The last ten days have been spent mopping up those few birds missed on Jan 1st and also seeing a few surprises too.
A check of Felbrigg on the 2nd revealed 3 Mandarins (78) and a female Goldeneye (79) on the lake, and a Marsh Tit (80) was present in the alder carr next to the reedbed. Seawatching off Cromer on the afternoon of the 5th produced a few Fulmars (81) passing by, and some more seawatching on the 6th from West Runton was rewarded with 4 Goosanders (82), a few Knot (83) and a group of Shelduck (84) all heading west, and a Lapland Bunting (85) flew over the car park. Another visit to Felbrigg produced both Bullfinch (86) and Common Buzzard (87) in the park. A couple of Redshanks (88) were feeding on the beach at West Runton on the 7th, and a flock of Wigeon (89) and a couple of Sanderlings (90) were noted passing by out to sea.
A text message on the morning of the 8th alerted me to the presence of a Whooper Swan (91) on Felbrigg Lake, and upon hot-footing it down there was treated to excellent views as it mingled with the newly established Mute Swan flock.
Whilst watching the Whooper I then received a very fortuitous phone call from my Dad, who had coincidentally just pulled into the main car park at Felbrigg, to say that he was watching a Red Kite (92) circling over the park, and upon looking up it was immediately picked up as it slowly drifted off southeast towards the village.
A male Blackcap (93) in the garden first thing on the 9th was a nice surprise, and a walk along the cliffs between Sidestrand and Trimingham on the 10th produced Green Woodpecker (94), a flock of Golden Plover (95) and a Peregrine (96) flushed off the cliff face and then watched as it slowly made its way inland. A check of the reservoir produced a Grey Wagtail (97) and then a search round the fields of Northrepps finally resulted in the first Yellowhammers (98) of the year.
A visit to Felbrigg on the 11th produced Mistle Thrush (99), a pair of Mandarins and the Whooper Swan were on the lake, but the flock of Redpolls, which contain a few interesting looking pale individuals, proved as mobile and near impossible to view satisfactorily as ever. With temperatures hitting 12 degrees it was no surprise to see a Red Admiral had been awoken from its winter hibernation and was basking in the warm sunshine.
It was then on to West Runton where a flock of 40+ Common Scoter heading west brought up the 100 for the patch this year in record time, and rounded off an excellent start to the year on the patch.
