More Manor Farm Bird Ringing - 25th January 2014

This morning I headed back to Manor Farm Country Park for a spot of bird ringing, and for a change I was accompanied by a nearly full complement of trainees. We started early, with the aim of getting the nets up before first light, in the hope of catching some winter thrushes. The session didn't start as well as hoped due to equipment failure,  but the first net round still produced two Redwing, a Blackbird, a Song Thrush, a Wren and two Dunnocks. The second net round wasn't much better; the highlight this time being a new female Goldcrest. Another Redwing made the effort almost worthwhile, but there was really not much more to report.

All of the Redwing were aged as first year birds, or age code 5, so I took a couple of photos of one.

Head Shot of Redwing at Manor Farm Country Park

Close up of Greater Coverts showing Large Thorns on Juvenile Coverts

Pointed Tail Feathers of Juvenile Redwing

During the session we caught four recoveries, three Dunnocks and a Blackbird. The two longest recoveries were both Dunnocks, one was originally ringed on the 9th April 2011 and the other on 12th February 2012, so 2 years 291 days and 1 year 337days since ringing. By the end of the session we had ringed nine species, but unfortunately had added no House Sparrows for my RAS project.

I did also hear back from BTO HQ this week about one of the nestling Barn Swallows that I had ringed in the summer. This bird had been ringed in the nest on 2nd June 2013 and was retrapped on the 25th August seven kilometres to the south-west, 84 days later. Not the longest distance recovery, but it is nice to know that one of my birds successfully fledged.

In Search of Winter Birds, Day 4 - Norfolk 2014

Day four of our winter birding trip started a bit more leisurely as we had to clean the cottage before we left. But as with any keen birders we kept a keen eye out for birds, and by the time we were ready to go the notable species recorded were a flock of 60 golden plover, several curlew and a greylag goose. With the cottage cleaned our first stop was the village of Flitcham.

Flitcham
Abbey Farm at Flitcham has become a regular haunt for us on our winter trips as it has become one of the few guaranteed sites for Tree Sparrows, and occasionally Little Owls. There had been a heavy overnight frost so we approached the site with caution as the roads were very icy. There are bird feeders around the car park but these were empty so we wandered along the road, listening for Tree Sparrows. The hedges were full of finches, Bramblings, Chaffinches, Reed Buntings and a small flock of House Sparrows, but alas no Tree Sparrows. We did however get some tantalising views of a couple of birds that probably were, but they just would not show themselves. Before leaving we had a quick look from the hide for Little Owls, but unfortunately we were not in luck. We did see our first Sparrowhawk of the trip, and some good views of a couple of mad January Hares, but that was about all.

Thornham
Our next stop was Thornham where there has been a Short-eared Owl wintering. When we arrived it was immediately evident that our plans were going to have to change, as repair works were being carried out on the sea defences (our usual viewing spot). We scanned the salt marsh and creeks and picked up the usual wader species including Black-tailed Godwit, Grey Plover, Curlew and Common Redshank. Rock Pipit was a new species for the trip, and we recorded five coming into a small building to bathe and drink water in the guttering. A very tame Little Egret gave some great views, but despite our best efforts there was no sign of a Short-eared Owl.

Little Egret - Thornham, Norfolk

Little Egret - Thornham, Norfolk

Hunstanton
Hunstanton was to be our final stop before heading home. We had hoped to go back to Edgehill for a second attempt at the Glaucous Gull and Parrot Crossbills, but we just did not have the time. Hunstanton was worth the stop though as we added Common Eider, Northern Fulmar and Slavonian Grebe to the trip list, and also saw a handful of Gannets and Red-throated Divers and several Grey Seals were loafing just offshore.

So we ended the trip having seen 127 species in three and half days of birding, starting in Suffolk and heading up to the north Norfolk coast. We had seen three species of crossbill, three species of diver and four species of grebe. We had nearly cleaned up on the waders, Purple Sands eluded us, and had seen a good mix of passerines. We had not seen any Bewick's or Whooper Swans, no Short-eared or Little Owls and no Bean Geese, so maybe with a bit more luck, and time we could have got over 130 species, which we have only achieved once before. But for us it was as much about the social as the birding and we are already planning our visit next year.

In Search of Winter Birds, Day 3 - Norfolk 2014

We awoke to heavy and persistent rain on day 3, which we had expected. The forecast suggested that it would clear by 10am, and so undaunted by the weather we still headed out at our usual time, and just hoped that we would be able to find some sheltered spots.

Choseley Barns

Our aim was to go to the RSPB reserve of Titchwell, and on our way called into Choseley Barns looking for corn buntings. Unfortunatley once again there were none, but the small flock of house sparrows was still there along with a flock of around 40 brambling. We did also add yellowhammer to our trip list as a single bird was feeding on some freshly spilt corn.

Titchwell

The rain was still falling heavily when we arrived at Titchwell, so we staggered our birding, starting first at the covered area overlooking the feeders, then headed out to the first hide. A very large female hen harrier was feeding over the fresh marsh west of the reserve, but not much else was visible. What was visible again was the extent of damage caused by the recent storm surge, which fortunately appeared not to have breached the sea defences protecting the main part of the reserve. The islands were crammed with lapwing and golden plover, and after a bit of scanning we picked out pied avocets, black-tailed godwits, snipe and ruff and of course the usual duck species. 

Pied Avocet and Shoveler - Titchwell

Pied Avocets, Lapwing, Black-headed Gulls and Black-tailed Godwits - Titchwell

After a while the rain appeared to have eased and so we headed up to the beach to scan the sea. The destruction in this part of the reserve was very evident, the dunes by the beach had mostly gone, and the boardwalk leading to the beach was badly damaged and unusable. The last scrape had also been completely flooded and most of the islands had gone, but some waders were still using it, including three spotted redshanks. On the sea there were the usual large flocks of common scoter, red-breasted merganser and goldeneye. Red-throated divers were regularly passing, but the surprise was a great skua, that dropped onto the sea and began bathing. We continued to scan and picked out some velvet scoter in with the commons and then a red-necked grebe appeared. It fed just offshore before flying out to sea. Many species of wader were feeding on the beach, bar-tailed godwit, knot, sanderling and common ringed plover, to name a few.

Stiffkey Fen

None of us had been to Stiffkey Fen before, but we had been advised that it was the best place to view Blakeney Harbour, albeit distantly. The fen itself was full of birds, mainly lapwing and black-tailed godwit but also loads of duck. After scanning the fen we headed out to view the harbour and immediately picked up our target birds, great northern and black-throated diver and long-tailed duck. The tide was low and from our viewpoint we could see six long-tailed ducks, in what appeared to be immaculate plumage, but we were just to far away to fully enjoy it. The one black-throated diver soon became five and the one great northern diver became 2 and a guillemot and red-throated diver soon appeared. It seemed ridiculous to see so many birds crammed into such a small area of water feeding, there must be an abundance of food there. Just as we were packing up to leave we spotted our second great skua of the day, and a peregrine flew fast and low over the dunes.

Wells Harbour

We called in to Wells only briefly to catch up with the regular wintering shag, and as usual it was feeding in the channel at low tide. We have been seeing this bird annually for many years, I wonder how long it will continue to turn up.

Holkham (Pines and Lady Anne’s Drive)

Our final stop of the day was Holkham. We first headed out to the dunes in search of snow buntings, as they are a regular winter visitor here. Initially we could not see them but then a flock of about 40 birds were picked up in the distance. The were flying in from the beach and headed towards us, landing briefly before taking flight again and and heading off. They landed again, but were getting flushed continuously by walkers and dogs.

With the light fading fast we headed back to Lady Anne’s Drive, three barn owls were quartering over the fields. These were the first barn owls of our trip which is very surprising for a winter Norfolk trip, they are usually much commoner. 

Pink-footed Geese leaving at Dusk

We were hoping to see woodcock as they emerge from the woods at dusk, but as the sun set and thousands of pink-footed geese dropped in, our attention was unsurprisingly diverted. We patiently waited, but it was in vain, no woodcocks appeared, at least not from the area where we were standing. It was not all bad though, as for the second night running we were given excellent views of the planet of Jupiter and treated to an amazing sunset.

Sunset over Lady Anne's Drive, Holkham

It was too dark to continue now so we headed back to our cottage, we had recorded 93 species of bird, bringing our total for the trip so far to 122.

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.