Surprisingly I was back in
Norfolk today with David and Malcolm as there had been several good birds found
yesterday after I had left and as the wind was still easterly there would be a
chance of new birds being found.
We called at Burnham Overy
Staithe to see if either of the two scarce geese were there and although there
was still plenty of Greylags there were far fewer Pink-footed Geese visible
from the road. The two Barnacle Geese
were still there along several of Egyptian Geese.
From Burnham we made our way
to Wells Wood as we were hoping a Red-breasted Flycatcher seen there yesterday
would still be there. We saw a couple of
Jays in the car park and we had another as we walked down the track. Four Siskin flew over and there were three
Swallows hawking over the area and a little further on there was a Great
Spotted Woodpecker calling from the top of birch tree. There was a gathering of birders assembled
along a footpath off to the left of the main path and apparently it was where
the flycatcher was yesterday. When we
reached them, we found out they had been watching a Yellow-browed Warbler and
that the flycatcher hadn’t been seen and was only seen by the finder
yesterday. We saw the Yellow-browed
Warbler several times whilst we were there, but it was quite mobile and was
tending to keep to the top of the trees, where most of the leaves remained and
consequently it didn’t show very well. A
Kingfisher flew over whilst we were trying to see the Yellow-browed Warbler.
Another group of birders
informed us that yesterday’s Black Redstart was still at Cley, so we decided we
head off as we had only paid for two hours parking at Wells and had already
been there over an hour. We checked the
estuary from the top of the sea wall before leaving where we found a party of
Brent Geese, several Oystercatchers, two Redshank and a Turnstone.
I had received news that a
long-staying Cattle Egret was still with cattle on the east side of Stiffkey
where it is not easy to park but we managed to slow down sufficiently to see it
amongst the cattle.
We had received a message that
a Dusky Warbler had been ringed and released in the fisherman’s car park at
Stanford Reservoir, which is in Leicestershire.
I called Roger to inform him, but he was already aware and had also seen
the Black Redstart at Cley. It turned
out that the Dusky Warbler was trapped on the Northamptonshire side of the
reservoir and then released in the car park to give local birders a chance of
seeing it and so I didn’t see how it could be added to the Leicestershire list.
When we arrived at Cley the
Black Redstart was on the thatched roof of Cley Spy and we got good views by
going through the visitor’s centre and viewing the roof from just a few meters
away. Unfortunately, a Grey Phalarope
present earlier had disappeared and there wasn’t a great deal else with just a
few Ruff, Black-tailed Godwits and a Curlew visible on the marsh.
Black Redstarrt
Black Redstart
There was news of a Radde’s
Warbler at the western end of Holkham Pines and as it was a lifer for Malcolm
we decided to give it a go but had our lunch first at Cley. Steve and Terry were also in Norfolk today
and joined us for lunch when we had a single Marsh Harrier but very little
else.
We decided to park at Burnham
Overy Staithe and walk to the Holkham Pines from there as the car park charges
at Holkham are a little steep and the extra walk would be more beneficial both in
terms of fitness and possibly birds.
As we walked out towards the
dunes we stopped to view the tidal creek where we found three Ringed Plovers, a
Grey Plover, three Knot, four Dunlin and a few Curlew and Redshank. There were plenty of Pink-footed Geese on the
meadows along with Greylag Geese but not a lot else. When we reached the dunes, there were a couple
of Stonechats on the fence and after viewing them we walked east through the
dunes to reach the pines. We saw another
three Stonechats and a Wheatear before we reached the pines and an area of
bushes just west of the pines was alive with thrushes. There had been several Ring Ouzels reported
but all we saw were Blackbirds and Redwings.
A Red Kite was also observed over the dunes and there were at least
three Kestrels hunting over the fields and the dunes.
Pink-footed Geese
Pink-footed Geese
Red Kite
Red Kite
David had gone on ahead of
Malcolm and I and called to say he had a Fieldfare feeding in a field from the
gate so I went and joined him. The
Fieldfare was still in the field and I managed to get on it just before it flew
off with a party of Redwing. David then
continued onto the Radde’s site, although we had heard that it hadn’t been seen
since the initial sighting. Malcolm then
joined me and a short while afterwards David returned when I picked up another
Fieldfare and a Marsh Harrier and three Brambling flew over but there was no
sign of any of the reported Ring Ouzels.
Whilst we were stood at the
gate it was clear that there were plenty of thrushes coming in and we must have
seen several hundred Redwings whilst on site and good numbers of Blackbirds. We didn’t see too much else as we made our
way back, two Buzzards and a Chiffchaff being the best, and a visit to the
beach to have a look on the sea wasn’t too productive. The sea like it had been earlier in the week
was still very quiet and I saw just four Gannets, although both David and
Malcolm also had a Red-throated Diver.
The geese were being disturbed
by a tractor when we walked back and the call of Pink-footed Geese in flight is
quite evocative and one of my favourite winter spectacles. As we approached the last field there were
five Red-legged Partridges quite close, but all the geese had moved. Whilst having a coffee back at the car David
thought he heard a Grey Partridge call and they then called again and this time
I heard them and before I could finish the coffee Malcolm said they are flying
right. I put the coffee down and scanned
the field seeing two at the top of the ridge but was surprised when Malcolm
said he had eight in flight but then one of the two I could see also
disappeared, leaving just one that appeared to be the lookout. These birds appear to be getting more and
more difficult to locate and this was my first sighting since May when I saw
two at Rutland Water.
Pink-footed Geese
Pink-footed Goose
Pink-footed Geese
Perhaps not the day we had
hoped for but with Black Redstart a year-tick and eighty-two species recorded
not bad and it is always nice to see flocks of Redwing arriving.
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