S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 8
September 6th - 1 day wader & shorebird guided tour
We led a single birdwatcher today concentrating mainly on waders, but with a few excellent surprises and additions.
We started at Titchwell just after 7am, and for the first 40 minutes we had the hide and birds to ourselves. There was an excellent mix of waders and good numbers, the best waders were 4 juvenile Curlew Sandpiper, 50+ Avocet, 50+ Ruff, 150 Black-tailed Godwit, 120 Bar-tailed Godwit, 80 Grey plover, 15 Golden Plover, 70 Lapwing, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Green Sandpiper, 4 juvenile Spotted Redshank, 1 Greenshank, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 6+ Snipe & 4+ Knot.
Added to this we had nice views of 2 Spoonbill, 3 Little Egret, 1 Water Rail, 1 Pintail & 100 Teal. The first returning Pink-footed Goose were present with 4 amongst the Grey-lags.
From Parrinder hide despite the wind and rain we were treated to excellent views of 5 Bearded Tit, with 1 juvs giving prolonged views as it swayed from the tops of the reeds!
On leaving the hide we were delighted to watch a migrant Osprey as it circled low over Thornham and eventually gained height and moved high overhead & inland. A Marsh Harrier circled in the background just to add to the spectacle
We headed off to Holme where we had point blank views of another Common Sandpiper at Redwell & also good scope views of a single Turtle Dove perched on wires.
On the shoreline we had nice scope views of Bar-tailed Godwit, Sanderling, Grey Plover, Curlew & Spotted Redshank. Also on the shore we scoped a dark phase Arctic Skua sat on the shoreline, along with a group of Common & Sandwich terns, a single Little Tern was still present.
Finally a nice surprise was a Short-eared Owl flushed from the dunes, the bird was clearly fresh in and tired as it chose to rest on the beach for 15 minutes affording us wonderful scope views. The Owl eventually flying off inland.
September 14th - Choselely & Holme
Myself & Dave Hawkins decided on a Honey Buzzard vigil - watching from halfway up Choseley hill, this was to prove to be unsuccessful, but was interrupted by a welcome call from the Obs at Holme!!
A swift car ride & we arrived just in time to see the recently trapped THRUSH NIGHTINGALE before it was released.
The bird was well photographed and on release it flew strongly & disappeared into the scrub along the broadwater, knowing how difficult this species is to see - we decided to return to the "raptor vigil". Whilst not managing to see any Hb's we did see a Peregrine, that went through heading east, 3 Marsh Harrier & 6 Grey Heron moving steadily west high over the Wash. Several groups of c20 - 30 Golden Plover passed overhead
We did rather jokingly at about 12/mile range also mange to pick put the Red-necked Phalarope on the freshmarsh!!
September 13th - Holme
Started birding at Holme at around 7am & finished around 4.30PM. The usual faces were all out in optimistic moods!! We did have a nice collection of birds.
A walk during the morning through the paddocks, lavendar marsh & the dunes didn't provide anything exceptional, but 24 Snipe passed overhead west, several Goldcrest were the first noticeable ones of the autumn. Blackcaps, Lesser Whitethraot, Chiff-Chaff & Whitethroat were noticeable in small numbers throughout. Single Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler & Garden Warbler were also noted. The paddocks also held 1 Turtle Dove & a 2nd flew over.
Along the shoreline 13 Brents & 20 Common Scoter passed east, still present were small numbers of Sandwich & Common Tern. In the dunes & forestry the quality improved with 2-3 Redstart, 1 Wheatear & 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Tree Sparrow flew over & Connor had the first Siskin of the autumn. We spent several hours at The Obs trying to locate one of the many Honey Buzzards being reported along the east coast today - to no avail, but did have 4+ Marsh Harriers over, 1 Buzzard sp. 1 Hobby, 25+ Golden Plover over, 100+ Curlew over.
There were clearly additional passerines arriving mid-afternoon & late afternoon we headed back to the dunes, Redstart & Spotted Fly were showing very well. A call from Connor saved the day as I caught the back end of a HONEY BUZZARD as it moved east!
The day finished with a group of 9 Greenshank to add to the 6 or so others & a Wood Sandpiper flying over east.
September 20th - Days guided birdwatching Titchwell & Holme
Today I spent the day guiding Brian Rorison whom has become a regular with us at Norfolk birding. We had a thrilling days birdwatching at Holme & Titchwell. We started out at Titchwell at 7am and returned again in the afternoon. We were treated to a feast of waders, the outstanding birds were juvenile Red-necked Phalarope & Pectoral Sandpiper - there was an excellent supporting cast of 800 Golden Plover, 70 Bar-tailed Godwit, 40 Black-tailed Godwit, 14 Little Stint, 2 Curlew Sandpiper, 6+ Spotted Redshank, 50+ Ruff, 20 Snipe & 30 Dunlin. Wildfowl numbers were also noticeably increased with 150 Wigeon, & 100 Teal. Along the reed edge we had nice views of Water Rail & Bearded Tit, whilst a shy but very vocal Cetti's Warbler called from the background.
At Holme there was 4+ Red-throated Diver on the sea, including 2 summer plumage birds right on the shoreline & several Gannets passed by. We marvelled at several skeins of arriving Pink-footed Geese (20 + 21 + 7) as they headed in off the North sea & passed over our heads. The autumn transition was evident with Brent Goose (5) , Wigeon (150+) & Teal in one view & Sandwich Tern (20), Common Tern (20) & Swallow in the next!
A few Swallows 20+ passed by, in the dunes passerines were relatively few - 2+ Wheatear & an interesting unstreaked acrocephalus warbler, the evenly spaced primaries each with obvious pale tips, pale greyish shawl from the sides of the neck to the nape indicating a possible Marsh/Eastern Reed warbler - for some interesting images & debate click here.
An unusual sight was a Common Buzzard perched out over the freshmarsh - unfortuantely it was just a Common! Up to 2 Marsh Harriers were also noted along with Sparrowhawk & Kestrel.
September 28th - BTO Conference, Frank Wheldon School. Nottingham
I was privileged to be asked to provide a presentation on "How to Photograph Garden Birds". The auditorium theatre at the school was a fantastic stage, and with around 160 people present the event was well attended and very enjoyable.
Thank you to all of those people who provided me with very positive feedback.
September 27th - Days birdwatching at Holme
We started the day with a juvenile Red-backed Shrike, sat aloft the buckthorn bushes alongside the golfcourse, bordering the southern boundary of the paddocks. The shrike was most obliging and we had lovely full scope views from around 25m away.
There were lots of Song Thrush around both on the ground and overhead, plus a couple of the first Redwing of the autumn flew over, a friend - Connor had managed a total of 60 Song Thrush grounded at first light in the forestry.
We left the shrike to the now increasing crowd of admirers and headed off along the footpath bounding the River Hun. As we approached the Caravan area, I was sure I heard the upswept di-syllabic call of Yellow-browed Warbler, within seconds one of our group Simon was on to the bird, and for a few minutes we had lovely views as it fed in full view on the side of a sycamore. It promptly disappeared but it or another was located again by us 30 mins later feeding around the firs at the NWT entrance gate.
We continued the walk and in the dunes/forestry found 2-3 Redstart, 2-3 Chiff Chaff & 2 Blackcap, small numbers of Goldcrest, noticeably more than last week. Several Siskin flew over, plus a reasonable skein of Pink -footed Goose.
We walked back through the paddocks and around the Public car park I found a second or possibly 3rd Yellow-browed Warbler.
We finished the afternoon off at Burnham Deepdale where we failed to find anymore Yellow-browed Warblers, but did see a skein of 300+ Pink feet.
I was privileged to be asked to provide a presentation on "How to Photograph Garden Birds". The auditorium theatre at the school was a fantastic stage, and with around 160 people present the event was well attended and very enjoyable.
Thank you to all of those people who provided me with very positive feedback.
September 27th - Days birdwatching at Holme
We started the day with a juvenile Red-backed Shrike, sat aloft the buckthorn bushes alongside the golfcourse, bordering the southern boundary of the paddocks. The shrike was most obliging and we had lovely full scope views from around 25m away.
There were lots of Song Thrush around both on the ground and overhead, plus a couple of the first Redwing of the autumn flew over, a friend - Connor had managed a total of 60 Song Thrush grounded at first light in the forestry.
We left the shrike to the now increasing crowd of admirers and headed off along the footpath bounding the River Hun. As we approached the Caravan area, I was sure I heard the upswept di-syllabic call of Yellow-browed Warbler, within seconds one of our group Simon was on to the bird, and for a few minutes we had lovely views as it fed in full view on the side of a sycamore. It promptly disappeared but it or another was located again by us 30 mins later feeding around the firs at the NWT entrance gate.
We continued the walk and in the dunes/forestry found 2-3 Redstart, 2-3 Chiff Chaff & 2 Blackcap, small numbers of Goldcrest, noticeably more than last week. Several Siskin flew over, plus a reasonable skein of Pink -footed Goose.
We walked back through the paddocks and around the Public car park I found a second or possibly 3rd Yellow-browed Warbler.
We finished the afternoon off at Burnham Deepdale where we failed to find anymore Yellow-browed Warblers, but did see a skein of 300+ Pink feet.