First Sand Martins and Pochard on Felbrigg

A check along the fields at West Runton this morning produced the first Sand Martins of the year with a group of three flying west along the cliffs. There was still a Lapland Bunting in the recently sown field, the third bird of the week as this one was much drabber plumage wise then the two present earlier in the week.

Offshore there was a couple of Red-throated Divers and an Eider. Two Brent Geese flew west and a couple of Curlew east.

A trip up to Felbrigg revealed that the Firecrest was still in the western car park, along with a couple of singing Chiffchaffs. A few Siskins and Redpolls also flew over calling.

A walk down to the lake produced the surprise of a drake Pochard, the first one I had recorded there this year, and a pair of Mandarins were doing their best to evade detection amongst the trees.

Having been fortunate to be able to quickly acquire another Lumix TZ3, second hand but in really good condition, in addition to the Pochard I tested it out on some easy targets.

Lapland Buntings continue to linger

A check along the golf course and lighthouse area today revealed a number of Chiffchaffs still singing away, 3 Bramblings were in Warren Woods and a couple of Greylags headed NE out to sea. A few corvids were on the move and the first Brimstone of the year was also noted.

A visit to West Runton revealed the two Lapland Buntings were still present, inevitably showing very well now that I am camera-less, and the Med Gull continues to patrol the car park in its splendid summer attire.

Offshore a flock of 18 Eider was noteworthy, and a Common Scoter and a Red-throated Diver were noted moving west. A few Common Buzzards and Sparrowhawks were noted along the ridge circling up high enjoying the warm and sunny weather.

Bunting Bonanza and more migrants too

A phone call from my Dad this morning alerted me to the fact that he had found a Lapland Bunting in the cliff-top field at West Runton. We had both been checking there regularly for one, especially as there were large numbers just along the coast at Webourne, so it was nice to know that our persistence with looking had finally paid off. Fortunately it was still there when I arrived and it gave excellent views as it fed along the field edge, and was in really smart plumage.

A Black Redstart briefly alighted on the fence along the cliff edge before vanishing, and then as I walked further east to check the rest of the fields I was delighted as three Snow Buntings flew along the field in front of me and began feeding in the ploughed field. After a short while they joined up with the Lapland Bunting and it was excellent to see them feeding side by side, before something flushed everything up from the field and they were lost to view.

Unfortuately at this point my camera decided to develop a terminal problem with completely of its own accord it zooming out to full magnification and jamming in this position and consequently preventing any other button on it from working so I was far from happy! It might be repairable, but as the lens is quite scratched now and the sensor being tempermental especially on the macro setting, its probably time to look at a new one.

Back in the car park a male Wheatear, the first of the year, was briefly seen on the large grassy area before vanishing as everything scattered revealing a Peregrine slowly moving west.

A check of the golf course revealed a number of Chiffchaffs singing in the wood and the undercliff, and other birds noted moving included a few Siskins, alba Wagtails and Starlings.

I then decided to do a bit of raptor watching from Incleborough, with the added bonus of some Cranes hopefully moving east along the coast as per the pager. Unfortunately the Cranes moved through unseen, probably too far inland to see, but a very distant Red Kite more than made up for that. It was undoubtedly the same bird that was seen over Cley reserve then heading SSE over Walsey, and I would guess it was over Kelling Heath when I picked it up before it dropped below the tree line on the Holt-Cromer ridge never to rematerialise.

Different people have different rules when it comes to counting birds for a specific area, for me its as long as I'm on the patch I count it for the patch irrespective of whether the bird is actually outside the boundary, after all its just a bit of fun, and I'm sure I'll have one over the patch in the near future anyway if past years are anything to go by.

A scan of the field at West Runton from the top of Incleborough revealed that there was now two Lapland Buntings in the field, so after I'd finished raptor watching, a few local Common Buzzards and Sparrowhawks were also seen, I went back down to the beach car park for a closer view of them before heading home after a really excellent day.

First Chiffchaffs arrive on the patch

With the official beginning of Spring today, a walk around the golf course/lighthouse area coincidentally produced the first Chiffchaff of the year singing away in Warren Woods, and after a little searching it finally showed well making frequent sallies out from the trees after insects. Further along another was calling from the undercliff, and it was so nice to hear them again after what has been a long winter.

A check around East Runton produced the first Lizard of the year which happily froze on the bare earth it was sunning itself on, obviously knowing that I had left the camera in the car! A couple of Small Tortoiseshells flew by, but no other migrants or birds of note were encountered.

Another Firecest in Felbrigg

Another quiet week on the patch, and with the cold wind and foggy days spring can't come quick enough.

Highlight of the week was another Firecrest in Felbrigg, with this one being in last years haunt of the western car park. Although it was showing well as it did its circuit merrily singing away, getting a photo of it was another matter and I had to settle for the effort below which although is out of focus you can still see what it is so it'll do.

Rock Pipits

A check along the patch for Wheatears drew a blank, but a couple of Rock Pipits on the cliffs near Beeston Bump were a nice surprise and the first on the patch this year.

The Med Gull has now acquired a full black hood on one side, with just a tiny amount of white remaining on the other, and was looking splendid in the sunshine.

Presumably part of the small flock seen earlier in the year, at least 4 Bramblings were noted around the eastern end of Overstrand, with a couple of smart plumaged males, and a quick check of the sea produced half a dozen Gannets moving east.

First Comma of the year

A walk along the golf course produced another Stonechat and the first Comma Butterfly of the year was seen sunning itself in Happy Valley.

Black Redstart

As with last year, Black Redstart was again the first proper spring migrant to be recorded on the patch with one on my Dads allotment in East Runton today which showed well on and off around the freshly dug plots.

The first Small Tortoiseshell of the year was also noted flying through.

A check around West Runton produced a pair of Stonechats around the beach carpark, so with the one on Tuesday obviously their spring migration is well underway now.

Finally a visit to Felbrigg produced the Mandarins which have recently returned to the lake with a pair plus a lone female present, although they were pretty wary flying off onto the meadow pool when disturbed by walkers.

Stonechat

The West Runton Med Gull is fast acquiring its full summer plumage with virtually a full black hood now save for just a few white speckles remaining around the base of the bill. As ever it was dutifully obliging for a bit of food in return.

I also took some pics of the local Black-headed Gulls with a couple of them below.

With the nice weather, I then took a walk along the golf course in the hope of an early migrant and was rewarded with the first Stonechat of the year in Happy Valley lifting expectatations for the forthcoming weeks and an end to the near birdless last few weeks.


A check of the roosting Gulls on the sea to the east of the pier revealed another(?) adult Med Gull.

Oriental Turtle Dove

With the patch continuing to be quiet, a trip was made to see the Oriental Turtle Dove. A big thanks goes to the home owner who was continuing to kindly allow birders to view his back garden where it was frequenting from inside his kitchen.

After a short wait the Oriental Turtle Dove flew in and then busily fed on the ground at the back of the garden before flying up and resting in a tree. Eventually it plucked up courage to visit the bird table and we were treated to superb close views.

I took a few snaps as it fed which have come out ok considering they were taken through glass, plus another couple of more distant ones as it perched up in the tree.

Apart from the Dove, a good number of other species were regularly visiting the feeders with Blackcap, Reed Bunting, Bramblings and Bullfinches being the most notable.

On the way back several Red Kites were seen including one low over the car circling a dead Badger on the road.

Sea sees out the month

The remainder of February around the patch has continued to be very quiet, with a build up of Gadwall (c10 pairs) and a single drake Wigeon on Felbrigg Lake being the only real change.

A Goldcrest which was visting the feeders in the garden to feed on both the fatballs and nuts was a most unusual sighting.

The final day of the month saw some nice brisk onshore winds so some seawatching off the patch was in order. A number of Gannets, Kittiwakes, Red-throated Divers, Eiders, Common Scoter and a few distant auks were noted, along with the first 3 Shelducks for the year.

Rainham Revisted

With the Slaty-backed Gull having been seen again at Rainham yesterday, I decided to revisit the site today to hopefully get more prolonged views of it this time.

Arriving at 7.30 I was surprised to find only a dozen other cars in the car park, and with the marshes shrouded in mist and then having spoken to one of the wardens to find out that the tipping area on the landfill may not be visible from outside the site, the prospects of seeing it didn't appear huge, but I was as ever up for the task and began the 2 mile walk along to the landfill.

A couple of Ring-necked Parakeets flew over to liven up the walk, and then a brief stop to check the pools on Wennington Marsh was completely hampered by the mist so I carried on to join the others at the Landfill.

Recognising a couple of other fellow Norfolk birders I joined them to peer through the perimeter fence and the bushes at the congregated gulls, but it quickly became evident that the current tipping area was indeed out of view from our position and that as a consequence we were only seeing a very small percentage of the gulls present.

Having drawn a blank (plus a curious report of the SBG flying over Dagenham), at c1045 we decided to check the pools on Wennington Marsh as we had noted a good number of gulls drifting off that way from the landfill, plus it was a change of scenery and the walk would warm us up a bit!

We joined about half-a-dozen others who were watching from near the Serin mound and after ruling out an GBB Gull which was being watched by some of the others on our arrival, I started what I thought would be the difficult task of sifting through the assembled gulls due to the distance they were away from us and the still relatively misty conditions.

However I immediately locked on to a large dark-backed gull, which was showing a blueish tinge to the mantle and a large white scapular patch. Unfortunately at this point it was facing away from us and was both partially obscured and preening so not much of the bird was visible but I certainly wasn't going to take my eyes off it. It momentarily lifted its head up from preening its breast revealing a streaked head and neck, the streaks being concentrated around the eye area forming a dark patch, and a very pale bill, and alarm bells immediately started to ring! How ironic that given the accusations of not knowing what I was looking at when I had previously claimed the bird, that yet again I was to be the one to pick it out!

Almost simultaneously another birder from the group came over to say he thought he had picked it out and upon quickly confirming we were looking at the same bird we hastened to get everyone else on it, and this time I would do my damnist to get a photo for the doubters should it fly.

After a frustrating couple of minutes of it remaining obscured and continuing to preen it finally gave a view of its back half revealing the large white secondary 'skirt' wrapping around the wing edge giving the final comfirmation, if it was needed, that this was indeed the Slaty-backed.

Phone calls were quickly made to alert those at the Landfill, and despite one horrible moment when it looked as though it was going to fly, it stayed put for everyone on site to see it, and indeed apart from a couple of fly rounds it stayed in the field and on the pools for another couple of hours allowing it to be grilled at will, with the primary pattern and thick white trailing edge to the wings added to the suite of features already noted. With it hanging around for a few hours it was sucessfully twitched from offsite, including some who had been at the Oriental Turtle Dove earlier that morning, making a lot of very happy and relieved faces.

Due to the distance and the mist, only record shots could be obtained with a selection included below, but despite the lack of quality most of the salient features are visible.

A dark Juv Iceland Gull was also noted in amongst the gull flock, seen both in flight and briefly on the deck, which was a great back-up bird as I hadn't seen an Iceland for a few years.

Another Firecrest in Felbrigg

Seawatching yesterday from West Runton produced about half a dozen Guillemots loafing around offshore, with most of them now in their full summer attire. A couple of Gannets and 2 Kittiwakes were also noted passing by, along with the usual Red-throated Divers which seem to be present in good numbers this year.

A walk around Felbrigg Park today produced a stunning Firecrest in a different area to the one seen previously there. Siskins were present in good numbers with the song of the males filling the air, a Lesser Redpoll flew over calling and 3 Roe Deer gave excellent views as they froze only a few feet away, with the aim of remaining undetected, their coats ragged due to moulting into their summertime fur.

Peregrine

A walk along the clifftop between Trimingham and Sidestrand today in the hope of some Twite or Snow Buntings drew a blank, but whilst scanning across the fields inland where 5 Hares were busy chasing each other around, I was delighted to pick up a male Peregrine sitting in the same field.

I watched it for a while before it flew a short way again landing on the ground, but it soon took flight again and this time majestically powered its way inland disappearing towards Hungry Hill.

Marsh Tits and Sanderling

With the very mild and sunny weather, birds seemed to be very much more in evidence today following the recent lull.

The first Sanderling on the patch this year was noted on West Runton beach, where 3 Harbour Porpoise were noted offshore.

A walk round Felbrigg revealed that most birds were in full song, obviously thinking spring had arrived, and the first Marsh Tits for the year were duely located by their song, with one in the north-east corner of the park and then another in the damp woodland at the back of the lake.

Quiet on the patch but good further afield

The last few weeks as expected have been fairly quiet around the patch as there is little movement of birds at this time of year.

The only noticable change has been the build up of wildfowl at Felbrigg with in excess of 80 Greylags now around the park, and on the lake Tufted Duck numbers peaked at 41, plus a few pairs of Gadwall have appeared along with a Coot. No further sign of any Mandarins however and no Pochards have returned to the lake so far.

As usual the West Runton Med Gull continues to delight in the beach car park, and I think he now recognises my car and knows a bit of bread is coming his way!

Away from the patch a couple of jaunts along the coast produced some good birds including Ross's Goose, American Wigeon, Spoonbill, Rough-legged Buzzard and Glaucous Gull being the most notable along the more expected Shorelarks, Snow Buntings, Twite, Hen Harriers, Water Pipit and Red-necked Grebe etc.

First Gannet of the year

Seawatching today produced the first Gannet of the year, plus good numbers of Red-throated Divers and a Harbour Porpoise offshore.

Smew and lots at Felbrigg

Today I paid a visit to Felbrigg to see if any more wildfowl had returned to the lake following its thaw and I wasn't disappointed.

A pair of Canada Geese, 13 Tufted Ducks (9m4f) and a Mute Swan were on the lake, and 8 Greylags were on the grassy field running up to the hall.

I then went to the eastern side of the park in the hope of locating a Marsh Tit, and although I drew a blank I was amply compensated with a stunning Firecrest in an area of holly bushes. At least one presumed Lesser Redpoll was flying round the area but it never settled to have a good look at it, a couple of Woodcock were flushed from the undergrowth and Treecreepers seemed to be everywhere.

Another surprise sighting was this Red Admiral which had presumably been brought out of hibernation by the recent very mild weather.



I then went over to a private lake in the hope of some Gadwall and was suitably rewarded and then suddenly noticed a duck flying into the lake and upon raising my bins was shocked to see that it was a Smew, only my third patch record following one on Felbrigg Lake and the unusual record of one on the sea amongst a Scoter flock off Overstrand.

Naturally I was delighted with the find, and it was definitely an excellent bird to bring up the 100 for the patch this year in record time. I tried to get some photos but at the same time keeping low down behind some reeds so not to disturb it so the image below is slightly blurred with the odd reed in the foreground, but nonetheless a pleasing result.

Slaty-backed Gull

With a putative Slaty-backed Gull having been present on the Landfill Site adjacent to Rainham Marshes the last couple of days, I took a trip over there today to hopefully connect with this potential first for Britain.

Having located it amongst the other gulls on the tip, we had around 15 seconds of views before it took off, but unfortunately it did not reappear again for the remainder of the day, the tip closing at midday not helping, although others did note the bird later in the morning.

The brevity of the views were disappointing, but more so was the now expected bitching on the internet with others questioning the validity of the sighting etc. Anyway, I am happy as to what we saw and can't be bothered to get involved so won't waste my time writing any more on the subject, but hopefully it will reappear soon so everyone else can see it.......

Back to birding, a couple of Ring-necked Parakeets flew over the reserve car park on the way back calling loudly which were nice to see for those of us living away from their stronghold.

Great Skua

A lunchtime seawatch off West Runton today produced the big surprise of a Great Skua slowly passing west and a Guillemot which landed on the sea fairly close inshore.

Good numbers of Red-throated Divers were on the sea too, until a very large plane flew fairly low over the sea flushing them all in the process, although the sight of them all flying round together in the sky was a rather spectacular sight.

Mandarins back at Felbrigg

A look at the sea off West Runton today produced a few Kittiwakes moving past, along with a Lesser Black-backed Gull. Red-throated Divers, Fulmar and a couple of distant auks were also noted.

Kestrel, West Runton

A visit to Felbrigg Park revealed that the lake was now partially thawed and as a result the hoped for Mandarins, 2 males and a female, were located lurking in their 'usual' corner under the trees. However apart from one on new years eve, I've only recorded 1 other there during the last 4 or 5 months so their return was a very welcome sight. On the way back to the car the first Green Woodpecker of the year was noted too.

A drive round the southern side of the park produced 3 Common Buzzards in the air together enjoying the afternoon sunshine.

Finally a walk around Overstrand and Sidestrand appeared that it was going to go unrewarded until the white rump of a Brambling flew up infront of me and into a thick hedge, with a look through the bins revealing that there was actually a small flock present which was a nice record for the village.

2nd & 3rd Jan

The remainder of the holiday weekend was spent trying to mop up some species missed on Saturday.

First port of call on Sunday was West Runton where a Common Scoter was noted passing by, then a quick stop at East Runton provided Fieldfare feeding on the sloe berries and a brief fly-round by the Waxwing which then disappeared into another non-viewable area of sloes.

Northrepps sewage farm produced a Grey Wagtail, and a Coot and a couple of Little Grebes were on Southrepps Little Broad, plus a few Yellowhammers and a Stock Dove nearby.

Monday morning saw me back at West Runton where the Purple Sand was again watched feeding amongst the seaweed covered rocks, an Eider was on the sea and both Curlew and Dunlin were noted passing west.

An afternoon visit to Felbrigg Park revealed that the lake remained frozen but the Barn Owl was watched quartering the meadows

Patch Day List

As ever the new year commenced with a day list round the patch and thankfully the fog of the last few days had dispersed to allow some birds to be seen.

A Robin singing pre-dawn brought in the new year, and it, along with a Blackbird, Dunnock, Black-headed Gulls, Magpie and Jackdaws were all seen from the window in the first glimmers of daylight.

On the way down to the seafront House Sparrow, Woodpigeon and Starling were quickly seen along with a Jay and, as it transpired, the first of many skeins of Pinkfeet to be seen during the day passed over. The seafront produced Herring and GBB Gulls and the resident cliff-dwelling Feral Rock Doves, but nothing at all was evident out to sea.

Not wanting to waste time, and to dodge the annoying early showers, I was soon heading off along the coast road towards West Runton seeing Carrion Crow on the way, and a stop at Cromer carnival field produced Pied Wagtail, Rook, Oystercatcher and Fulmar on the cliffs.

Arriving in West Runton, Collared Doves became evident on the houses and before I was even half way down the road to the beach car park, the Med Gull dutifully flew round over the car, and was accordingly rewarded with a few slices of bread!

A scan of the beach quickly produced Common Gull, Grey Plover, Redshank, Lapwing and Turnstone and then the hoped for Purple Sandpiper, which has been around for a few days now, was picked out amongst the seaweed covered rocks.

Attention turned to the sea with a Cormorant and a few Red-throated Divers offshore, and then a party of ducks were seen approaching which turned out to be Wigeon with the added surprise bonus of 2+Pale-bellied Brent Geese amongst them. Skylark and Meadow Pipit were flying around the cliff-top, a Golden Plover flew over and then a flock of 11 Knot were picked up on the rapidly increasing shoreline. A Great Crested Grebe was picked out on the sea amongst a small group of Divers and then another big surprise with a redhead Goosander flying close inshore heading east and a few Dark-bellied Brents were also noted passing by. A check of the fields along the beach road produced Common Snipe.

Moving on, a quick stop near the station produced a nice mixed finch flock with Siskin, Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Chaffinch in the alders along with a Blue Tit, and Mallards and Moorhen on the pond. Further along the road the first Pheasant was noted and a stop by Roman Camp produced Goldcrest and Great Tit.

It was then on to Felbrigg Park with Nuthatch and Wren closely followed by Mistle Thrush and Redwing, and then the welcome bonus of a Woodcock flushed from along the stream edge. Egyptian Geese and Teal were also along the stream but with the lake still frozen no other wildfowl could be added. A Water Rail was inadvertently flushed from lakeside vegetation and a few Reed Buntings were in the reedbed. On the way back to the car a fine male Bullfinch was seen along with a flock of Long-tailed Tits and a Great-spotted Woodpecker. A Coal Tit was noted in the car park and then both Tawny Owl and Green Woodpecker were heard calling but evaded detection. A quick dash into the other end of the park produced Treecreeper.

A drive round to try and mop up a few more produced Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Red-legged Partridges and Heron along the Roughton Road, Overstrand produced a Kestrel and Song Thrush and a Sparrowhawk was noted over Sidestrand.

Time was pressing now so I headed back along the coast road, calling into East Runton to see the semi-plastic Greylags, and then as light was rapidly fading made the decision to abort a return to West Runton but instead carry on up the road towards Felbrigg Park for owls. This proved a very fortuitous decision as while making a very quick stop on the way to look for Yellowhammer, I stumbled upon a Waxwing loosely associating with some Redwings feeding on sloe berries. With little time and even less light a rubbish record shot was quickly taken and then it was off to Felbrigg.

A quick dash down to the lake area failed to produce Barn Owl but on the way back I suddenly noticed two geese in the field just in front and was delighted to see that they were a couple of Whitefronts, an excellent site record. Back to the car and then a quick scan virtually immediately produced the resident Little Owl an excellent finish to the day, or so I thought, as within a few hundred yards of getting back home a Tawny Owl gracefully glided across the road rounding off the day perfectly.

A grand total of 75 birds were seen during the day, all within a 4km radius of Cromer, a really excellent tally and one which soundly beat my previous day list high of 67.

Review of the Year

As the year comes to an end here's a quick look back at the last twelve months on the patch which were, due to the enormous amount of time spent out in the field, undoubtedly the best ever.

9 new birds for the patch were seen, namely Tundra Bean Goose, Bittern, a pair of Bearded Tits, 2 separate Black-necked Grebes, Little Ringed Plover, King Eider, Corn Bunting, Barnacle Geese and 3 Hooded Crows.

The Bittern & Bean Goose day back in January will live long in the memory, and the buzz of finding most of the others, plus a host of scarce visitors is all that is needed to spur you on during those seemingless birdless periods.

Other notable birding highlights on the patch this year include the lingering Alpine Swift, Glaucous Gull, Richards Pipit, Wryneck, Red-backed Shrike, Yellow-browed Warbler, Hoopoe, Waxwings, Hen Harrier, Wood Warbler, Twite, Shorelark, Jack Snipe and Storm Petrel. In total 200 species were recorded during the year (190 of which were self found) which is an excellent total for an area with no managed reserves and which heavily relies upon those species which are just passing through to make up the yearly total.

Non-avain highlights of 2010 include on the Dragonfly front finding the Red-veined Darter at Felbrigg and refinding the Southern Emerald Damselfly at Winterton, and the amazing spectacle of the Purple Emperors at Fermyn was the undoubted Butterfly moment of the year.

I guess the only disappointment of the past 12 months was the fact that news of a Red-flanked Bluetail at Trimingham in October has only recently emerged which has naturally caused some ill feeling locally, but less said about that the better, and I'm sure there'll be another one on the patch sooner rather than later anyway.

So what lies ahead in 2011? Well with less free time available next year, although hopefully I'll still get out on the patch pretty much daily anyway, getting anywhere near 200 again will be an impossibe task (170 will be a more realistic target), but just enjoying my birding and hopefully finding a few good birds will be as ever the aim. Also after failing to get a British tick this year for the first time ever, a British lifer next year would be very welcome too.

Having well and truly got the Butterfly and Dragonfly bug, I'll hopefully do a bit of travelling in '11 to see some of those species that I've yet to see, with a trip up to Scotland and the south-west planned, and hopefully get loads of decent photos too.

Finally with a day list around the patch planned for tomorrow, here's hoping this persistent fog of the last few days will disperse overnight......

Anyway thanks to all of you who have read this blog during the year and hopefully found it a bit interesting and/or enjoyed looking at my photo's, and hopefully I'll keep it going throughout next year.

Waxwings from the window

A fortuitous glance out of the window this morning resulted in seeing a flock of 6 Waxwings flying past heading west which was a good start to the day.

A check along the seafront at Overstrand produced 3 Sanderlings on the beach which is a good local record as they have become very scarce visitors here compared to recent years. A couple of Ringed Plovers, Turnstone and Oystercatcher were also feeding along the high tide line, and a number of Lapwings and a Golden Plover were noted coming in-off.

A walk up to the reservoir at Sidestrand produced the highlight of a couple of Egyptian Geese flying in and landing in the field next to it, which, away from Felbrigg Park, are also very scarce visitors to the patch.

Christmas Day Kittiwake at West Runton

A Woodcock flew over the house on Monday evening, and Christmas Eve saw a couple of Redwings feeding in the garden.

A check of the beach on Christmas Day morning on the off chance that the Glaucous Gull, which had been at Cromer earlier before flying off west, had dropped in drew a blank but a fine 1st-winter Kittiwake which briefly landing on the exposed seaweed covered rocks was a nice surprise.

The usual Med Gull was on its favourite post, and waders were well represented with a Knot, Grey Plover, Ringed Plover, Redshank, Turnstone and Oystercatcher on the beach and Golden Plover and Lapwing in the fields. Offshore a few Red-throated Divers were noted passing by.

Freezing conditions make for a quiet couple of weeks

With the snow and freezing conditions, the last couple of weeks have been pretty quiet round the patch but still a few notable records with a Snow Bunting in-off the sea at West Runton, a White-fronted Goose out to sea off Overstrand amongst an incoming flock of c20 Pinkfeet, and a Little Egret in the meadows around Felbrigg Lake.

Mealy Redpolls bring up the 200!

A walk around the north east corner of Felbrigg Park today in the hope of locating some Redpolls proved a success and even better when it became quickly obvious that they were Mealy Redpolls which I had been doing a lot of searching for over the last few weeks so I was delighted both at my find and the fact that they brought up the 200 for the patch this year, a really brilliant achievement and good reward for a huge amount of patch working this year.

At least 3 were present, and whilst watching two feeding overhead in some birches they were joined by a Lesser Redpoll which gave a good comparison between the two species.

Jack Snipe and Hooded Crow

With the freezing conditions persisting and a heavy snowfall overnight it was no surprise that birds were on the move today seeking out any suitable areas to feed.

A walk round the village was cut short with the news that my Dad had found a Black-tailed Godwit on the beach at West Runton, but unfortunately with the treacherous road conditions making the drive there extremely slow the incoming tide got to the bird before I could and pushed it off west, however a Hooded Crow feeding on the tideline amongst a melee of gulls was some compensation.

Whilst I was there a number of Snipe were noted coming in-off the sea so I decided to check the stream which ran alongside the beach road as it remained unfrozen and was immediately rewarded as I inadvertently flushed a Jack Snipe up out of the ditch which conveniently joined a Common Snipe as they flew round giving an excellent size comparison between the two before they went down into the adjacent fields, which was a really excellent record for the patch bringing me to just one short of my 200 target, and with all the freezing conditions currently occurring hopes were high of finding that one last bird..........

Big passage of Redshank and Shelduck

A seawatch today in a freezing onshore wind revealed that there were large amounts of waders moving past west presumably having been frozen out from the continent, and although the majority of flocks were too distant to id to species, the ones that were closer were all Redshank with flocks of 20+ birds passing at a time, and were undoubtedly the most I had ever seen moving through the patch. Also moving west were a notable passage of Shelduck along with a few Pintail too.

Whooper Swans over Trimingham

A planned walk along the clifftop between Sidestrand and Trimingham today to see if the Twite were still present had to be aborted as a major chunk of the cliffs, along with some of the clifftop sugar beet field, had recently collapsed and there was no longer a pathway along there.

I therefore decided to walk in from the Trimingham end but as I arrived at the layby I noticed a huge snow storm approaching from out to see so I decided to sit in the car for a while to wait for it to pass through, which as it transpired was a fortuitous decision as after a couple of minutes a flock of 10 Whooper Swans flew in off the sea just on the front edge of the storm and passed right over the road in front of my car.

Hoping that the snow may have grounded them I drove round the fields inland but there was no sign of them but still I was delighted with another new patch year tick bringing me to 198 as the month came to a close.

Goldeneye on Felbrigg Lake

A visit to Felbrigg Park today produced a fine drake Goldeneye on the lake, but unfortunately the Goosanders which had also been on there had been flushed by gun-shots in the adjacent wood shortly before my arrival.

Bittern at Titchwell

Another visit to Titchwell this afternoon produced a nice flight view of a Bittern over the reedbed, a redhead Goosander on the freshmarsh and a ringtail Hen Harrier over Thornham Marsh, along with a couple of Chinese Water Deer including the one photo'd yesterday with the split ear.

Raptors Galore

A visit to Titchwell today produced a plethora of raptors over Thornham Marsh with 2 Hen Harriers, 2+ Peregrines, Common Buzzard, Merlin, Marsh Harriers, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel, plus a Barn Owl too.

The bird being touted as a Northern Harrier was also seen distantly around Thornham Point but having seen the Tacumshin bird I must admit I was underwhelmed by this bird and think there is still alot to learn about the variation that Hen Harriers can show.

Other highlights whilst we were there included a couple of Lapland Buntings flying over and a Chinese Water Deer.

More Waxwings

More Waxwings were the highlight of the day today with a flock of 80+ on roadside wires near the Cawston roundabout which may well have been the birds from Aylsham, plus on the way home another 6 were seen on the roadside near Colby.

Rough-legged Buzzards at Holkham NNR

An early morning seawatch off East Runton produced a presumed Short-eared Owl in off the sea, and whilst a check of the clifftop bushes in which it appeared to go down in drew a blank, a Waxwing flew over.

A trip along the coast to Burnham Norton produced the desired result with a couple of Rough-legged Buzzards seen hunting over the saltmarsh and then on the way back a third flew over the coast road, briefly landing in a tree before heading off over the pines.

Waxwings at Aylsham

With a big flock of Waxwings still being present at Aylsham today, the short trip over was too hard to resist, and I was soon enjoying the thrilling (or should that be trilling) spectacle of them commuting between overhead wires and a berry-laden hedge, with c99 birds present.

Fairly quiet around the patch

Despite my best efforts in trying to turn up something new for the year, the last ten days have been pretty quiet round the patch, with the only noteworthy sightings being a few Pochard and Gadwall returning to Felbrigg Lake for the winter, a Little Egret flying along the tideline past Cromer Pier, and at West Runton the usual Med Gull.

 

More Seawatching

Highlights of another bout of seawatching from the patch this morning were a single Little Auk, a few Pom Skuas and some Little Gulls. Goldeneye, Red-breasted Mergansers, Eider, Kittiwakes and Common Scoter were amongst the other species noted passing by too.

Scaup and Long-tailed Duck

With strong onshore winds a brief seawatch off West Runton late afternoon produced the desired results with a pair of Scaup and a Long-tailed Duck seen, both of which were new for the year bringing the total for the patch this year to a tantalising 197. Two Sooty Shearwaters passing by were also very noteworthy.

Firecrest

A walk along the golf course today was pretty quiet but a nice surprise was had when checking Happy Valley as I found a Firecrest in Warren Woods which as always was a stunning looking bird.

MARSH HAWK at Tacumshin

Following the finding of a Marsh Hawk, the North American counterpart of our Hen Harrier, last weekend at Tacumshin, its continued presence meant a trip over to County Wexford was the order of the day.

After a couple of brief distant views, it eventually gave itself up as it hunted the fields to the north of the east end car park, and was later watched over the forgotten corner and then finally again as it came into roost in the reedbed to the west of the lake.

As ever Tacumshin held a host of other birds, with the most notable being a few flocks of Greenland White-fronted Geese passing over, good numbers of Whooper Swans on the lake (along with a single Black Swan!), a Peregrine chasing the wader flocks, 1+ Short-eared Owls hunting along the fringes of the lake and a few European Hen Harriers including a nice male at the roost site.

Twite revisited

Today I again visited Sidestrand with the hope of getting some decent pics of the Twite that I had found yesterday and although they continued to be very mobile and elusive I managed to get a few. As usual many of the birds in the flock were colour-ringed allowing them to be traced back to their breeding grounds in northern England.

A flock of c90 Golden Plovers were present in the clifftop field and four Lapland Buntings flew over heading west.

Richards Pipit and Twite

First port of call today was Sidestrand to check out the flock of small birds that I had seen late yesterday afternoon.

 

As I was walking along the clifftop towards where I had seen the flock I suddenly noticed a large pipit hovering over the clifftop vegetation before landing out of sight. Despite the brief views the prospect of this being a Richards Pipit was very high so I carefully tried to position myself where I might be able to see it if it moved to a shorter area of grass, but unfortunately it wasn't on the ground for long but fortuitously flew right past me calling as it bounded strongly off west and I was able to confirm its id. Apart from one that was at West Runton last autumn, this was my only other patch record of the species and the first that I have found myself so I was naturally elated with the record.

On a high, I carried on along the clifftop and quickly located the flock of birds seen yesterday as they flew along the cliffs towards me. From their flight calls, I was delighted to immediately recognise them as Twite, and after quickly changing position I was able to see them land on the cliff-face and then watch them feeding on the seed-heads of the sparse undercliff vegetation.

They were very mobile and often disappeared from view in various crevices, so it was very difficult to count them, so I took a couple of quick snaps on one of the occasions that they flew round for perusal later, with one showing that there were 21 birds present in the flock, and as I hadn't seen any other species with them, presumably they were all Twite, and a very excellent record for the patch.

A couple of Lapland Buntings flew over calling, and there was a nice passage of Lapwings also moving west.

Lapland Bunting and Waxwing

A walk around Trimingham today revealed that there was still at least one Lapland Bunting in the clifftop stubble, and a Waxwing flew over calling but out of sight from my position.

Just as I was leaving I scanned towards Sidestrand and picked up a flock of small birds flying around the clifftop and then they appeared to disappear off across the clifftop field. Knowing that this was unusual for the location and that the same area had previously attracted both Snow Buntings and Twite, they were naturally worthy of further investigation, but as the light was fading fast I decided to leave them for tomorrow.....

Month ends on a quiet note

The last week of the month was pretty uneventful with the only birds of note seen around the patch being a female Mandarin on Felbrigg Lake, the first one I have noted there for a number of months, and the regular adult Med Gull which has returned to West Runton to winter.

Another rewarding seawatch

With onshore winds another seawatch from the patch was in order today, and whilst it initially appeared that it was going to be fairly poor, my persistence paid off when I picked up a Leach's Petrel heading east. Although it was fairly distant, the advantage of a high viewpoint meant I was able to watch it for a good while before it eventually disappeared into the troughs. Other notable birds included a single Little Auk and a few Pom Skuas making it a very worthwhile mornings seawatching.

Rough-legged Buzzard at Stifffkey

A trip along the coast today produced the long-staying Grey Phalarope at Cley and Yellow-browed Warbler at Holkham, but the undoubted highlight of the day came when calling in at Stiffkey late afternoon to check the saltmarsh for raptors.

On arrival a Peregrine was noted siting out on the beach beyond the saltmarsh, and then whilst scanning the area for harriers, I spotted a pale blob amongst the vegetation not far out off the campsite wood. I nearly didn't give it a second look but was very glad that I did as when I got my scope on it I was delighted to see that the pale blob was actually the head and breast of a juv Rough-legged Buzzard! It was sitting on the ground partially obscured but quickly took flight and headed off inland behind the wood, presumably to roost. This bird is part of a small influx along the east coast of Britain at the moment and hopefully one will go on to winter along the north coast this year.

First of the influx of Waxwings arrive

With thousands of Waxwings currently arriving in the north of the British Isles, hopes were naturally high that they would start arriving here in the south too, and today indeed saw that arrival in the county.

Fortunately I was to share in this early vanguard as whilst out walking along the golf-course I heard their familiar trilling calls fast approaching and noted a flock of 12 come in-off the sea and head inland over the country club, and then only a few minutes later trilling again filled the air and another flock of 14 whizzed along the cliff-top past the Lighthouse heading south-east. Its always a special encounter when you find some Waxwings, and with the huge numbers entering the country at the moment it promises to be a very good winter for them especially given the large berry crop we have experienced this autumn.

Wheatear and more Rock Pipits

A visit to West Runton today revealed that there were still a few Rock Pipits passing through, with two or three feeding on the beach and cliffs for a short while before they moved off west. Also a reasonably late Northern Wheatear which was feeding along the base of the cliffs was noteworthy too.

More Grey Partridges

Highlight of today was an even larger flock of Grey Partridges that I discovered in the field adjacent to Sidestrand School with 14 present in this covey. Thet were trying their best to evade detection in the recently sown field, before they eventually flew off in the direction of the fields where I had encountered the flock of 9 a week ago.

Purple Sands

A walk aroung Trimingham this afternoon produced my first Snow Bunting of the autumn with one flying along the cliffs.

A text then alerted me to the fact that there were a couple of Purple Sandpipers feeding on the prom at Overstrand over high tide, which were fortunately still present when I arrived, and showed very well feeding unconcerned on the lowest concrete ledge occasionally needing to take quick evasive action as the highest of the waves crashed over them. After a while they then flew up on to one of the groynes where they roosted for a while before returning to the prom to feed.

Small passage of Rock Pipits

A visit to West Runton today in the hope of finding a Rock Pipit on the beach was rewarded when one of the holiday-makers who were rock-pooling there flushed one off the foreshore and it strongly headed off west calling as it went. Then over the next hour or so it became evident that there was actually a light passage of Rock Pipits taking place with a small stream of birds, both singles and small groups, moving west calling as they went, but as inviting as the beach and cliffs should have appeared none landed, maybe due to the number of people around.

I did however notice that the odd one had appeared to go down on the rocky reefs out from Sheringham prom, and a quick trip along there indeed revealed a couple out on the rock piles but again these quickly flew off west.

An excellent mornings seawatch

With the overnight northerlies picking up in strength, I was out shortly after dawn today to do a seawatch from the patch, and was rewarded with some really excellent birds.

Main highlights were 4+ Little Auks, all singles which passed by close inshore, and a Grey Phalarope, which was the first one that I've ever recorded on a seawatch so was a very notable record. A couple of Pom Skuas, 2 Velvet Scoter and a Shoveler were all new patch birds for the year too.

Back-up birds were also very good with a Short-eared Owl in off the sea, Great Skua, Goldeneye and Red-breasted Mergansers, plus lots of Auks, Brent Geese and Kittiwakes, along with a Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Teal, Common Scoter, Mallards, Red-throated Divers and Gannets.

The new birds for the year saw me break the 190 barrier, a very good total indeed as my previous highest patch year list was 182 back in 2008. I'm fast running out of possible species so 200 seems an impossible task but with 2 and a half months to go only time will tell.

Yellow-browed Warbler and Barnacle Goose

A phone call today alerted me to the finding of a Yelow-browed Warbler in Trimingham churchyard, and after a small wait it eventually reappeared and gave good views on and off as it fed up in a sycamore tree.

A seawatch this afternoon produced the surprise of a Barnacle Goose flying west past East Runton, a good record to add to the two seen last month. Other birds seen passing by included Red-breasted Merganser, Eider, Common Scoter, Teal, Wigeon, Brent Geese, Red-throated Diver, and a few Gannets and Auks.

Hooded Crows

What was looking like a fairly quiet day around the patch today was suddenly brightened up when whilst I was at Trimingham I scanned a large recently ploughed field in the distance where I could see a number of corvids and gulls had gathered and quickly noticed that there were two crows which appeared to be showing light grey backs right at the back of the field.

Naturally thoughts quickly turned to the possibility of them being Hooded Crows, but I was slightly unsure as to whether it was simply a trick of the light due to the distance, so I quickly made my way over to the edge of the field where to my delight I could now see that they were indeed Hooded Crows, and a new patch tick for me into the bargain!

I quickly dashed back to grab my scope just to eliminate any possibility of them being hybrids and to get some record shots of them. Fortunately they were still present on my return and they were watched commuting between the clifftop field and the beach below, occasionally being flushed every now and again as the farmer had appeared and was now spraying the field with some strong smelling bright yellow chemical which I tried my best not to inhale too much of as he passed by!

Whereas they were a fairly regular bird in the county back in the 1980's, Hooded Crows have now become very scarce with just the occasional bird passing through, but which up till now have always eluded me so it was very pleasing to finally catch up with one (or even two) on the patch, and even better that they hung around long enough for some of the locals to catch up with them too.

On the way back a couple of Roe Deer were seen feeding in a field at Sidestrand, with one posing nicely for a photo before it noticed my presence and headed off into the bracken covered slope behind.

Red-flanked Bluetail at Waxham

Having spent the last week or so relentlessly flogging the patch in the hope of finding a Bluetail of my own, today I finally admitted defeat and decided to go and see the one at Waxham (the fourth one in the county in the last few days) as they are such stunning birds.

A Lapland Bunting flew over as I was parking the car, and on the way along the dunes, two Common Cranes were watched feeding in a field just inland.

The clump where the Bluetail was hanging out was finally located, the misleading directions on the pager not helping one bit, and after a short wait it showed very well and over the next couple of hours regularly came down to some mealworms put down for it giving the assembled crowd stunning views. Despite its once mythical status having long been shattered by the numerous recent occurences, it must still rank as one of the best birds on the British list and still very much a dream find, so I'll never give up flogging the patch in the hope of one of these beauties popping up in front of me!

Grey Partridges

A walk around the patch today revealed that there were still good numbers of common migrants in evidence with Thrushes, Robins, Chiffchaffs, Goldcrests and Bramblings all along the coast.

A Pied Flycatcher and Redstart were an unexpected find in a garden in Overstrand village and then a walk round Sidestrand produced 5 Lapland Buntings over calling, another Redstart, Grey Wagtail and the first Fieldfare of the autumn.

The major highlight however was a flock of 9 Grey Partridges that I flushed from the field edge near the reservoir and then watched in the field adjacent to the turkey sheds at Northrepps. As they are in many parts of the country, Grey Partridges have become extremely scarce around here and these were the first that I had seen on the patch since a pair seen back in 2006, so they were a very welcome sight and hopefully they will hang around the area for a while.

Short-eared Owl

Highlights from yesterday were a couple of Common Redstarts, and 1+ Ring Ouzels still along the GC and a couple of Whinchats at East Runton.

A check around East Runton today produced good numbers of thrushes moving inland including a Ring Ouzel and a number of flocks of Redwings. The two Whinchats were still present and good numbers of Bramblings, Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests were still evident.

A walk around the lighthouse and golf course area produced a couple of Garden Warblers, Whinchat, Ring Ouzel, Wheatear and yet more Bramblings, Chiffchaffs, Goldcrests and Thrushes, plus a few Siskin and a Redpoll over.

However the undoubted highlight was a Short-eared Owl which came in off the sea, circled the cliffs briefly to pick up a thermal, before heading off high inland.

'White-winged' Crow

A walk along the GC revealed a Whinchat on the cliff-face and a few flocks of Thrushes coming in off the sea.

There are currently a number of Crows in the area which have white flight feathers in varying degrees, with one, which, as it was today, can usually be found hanging around the turf slope area being particularly striking.

As the day progressed more and more Redwings and Song Thrushes were seen coming in off the sea, along with a few Bramblings with more of the latter being encountered in the woods and fields around the patch. Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests were also much in evidence, along with a few Reed Buntings, Blackcaps and a Common Whitethroat.

Red-backed Shrike continues to perform well

With much better light today I went back down to the pitch & putt field in Cromer to get some better pics of the Red-backed Shrike which once the mornings rain had passed through was peforming excellently along the weedy ditch in the middle of the field. It was seen to catch a number of wasps and even pounced on a Speckled Wood butterfly in the grass which it had managed to spot from about 50 metres away, showing what excellent eyesight they must have.

The Redstart was still in the hedgerow and a Brambling was heard calling from the adjacent sycamore wood.

Red-backed Shrike

A walk along the GC this afternoon revealed that there were a few Ring Ouzels down on the undercliff although as they were typically mobile and elusive I never saw all of them at once but going on plumage there was probably 4 birds down there. Not surprisingly with the course now full of golfers, yesterdays Shorelark was nowhere to be seen.

News then filtered through of an unconfirmed report of a Red-backed Shrike by the Meadow car park in Cromer so I quickly made my way there to find that a couple of other locals had just arrived too and had quickly located it and indeed confirmed its identification. Apparently whoever had found it had popped into the local tourist information centre to tell them about it and they had put the news out!

 

Also around the same area was a Redstart and a Wheatear so the area was obviously acting as a migrant trap, a place that I've never even considering looking at up till now, but maybe it'll be worth keeping an eye on it in the future especially at this time of year when the pitch & putt which takes place on the field isn't in operation.

Shorelark on the Golf Course

What was a quiet day was eventually livened up when I received a phone call to say that there was a Shorelark on the golf course. Fearing that it would be quickly pushed off by golfers I quickly made my way there, but I needn't have worried as the course was virtually deserted due to the Ryder Cup taking place and no doubt everyone was watching that, or rather in the midst of celebrating as Europe had just won moments earlier.

It was quickly located feeding on the short turf of the fairway nearest the Overstrand end, and was often loosely associating with a couple of Wheatears. It was a very good record for the patch being only the second one I have recorded locally following one on the carnival field at Cromer a few years back.
 

As evening approached a few skeins of Pink-footed Geese were passing over hearalding the start of their immigration to the county for the winter.

A few migrants still lingering

A check around the lighthouse and golf course revealed that there was still at least one Pied Flycatcher in Warren Woods and a Spotted Flycatcher in cliff-face bushes below the GC. A few Song Thrushes and Robins remain but nothing like the numbers of recent days. A 1st-winter Mediterranean Gull which flew along the beach heading towards Overstrand was the other notable record of the day.

Pied Flys etc continue to linger

A check of the area around the lighthouse today revealed that there was still 2+ Pied Flys and a Redstart in the clifftop woods plus a few Bramblings, Song Thrushes and Robins, with many of the latter feeding high up in the tree canopy and looking rather out of context. A Treecreeper which was also in one of the woods was quite likely a migrant too.

East Runton still held a couple of Whinchats, and a few Butterflies, including Red Admiral, Speckled Wood, Comma and Small Copper, were in evidence around the patch along with a few Migrant Hawker Dragonflies too.

A few more migrants coming in

Having concentrated on the east end of the patch yesterday, I decided to search the western end today although the increasing wind and showers weren't ideal.

A couple of Whinchats were at East Runton with a couple more along the clifftop at West Runton, along with a Wheatear, with a couple more of the latter also noted coming in off the sea and pitching down on the tideline showing that migrants were still arriving.

Yellow-browed Warber and Lapland Bunting

An excellent day on the patch today with another mini-arrival of migrants evident around the patch.

A check of the golf course and the clifftops woods produced a Ring Ouzel, Pied and Spotted Flycatcher, Redstart, Bramblings, Siskins, Wheatears and still many Song Thrushes and Robins in every bit of cover. Also with the sun out and the fairly mild conditions, both Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler were heard singing.

Trimingham clifftop wood held 3 Pied Fly's and nearby a Redstart and Spotted Flycatcher, and then came what I thought would be the highlight of the day when walking the clifftop I flushed a Lapland Bunting out of the grass which flew round calling and headed off into the adjacent stubble field where I saw it a couple of times more before it again returned to the rough grass strip along the clifftop.

As it was now late afternoon I was in two minds to carry on checking other areas but thankfully decided to give the area around Sidestrand a final bash and was very pleased that I did as I located a Yellow-browed Warbler loosely associating with a tit flock. Although I can pretty much guarantee finding one on the patch each autumn, its always still a buzz when I do as they are such excellent little birds to see. Both Redstart and Spotted Flycatcher were also present rounding off what had been a really great day around the patch and one which makes all the many hours of relentlessly flogging the area worthwhile.

Late Common Swift

Highlight of today was a Swift that was over Cromer this evening with the local House Martins. One at this time of year is always worth a second look but indeed this was just a Common Swift but still a nice record and probably the last of the year that I'll see.

Bonelli's and Yellow-browed Warblers

With the Bonelli's Warbler in Wells still not assigned to species, and rumours that on Sunday it was calling like an Eastern, a species that I have yet to see, I decided to pop over to see it for insurance purposes and hopefully clinch the id.

Whilst searching for it around the dell, I chanced upon a Yellow-browed Warbler, with a few Redstarts, a Pied Flycatcher and a few Garden Warblers also in the same area along with good numbers of Siskins. News filtered through that the Bonelli's had been located further along the main track so we quickly made our way along to the growing crowd and was soon watching it feeding in the back of the trees, and although it never gave really good views, they were enough for the general consensus to be that it was the more regularly occuring Western rather than the much rarer Eastern, which surely will occur before too much longer somewhere along the east coast.

Returning to the patch, a Pied Flycatcher was at West Runton and good numbers of the common migrants noted yesterday were still in evidence.

A good fall of common migrants

With the wind and rain of the last few days having abated, soon after getting out on the patch it was evident that there had been a big fall of common migrants on the coast.

Robins, Blackbirds and Song Thrushes were the main species involved with one seemingly in every bush and many in the woods. Siskins and Bramblings were also very noticable with a number of flocks moving through and others feeding in the sycamore woods.

Other species noted around the patch during the day included a Ring Ouzel, a few Redstarts, Whinchat, Spotted Flycatcher, Redwing, Redpoll, Reed Buntings, Wheatears, Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers.

More seawatching

A slightly later start today due to yesterdays exertions, saw me again seawatching of the patch where there were a few more birds passing then yesterday.

Highlights included a Red-necked Grebe which flew along close inshore in tandem with a Great Crested for comparison, and a Red-breasted Merganser, both of which were the first ones for the year on the patch. Also 6+ Sooty Shearwaters passed by with a couple pretty close in for a change offering very good views, and a Shag also passed along the tideline.

A few Arctic and Great Skuas also went by, along with good numbers of wildfowl with Wigeon, Teal and Common Scoter predominating, but a few Gadwall, and what was presumably a leucistic Pintail were also noteworthy.

Barnacle Geese and an American Fly on The Point!

Today started shortly after dawn with the anticipation of another good seawatch, however it quickly became apparent that there wasn't anywhere near the number of birds moving that there was yesterday which was rather disappointing.

However the early start was made worthwhile when I picked up two geese flying in from the west and as they got closer they were as I had initially suspected Barnacle Geese. I've previously recorded what were undoubtedly feral birds on a couple of occasions, so these were the first wild ones I'd recorded through the patch so obviously was very happy with the record.

The other highlights of the morning was a Shag that was lingering off the end of the pier, and a Merlin which was watched chasing an incoming passerine high out to sea.

On the seabird front there were small numbers of Arctic & Great Skuas, Manx Shearwater, Arctic Terns and Little Gulls. Waders were represented by Purple Sandpiper, Bar-tailed Godwit, Knot, Curlew and Dunlin and ducks by Eider, Common Scoter, Shelduck, Wigeon and Teal.

I'd not long returned home when there was a MEGA Alert revealing that there was an Empidonax Flycatcher species in the plantation on Blakeney Point! After a quick drive to Cley coastguards I embarked on the 3 mile walk up to the point in what can only be described as atrocious conditions, walking headlong into the gale force winds and driving rain, with nothing better to walk on then loose shingle.
About an hour and a half later I arrived at the plantation soaked through, not helped by an apparent short cut resulting in having to wade through water to get back to the proper 'path'. Oh for the days when I used to cycle up there on nice hard ground in 20 minutes!

Anyway the long gruelling slog was soon forgotton when the Flycatcher appeared in the base of a poplar tree and gave good views low down sheltering from the elements and who can blame it. It continued to show occasionally and good views were eventually obtained, with special thanks to ETM who kindly allowed me to look through his scope.

 

At the time of writing the exact species concerned is still being debated, and whilst muted as a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher for a while, the current thinking is now that it maybe an Alder/Willow Flycatcher, hopefully a Willow as I saw the presumed Alder Flycatcher in Cornwall a couple of years ago, but even when that bird was trapped the identification hasn't yet been accepted, so maybe this one will remain in limbo too, especially if it departs overnight to prevent further grilling and photographing. Only time will tell but whatever the species, an absolute brilliant bird and an amazing record for the county.

An excellent days seawatching

For once the expectations for a good days seawatching came to fruition with an excellent 6+ hours from the patch producing 2 Leach's Petrels, 3+ Long-tailed Skuas and a few Arctic Terns and Little Gulls, all of which were new for the year bringing my tally up to 176 so far and already breaking last years total of 174.

However the most notable event of the day was the sheer numbers of Great Skuas which were passing, with a near constant stream throughout the day including numerous double-figure flocks, and were by far the most that I have ever seen passing in a single day. I've never been one for counting birds as they pass, but there was easily well over 300 during the day, and probably many more further out that were kind of ignored as we were busy concentrating on all the birds passing closer by, with numerous giving excellent views through the surf.

Other birds of note seen included a few Sooty Shearwaters, good numbers of Manxies including one flock of c30 birds, numerous Arctic Skuas and Kittiwakes, plus Purple Sandpipers, Brent Geese, Red-throated Divers, Sandwich Terns, Gannets, Fulmars, Common Scoter, Pintail, Wigeon, Teal and a few distant auks.

Hopefully with the strong northerlies persisting overnight and birds continuing to pass up till dusk, tomorrow should also be good although today will take a lot of beating.....

Southerlies bring in a few more migrants

With the winds round to the south there was a mini arrival of migrants on the patch today with 3 Whinchats at East Runton, and another two on Cromer GC along with a Wheatear. Also a Black or Common Redstart flashed across the road in front of me on the edge of Cromer but evaded further detection to confirm its species.

CORN BUNTING

A walk around East Runton today produced a real surprise when I found a Corn Bunting perched up on brambles on a scrubby area of land. This was the first one that I have ever recorded on the patch so it was an extremely good record especially as they are a fast declining species.

West Runton this afternoon produced a couple of Wheatears in the clifftop fields.

Peregrine

A walk at Trimingham this afternoon produced a Peregrine along the cliffs, then again drifting out over the sea and then I picked it up for a third time as it headed off east towards Mundesley being mobbed by the local gulls.

On the beach a group of 46 Cormorants was noteworthy.

HOUSE CROW

Today saw me taking a day trip over to Co.Cork for the House Crow that had been recently discovered at Cobh. Joining up with a crew from Essex, we took the early morning ferry from Fishguard to Rosslare, arriving at c6.15am and were soon heading across southern Ireland. Just over a couple of hours later we arrived in Cobh and had it safely on the list from the car window before we had even parked!
A native of India, it was the second Irish record following one in the '70's, and like its predecessor, this one undoubtedly arrived via a ship, possibly from the small dutch population which had built up from other ship assisted arrivals.

Over the next couple of hours we watched it commute from the houses around the square by the lusitania monument over to the harbour where it would scavenge for food. It was very vocal at times especially when perched atop its favourite drainpipe. The gathering of birders caused great interest with locals and other tourists alike most of whom probably thought we were mad travelling all that way for a crow!

Also around the area was a nice supporting cast of birds including Hooded Crows, an Iceland Gull and Rock Pipit.

With the afternoon free to do some birding we headed back east checking out a couple of estuaries on the way which produced an assortment of waders. A fortuitous wrong turn in our quest to find Tacumshin Lake resulted in us ending up at the south-west corner of Lady's Island Lake where I spotted a Glossy Ibis feeding amongst a flock of 14 Little Egrets. It soon flew off west when I managed to grab a couple of flight shots.

We eventually found Tacumshin where the Wilsons Phalarope was located feeding on the far side of the lake and as dusk approached, I picked up two separate Glossy Ibis flying in from the east presumably heading off to their roost site. The site provides excellent habitat and its no wonder that its attracted the long list of vagrants that it has, but unfortunately time caught up with us and we had to leave for the ferry before some of the other species present could be located, but nonetheless it had been an excellent day.

Osprey, Black Terns and Curlew Sandpipers

A trip along the coast today started at Cley where my first Black Tern of the year was watched feeding along the ditches around the east bank car park, a Curlew Sandpiper, also my first of the year, was on Arnolds and 10+ Lapland Buntings were along the shingle bank there with 2 very confiding birds on the deck and a number seen in flight too.

A walk down to Stiffkey Fen revealed that all the birds in Blakeney Harbour had just been spooked so I busily scanned around for what I presumed was going to be a Peregrine, but instead to my delight picked up an Osprey tusseling with the local Marsh Harriers! It was then watched hovering high up over the harbour whereupon it dived down into the water making a successful strike and then flew off low steadily north west with what looked like a flatfish in its talons heading to the trees on East Hills to devour its catch. On the fen itself was a Spoonbill, Wood Sandpiper, 2 Curlew Sands and a Black Tern. Finally a visit to Holme again produced good views of the Arctic Warbler as it performed well to its small crowd of admirers.

Arctic Warbler

The offer of a lift along to Holme for the Arctic Warbler this morning was too good to pass up, and we were rewarded with good views immediately on arrival as it fed up in the pines along the seaward side of the reserves. This was only the second Arctic Warbler that I had seen in Norfolk, following one on The Point in Sept '93, and only my third ever (my first was in Lincs in Sept 86), so it was very nice to see one again and become reacquainted with their appearance in the field.

We then walked round to the NOA reserve and after a very short wait the Barred Warbler appeared right in front of us, had a quick feed and then disappeared off again out of sight below us making it a very successful morning.

With Titchwell open again, albeit only partially up to the first hide, we called in to see the results of the flood-defence works which looked pretty good, and was also treated to my first Little Stints of the year with 5 in with the Dunlin flock.

Weekend Round-up

Friday saw 3 Swifts moving east over the village, and maybe given the latish date these may well be the last ones I see this year?

A walk round Sidestrand on Saturday revealed little other than that the Wryneck was still present as it dashed across the reservoir in front of us, then showed briefly in the far hedge before dropping down out of sight.

A further visit there today showed it was still present, but again it was flightly and elusive. Two Redstarts were also around the reservoir, and singles were also seen in Trimingham clifftop wood and at East Runton.

Wryneck and Redstarts continue to delight

A check of the reservoir today showed that there was still up to 6 Redstarts present, but initially no sign of the Wryneck.

With the Redstarts posing so well I couldn't resist taking a few pictures as I think they are really smart looking birds, and something we'd go really mad about if they were a 'rare sibe'. There was a particulary stunning male present, which seemed to be having a lot of fun chasing around the other birds!

Whilst in the middle of photographing one of the Redstarts, I noticed a movement on the ground in the back of my field of view. Refocusing the scope to see what it was, I was delighted to see that it was the Wryneck busily feeding away on the ground about 20 foot away, but mostly concealed amongst the grass and other vegetation. It was then seen to fly up into the hedge and then every 20 minutes or so drop back onto the bank for a few minutes before going back up into cover.

After a lot of patient waiting it finally popped up in full view a couple of times, and I managed to quickly get a few pics of it as it did so, with the best two reproduced below.
 

Whilst waiting for the Wryneck to reappear, I heard a wooshing sound of fast wing beats above me and upon looking up saw a Hobby circling round, and on looking at it through my bins saw that it had obviously just taken one of the local hirundines as it was happily plucking it as it circled around before drifting off towards some nearby trees.

The Little Grebe was still present but as usual spent most of its time hiding, only very occasionally venturing out into the open water.
 

A late afternoon visit to West Runton revealed that there were still a couple of Redstarts there, along with a few Wheatears, and the regular adult Mediterranean Gull was around the car park and perching on its favourite post.

WRYNECK at Sidestrand

The patch came up trumps today with the finding of a Wryneck up at the reservoir at Sidestrand. It was rather elusive but did give good scope views as it periodically appeared in the hedge along the far side, allowing a couple of record shots to be obtained. This was only the 3rd Wryneck that I had seen on the patch, and the first for a few years so was a very welcome bird and a delight to see.

Also around the reservoir was up to half a dozen Redstarts, and on the res itself the Ringed Teal had again put in an appearance, along with a Common Teal.

A check of a nearby site produced a couple more Redstarts and eventually a Pied Flycatcher there too, plus a male Marsh Harrier flew over heading east.

I then returned to the reservoir where I quickly located the Wryneck again, but it continued to be mobile and elusive for the remainder of the afternoon. On the res a Little Grebe was again present, a Common Sandpiper put in an appearance, and a Dunlin also dropped in.
 

A Hobby flew through much to the consternation of the local hirundines, a Yellow Wagtail flew over high calling away, and around the res a number of juv Swallows were continuing to be fed by their parents.

Migrants continue to arrive

Back on the patch today where I always feel more comfortable birding, especially being away from the crowds, a check of the golf course produced 3 Redstarts, up to 4 Whinchats and half a dozen Wheatears.

East Runton produced a couple of Redstarts, a single Whinchat, 2 Wheatears and a Hobby over, whilst West Runton produced yet more Redstarts (3+), a Spotted Flycatcher, Reed Warbler and a few more Wheatears.

Red-necked Phalarope

A trip along the coast today produced a couple of Lapland Buntings on the shingle ridge at Salthouse, plus a couple of Redstarts and a few Wheatears there.

Stiffkey Fen hosted a number of Spoonbills and a Wood Sandpiper, and at Holme a Red-necked Phalarope was on Redwell Marsh and a Red-backed Shrike was in the dunes, along with a few more Redstarts and a Spotted Flycatcher but the very blustery wind made searching for other migrants hard work.

More Whinchats and Wheatears

With the northeasterlies continuing another good look round the patch today was rather disappointing with very few migrants evident, although the day was saved somewhat with a couple of Whinchats and 6+ Wheatears along the clifftop at West Runton. However with easterlies set to continue well into the start of next week, hopefully there will be more birds arriving in the next few days.

Black-throated Diver

With light northeasterlies a check round the patch produced a Redstart and a Whinchat at Sidestrand, and at least 3 Swifts still up by the lighthouse.

Also whilst at Sidestrand I noticed the top of a pair of ears just sticking up above the stubble in a field and initially thought it was going to be a hare, but getting closer I could see more of the ears and a bit a reddish fur and my thoughts changed to it maybe being a fox, but when approaching it further and could see more of it, I realised it was infact a Chinese Water Deer having a bit of a snooze.

A check of the sea in the evening produced adult and immature Med Gulls past, good numbers of Sandwich Terns roosting on the groynes, plus 4 Common Sandpipers on the beach. However the undoubted highlight was a Diver Sp. that I picked up through my bins as it headed west, and quickly getting it in the scope I was very pleasantly surprised to see that it was a summer plumaged Black-throated, an excellent record for the patch, and probably the first summer plumaged bird that I have ever recorded in the county.