Rod's Birding: A day in West Norfolk

David, Ken, Roger and I set off for West Norfolk for a day’s birding and headed for Titchwell with the intention of calling at Choseley Drying Barns first. We saw a Red Kite as we approached Glaston in Rutland and then had a couple of Buzzards, one near the A43 roundabout and the other as we approached Guyhirn.

When we arrived at Choseley it felt rather cool in the light southerly breeze and as there was no sign of any Grey partridge or Corn Buntings we soon moved on to Titchwell.

As we were getting kitted out I found a Chiffchaff close to where we were parked but there was very little else. We checked the book in the centre and found that a Hen Harrier and Rough-legged Buzzard had already been seen and so after a brief stop to look unsuccessfully for a Brambling at the feeders we set off down the West Bank. David and Ken had gone on ahead of Roger and I and when we reached the area overlooking Thornham Pool they had already located a pipit they thought was a Water Pipit. Roger and I soon found the bird in question and agreed that it was a Water Pipit and we eventually had two but other than a Pied Wagtail and two Meadow Pipits there was little else on the now dried pool. A Little Egret was feeding along a channel to the right and two more flew over and David then picked up a distant Marsh Harrier. Roger had been scanning the fence line to the south and found the Rough-legged Buzzard perched low down amongst some scrub and David then picked up another harrier coming in from the right, which we identified as a juvenile Hen Harrier. We continued to scan the area hoping the Rough-legged would fly when I picked up a distant Short-eared Owl just after which Ken announced the Rough-legged was flying. It didn’t go too far and landed in a tree slightly closer to Thornham and there was also a Buzzard soaring over the tree with a Jay appearing to mob the Rough-legged. I had noticed a male Kestrel perched on one of the tall posts and another observer picked up another falcon near the old building on Thornham Marsh. Initially I suspected that it would be the Kestrel but when it landed on the building we weren’t at all sure and suspected it could be a Merlin.

Record shot of the juvenile Hen Harrier

David, Roger and I decided to move along the track to try and get a better look at the falcon on the building, leaving Ken watching the Rough-legged hoping it would fly again. On reaching Island Hide a few other birders were discussing the identification of the falcon, with one saying he had seen it in flight and that it was a Peregrine. However it didn’t appear large enough to me and the back appeared quite pale grey and the underparts were quite pale streaked rufous. After more debate I was convinced it was a male Merlin, with David and Roger both in agreement. Shortly afterwards it flew and reinforced our identification and all present were then convinced that it was a male Merlin.

There was some work going on near Parinder Hide and consequently most of the birds had moved away and towards Island Hide. By far the most common bird was Teal but there was also reasonable numbers of Wigeon, Gadwall, Mallard and Shoveler and four Pintail. Black-tailed Godwit was the most numerous waders but there was also eight Avocets, forty-four Dunlin, a couple of Snipe and a few Redshanks. As we continued to scan the Freshwater Marsh David picked up a falcon coming towards us and as it got closer we identified it as a Merlin and initially assumed it to be the male, particularly when it came to rest on the building on Thornham Marsh. However it looked darker and less colourful than the male seen earlier and some photos I fired off confirmed it was actually a dogged female, with its plumage being very worn.

Female Merlin

We decided to go to the beach before returning to the car for lunch and found a Greenshank on the Volunteer Marsh and the Tidal Marsh produced a second along with our first Grey Plover and there were three roosting Spotted Redshanks as we approached the beach.

Spotted Redshanks roosting on the Tidal Marsh

The tide was well out and there was usual collection of waders feeding on the shore, including a dozen Knot and a few Sanderling amongst the more numerous Oystercatchers, Bar-tailed Godwits, Redshanks and Turnstones. The sea was pretty quiet with just a few Great Crested Grebes and a female Red-breasted Merganser on the sea and three Gannet and a Goldeneye in flight off shore. Ken had caught us up and had seen a Stonechat on Thornham Marsh but were unable to relocate it as we made our way back for lunch.

After a bite to eat Ken, Roger and I set off for Patsy’s Pool whilst David had forty winks. On reaching the viewing screen the water level was much higher than when I was here in October and there were certainly fewer birds with just a couple of Snipe being worthy of note. As we started to make our way back to the West Bank, David joined us, and we spent some time observing the Freshwater Marsh again where I found a couple of Ruff, which we hadn’t seen earlier. A second visit to the beach produced a number of Common Scoter mainly moving west and presumably being moved by the incoming tide and Ken also found a male Red-breasted Merganser. As we walked back to the car the Greenshank on the Volunteer Marsh provided some excellent photo opportunities but other than possibly four Marsh Harriers coming in to roost and further views of a Short-eared Owl on Thornham Marsh we saw nothing else of note. As we were having a coffee in the car park we added Goldcrest and Long-tailed Tit to our day list and found possibly the same Chiffchaff as seen earlier in the fading light.