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.