An Arctic Adventure 19th - 24th March (Day 2)

After two hours sleep, and feeling surprisingly refreshed, we set about arranging for our hire car to be transferred from the airport to our hotel. The weather was fantastic, still and sunny with a cloudless sky that belied the conditions we had experienced overnight, although the fresh covering of snow was very evident. The plan today was to drive north to Batsfjord, and as we had a long drive ahead we were keen to get moving.

View from the Scandic Hotel - Kirkenes

Our car arrived within half an hour, and in a matter of minutes we were on our way, well almost. Whilst loading up the car we were continually being distracted by a small flock of Waxwings that were flying around the town. On a couple of occasions it appeared that they would land in a nearby tree, so we had our cameras at the ready, but they didn't. But as we were leaving the town we stumbled across a flock of over 100 birds feeding on berries. With the morning light being so good we couldn't resist stopping.

Waxwing - Kirkenes

Waxwing - Kirkenes

Waxwing - Kirkenes

With time pressing on, a long journey ahead of us and feeling slightly nervous about the driving conditions we were soon on our way. We were hoping the see the eclipse of the sun at 11am but as we left Kirkenes cloud was already building, and as we headed north it became decidedly thicker. It was a great relief to feel how the studded snow tyres dealt with the compacted ice on the roads, and we were soon making good time. One of the areas we were hoping to bird en-route was the Tana Valley, as it was a good area for Hawk Owls, but by this time the weather had really taken a turn for the worst. Not only had the light gone, due to the eclipse, but the blizzard conditions made visibility very poor. 

We were aware that the mountain pass to Batsfjord was only passable in convoy, with a snow plough in front and a support vehicle behind. There were set times when they crossed the pass, the next being 14:30, we were one of 11 vehicles in the convoy and made it through without a hitch.

The Convoy North to Batsfjord

We arrived in Batsfjord at around 15:30 to a very wintering scene of light snow and bitterly cold conditions, but then we were in the Arctic. As the light was failing we decided to do a bit of birding rather than check into our hotel, and at our first stop we picked up a couple of Steller's Eider roosting on the snow, one of Si's target birds. There were also a couple of Common Eider on the water but otherwise it was just gulls.

Steller's Eider - Batsfjord

We continued exploring and soon found a flock of roosting gulls near a fish process factory. The flock included several Glaucous Gulls, of mixed ages, Great Black-backed Gulls, Herring Gulls, of the nominate race argentatus, Kittiwakes and a single Iceland Gull. 

Adult Glaucous Gull - Batsfjord

1st Winter Glaucous Gull - Batsfjord

Adult Glaucous Gulls - Batsfjord

A summer plumaged Black Guillemot and a handful of Long-tailed Ducks were the only birds to speak of on the water, but a flock of roosting Purple Sandpipers were a nice find. There were over 200 birds present roosting on the side of a seawall, and as is quite usual for the species, they were very approachable. Simon spent a bit of time photographing them but I had foolishly left the car without my hat and gloves on, and could only grab a few shots before having to head back to the car to warm up. The picture below highlights just how effective the insulation of birds feathers are, as the snow was laying on top of the birds.

Purple Sandpiper - Batsfjord

With the light now all but gone we headed to the Polar Hotel, which was our accommodation for the night.

Waxwing Fest in Hampshire!

After watching the National bird news and seeing that waxwings were being seen everywhere, it was somewhat frustrating that none were present in Hampshire. However, this week a few scattered records began to appear and today there were even more. I had a bit of spare time later in the afternoon and so decided to go out and look for some. My first stop, in Stubbington missed them by a few minutes and so I headed to a group of 16 in Hedge End. Initially the birds were perched in the top of a sycamore tree, before dropping down to feast on berries on the only small rowan tree in the area.  

Waxwing ©T. D. Codlin

As is typical for this species, they are incredibly confiding, and so it is possible to get some fantastic views, and great photos.

Waxwing ©T. D. Codlin

I have never had the pleasure of ringing a waxwing, and for obvious reasons would love to. Ageing birds is apparently relatively straightforward with first year birds lacking white on the inner web of the primaries, this is clearly illustrated on the image below.

Waxwing ©T. D. Codlin

Waxwing ©T. D. Codlin

Waxwing ©T. D. Codlin

If you are thinking of going to see any, don't leave it too late since they go to roost very early; these birds started preparing roost at around 15:30 before heading off at around 3:40pm.

Waxwings ©T. D. Codlin

Norfolk - In Search of Winter Birds - 28th - 31st January 2011

Winter visits to Norfolk in search of birds has been a feature of January for many years now, and each time four mates and I get the chance to catch up, eat some good food, drink whiskey and wine and spend a few days birding. Because most of us come from the south coast, we start our weekend at a convenient meeting point enroute to the north Norfolk coast. This year was no different and we began our trip with a visit to the RSPB reserve of Lakenheath Fen.

Lakenheath Fen has been a good starting point for us in the past as we have seen bittern, common crane and great grey shrike, but the highlight must be the penduline tit that we found in 2009.

Penduline Tit Lakenheath Fen 26th January 2009 

This year the reserve seemed fairly quiet except for a selection of tits and finches on the feeders, including brambling and lesser redpoll. A stroll around the reserve produced the usual marsh harriers, little egret and a couple of Egyptian geese and then we heard common cranes calling. We usually hear them during our visits, but despite their large size, they can be a difficult species to locate. This time though, five birds were present, a pair with their offspring of last year and two other birds which we presumed to be another pair.

Family Party of Common Cranes at Lakenheath Fen January 2011

We continued our journey north, with our next stop being the Wildlife and Wetland Trust reserve of Welney. Welney guarantees whooper swans and the surrounding fields usually guarantee Bewick's; this year large numbers of both species were present, on the reserve and the surrounding fields.

Whooper Swan at Welney January 2011

A quick scan from the hide produced more Egyptian geese and loads of tufted ducks and pochards; other ducks included goldeneye and single long-tailed duck, which apparently is only the fifth for the reserve. We were quite surprised to learn that it was only the fifth record, but went you think about it, long-tailed duck is more of a coastal species, and therefore does not venture to inland lakes that often......probably utter rubbish but we were happy with that theory.

Drake Pochard at Welney January 2011

Hiding amongst the other ducks, with their heads tucked back, were three ruddy ducks. The cull of this species as protection for the white headed duck in Spain, has made it a difficult species to catch up with in recent years, I wonder how long these three have left?


With time moving on we headed north to the village of East Beckham, where we had booked a cottage for the weekend. After unloading the cars we settled down to discuss our plans for the weekend, wearing our new BTO beanie hats.

The team sporting our new BTO beanie hats January 2011

Saturday 29th began with a quick trip to Sheringham in search of purple sandpipers, our search was in vain but we did see several red throated divers on the sea and flying past. The stubble fields at Weybourne were our next stop, in search of lapland buntings. After trudging around for about half an hour a flock of lappys flew over us and landed in the field right next to the car.....unfortunately due to the height of the stubble and the size of the birds we never did manage to relocate them. 


The RSPB reserve of Titchwell proved to be a much more rewarding place; the sea was full of divers and sea duck. Common scoters were present in their thousands along with red-breasted mergansers and goldeneyes, but viewing was difficult due to the choppy seas and moderate north-easterly breeze....it was freezing looking out to sea. 


One of our target birds for this trip was the northern harrier which has been present for much of the winter, we were lucky enough to get prolonged views of this bird on two occasions as it hunted over the freshwater marsh to the west of the reserve. The reserve itself hosted a selection of finches and wading birds; a very obliging spotted redshank fed next to the path providing an ideal photo opportunity.

Spotted Redshank at Titchwell January 2011

Amongst the dry weedy areas on the scrape a mixed flock of skylarks and twite were feeding. In previous years we have seen twite at Thornham, so it was nice to catch up with them here and save on travelling time. As I was watching the twite feeding I noticed that one bird had been ringed with a single metal ring and three colour rings (one on the right tarsus and two on the left). I quickly took down the colour combination, and passed it onto a friend who works for the BTO. This bird was first ringed as a chick on 4th June 2010 in The Pennines, it was sighted again in on 8th August 2010 at a quarry 3 kilometres to the north-east of the original ringing site, and has not been seen subsequently. Our sighting was 195 kilometres south-east of the ringing site and 239 days later. I think this is an excellent example of the value of ringing/colour ringing birds; I will certainly be looking out for this individual next year!


Burham Overy Staithe was our next stop in search of rough legged buzzards, three had been reported in the area but with the light fading fast we didn't hold out much hope of seeing one. However a scan of the tops of the bushes rewarded us with distant views of an absolutely classic rough leg. As we were watching this bird a second flew past, before both birds headed into the nearby wood to roost. We ended the day at Lady Anne's Drive, Holkham to watch the pink-footed geese come in, which is always a spectacle worth seeing. As we waited barn owls hunted over the marsh and woodcocks emerged from the woods to feed.

Pink feet falling from the skies at Holkham

Sunday 30th was a calmer, brighter but colder day. After a brief stop at Sheringham in search of the purple sands, no luck again, we headed off the Cley and Salthouse. The snow buntings in the car park at Salthouse proved to be easy, as once again they were being fed...I never tire of seeing these cracking birds.......

Snow Bunting Salthouse

........the excellent light provided me with the opportunity to practice my photography and take some more turnstone shots.

Roosting Turnstone at Salthouse January 2011

It was the east bank at Cley which produced the best birds of the day, 10 stunning shore larks. These birds are another species which are one of the reasons we come to Norfolk in the winter since they are very unusual on the south coast of England.

Shore Lark on the Beach at Cley ©T. D. Codlin

At least four of these birds had very bright black and yellow heads, others were much duller. Apparently the sexes are similar, therefore it is probable that the duller birds were juveniles...

Shore Lark on the Beach at Cley ©T. D. Codlin

......at one point the whole flock crouched down low to the ground and were clearly looking up, I looked up to see what was bothering them and soaring overhead was a peregrine falcon. As we wandered back to the car we were greeted with views of a fly-by spoonbill, four ruff and five pied avocet, the sea was extremely calm, in stark contrast to the previous day. A single eider duck was just off shore along with over 40 red throated divers and a single fly-by black throated diver. Along the east bank, enroute back to the car, a single drake American wigeon fed with its Eurasian counterparts.


Choseley Farm was our next stop, in search of corn buntings and a single waxwing. There have been so many waxwings around this winter, and in such large flocks, that it was sad to see this lone individual surveying its surroundings.

Lone Waxwing at along road to Choseley Farm

The day ended with a visit to Warham Greens to see the harrier roost. As we pulled up in the car park a large flock of dark-bellied brent geese, with at least 15 light-bellied's were feeding in the adjacent field. The harrier roost was the best we had seen for years with at least 10 hen harriers,  three marsh harriers and single peregrine and merlin; a chorus of singing grey partridge rounded off the evening.


Monday 31st and time to head home. We started again at Sheringham where three of us finally caught up with a purple sandpipier, before it disappeared. We then headed south to Cantley Marshes in the hope of catching up with the lesser white-fronted goose that had been there. No such luck with this bird but we did catch up with around 30 Taiga bean geese, three white-fronted....which got us going for a few minutes, and another ringtail hen harrier. But the most surprising bird for me was the hooded crow, this species used to winter more on the east coast, but in recent years they have been few and far between.


Well that thats all folks! The end of another great weekends birding in Norfolk where we saw 123 species in four days, which we thought was a reasonable total given our laid back approach. Lets hope the weather and the birds are as good next year.