In search of winter birds, Day 3 - Norfolk 2015

Day 3 began with yet another hearty breakfast, which was much needed given that we were going to spend most of the day in the field. Whilst loading the car we recorded another new species for the trip, a Goldcrest, and then we were ready to go.

Choseley Barns

Choseley Barns has been a regular stop for us over a number of years as it has been a guaranteed site for Corn Buntings, Yellowhammer and Tree Sparrows. One by one the species have declined and this year we recorded none. There were other species present, including four Blackbirds, a Chaffinch, a handful of Common Gulls and six Red-legged Partridges. It is so sad to see that despite various government schemes aimed at protecting farmland bird species, they continue to decline. Of course we do not know the reasons for the loss of farmland birds from Choseley Barns, but can make an educated guess.

A149 at Brancaster

We were feeling a little depressed after our visit to Choseley Barns but our spirits were heightened as we approached Brancaster. There was a large flock of around 6,000 Pink-footed Geese feeding in a field close to the road. We quickly took up some well-placed locations along the road and began to work our way through them. There have been some Bean Geese in with the Pink-foots but we did not find them. In fact we didn't have the time to finish our search as a couple of dog walkers flushed them, so we moved on.

Pink-footed Geese - Brancaster

Pink-footed Geese - Brancaster

Wells Harbour

Our next stop was Wells Harbour in search of the long-staying Shag, and also a Red-necked Grebe that has been present on and off this winter. The tide was high when we arrived and there wasn't really much to see. A shout from Paul quickly alerted us to a Red Kite that was drifting east over the harbour, a scan of the sky line produced two more hunting behind the harbour over East Hills.

Red Kite - Wells Harbour

We continued our search for the Shag and eventually picked it up sat on a spit on the opposite side of the harbour. Apparently when it is not feeding it roosts in this spot or on the jetty, so hopefully it will be a regular feature each winter in the future.

Shag - Wells Harbour

Cley Coastguards, East Bank and Arnold's Marsh

Our next stop was Cley Coastguards and a scan for the wintering Black-throated Diver. We picked up on a good candidate immediately and after a short deliberation we concluded it was the bird. A scan over the sea produced a couple of Common Scoter and a couple of Red-throated Divers.

After quick stop at the centre to check for any news and a scan over the marsh we decided to walk up the East Bank in search of a reported Golden Plover. There were very few birds on the marsh, Teal, Avocet, Dunlin and Grey Plover to name a few. The Golden Plover was all alone on the beach, not the usual place to see one, but it was the only one we had seen on the trip to date, so a welcome sight.

Golden Plover on the beach at Cley

We headed back down the East Bank and picked up a calling Bearded Tit (or Reedling or Parrotbill). At first it was the other side of the ditch, but soon flew across and began grubbing around at the base of a patch of reeds. It was amazing to watch the bird as it fed, it was scraping back the earth with both feet like a miniature chicken. It was occasionally calling but regularly sat up giving excellent views.

Bearded Tit - East Bank, Cley

Bearded Tit - East Bank, Cley

Bearded Tit - East Bank, Cley

Bearded Tit - East Bank, Cley

Sheringham

With time pressing on we headed to Sheringham in search of Purple Sandpipers. This is another site we visit annually, but have only ever seen them here once. We picked up a bird on one of the groynes, but it quickly went out of sight. We began working our way along the promenade to get a better view when we spotted another. This one was on a rock right next to the car park, and stayed there for several minutes giving excellent views.

Purple Sandpiper - Sheringham

Warham Greens

The harrier roost at Warham Greens was our final stop of the day. We arrived at just after 3pm and picked up a flock of 48 Golden Plovers in a nearby field. It was a bright, sunny day and ideal for looking for raptors. A couple of Marsh Harriers were hunting over the marsh and a Peregrine perched up on a distant sandbank. Our first Hen Harrier was brief, but the second, a cracking male performed well. Further sightings brought our total to at least three male and two female Hen Harriers, a Merlin, a Peregrine, a Sparrowhawk and one Barn Owl. It was pretty dark by the time the Barn Owl came past but I managed one record shot.

Barn Owl - Warham Greens

Great Bircham
We arrived back at our accommodation and were greeted by a couple of calling Tawny Owls   from the nearby trees. It was pitch black by now but we were able to make out their distinctive shape.

We finished the day on 88 species with several new species our grand total was now 115, so not bad after three days birding.

Ice Cold in Hampshire

If the weatherman is to be believed, and I have no reason to doubt him, last night was the coldest night of the year. The sub-zero temperature had produced a heavy frost and I was unable to get the solid ice out of the bird baths, and so had to fill up some saucers with water and place them around the garden. 

It was frozen at Titchfield Haven too, the first time I think I have seen that this year, and the waders and gulls were roosting on the ice at the southern  end of the River Meon. However, it was not the roosting gulls that drew my attention, but the waders feeding on the intertidal. In the 35+ years that I have been visiting Hill Head, things have changed, the intertidal area has become more sandy, and this in turn has attracted small flocks of Sanderling. The numbers remain fairly small, this morning I counted only nine birds, that were feeding with a single Dunlin and a handful of Ringed Plovers. Because the beach is well used for recreation at low tide the birds are generally quite approachable, and these were no exception.

Sanderling - Hill Head

Sanderling - Hill Head

Dunlin - Hill Head

I spent a good half an hour with the Sanderling, despite having only seen, and photographed them recently at Southsea, and then moved on around the foreshore. There wasn't much of note to report, Oystercatchers were common, as were Ringed Plovers and Turnstones, but other than the Sanderlings, Dunlin and single Grey Plover and Redshank, there wasn't much else.

Black-tailed Godwits - Titchfield Haven

Before heading off I had a quick scan over the frozen river, there were mainly Black-headed, but also Common and Herring Gulls. Four Black-tailed Godwits were also present, but they must of got cold feet and flew up the valley. A cheeky Fox was soaking up the sun on a south facing slope. It was clearly visible from the roadside viewing area and seemed unperturbed by my presence, although it did occasionally have a quick peak to see who was watching it.

Fox - Titchfield Haven

After my visit to the Haven I headed up to a site in East Hampshire where there was meant to be a Red Kite roost. Apparently up to 40 birds have previously been recorded there but recently it has numbered around the low 20's. It was still bitterly cold but the clear sky meant the light was excellent. I parked up on the corner of a farm track and almost immediately three Red Kites drifted over. Several Common Buzzards were also milling around, at one point I counted seven, but there was most likely more.

Red Kite - East Hampshire

As I waited for more kites to show I was entertained by a couple of Robins, who were being typically territorial, and several Brown Hares that were showing occasional signs of their March madness.

Robin - East Hampshire

Brown Hare - East Hampshire

There were several Red Kites coming into the roost by now but most of them were distant, which was a bit disappointing, the local Buzzards were coming much closer and enabled me to get the odd photo. The kites were generally just flying leisurely towards the roost and perching up, but just when I though that they had settled down, they would all take flight and chase each other briefly before settling back down.

Common Buzzard - East Hampshire

Red Kites - East Hampshire

Roosting Red Kites - East Hampshire

As the light, and the temperature dropped the kites settled down, and so did the level of bird activity, although a male Pied Wagtail continued to feed on the frozen farm pond. It seemed to be a very unlikely place to be feeding, when the farm yard appeared to have much more to offer, but it was actively picking up little morsels from the surface. Eventually it too flew off to roost, but as it did the moon put on a spectacular show.

Skating Pied Wagtail - East Hampshire

The Moon

In Search of Winter Birds, Day 2 - Norfolk 2014

After a very hearty breakfast we headed out for a full days birding. As usual we had our target species to aim for, but the day was subject to change as and when we picked up additional news.

Choseley Drying Barns
Choseley Drying barns was our first stop, since this was just down the road from our accommodation at Great Bircham, and was usually a reliable site for corn and other buntings. On route to the barns we picked up a distant flock of pink-footed geese, numbering several thousand birds, red-legged and grey partridges. At the barns there were very few birds, a small flock of house sparrows, a chaffinch and a flock of golden plovers in the field, but sadly no buntings! With nothing much to see we headed off to our next stop, which was Blakeney Harbour. On the way we picked out a few species including a flock of Eurasian white-fronted geese, greylag geese and curlew.

Eurasian White-fronted Geese and Graylag Goose

Blakeney Harbour
There had been recent records from Blakeney Harbour of black-throated and great northern divers, long-tailed ducks and slavonian grebe, so this was to be out next stop. We were not entirely sure where we were going, so we headed for Blakeney village and walked out from there. The devastation caused by the recent storm surge and floods was evident everywhere, sea defences had been breached in several places and debris was strewn across the landscape, including in the tops of the trees.

Heading out from the village it was evident that we were not going to get the views of the harbour that we wanted, nonetheless we did mange to see a few new species including a variety of song birds and waders.

Cley (Glaven Valley)
We next headed towards the part of the Glaven valley, by the Three Swallows pub, where a glossy ibis had been frequenting. As we turned the corner and small gathering of birders highlighted where the bird was, and as we drove past to park we all saw it. Unfortunately a quick view was all we got, because as we got out of our cars and got out our optics, the bird took flight, fortunately I did manage to get a couple of shots before it headed off.

Glossy Ibis - In the Glaven Valley, Cley

Kelling
Next to Kelling, and the site of a wintering Richard’s Pipit. The bird had been frequenting an area known as Kelling Hard, but after the recent floods the whole area was now covered in debris. We worked the area hard but did not manage to find the pipit, in fact the highlight of our visit was three stonechats.

Sheringham
The groynes at Sheringham are know as a reliable place to see purple sandpiper’s, and so this was our next stop. The town was quite busy as was the beach, and being low tide there were people and dogs, running everywhere. Despite the disturbance we did see several turnstones on the groynes, but unfortunately no purps! There was a bit of movement off shore, with a few red-throated divers and guillemots passing by, the lone gannet was the highlight for us since that was a new addition to the list.

Edgehill
Our next stop was Edgehill, firstly to try and see the parrot crossbills, although we had seen them already, we were keen to see these birds as they were showing very well. Secondly, we were keen to catch up with the glaucous gull that has been regularly seen at the landfill site. As it happened  we didn’t see either, but did add a few new species to the trip list, marsh tit, gold crest and red kite. We had been told of a red kite roost at Hunworth, and were aiming to head that way; the birds we saw were all heading towards Hunworth, so presumably birds heading for the roost.

Hunworth
We headed for the centre of the village at Hunworth, and as we pulled in immediately picked four red kites circling over a small pine plantation behind the village. The birds were hanging in the wind and circling over the wood, a couple drifted off but soon returned, and in the end there were nine birds hanging around, before going into roost, one by one.

Red Kite - Hunworth

Five Red Kites at Roost near Hunworth

By the end of the day we had recorded 81 species, bringing our grand total for our trip so far to 100, not bad for two days birding in Norfolk and Suffolk.

A Merlin in mid Hampshire

This week I have spent two days walking the footpaths near Woodmancott, mid Hampshire, and I have to say the weather has been amazing. On the two days I was there the temperature was nearing 20 Celsius, so I was able to get a good start on my 'T' shirt tan for the year. Song birds were enjoying the spring weather to the max and singing well, but it was the raptors that were making the most of the warm thermals.

Red Kite

Common Buzzards were as usual the most abundant species, with a maximum of seven recorded at one time in the air, with Red Kites being the next most abundant, some passing very close. Eurasian Sparrowhawk and Kestrel were present in small numbers, but the two surprises were a ringtail Hen Harrier and a first year Merlin.

First Year Merlin

I watched the Merlin from a distance as it approached me, and it eventually got to the point whereby I had to put my binoculars down for fear of being hit by it, but instead the the bird suddenly drifted up and landed in the tree behind my head giving cracking views, shame my pictures weren't as good!

As High as a Kite

I was fortunate to be working in West Berkshire last week and whilst there I had close up views of Red Kites as they passed overhead, presumably keeping an eye on what I was doing. I was primarily interested in flocks of wintering birds, but it was difficult to ignore these majestic birds as they drifted overhead.

Red Kite - West Berkshire

Once a rare sight, other than in mid Wales, it is now difficult to travel along the M3 or M40 corridors without seeing these kings of the air as they drift effortlessly overhead.

Red Kite - West Berkshire

Juvenile birds have pale buff brown underparts, whereas adult birds have deep rufous underparts, as illustrated in these images.

Red Kite - West Berkshire

The deeply forked tail, distinct light window on the underside of the primaries and rufous underparts separate this species from the closely related Black Kite.

Red Kite - West Berkshire

In addition five protruding primaries (at the wing tip), as opposed to six on a Black Kite, confirm the identity of this species. In total seven birds were drifting back and forth over the site, and including the individual I saw at Manor Farm the other day, that's a pretty good total for me in the first few days of a new year!