Diary 2007 March

May 1st 2007 . Lakenheath

A bright evening visit turning chilly late on. Also the night that Liverpool knocked Chelsea out of the Chanpions league - yippee!!!!!!!!

1 Hobby screamed in front of me whilst getting the gear out in the Car park, 2+ Cuckoo, 1 drake Garganey (1st of the year-nice!), 1pr Wigeon, 1 Green Sand, 3 Common Crane -shhhhhhhh.., 3 Marsh Harrier, 2 Bearded Tit, 1 Yellow Wag, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Bittern, 1 Whimbrel, 2 Water rail singing,

Insects:- 10+ Hairy Dragonfly, 3 Four spot Chaser, 1 Peacock, 1 Small White, 1Red Admiral

May 5th 2007

Salthouse
10+ Whimbrel, 1 Wheatear,

Swanton Novers
3 Buzzard, 1 Cuckoo, 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Kestrel & 1 Hobby

May 7th - NON MOTORISED DAY LIST DAY - CHRIS MILLS & PETE DOLTON

For those of you don't know me I have participated in a non-motorised day list for the last 4 years normally accompanied by Oscar Campbell (now in the UAE!) or & Pete Dolton. Our best score was in 2005 when we managed 131 - this was also the year when I did a full year list by bike, so on that ocassion I cycled up the night beforeand abck the following evening to ensure all species counted (a round trip of 100 miles).

Yesterday we managed a new record!! We did allow ourselves a car to & from home to our chosen start & endpoint at Titchwell.

We started at Titchwell at 3.15am, it was not a good start overcast and windy, we did not get any of our target species Bittern, Water rail, Gropper or Cetti's. Disappointed we left at around 3.50am and cycled off to Sandringham. Things did not get any better as we arrived late cycling into a stronger than expected headwind - hence we missed Woodcock, no Barn owl, the woods were quiet, and the best birds were Marsh Tit, treecreeper & Great Sp. Woodpecker, more concerns as Nuthatch, Green Wpecker, Redpoll & Siskin failed to materialise. On towards Wolferton and things slowly improved, Siskin, Golden Pheasant, Tree Pipit,Tawny Owl, Woodlark & Firecrest were all nailed very quickly and we both stopped whinging and perked up.

As we reached the bottom of Snettisham 4 Wheatear were running around, we kicked up several Grey partridge, several Yellow Wags went over, Med Gulls were present at their nests, and all the expected shoreline waders were soon safely on the list. Better was 4 Greenshank & Common sandpiper. First real surprise & bonus bird overhead and a migrant - Grey Wagtail calling, no doubt, overhead on the move in May!!?? Next we scored with the trust femal Scaup still present and seen on every bird race in the last 4 years

As we headed through the Coastal park we scoured the skyline, every time the sun came out the warmth increased - we got Sparrowhawk, Marsh Harrier but no Buzzard. It took till nearly 1100 - when the warmth encouraged a Buzzard up into the skies! But that along with an incredibly late Fieldfare was 109 - and we had plenty of time, a few telephone calls and a plan took shape. Up to Hunstanton, Fulmar - slam dunked 110. Then on to Holme, where Eider , Pochard, & Whimbrel made it 113, the only negative was a Garganey that had gone missing. Back on the bikes we headed up to Choseley, 4 out of 5 here in rapid succession - Corn Bunt, Tree Sparrow, Yellowhammer no sign of the Little Owl took us to 116.

Incredibly we still needed Rook and many stops en-route towards Holkham eventually produced a small group - 117. Montys kept us on tender hooks fro several minutes, I had a male distantly in the scope but couldn't get Pete on it, then Pete shouted me across the road and a male came gliding over the hedgerow - yes... 118. Off to Holkham Park, 119 Great Crested Grebe and just as we were about to give up and coming through the car park, a great call from Pete to stop cycling.......we looked at each other, brilliant Nuthatch calling away 120.

Next up Holkham fresh marsh, a few "lazy" Pinkfeet & Wigeon would do 121 & 122 but no sign of the Cranes.

On to Burnham Norton this was where we thought we had made a big mistake -no sign of any Spoonbill just scoping from the road.

We head off and we get a text from Penny Clarke saying there was a nice Garganey at Holme, oops it wasn't there three hours ago - was it?! Then half an hour on and she texts saying she is watching the Spoonbills at Burnham - it's too late we have just arrived hot & bothered at Titchwell.

The great thing about leaving Titchwell to last is you know you gonna increase your total, and toady was no different. The first pool and we score in seconds with Bearded Tit, Ruddy Duck, & Little Gull 125. We rush back to the CP area for Whinchat present all day til 1 hr ago - but now no sign.

Spotted Red flies over calling 126, down to the sea and 900+ Common Scoter make it 127. Disappointment as there are still no Ruff or Snipe to be seen, we bump into Mark Bradbury and apparently both were present last night.

We sit with Mark, whose wife then asks if we need Barn owl? Yep sure do, "just out here a few minutes ago.........and there it is! Hunting the marsh out in front of us 128. The next species we thought was going to require a ride in the dark back up to Choseley, but incredibly sat next to Mark looking out over Titchwell marsh , he enquired if we had seen Little Owl and we told him no. When he said he had one in his scope we thought he was pulling our leg - but surely enough there in his scope at least a mile away was the familiar shape of the Little Owl sat on it's favourite perch in it's favourite tree!!!! Sublime & ridiculous 129. First Pete, then me thought we could hear the Bittern, a few minutes later it started up with a bit more gusto and we both high fived as we went to 130.

A fitting moment saw us draw level, I picked up in the distance thru the scope what i assumed were two Little Egrets, but as they came closer my suspicions arose - could they be? It looked more & more likely as they came into range yes indeed they were - I shouted out "Two %"Łing Spoonbills voming coming in over the marsh, they landed 100 metres away -fantastic 131.

As the light faded we strained our ears we needed one more species to topple the record, no Cetti's incredible I thought - then suddenly Pete called it as we heard the delightful squeals of Water Rail 132!!!!!!

18 hours in the field just under 60 miles ridden & 132 species recorded - anyway fancy the challenge next year???

Complete list here

May 11th - 1700 - 1900 Holme Light SW sunshine & heavy cloud warmer 16c

A short evening saunter, highlight being the westerly passage of hirundines

4 Wheatear, 4 Whimbrel over, 1pr of Garganey, 2000 Swallow west, 500 House martin west, 30 Sand Martin west, 500+ Swift west.

On the shoreline 10 Grey Plover, 40 Sanderling, offshore 2 Eider, 4 Little Tern, 4 Common Tern, 10 Sandwich Tern, 1 Gannet west,

5 Pochard still on Broadwater, and a single Marsh Harrier over the marsh.

May 12th - 1000- 1700 Holme Light S - Sw still and cloud

An excellent day of visible migration:-

Swallow 3000 west for PM count only,
House Martin 300 west for Pm count only
Sand Martin c30 west for PM only.

Also at Holme, 15 Yellow wags over all west until 17.42 when a flock of 40 Yellow Wags were grounded briefly on the main marsh befoer moving west.
2 Tree Pipit, 1 grounded showing well, 2 Whimbrel, 6 Wheatear, 1 Whinchat (Connor it was female - seen at 17.40 Gore Pt), 2 Turtle Dove, 3 Cuckoo (seen all together), 2 Garganey, & 1 superb pale phase Arctic Skua over the dunes.

Finished the day with grippin views & pics of the Bee-eater at North Creake, got some pretty good pics from the church - go to http://norfolkbirding.com/latestpics_3.html

May 13th - 1000 1200 Holme Light Sw - W still and cloudier with showers

Still visible migration but much less than yesterday:-

Swallow 80 west for am count only,
House Martin 35 west for am count only
Sand Martin c11 west for am only.
Swift c70 west for am only.
Also best bird 1 Hobby west

Offshore 10 Gannets went west

May 19th - 20th A two Day Spring guided tour

Chris undertook a two day guided tour for a visiting birder.

A total of 116 species were recorded, with the main highlights being 4 Montagu's Harriers, 6+ Nightjars with a male displaying right in front of us, singing Firecrest, stunning views of male Bearded Tit at 12'0, 3 Golden Orioles watched perched and another single male watched perched, 5 Garganey incl of 4 drakes. We also had great views of Grasshopper Warbler reeling & Stone Curlew with young.

Other noteworthy birds were 1 Ruff at Cley, Little Ringed Plover at Cley, 1 Wheatear at Cley, Tree Sparrow & Corn Bunting at Choseley, 3 Turtle Doves & 2-3 Cuckoo at Holme. Hi-tide roost at Holme - 500 Sanderling, 100 Grey Plover, 100 Oystercatcher, 2 Knot, 70 Sandwich Tern, 4 Little Tern. In the Sennowe area we had 6 Buzzard, 3 Hobby, 2 Marsh Harrier, 1 Grey Wagtail and we also discovered Otter prints and spraints.

Insects on the wing were:-

Butterflies:- Large & Small White,10+ Brimstone , 5 Red Admiral, 1-2 Peacock, 5 Small Copper, 1 Brown Argus.
Dragon/damselflies:- 4 Spot Chaser, Southern Hawker, Azure Damselfly, Banded Damesoille,

May 22nd Hickling Warm sunny evening

An evening visit. The Bonapartes Gull present on and off for a week a so, decided to grace me with it's presence at 8.05PM, we all got on to it as it came flying in and landed at the back of the Rush hill scrape. The neat black trailing edge, size, and noticeable grey wash to the rear attracting attention in flight. On the ground, the mantle and upperparts were noticeably darker than the surrounding BH Gulls, and the fleshy coloured legs were also obvious.

Also 20 Ringed Plover, 25 Black-tailed Godwit, 12 Dunlin, 1 Knot, 1 Grasshopper Warbler. Plus a Water Vole in the ditch.

On driving home I also found a dead North American Mink in the road at Buxton Lamas.

May 26th Chambers Farm Wood, Lincs

A butterfly "twitch" today. We arrived at the wood around 1000am just as it was warming up, this was perfect timing as the butterflies were still sitting around, but occassionally flying - allowing us to locate them. We had around 10 Marsh Fritillaries, and got some nice pictures

We also saw 2-3 Dingy Skippers, although these were coming to the end of their flight period and were fairly tatty. We also heard Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, and saw a couple of Buzzards, a couple of other people we saw had also heard Nightingale.

May 29th A Cycle ride in Norfolk - Themelthorpe - Raynham - Rudham - Bircham - Docking - Thornham - Holme - Choselely - North Creake - Fumodestone - Themelthorpe

After two days of being stuck in the house due to torrential rain and cool winds I decided to get some exercise and cycle up to the coast.
The best bird was just a couple of miles from the house a Spotted Flycatcher at Foulsham was a nice surprise!! Despite the "good" forecast, the drizzle and cloud remained most of the day - I managed 4+ Turtle Doves at Holme, but unfortunately missed out on some better birds late in the day (4 Red-backed Shrikes in Norfolk incl 1 - Home, also Icterine Warbler - Sea Palling, etc)

Still I did manage 72 miles on the bike by the time I arrived home - although I was ready for a hot soak by that stage!

May 30th Sea Palling & Waxham Sunny am, light Se, overcast PM mod SE

Having missed out yesterday - I met up with Tim Allwood at Sea Palling determined to try and find some of our "own birds". A walk to the north of the village produced a reasonble list of birds, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 5+ Turtle Dove, 3 Yellow Wags, 2 Wheatear, 1 Cuckoo, sev Willow wblr, 2Cetti's and the biggest surprise a single Fieldfare. Late morning there was a big gathering of Swifts with over 200 hawking low around the dunes.

In the afternoon we head south of Sea Palling and walked as far as the "pipe dump", this area was full of Whitethroats, and we saw well over 25+.
No sign of yesterdays Icterine Warbler, but we did score with nice flight views of a 3rd Cal yr Montagu's Harrier flying south.