Dave and I left home just
after six and after picking up Malcolm in Market Harborough before heading for
Corby to collect Ken. Ken had
unfortunately headed off for Uppingham where we normally pick him up but after
a phone returned home and we headed off to Weeting Heath for Stone Curlew.
We arrived on site at about
08:45 and headed off to one of the hides where we saw three Stone Curlew
displaying. A Chiffchaff was heard in
the plantation but with little else we headed off to an area close by where we had
seen Woodlark in the past.
Stone Curlews at Weeting
As I suspected on arrival the
area was now totally unsuitable for Woodlark as the planted conifers were now
several feet tall. We did hear and find
a Blackcap just over the road but otherwise there was very little and we headed
off to Lynford Arboretum. As we
travelled towards Munford we stopped at an area we thought might be suitable
for Woodlark and sure enough we heard one singing almost immediately. We walked down the track to just beyond a
small plantation and after quite some time Dave picked up the singing bird
right above our heads. He though he had
seen it come out of the ground cover and rise quickly and continuing to sing directly
above us. We also had a Sparrowhawk and
a least one Buzzard at this site.
On arrival at Lynford
Arboretum there were quite a few birders present but the only sighting of a
Two-barred Crossbill was rather dubious, as a number of birders thought it was
an aberrant Common Crossbill. On
reaching the second group of birders we did have some nice views of a single
female Hawfinch feeding on the ground as surprisingly also a Treecreeper on the
ground.
Female Hawfinch
Dave and I walked back towards
the car park to view an area of larches but all we saw was several Siskin and a
Lesser Redpoll. A single Common
Crossbill flew over calling but that was the only crossbill I saw during the
visit. A Firecrest that had been singing
close to the car park also failed to perform and so we departed for a site near
Swaffham where Goshawks had been seen recently.
Treecreeper at Lynford Arboretum
On arrival it appeared very
quiet except for a singing Woodlark but two Goshawks had apparently been seen
earlier. Eventually a few Buzzards were
observed above the wood and then a Sparrowhawk and eventually we had a male and
female Goshawk. The female eventually
flew to our right and then across the road before coming back and passing
almost right over us before flying off back towards the wood and
disappearing. We had superb views of
this bird and I was able to get a few photos but didn’t have sufficient time to
adjust the settings and whilst they were sharp they were a little underexposed.
Female Goshawk
Having seen the Goshawks we
continued north towards the coast and Titchwell.
It was rather a quiet journey
north although we did see a couple of Grey Partridge. We called at Choseley Barns on route where we
had two more Grey Partridge and three Buzzards but there was very little else
and Corn Buntings are becoming increasingly difficult to find.
On arrival at Titchwell we had
lunch before setting off down the west footpath to the sea. There were plenty of waders on both the fresh
marsh and the Volunteer Marsh, which included Oystercatchers, Avocets, a single
Ringed Plover, Grey Plovers, Knot, Dunlin, Ruff, a Snipe, Bar-tailed Godwits,
Black-tailed Godwits, Curlews, Redshanks and Turnstones. A pair of Marsh Harrier was observed towards
Thornham and another male was observed over the Titchwell reed-bed and the
final saltwater area held more waders and a couple of Little Egrets. On reaching the beach the tide was quite high
and there were few Sanderling and Oystercatcher but no other waders. There were seven Common Scoter close in and a
large raft of scoter further out that were difficult to see in the misty
conditions over the sea. We decided to
walk towards Thornham Point in the hope of finding a couple of Snow Bunting
that had been reported earlier. We
hadn’t gone too far when they flew right by us and back towards the end of the
footpath and appeared to drop right in front of it. We moved back and found them feeding close to
the end of the path. Quite a crowd
eventually gathered and the two birds allowed excellent views appearing totally
unperturbed by the on lookers. Needles
to say I got some rather nice shots of them as I assume did many others. We saw nothing new on the walk back, although
a Cetti’s Warbler was heard quite close to the path but needless to say it
failed to materialise.
Drake Teal on the Volunteer Marsh
Avocet on the Volunteer Marsh
Avocet on the Volunteer Marsh
Grey Plover on the Volunteer Marsh
Black-tailed Godwit on the Volunteer Marsh
Redshank on the Volunteer Marsh
Ruff on the Volunteer Marsh
Ruff on the Volunteer Marsh
Female Snow Bunting on the beach
It had been a good days
birding with ninety-one species recorded that included three year-ticks, Stone
Curlew, Woodlark and Snow Bunting and some superb views of a Goshawk.
The journey home produced no
surprises although there was some good news that Leicester had beaten Burnley
two nil, giving them a six point lead at the top.
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