Sedge Warblers are always very scare birds on the patch, and to see one you have to rely on finding an incoming migrant in clifftop scrub, so I was pleased to hear the familiar song of one whilst I was taking a look round East Runton this morning. After locating where the song was coming from, I finally managed a few fleeting views as it flew a couple of times between bramble clumps, landing briefly on top of one before disappearing back inside. The only other bird of note found on my morning round was a Lesser Whitethroat.
Whilst paying an evening visit to Felbrigg Lake, I noticed two ducks sleeping under the trees at the back, with their heads tucked in under their wings. With them not looking right for female Mandarins, or any other duck come to that, I was somewhat puzzled as to their id, but suspected some kind of escapees.
A quick dash back to the car for my scope to get a decent look at them had given them time to wake up and they were now feeding along the waters edge. I still couldn't put a name to them but a quick check of literature at home later revealed they were Crested Ducks from South America, with a pic of one of them below.
A Common Sandpiper, the first of the year, was feeding along the shoreline on the north side of the lake, and a Yellow Wagtail, also the first one seen this spring was watched flycatching from the lake wall and adjacent trees.
