M A R C H 2 0 0 8
March 3rd - Old Costessey - River Wensum
1 Water Rail, 1 singing Cetti's Warbler, 1 Grey Wagtail & 2 Common Snipe.
March 8th - Holme
0730 - 0930 Visible migration from Gore Pt
Goldfinch 30 west, Siskin 10 west, Meadow Pipit 90 west, Rock Pipit 2 west, Woodpigeon 27 west, Pied Wagtail 5 west, Linnet 4 west, Tree Sparrow 7 west.
On the sea & offshore, 4 Great C Grebe, 6 Cormorant, 1 Goldneye, 1 Velevet Scoter, 5 Red-breasted Merganser west, 200 Common Scoter, 3 Eider & 7 east, 8 Fulmar west, 1 Lesser black-backed Gull west.
Also 1 Common Porpoise just offshore
Around the reserve, of particualr note was a total of 17 Common Stonechat, with 16 in a group in the dunes,
10 Snwo Bunting, 2 Grey Partridge, 3 Snipe, 15 Avocet, 3 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Pintail, 200 Wigeon, 1 Barn owl, 3 Little Egret, 20 Shoveler, 150 Starling, 1 drake Ruddy Duck, 10 Pochard, 30 Goldfinch 3+ Brambling.
March 9th - Holme
I went back during the afternoon to photograph the Stonechats of which 7 were still present,
click here for the pictures
Also 1 Merlin, 2 Marsh Harrier
March 10th - Wensum Valley Bintree Mill - Bintree Woods - Swanton Morley
This was a circular walk of 10 miles with our bins around our necks just in case. We managed to total 10 Bullfinches inclusive of great views of a male singing - don't very often hear them sing! 2 Barn owls, 10 Siskin, 50 Fieldfare & 80 Redwing at Bintree Mill, 1 Common Buzzard over Bintree wood.
March 22nd - Themelthorpe
A local walk produced an unusal large group of 800 Starling, a single Barn Owl was hunting & 40 Redwing were in the ploughed fields
March 28th - Themelthorpe
A male Brambling was in the garden
March 29th - Holme & Syderstone en-route
The journey up to Holme resulted in a roadsdie stop for a fly over Red Kite, untagged bird watched for 5 minutes rising & soaring towards Syderstone.
At Holme superb views of male Firecrest near the Obs, 2 Chiff-chaff, an early Yellow Wag flew over, along with a steady stream of Meadow Pipits moving west overhead. Just 2 Stonechats left in the dunes.
March 30th - Swanton Novers & Wensum Valley
3 Siskin were singing, 3+ Chiff-chaff, also Marsh Tit, Treecreeper, Nuthatch & 5 Buzzards were up over the woods.
I headed off into a private area of the Wensum valley and was pleased to locate a Great White Egret, it was flushed from a shoreline and then sat in a dead tree for 30 minutes whilst I got nice scope views. The bird has been present in the area for a couple of months, but this was the first time I had seen it. It is non-breeding plumage still with a dusky tip to the yellow bill. Legs were brownish with paler greenish areas on the lateral sides of the thighs.
Also 6 Brambling, 6 Buzzard, displaying Sparrowhawk & 5+ Chiff-chaff
Back to February 2008