzzing around by the boardwalk until the rain set-in, when it promptly flew NW. As the light faded 140 Fieldfares and 20 Redwings dropped in.

8/11/09 Holme and Lakenheath Fen

Another good day at Holme today, although slightly disappointing in terms of grounded migrants considering the reasonably promising conditions. It started on route at Hunstanton, when a Peregrine flew over the car. A seawatch of Gore point produced a cracking Red-necked Grebe close inshore, with a flock of 14 Snow Buntings on the beach and a Kittiwake east. Sewatching of the NOA for several hours was poor in terms of quantity but good in terms of quality, with a Black-throated Diver, first found yesterday, just offshore before it flew east towards the mouth of Thornham harbour and a drake Velvet Scoter west with a group of Common Scoters, as well as 6 Red-breasted Mergansers, 4 Fulmars and 6 Eiders. Grounded migrants were very thin on the ground, with a Firecrest on the NOA reserve, 50 Robins, 80 Blackbirds, 3 Song Thrushes and 4 Redwings, while 3 Lapland Buntings showed well in 'the usual area', amongst a large group of Skylarks, part of 100+ in the recording area. The Short-eared Owl was still hunting over the marsh, again giving excellent views. Overhead passage picked up noticeably in the afternoon, with 20 Siskins, 4 Bramblings, 7 Rock Pipits, 1250 Starlings and 375 Woodpigeons west in the day. 3 Tawny Owls were also recorded during the day.

Meanwhile dad made the trip to Lakenheath Fen RSPB, where the GREAT-WHITE EGRET performed well on the Norfolk side of the river. Unfortunately what was presumed to be the White-rumped Sandpiper reported in the morning was in fact a Curlew Sandpiper.

6/11/09 Dersingham Bog

Dad went down to Desingham Bog after work today and was rewarded with good views of the Great Grey Shrike in the trees around the Dragonfly pond.