Citril Finch dash

After the excitement and travelling of the past 2 weeks I was hoping for a quieter weekend. Friends were coming over on Saturday and I planned for a gentle days birding on the Norfolk coast on Sunday. Things changed with the news that my mother was in hospital having fractured her pelvis in a fall. A trip to Derby was now required. It was an early start on Sunday;  my younger daughter needed to be dropped off at a swimming gala at Bury St Edmunds at 8am before I headed north. Hence I was on the A14 north of Cambridge when the pager mega-alerted. I couldn't believe it, a Citril Finch in Norfolk! I had only commented the previous weekend it was about time  for another big bird in Norfolk. Now it had happened and I was heading away from my home county. I briefly considered the option of going to Derby via Burnham Overy but decided it wasn't really a practical and consoled myself instead by calling in briefly at Ferry Meadows, Peterborough just off the A1 for a Red-rumped Swallow.
I arrived in Derby as the pager started reporting the Citril Finch as showing well and texts came from friends first asking what I was doing about the bird and then commiserating after I replied. I sorted out my dads phone answer machine then, after my brother arrived, headed to the hospital. My mum was very bright and the news was better than expected, no surgery was required and physiotherapy was to be started that afternoon. After the hospital visit, we took my dad to the supermarket and introduced him to ready-meals. He can't cook and he had been living on fish and chips from the local chippy. After teaching him how to use the microwave, having a sandwich and a cup of tea it was time to leave. It was 15.45. I typed Holkham in to my sat-nav and it gave me an arrival time of 18.47. Should I give it a go? I had to work the next day, so time would be tight then too and Holkham was only a small detour off my normal route. It was worth a try and I set off hoping the traffic gods would smile on me. A hold up could spell disaster.
As it turned out, the gods were munificent. Every single traffic light through Nottingham was green, the traffic on the A52 was travelling at speeds near to the speed limit and even the normally cursed A17 was moving at a good pace. The minutes were steadily dropping off my e.t.a but once I hit the empty B roads of Norfolk they poured away and I pulled in to Lady Ann's drive at 18.17. Even the ticket machine joined in my good fortune by giving me my money back plus an extra 50p along with my ticket! There was just the 1.5 mile walk to complete which seemed endless. Happy birders on their way back from the bird reassured me it was showing well and "looked settled", (frequently words of doom) and at long last I turned a corner, walked over a small brow and came across a group of maybe 10 birders and Richard Thewlis painting. I had expected a bigger crowd but this was indeed the bird. I asked the nearest birder (who turned out to be Chris Craig) if I could look through his scope (thanks Chris) and after an anxious few seconds when the bird was hidden behind some vegetation, the Citril Finch finally emerged in to view and on to my list. Huge relief and joy! I enjoyed excellent views for the next 15 minutes as it fed on seeds on a tiny patch of sand on a bank right on the edge of the pines. Then suddenly it flew up in to the pines on my right and was not seen again that evening.

Go West! Hudsonian Godwit and Great Blue Heron

The news of a Great Blue Heron, a second for Britain, on the Isles of Scilly on April 15th sparked only mild interest in me at first. It was a long way away, the bird was being awkward and as I had to work on Saturday morning I couldn't go anyway. The bird stayed, however, became more settled on the pool on Bryher and I was free the following Saturday; my interest levels began to rise... One small problem though, as most of the people I knew who wanted to go down to Scilly had already gone or were going on Friday I found myself without a car share. The prospect of a solo drive to Penzance was one I didn't want to do so it looked like I was stuck again. Out of the blue I was offered a place in a car IF someone dropped out. There was an anxious wait until Friday but the crew remained intact and I had no place. Then they offered to squeeze me in (I am only little) but unable to get an appropriate flight off Scilly I had to decline. I went to bed somewhat glumly, at least I would get a lie in for the first time in several weeks.
The following morning I woke at 8.05 and glanced idly at my mobile phone. Surprisingly for the time of day there were 2 text messages. The words Hudsonian Godwit Somerset had me instantly wide awake. Turning to my slumbering husband I announced I was going to Somerset and leapt out of bed.  My husband had seen the 1983 bird so I hastily arranged to meet up with my friend James in Letchworth for the long drive west. Two small obstacles delayed my leaving, my elder daughter was off on a Duke of Edinburgh practice expedition and had to be got ready and there were bottle-reared lambs to feed. Daughter was seen off with me clutching bottles of milk in each hand and I finally hit the road at 8.55. My sat-nav reckoned I wouldn't be in Letchworth until 11.15 but lets just say I beat that time with plenty to spare. It was only when we were ploughing around the M25 did I remember that I had forgotten to make my daughter a packed lunch (oops), but as James said, the Duke of Edinburgh award is supposed to be character building!
We had an anxious 3 1/4 hour drive down to Shapwick but regular updates on the pager reassured us the bird was still there. The large car park was just about full but we found a place and made the  walk to the godwit at a brisk pace passing happy, relaxed birders returning along the embankment. Too our huge relief the godwit was on show when we joined the crowd and it put on a superb show posing at every angle, lifting its wings to show off its smoky black underwings and flying around occasionally displaying its wing bars. After watching it for an hour and a half it was out turn to amble happily back to the car. We left the car park at 4.15 with birders still arriving unaware that the godwit had flown off. On the drive home we made plans to go to Scilly the following weekend if the Great Blue Heron was still around and as it was the World Pilot Gig championships that weekend we both booked places on the Scillonian in hope.The heron obliging moved to St Marys at the start of the week but on Friday the news wasn't good, just a single no sign message at lunchtime. Reasoning that we would be gutted if the bird was still there on Saturday we gambled and set off on the long drive westward buoyed by a message reporting the bird still present.
It was a dismal damp day in Penzance which meant staying below decks on the Scillonian but dosed up with Stugeron I survived the voyage. Finally on St Marys, we joined a small group of birders route marching from the quay to Lower Moors, winding our way through the packed gig rowers above Town Beach. We piled in to the ISBG hide and there was the Great Blue Heron straight out in full view, looking a little damp but actively preening. Phew!

We watched it for a good hour then headed to Juliet's Garden for a celebratory lunch which happened to coincide with the spectacle of 150 brightly coloured gigs racing from St Agnes to Hugh Town. The roar of the crowds was audible across the harbour

 After an amble across the island we returned to Lower Moors for another look and found the heron actively hunting close to the hide, often peering intently in to the rushes before pouncing on a hapless eel.

It was soon time to return to the Scillonian to start the long weary journey home but it had been a trip well worth doing.

Laughing Gull, New Brighton

The arrival of  a Laughing Gull in February on The Wirral sparked a little interest in me. I have only seen 2 in the UK, the last in 1992 but New Brighton is a long way from Norfolk so I let it lie. However back in January I had been booked by my boss on a one day course in Chester. As the course date approached I noticed that New Brighton and Chester aren't that far apart and joined very conveniently by a handy motorway. With my course not starting until 9.30 I would have a an hour or two to look for the gull beforehand although with some birders not seeing the bird until mid-morning I was hoping I'd be lucky.
I arrived by the side of the Marine Lake at 7.20 on Thursday morning with a brisk chilly wind blowing . Things didn't look promising, there wasn't a single gull on the lake, and just one Cormorant, a Canada Goose and a Redshank graced its surface. However within 2 minutes gulls appeared wheeling overhead as if drawn by the feeding potential from a human figure. Amongst the Black-headed and Herring Gulls was a medium-sized gull with a droopy bill, the Laughing Gull itself, which did a couple of flypasts before dropping down on to the pontoon immediately below me, the only gull to do so. It stayed there for half an hour, just once taking off for a quick circle around above my head before dropping back on to exactly the same spot giving scope filling views.

I couldn't have hoped for a better outcome, a cracking bird, performing perfectly and on expenses! I even arrived early for my course

Cranes!!

The first week of March was a little quiet for me in Patchwork Challenge terms with no new species added. Chris meanwhile had seen what would have been new birds for the year for me starting with Coot, then Siskin and today, when I got back from work, he was viewing his photos of 2 Grey Partridge that had been in the garden under the bird feeders just 45 minutes before. I wandered upstairs to get changed but first scanned the marshes. All seemed quiet but as the scope went across the neighbours rush-covered marsh a distinctive black, white and red head with a dagger beak popped up, a Crane!!! Chris and daughters were quickly summoned to share this awesome bird especially as the youngest, with no interest in birds whatsoever, had enjoyed seeing Cranes at Horsey in November despite (or maybe because of) describing them as looking like emus. When she looked through the scope she couldn't see the crane at first but then announced there were two. Sure enough a second crane had stalked out of the rushes. The birds were wary but actively feeding, uprooting various pieces of vegetation and tossing it to the side. They eventually settled in one spot and were still there as dusk fell. The last time I saw cranes here was in 1999 when 3 flew over without stopping so despite living on the edge of the Broads they are remarkably scarce here.
Much less scarce are Reed Buntings which have been increasing out on the marshes. The garden adjoins the marshes but until about 3 years ago they were very rare in the garden itself. Now, however, they seem to have discovered the benefits of bird feeders. From 1s and 2s in 2012, to 4 or 5 in 2013/14, this year they've become the commonest bird at the feeders with numbers in the high teens. There seems to be a constant procession of birds coming in off the marsh and where there were once just males (why?), the numbers of females are increasing too.

The Tree Sparrows are still here although they are visiting the feeders much less making them harder to see except in the early morning and dusk when 6 of them roost in a favoured hedge. Their chattering calls announce their presence. We were going to get that particular hedge laid this year but our plans have been postponed until next year so as not to disturb them.

Away from home, although not far, I made a second attempt for the Richards Pipit at Breydon Water on a beautiful spring-like Saturday afternoon. I walked as far as the obvious large single bush near the small wind-pump scanning the fields as I went with no luck, just Stonechats, Meadow Pipits and Skylarks. It seemed an impossible task with a vast amount of suitable habitat. Working my way slowly back I spotted a movement not far in to the field and there it was, feeding in the grass, going in and out of view but still showing well. Despite years of birding in Norfolk this was a Norfolk tick (although Suffolk birders will disagree on this point).

February Patching.

My January patchwork challenge score was poor although this was not unexpected. After all, spending 10 days out of the country is good for a world list but adds nothing to a patch list, and the final killer was going down with energy-sapping flu almost immediately after arriving home. Once back to a reasonable level of fitness it was time to hit the patch hard. Number 1 target was the Rough-legged Buzzard on Haddiscoe Island which was being seen regularly from The Mound in Waveney Forest. My problem was that for it to count I had to see it from the New Cut, my patch boundary. Four times I trudged out along the New Cut in often dismal weather and four times I failed. At least for one of those efforts, it turned out the bird was on the other side of the high reed-fringed bank of the River Waveney and hence out of view from the Cut. Last Wednesday afternoon saw my fifth attempt. The portents were good; I had visited Breydon Water at lunchtime and almost the first bird I saw as I walked up on to the South Wall was a Rough-leg being mobbed by 2 crows on the opposite bank. I settled myself 2/3 of the way along the New Cut and started scanning. The Island was alive with Short-eared Owls, I counted a least 8 in just one sweep across the marshes, some close, some distant, but their (to me) butterfly-like flight makes them distinctive. Marsh Harriers were regularly on patrol, the occasional Common Buzzard put in an appearance and a single ringtail Hen Harrier drifted from Reedham across to Fritton. A single smart peregrine was perched on the marsh and Barn owls began to emerge as the afternoon drew on. There was no sign of the Rough-leg. Suddenly in the far distance  a large longish-winged raptor flying quickly and low across the marshes caught my eye. I could make out nothing on it until a Short-eared harried it and it flipped up to reveal a white tail base with a dark terminal band. Here was the Rough-leg at long last. I followed it for a minute or two hoping it would come closer but eventually it merged in to the haze and landed on a very distant gate becoming an indistinct blob.
Other new birds were more of a surprise, not least the patch life tick I had. Coming home from work one afternoon I found the Haddiscoe Dam closed by a lorry in a dyke just a mile from home. Faced with the alternative of a 25 mile detour to get home, I parked my car up at the New Cut bridge and walked the mile and a half across the marshes to home. (Fortunately my car is fully equipped with walking boots, waterproof jacket, over-trousers, gloves, hat and spare bins for emergency twitches from work). Returning in the dark to pick up my car in the late evening Chris and I both spotted an owl sat on branch overhanging the road. There's occasionally a Tawny or Barn Owl on this branch but as we drove under it we both simultaneously noticed that this one had long ears! The car was quickly slammed in to reverse but the Long-eared owl, a patch tick, flew off across the fields never to be seen again.
Two weeks ago the dog and I did a big circular walk across the marshes hoping there might be a Water Pipit around one of the many pools on both the arable and grazing marsh. The marshes were surprisingly quiet at first, the large flocks of lapwings and Golden Plover seeming to have moved on, but on the return leg Chris phoned me from the house to tell me about 6 White-fronted Geese he could see from his elevated view point, which I eventually tracked down behind a low ridge. Nearing the marsh edge 5 Barn Owls appeared and I enjoyed the sight of 3 Hares having a bit of March madness in February. I was just watching the dog, a little Jack Russell, tanking off in another fruitless pursuit of a Chinese Water Deer when a small falcon rocketed past across the reeds. It turned and came back across the path in front of me, a superb female Merlin, actually quite a rarity out here.

 The following weekend I was just about to head indoors after feeding the sheep when I head the distinctive wild sound of Bewicks Swans. I raced indoors to grab bins and head upstairs for an elevated view but I think they headed east low behind our wood and sadly  I couldn't see them. However that afternoon on one of my rough-legless walks along the New Cut, I noticed a smaller swan amongst the 100 strong Mute Swan flock that winters on Thurlton marshes and had good views of a single Bewicks, another Patchwork 2 point bird.
With the first returning Lesser Black-back of the year added today, February ended with 14 species and 19 points added. Patchwork is back on track.

Birding the Atlantic Rainforest Brazil Part 2

The next three days were spent birding the mid-altitude forest between Serra dos Toucanos Lodge and the town of Nova Friburgo. Nova Friburgo was the scene of a devastating flood and catastrophic mud slide just 4 years ago which killed several hundred people. It puts the UKs recent flooding "disasters" in to perspective. The only sign of the catastrophe today in Nova Friburgo is a bare, neatly terraced grassed hill side where there were once houses. On a lighter note, Nova Friburgo is the lingerie capital of Brazil; the road approaching it is lined by shop after shop selling nothing but underwear!
Day 4 was spent along the Macae de Cima road walking a bit, driving a bit, walking a bit more and so on. It was a little slow to start. One of the target birds, the Bare-throated Bellbird, wasn't in its usual tree but there were others calling and we eventually found another perched distantly. Another target, a Serra Tyrant Manakin that had been singing from the same corner for 7 years obstinately refused to show. We were distracted by a Dusky-legged Guan looking rather ungainly as it ate fruit high in the top of a cercropia tree.

Then a magnificent Black Hawk-eagle circled over our heads

As we walked back past the Manakin it started to sing again from within the forest. Taking a narrow path through the trees and up a slope the Manakin was finally located. It was hardly the most spectacular of birds, being a nondescript dull green but it was another very local species.
We stopped for lunch but we had hardly started eating when a Surucua Trogon started calling and flew straight in above our heads. Trogons usually fly in, sit still doing very little and then fly off again. This one was very active and began feeding in the trees above us.

Walking on, we came across a very showy Bellbird calling insistently from the top of a tree above the path. Shortly after we were lucky to come across the very different female, a usually secretive bird. She had been drawn in by the male who took a keen interest in her.

Next day we birded the Portao Azul trail all on foot. We had hardly left the minibus when new birds started showing all around. First, a Dusky-tailed Antbird, followed by Scale-throated Hermit, Scaled Woodcreeper and then a Bertoni's Antbird which appeared without the need for any use of the tape. Suddenly I noticed a large woodcreeper probing a trunk with the most enormous down-curved bill, the appropriately named Black-billed Scythebill, a great bird to see. Walking on the trees seemed full of birds including Long-tailed and Shear-tailed Tyrants, Swallow Tanagers and the very attractive but difficult to photograph Gilt-edged and Red-headed Tanagers. We also had another Dusky-legged Guan wandering along the track in front of us like an elongated turkey. The icing on the cake was an Ochre-tailed Antbird, a species we had tried for repeatedly the previous day without success.
Day 6 started very well when I spotted the superb looking Blond-crested Woodpecker outside the dining room as we ate breakfast. Todays trip was a visit to the Theodoro Trail just a short drive from the lodge. This had started as a railway line, was converted in to a road and then abandoned when the new road was built. It had been almost completely swallowed by the forest and in places was slipping down the hillside but it was a great birding site. A cute little White-throated Spadebill posed beautifully for me to take its photo and we quickly ran in to a bird flock, unusual during the breeding season, but always exciting trying to sort through all the different species including several different foliage gleaners and tanagers. The endemic Azure-shouldered Tanager was one of the highlights.

                                             White-throated Spadebill

Skulking on the ground was a Rufous-breasted Leaftosser and further along a few of us managed a brief view of a Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper, both rather dull brown birds but with fantastic names. A Ferruginous Antbird put in an appearance (along with another Bertoni's) completing the set of 6 endemic antbirds we could hope to see. Meanwhile a Cryptic Anththrush serenaded us with its amazing song, an ascending series of notes become louder and more frantic until it seemed the bird must explode. There was little hope of seeing this secretive bird so we concentrated instead on searching for the Sharpbill whose song was a single descending note like a falling artillery shell but without the explosion at the end. It was a good three-quarters of an hour walking backwards and forwards between 2 spots on the track before the bird finally showed.

Our final full day was spent on a whistle-stop tour of open pastoral landscape to the north of Nova Friburgo with remnant fragments of forest. Our first stop gave us Blue-winged Macaw, Streamer-tailed Tyrant and the classic Guinness bird, the Toco Toucan. Another stop at an unpromising tiny roadside clump of trees produced the endemic Serra Antwren. The wonderfully named Firewood-gatherer, so named because of its huge stick nest was another bird that duly obliged. Pulling in next to a cattle yard, a quick play of the tape drew an instant response from a pair of White-cheeked Puffbirds.

Our lunch stop was also the site for the slightly bizarre looking Curl-crested Jay but with the threat of impending rain we quickly moved on to our most important target bird of the day, the Three-toed Jacamar. This is a very rare and range-restricted species with probably only 1000 individuals left. We turned off the main road on to a dirt track and stopped almost immediately at the end of what seemed like someones drive with a few large trees on our left. It was a surprising site for such a rare bird but within minutes up popped not one but three birds which put on a great show for us, a fitting end to a fantastic trip.

The drive back to the lodge added Burrowing Owl and Rufous-capped Antshrike to the list.
We had a few hours to ourselves on our final morning before our scheduled departure at 11am. I headed up in to the trees around the garden and was delighted to find (and identify) by myself another regional endemic, the Black-capped Foliage-gleaner, but it was soon time to make our final drive in our trusty minibus and return to the UK. If you are interested in doing the same tour check out Serra dos Toucanos website here. I travelled with Birdfinders (although other bird tour companies are available they use the same lodge and the same guide at sometimes a higher cost) and had a great time.

Birding the Atlantic Rainforest Brazil Part 1

It's been a while since I last posted; 2 reasons, first I went on a birding holiday to Brazil for 10 days; second, I arrived home and within three days was laid low with a horrible flu-like virus that knocked me out for nearly 2 weeks.
So back to Brazil. Brazil is a vast country and my tour visited just a tiny part of it near Rio de Janeiro concentraing on endemic and regional endemic birds of the Atlantic rain-forest, a much diminished and fragmented habitat. We were met at the airport in Rio by our guide, the excellent Andy Foster, incredibly patient, genial and a superb birder, and driven straight to Serra dos Toucanos lodge about 80 miles away. The highlight of the drive was the numerous Magnificent Frigatebirds cruising at eye-level along the massive bridge that crosses the bay around which Rio is built. At the lodge we were immediately seeing our first endemics in the garden such as Brazilian and Green-headed Tanager, Sombre Hummingbird and Black Jacobin before being served a filling lunch.

       
                                                             Brazilian Tanager

                                                         Green-headed Tanager

                                                           Sombre Hummingbird

                                                               Black Jacobin

After lunch  Andy led us on our first walk in to the surrounding forest, secondary growth that had reclaimed an abandoned banana plantation, but still rich with birds including the endemic Scaled Antbird. During evening drinks and the days bird list on the verandah, the lodges Slaty-breasted Wood-rails, another endemic, put on a good show emerging from the forest and stalking around the edge of the garden pond.

                                                       Slaty-breasted Wood-rail

Day 2, our first full day, saw us heading upwards to Pico Caledonia, a mountain that reaches up to 2100m, in search of higher altitude birds and some particularly special endemics. We had barely left the minibus when the calls of the very localised Black-and-Gold Cotinga had us scurrying up the steep track to enjoy some excellent views of calling males. They were also joined briefly by a Swallow-tailed Cotinga.

                                                     Black-and-Gold Cotinga

The even rarer Grey-winged Cotinga (a species only described in 1980 and only known from a handful of sites) was harder to find. A calling male tantalised us for some time before Andy spotted it perched on a distant tree, not exactly the best views in the world but a relief to catch up with it.

                                  Phone-scoped Grey-winged Cotinga (scope on 50x)

Climbing beyond the trees to the scrubby low bushes at the top of the mountain our next target was the Itatiaia Thistletail, another very localised endemic. This too gave us an anxious wait before showing briefly, but eventually it decided to show a little better in the bushes below our viewpoint on the stairway that climbed the mountain to the communication aerials on the mountains summit. Other highlights were the creeping mouse-like Serra Do Mar Tapaculo (described only in 2006), Rufous-tailed Antbird and Brazilian Ruby.

                                                            Rusty-tailed Antbird  

                                                                  Brazilian Ruby

From our lofty position the views too were also tremendous but we also had an interesting encounter with a swarm of bees which appeared from nowhere. Andy ordered us to lie on the ground and keep still as the swarm passed over us as the bees could be potentially aggressive.

After a successful trip up the mountain we moved to a lower, more open area and here a family of Red-legged Seriemas put on a terrific display.

                                                              Red-legged Seriemas

The following day, we went in the opposite dierction to the lowland forest area of REGUA, a wetland and forest reserve that has been reclaimed from old pastureland by the planting of thousands of trees. In the heat of Brazil, the trees grow rapidly and the areas we were birding in with large trees had only been planted within the last 10 years. The change in altitude and the wetland brought a new set of birds and two endemic antwrens, Unicoloured and Silvery-flanked, and the endemic Sooretama Antshrike. For variety, we also saw 2 Capybaras and a Broad-snouted Caiman.
Returning to the lodge in the mid-afternoon there was time for a visit to a trail just up the road where we came across yet another endemic Antwren, Star-throated and also Spot-breasted Antvireo.

                                                           Spot-breasted Antvireo           

Day 3 was spent fully at Serra dos Toucanos exploring the grounds more fully and also giving the photographers some free time to concentrate on taking photos. Highlights were Rufous-crowned Motmot, a superb but elusive bird, Black-throated Trogon, White-eyed Foliage-gleaner and stunning views of Rufous-capped Antthrush, walking along the forest floor with its cocked tail reminiscent of a tiny moorhen.

Happy New Patch Birding Year

My Patchwork Challenge for 2014 ended 3 species and 8 points down on 2013. The mild winter of 2014 with a consequent lack of winter wildfowl was the main cause of this downturn in fortune but undaunted I've registered for 2015.
I left my patch (and Norfolk) on New Years Day and headed south to the Stour Estuary in Suffolk, and with work yesterday, today was the first day I could spend some serious birding time at home. There were other important duties to attend to however with some of these guys due this weekend:

but the seven ewes left to lamb were languidly chewing their cud every time I walked through the rain to check them. The rain kept me indoors much of the day but with a handily placed scope at the upstairs bedroom window birding could continue in comfort and warmth regardless.
Surprise of the day was the doubling of our seemingly now winter resident Tree Sparrow population from two to four birds. With birds popping in and out of the hedge, it was a while before I managed to see all four together on top of our privet hedge. The rain kept the local raptors down but, as it eased a little, a ringtail Hen Harrier appeared (always good to get safely on the patch list for another year). A Barn Owl was doggedly hunting through the rain too. Also out hunting, but happily unsuccessfully, were three wildfowlers who had built a temporary shooting blind and laid Pinkfeet decoys across a marsh directly out from the house. The Pinkfeet flock sensibly stayed up by the A143 close to Haddiscoe and the wildfowlers clearly cold, wet and bored from the way they ended up out of the blind stamping their feet and waving their arms gave up mid-morning. Within minutes of them leaving, the geese moved up closer to a more favoured feeding ground. The wary geese were obviously not easily fooled.
The rain finally cleared in the late afternoon in time for a pleasant walk around our marsh. A Woodcock flushing from our alder wood as I passed was my first of the winter. Then an owl lifted off the next marsh clutching prey and turned out to be a Short-eared, surprisingly scarce here this winter. Barn Owls seem to be returning to their former abundance after the disastrous winter of 2012-13 with 3 in the air at once and finally 2 Stonechats put on a show amongst the reeds of the neighbouring marsh, another bird that disappeared in 2013.

The bird that has been surprisingly missing from patch all winter is Rough-legged Buzzard. Haddiscoe Marshes were until very recently particularly favoured by Rough-legs but have yet to appear this year and have only been reported once or twice from nearby Haddiscoe Island despite there being a big influx in to the UK this autumn. Hopefully its just a matter of time.

Murmurations on the marsh

Its been a mostly grey, wet, dismal November here in East Norfolk particularly at the weekends which hasn't tempted me to travel far. Apart from a brief foray to Sea Palling for a repeat look at the Humpbacked Whale, on its last day as it turned out, I've stuck to patch birding.
As it happens the patch (otherwise known as home) hasn't been at all bad. Raptors have been especially numerous, the star birds being two ringtail Hen Harriers regularly quartering the marshes and probably roosting here too as I've seen them coming up from the reeds heading out in the mornings to hunt. The local Kestrels have clearly had a good breeding season too as 4 or 5 can be seen in one sweep of the marshes, with similar numbers of Common Buzzards, the calls of which are now a regular feature of the marsh soundscape. Sparrowhawks regularly buzz the garden and a Peregrine caught my eye one day as it flew purposefully over the house. Marsh Harriers are ubiquitous as always.
The star bird in the garden however has been Tree Sparrow. One bird appeared on the bird feeders 15 days ago and was joined by a second the following day, surprisingly with a House Sparrow another rarity in our garden. The House Sparrows visit was short-lived but the Tree Sparrows, having always previously just been brief visitors for a few hours, have stayed. They are clearly roosting in the hedge that divides our sheep paddock as their cheery chirruping is a feature of early morning trips to the chicken house.

Winter visitors have been trickling through too with the occasional Brambling and small groups of Redwing and Fieldfare too.
Today I took the dog on a long circular walk across Thurlton Marshes to the New Cut and back across Thorpe Marshes. The arable fields of Thurlton Marsh had large open pools of water across them and these were a magnet for Lapwings and Golden Plover. I counted upwards of 1000 Lapwing and 190 Golden Plover, the largest numbers I can recall seeing in the area.

On Thorpe Marshes, on a marsh next to the main A143 Haddiscoe Dam, I found my first grazing flock of Pink-footed Geese of the winter with a single White-fronted Goose.

The absolute highlight of the week however has to be the starlings. We noticed a few starlings roosting in the rushes and reeds behind Thorpe Hall a couple of weeks ago. Last weekend I reckoned there were about 3000 of them in a mini murmuration. By mid week the numbers had doubled but tonight mini had become massive. I walked out to the edge of our wood to watch the spectacle. As dusk approached thousands of starlings began to gather on the electricity wires across the marshes in dense masked ranks that bowed the wires. As they started to swirl over the reeds, more and more birds were pouring in from all directions. Last year I watched a roost of what I was told were 15000 starlings at Island Mere, Minsmere but this was way bigger and simply mesmerising. The noise from thousands of chattering starlings was incredible. After whirling around for about 10 minutes the starlings plummeted en masse in to the reeds but as darkness fell I could still hear the birds as I returned to the house.

This is just a small section of the flock. The thick black line to the right of the picture is starlings packed on the wires.

Desert Wheatears

Its been a remarkable end to the week with the discovery of not one but two Desert Wheatears, a few miles apart and a few miles from home. First up a 1st winter male on the North Denes at Lowestoft on Thursday, easily located from the Links Road car park by the small cluster of birders on the sea wall. The bird wasn't on view when I arrived as it had gone on to the beach but I was told it would pop back on to the sea wall and sure enough it did. Desert Wheatears are known to be confiding and this one was particularly so, picking at small black flies swarming on one edge of the sea wall whilst birders watched and photographed it from the other. Conditions were ideal for photography too, windless with a bright low winter sun and a blue North Sea as a back drop.

At times it would come even closer and wasn't perturbed when a springer spaniel trotted past it just a foot away.

A brief seawatch produced a distant single Little Auk powering northwards and thankfully avoiding falling victim to one of the many Great Black-backed Gulls loafing off shore.
Today, it was the turn of the female on Gorleston beach, still in Suffolk to Suffolk birders, but Norfolk to Norfolk birders and the County Council. Although sunny, a brisk wind was blowing up the beach so this bird was taking shelter against the base of the sea wall rather than feeding on top of it. Just like the Lowestoft male, this bird was extremely approachable and was unworried by the birders and general public above it.

Given that any novice with a reasonable camera could get a decent photo why then was it that certain photographers felt the need to scatter mealworms on the sunlit area of sand to tempt the bird out from its shelter in to the sunshine? The wheatear would dash out, grab a mealworm and immediately return to the sea wall and stay there for several minutes before dashing out again. Some would say that feeding the bird helps it but equally, feeding it could tempt the bird to linger in an area that is unsuitable for it. Others compare feeding for photographic purposes to feeding garden birds but there is a crucial difference. The photographer puts out mealworms for the purpose of changing the behaviour of the bird in order to get a better photo, the bird may (or may not) benefit as a secondary consequence but once he's got his photo he drives away and abandons the bird. The garden bird feeder puts out food for the primary reason that it benefits the birds visiting the garden, the feeder getting the secondary consequential pleasure of seeing birds closer, and the garden feeder will continue to feed the birds day in, day out providing a dependable food source. The bottom line is that we have no idea what the consequences are of providing food to a displaced migrant and the motives of the mealworm providing photographers are essentially selfish. Who wants a photo of a wild bird with a very unwild mealworm in its beak anyway?

Back home, there's a distinctly wintery feel to the marsh. A ringtail female Hen Harrier seems to be lingering in the area and a Stonechat seems to have taken up winter residence along the reed fringed dykes. Small flocks of winter thrushes pass over daily and a swirling flock of several thousand starlings is also gracing the area. The first groups of Pink-footed Geese are also on the move up and down the valley but are yet to arrive in large numbers

Scilly 2014

Hmmmm. Scilly 2014: well, it would have been better if I had been able to post a picture of an amazing American passerine in the slot above but instead you've had to make do with a stunning view, which along with the social side in the evenings, is what always redeems even the worst of Scilly years. 2014 will probably go down in birding folklore as one of the worst years ever, at least since 1974 I've been told and when I become an old birder I'll be able to say "I was there".
It started off well enough. My flight was on time and I made the 10.15 boat to St Agnes. Arriving on the island we walked straight to Castella Down in search of the Short-toed Lark. Reaching the area my group split to search but the first bird I looked at was the Lark feeding at the back of the field with some Meadow Pipits

A report of a Tawny Pipit by the Big Pool had us rushing down to Periglis and although it turned out to be a Richards Pipit we had prolonged good views of the bird as bounced around amongst long grass and rocks. I finished my day, whilst others had retired to the Turks Head, enjoying a Barred Warbler feeding out in the open on Gugh.
The following day there was time in the morning to visit the incredibly confiding Snow Bunting on King Edwards Road on Peninnis before embarking on MV Sapphire for a mini pelagic.

We steamed out from St Marys for a couple of miles  before looping round and coming back in via the Western Rocks. Birds were a little slow, a good view of a single Balearic Shearwater was the highlight and Joe Pender manoeuvred the Sapphire within touching distance (almost) of a Purple Sandpiper on the Western Rocks. However my keenness to do a proper Scilly Pelagic next August was reduced by a distinct queasiness which developed half way through the trip. I was glad to reach dry land.
Monday, and I caught up with my first Yellow-browed Warbler, Firecrest and RBF of the trip but birding was hard with very few even common migrants. Next day was a flat calm and I took the 10.15 boat to St Martins. Part way across, a pod of Common Dolphins was spotted in the Roads, or maybe they spotted us, as they came over and put on a fantastic performance around and under the boat. Our boatman, Joe Badcock, cut the engines to allow all on board plenty of time with these inquisitive creatures.

When they seemed to lose interest, simply starting up the engines caught their attention and drew them back in. This is the first time in 30 years of visiting Scilly that I've had dolphins perform like this in the shallow waters of the Roads.
On St Martins, a Siberian-type Chiffchaff showed nicely at Little Arthur Farm, and a Firecrest and an elusive RBF were conveniently close to the re-opened Sevenstones Inn. Meanwhile, birds were pouring in to my home county of Norfolk; surely things were going to pick up birdwise on Scilly?
Unfortunately it wasn't to be, and despite covering many miles and spending many hours in the field, the hoped for rarities just didn't materialise. In fact, hardly any new birds appeared and even a single Redwing was noteworthy. It was a beautiful day on Bryher on my second Sunday (see photo above) but the highlight of the day, a Reed Bunting, said it all in terms of birds.
The arrival of Hurricane Gonzalo prompted great expectations but Scilly missed out.
A Green-winged Teal on Tresco caused some excitement as it was a Scilly tick for many, but as the pager Mega-alerted repeatedly on Thursday 23rd, it was only an Ortolan Bunting, found by a team of BTO birders on St Agnes, that prompted the first extra boat of my 2 weeks. As mainland birders enjoyed a Yellow-billed Cuckoo at Porthgwarra just 30 miles away, two more American birds appeared on the Friday in the shape of a pair of American Wigeon, not quite what we had hoped for, and a White-rumped Sandpiper also put in a brief appearance on Tresco. Returning on the 2.15 boat to St Marys, Chris and I put in a few hours birding on St Marys. Admittedly we saw very few birds but also very few birders. Maybe that is the problem, too much cover and too few birders actually out looking. At least that increases the chances of actually finding your own birds!

Eastern Crowned Warbler at Brotton

News of an Eastern Crowned Warbler in Cleveland came as a great surprise to me. I had been on Scilly when the Trow Quarry bird turned up in 2009 and I had it in my mind that this was a bird I wouldn't catch up on, although a trapped bird in Hertfordshire 2 years later should have given me some hope. There were 2 problems; one, I wasn't free until Saturday and two, my husband Chris was still on Scilly and wouldn't be home until late Saturday. The Trow Quarry bird had only stayed 3 days and had gone by the Sunday, and as I would be gutted if I missed this one, I took the decision, much to his dismay, to go on Saturday.
Hence I found myself hitting the road shortly after 4am and tackling the dreaded A17 across Lincolnshire. Happily, at this time of day the A17 was pretty much clear apart from the odd lorry and tractor which were easy to overtake and I was pulling in for a short break at Wetherby services on the A1 for a quick break at 7.15. Five minutes later I received a text from a friend, James Walsh, on site to say the warbler was still there so it was a case of quickly slurping down my coffee and hitting the road again. Reaching Hunley I parked in the overflow car park kindly provided by the Golf Club. I had passed lots of parked cars but not seen a single birder so I made a quick call to James to find out where to go. He kindly met me on the road and updated me with the birds movements. It had been elusive, going missing for up to 25 minutes at a time and giving poor views in the tops of the tress. I prepared myself for a patient wait but walking in to the plantation it was obvious from the purposeful movement in one direction of birders in the wood that the warbler must have been located again. I followed, the crowd paused briefly, then moved on again around the back of a dense clump in the middle of the wood. Several birders were looking intently in the same direction, I joined them, spotted a movement, lifted my bins and there was the Eastern Crowned Warbler, just above eye level in the top of a young oak tree. It was side on to start with, then it turned to face me and dipped its head down almost as if to show off its central crown stripe before flitting back in to the thicket. I walked back around the clump and the warbler had been found again this time in a heavily leafed sycamore. Only a few birders could see it but I joined the group and scanned the tree. Almost immediately I found the bird neatly framed in a small gap in the leaves back on to me. It stayed in the same spot for what seemed like minutes during which time it turned to face me then turned back around once again. Well satisfied with my views James and I went to the Clubhouse for a reviving and celebratory cup of tea, enjoying the fantastic view from the veranda.h

Suitably refreshed, I returned to the wood and again birders were moving in determined fashion, the warbler had returned to what seemed to be its favoured location. Looking up, the warbler was almost above me displaying its lemon yellow undertail coverts contrasting with its silvery white belly. Then it moved out completely in to the open lit by a warm autumn sun. I thought I already had good views but these views were simply breathtaking. Its all pale lower mandible glowed almost orange and the bill had an almost upturned appearance like a minature Nuthatch. The broad Arctic Warbler like supercilium was further highlighted by a prominent dark eyestripe below and a dark smoky green crown with its pale central crown stripe above. The mantle and wings were a deep olive green, the feathers of the wing being fringed narrowly fresh green. This was a stunning bird!
It was time to head for home as the livestock needed checking before dark. Even the A17 despite 10 miles stuck behind 2 massive tractors, and the 20 miles stuck behind a tanker doing 40mph didn't seem so bad after all.

Cornish Choughs

I have a soft spot for Choughs. They were a bird I knew about, long before I took up birding properly, from childhood holidays in Cornwall, where the Cornish Chough featured prominently on the counties coat of arms and various tourist memorabilia. It wasn't until my first holiday without my parents, taken post A-levels, when I visited Bardsey off the end of the Lleyn peninsula that I saw my first Choughs in the flesh. Four further very enjoyable visits followed over the next 3 years, as voluntary warden and also lambing assistant for the Bardsey farmer. Cavorting Choughs were a daily facet of island life and their distinctive call (and the nocturnal cries of Manx Shearwaters) will forever remind me of some very happy times.
Work and relationships ended my visits to Bardsey and I rarely had cause to visit the distant extremities of the UK where Choughs reside other than a trip to South Stack in 2003 for the Black Lark. It was fantastic news when Choughs returned to breed in Cornwall on the Lizard in 2002 and they have steadily increased and spread so there are now 7 pairs breeding. Annual visits to Scilly in autumn meant that Choughs were in reach again but with 2 children in tow and a 460 mile drive ahead of us we always headed straight for home from St Just airport. This year I returned from Scilly on my own and unlike last year, with nothing to rush away for, I decided this was the year to reacquaint myself with Choughs. Happily, I had been told that Nanquidno valley next to St Just airport was a good site for them, so this year I turned left out of the car park instead of right and made the short journey down the road to the turning for Nanquidno. I had been to Nanquidno once before but at first had no recollection of my visit. Then turning a corner I came to a spot where trees arched over the road next to a house hidden amongst more trees. The sight was instantly familiar even though it had been 27 years since I had stood there and seen a stunning Parula Warbler. The Parula had obviously made quite an impact on my brain! I drove on a little further and came across a small group of birders intensely watching a group of bushes. It turned out they were looking for a Red-breasted Flycatcher but having seen 7 already this autumn my mind was still focused on Choughs. A local helpfully told me the path to take and I headed for the coast.
The path wound down the valley lined with bushes but after crossing some stepping stones I came to a stile where the land opened out in to some rushy grassland with the coastal grassland and cliffs ahead. A Raven flew low past me and then 3 distinctive glossy black birds came over the brow of the hill and landed on the short cropped turf 100 yards ahead of me. With their long curved bright red bills and red, colour-ring bedecked legs I had found (or rather they had found me) my first Cornish Choughs. I watched them for several minutes as they probed the turf, until disturbed by coastal walkers they lifted into the air and flew off further down the valley towards the sea. Although I had just spent 2 weeks on Scilly these were the bird of the trip, and gave me a bigger kick than even the dainty Lesser Yellowlegs at Hayle which I called in to see as I passed through on my way home.

Minsmere Little Crake

It was all kicking off in East Anglia this weekend. For me this meant spending all yesterday watching Dereham Otters Iceni swimming gala in which my youngest daughter was competing. She achieved  a personal best in all 4 events she took part in and did a qualifying time for next years Suffolk County championships so I was a proud parent. Unfortunately her total time in the water was 4 minutes in an 8 hour day and as I slowly died from boredom watching the umpteenth heat of the girls 200m Breaststroke ("It looks like a Sunday leisure swim" commented a parent next to me) my mind couldn't help but wander to the birds on offer in Norfolk and Suffolk.
It was only this morning with the girls safely on the school bus that my husband, Chris, and I could go to Minsmere. We arrived at Bittern Hide at 9.20 having been assured by Steve Piotrowski that the Little Crake had been showing well (thanks Steve!). Unfortunately the crake had wandered off in to the reeds at 8.55 and thus began a long and increasingly chilly vigil as the wind picked up and showers started to arrive blowing straight in to the hide. The pool was utterly birdless, not even a Moorhen graced its margins let alone a Little Crake. At least decent flight views of Bitterns provided some relief. The sudden change from summer to autumn had caught me out in my choice of birding garb and after 4 hours facing the teeth of the wind I was beginning to shiver. With conditions deteriorating further and the reedbed whipped in to a frenzy by the wind, Chris and I called it a day and headed home.
There was no mention of the crake for the rest of the day but knowing that crakes can be crepuscular I decided late to give the crake another go at dusk. I was more appropriately dressed this time with extra layers and arrived back at the hide at 5.50pm to find a small group of birders huddled against the back wall away from the rain-soaked windows. There was still no sign of the crake and the light, which was appalling, was getting rapidly worse. Despite this, there was an improvement on the morning with a party of Gadwall on the crakes pool and a Moorhen, wow! At 6.10pm one of the group gave up and left the hide. Minutes later, Lee Evans cried that he'd got it out in the open. Then I experienced one of those moments that in the panic to see the bird you overlook it, in this case because the light was so bad at this stage that the Little Crake really wasn't that obvious until it turned its pale underside towards me and my eyes finally locked on to it. Having gone missing for 9 hours the decidedly little Little Crake performed in full view for 10 minutes, apparently unconcerned by the weather, before disappearing back in to the reeds. At this point the hide emptied and a dozen relieved birders trudged back to their cars through the gloom under the trees.

Autumn arrives and the Red-backed Shrike Lowestoft

After the excitement of the Masked Shrike, migration seems to have slowed down at least locally, and the marshes have started to take on an autumnal feel. The chattering of swallows has gone and been replaced by the sip sip of Meadow Pipits and chirrups of passage Skylarks.
Snipe are almost permanent visitors of the scrape and wetter parts of the marsh but I was delighted to find a Jack Snipe which flushed from my feet at the edge of our scrape, flying languidly just a short distance to drop in to a reed margin, unlike the panicky escape of its larger cousin.
A Whinchat on the 1st October was another surprise find, which popped up out of nowhere on to a gate post as we were leading 3 stubborn rams on halters to new pastures.
Yesterday, I was watching Buzzards soaring over the marshes when I was attracted by a rustle in the reeds next to me. I expected to see a mammal emerge but was surprised when a Reed Warbler appeared in full view, a late record for here.
Today a single Swallow was battling southwards against the rising winds.

The confiding Red-backed Shrike at Ness Point, Lowestoft has been attracting admirers for the last week, and yesterday my husband and I paid it a visit too. It was indeed very approachable. Having made its home in bushes either side of a staff entrance to the Birds Eye complex, it was unconcerned by the comings and goings of humans, and for once there were no problems at all if photographers wanted to get close. After enjoying the Shrike for half an hour I turned my attention to the sea. Conditions were not promising for a seawatch  but there was a steady passage of small groups of Brent Geese, the occasional Red-throated Diver and then a Bonxie heading south, a precursor perhaps of the remarkable 123 counted flying past Ness Point this morning.

Migrants and Masked Shrike

This last week started very slowly but steadily built to a stunning climax. Despite birds starting to arrive in East Anglia, Monday and Tuesday were a dead loss as work kept me from any birding at all. Free time arrived on Wednesday afternoon, so thinking there had to be something to find, I tried Corton a few miles away on the coast, a known migrant hot-spot. Sadly, it was decidedly cold, bird and weather-wise with a chill, grey murk hanging over land and sea. Migrants were distinctly thin on the ground, the only highlight being a flyover calling Tree Pipit.
Come Thursday, birds were pouring in to the north coast of the county but my few free hours were assigned to sorting out some sheep with the help of my husband. A flock of 6 Buzzards circling low over our wood, mewing loudly provided a welcome diversion as did a couple of Hobbies, an adult followed by a begging youngster. Having driven the ewe flock back out on to the marsh, there was at least time for a quick spin round. Walking along a reed-fringed dyke, a chat popped up in front of us. Stonechat said my husband Chris, as I called Whinchat. It turned out the 4 bird theory was in play and we were both right, with 2 Whinchats and 2 Stonechats flicking  across the top of the reeds heading rapidly eastwards. It was hard to keep up with them but they eventually settled distantly using a dense reed margin and electricity wires as vantage points. Stonechats regularly winter on the marshes, but Whinchats are scarce visitors here so its always a pleasure to see one.
I was working Saturday morning so news of a Masked Shrike at Spurn had to be temporarily ignored but after lunch we drove north to join the "crowds" at Burnham Overy. We had missed the peak of the flood of migrants that had passed through here and the crowds of birders were actually quite small by the time we arrived at 2.30pm. Arriving at the bushes at the end of the boardwalk, we quickly caught up with 2 Red-breasted Flycatchers, and then walked east in to the dunes looking to see what else we could find. There were virtually no other birders here. Chris quickly located a third Red-breasted Flycatcher which obliging flew and promptly landed in full view in a bare bush right in front of me. We managed to find a few Garden Warblers, Redstart and Wheatears and were about to head westwards again when we noticed a solitary birder staring intently into a single bush with his camera poised. Chris remarked that he had been there for at least 20 minutes so we wandered nonchalantly over to investigate. It turned out the birder had been watching this particular bush for an hour and a half trying to get decent views of a Barred Warbler which was lurking within, apparently feeding on fallen berries on the ground. As we were about to join him in his vigil a large greyish warbler with whitish outer tail rocketed out of the bush in to a much denser and larger clump. Our quest for the Barred Warbler had seemingly suddenly got a lot harder. I took up station on one side, where there was a gap through to the middle of the clump, Chris on the other. Within minutes I spotted movement and the Barred Warbler skulked through the back of the gap but was out of view by the time Chris got round to me. He returned to his spot, I stayed at mine and again the Barred Warbler appeared and again Chris missed it. When this happened for a third time, this time with the Barred Warbler in full, glorious view, we swapped sides. Ironically, I had a brief glimpse on my (new) side but Chris quickly got decent views before the Barred warbler flipped out of the clump.
Sunday saw us getting up early and heading north again but this time on the long tedious drive up the A17 to Spurn. The Masked Shrike was in view distantly from the Well Field car park as we arrived, making me appreciate again the benefits of a zoom on a decent scope. It was clear there were many other migrants in the area and walking down the road to the sea wall we spent some time scanning a hedgerow. Birds just kept popping out one after the other including another RBF, Pied and Spotted Flycatchers, Redstart, Garden Warblers, Common and Lesser Whitethroats and Tree Sparrows.
Returning down the road we discovered a viewing area for the Shrike had been opened up. From here we had phenomenal close views as the Shrike worked its way up and back down the hedgerow towards us, a delightful bird, its long black white-edged tail recalling an overgrown Long-tailed Tit. I was able to try out my new phone-scoping adaptor with pleasing results.

I would have liked to spend longer in the area but having abandoned our children at home (although of an age to be legally abandoned) we left in the early afternoon to get home at a reasonable time. It was still a very satisfying half days birding and an excellent end to the week.

Willow Emerald Damselfly at last

5 years ago, the Willow Emerald Damselfly was found breeding in Suffolk and quickly appeared in East Norfolk in particular at Strumpshaw just a few miles up the Yare valley from us. Our alder wood surrounded by dykes appeared to be the ideal habitat for them but despite diligent searching by my husband Willow Emeralds appeared to have forsaken us, apart from a possible sighting last year.
Yesterday, I arrived home from work to find a photo of a Willow Emerald open on our PC. My husband had obviously finally succeeded in his quest but as he had taken our daughter to swim training followed by a club committee meeting I was left in the dark as to where he had found it.
This afternoon, after a long stressful morning at work I managed to make it home for a very late lunch with just enough time for my husband to show me where he had photographed his Willow Emerald. There was a short but anxious wait before, with a light tap of the overhanging Alder branches, a Willow Emerald made a brief flight before rapidly alighting back on an Alder leaf.

Unlike most damselflies, which seem to barely sit still, Willow Emeralds seem particularly attached to their perching places and if disturbed quickly settle back down and allow a close approach. In just a brief search, we managed to find another 2 males in just a short stretch of alders

Wrynecks, Whinchats and a Tufted Duck

My home patch has been frustratingly quiet. With reports of many migrants on the coast, particularly Whinchats, I've set off on a circuit of the marshes hoping each time to see some sign of autumn migration. Last year we had Whinchat and Wheatear; this year, so far, precisely nothing. There've even been 6 Whinchats just up the valley at Claxton for heaven's sake, surely one could have stopped here!
My efforts to see Wryneck had also been failing. My first attempt was at Yarmouth Cemetery about 10 days ago. I arrived in the mid-afternoon to be told it had flown in to a bush and had not been seen again. Despite much searching by me and another birder, we failed to locate it but at least I found myself a dapper Pied Flycatcher, my first of the autumn, so the visit was not in vain.
My birding activities the following weekend were restricted to a 4 hour window on Saturday afternoon due to work and sporting commitments (my daughter doing the sporting bit in Letchworth, me being the taxi) so my husband and I elected to visit Winterton hoping for Wryneck and Greenish Warbler. Arriving just north of the totem pole we found one birder staring at a dense clump of bushes. Sure enough, the Wryneck had been showing well on the short Winterton turf but had flown into a bush and disappeared. Despite searching hard for 45 minutes, there was no sign of the Wryneck, or of any other birds for that matter, so with limited time we gave up and turned southwards hoping the Greenish Warbler would be more obliging.
The warbler had been quite elusive at times and a small crowd of birders was gathered by the "Valley" waiting for it to reappear. Fortunately we had timed it right and didn't have long to wait as I noticed a small bird flick into the back of a willow and then pop out in the open on the front of the tree. It performed beautifully, flitting back and forth from the willow to a huge buddleia, constantly flicking its wings.
Sunday was spent with my daughter at Letchworths annual Duck'n'Dash, nothing to do with birds, but an aquathlon ie a biathlon composed of a 600m swim followed by a 6km run. My daughter was competing as the swimmer in a relay team, the other half of which  was my friend and fellow birder James Walsh doing the running bit. Considering that they were essentially a Junior + Veteran team, they came a very creditable close 3rd against Adult+Adult teams.
During this week, I had time for an hour or so's birding back at Great Yarmouth Cemetery. Whinchats were posing here using gravestones for lookouts, another Pied Flycatcher hunted insects above them and I was pleased to catch up with a classically tail-quivering Redstart.
Yesterday, I was tied up yet again, this time for a wedding but finally managed to get out to Kessingland this afternoon where 2 Werynecks had been reported.
This time, I arrived to find a group of birders watching a Wryneck feeding distantly at the base of a bracken covered ridge. I could see where the bird was through bins but this was definitely a scope job at this range and in the short time it took me to put my scope up, the bird had been flushed by dog walkers and I was just in time to glimpse the Wryneck through my scope as it shot over the ridge into the bracken. The other birders left and I moved forward to a better position but it was an anxious wait before the Wryneck popped back into view on the grass. Focusing my scope on this bird I was stunned to see another Wryneck drop in next to it. I had two Wrynecks side by side in one scope view, simply breathtaking! One Wryneck quickly hopped off out of view but the other was very showy. After walking to Beach Farm and back, where I saw one each of Pied and Spotted Flycatcher, one of the Wrynecks was perched in full view on a bramble patch on my return.
This evening back at home, a final walk around the marshes at last gave me a patch year tick for September, not a hoped for Whinchat but a Tufted Duck, a bird I haven't seen here for 14 years! Even on a small regularly watched patch, birds can always surprise you.

Red-backed Shrike and Passenger Pigeons

Our marshes have been pretty quiet lately with no new birds for Patchwork Challenge for several weeks but a Goldcrest in a flock of half a dozen Chiffchaffs broke Augusts duck at last. Two Lesser Whitethroats yesterday and a couple of Whitethroats in the garden before today's rain suggested some warbler movement too but that's been about it for migrants.
The nearby Hobbies added to the local raptor success story with at least two very vocal youngsters fledging on Friday. Bizarrely, one flew past the house calling loudly after dark last night.
Yesterday, my husband and I braved the holiday traffic around Great Yarmouth and drove up the coast to Winterton after the showy male Red-backed Shrike that has over-summered there. I've visited Winterton many times but never got as far as the landmark concrete blocks so this was a first for me. I also hadn't realised quite how far they were from the car-park but the long walk was well worth it with the shrike performing beautifully.

It was hunting very actively and successfully, catching insects almost every time it sallied from its perches on various bramble patches. Flies, bees and butterflies were swallowed whole, and it only paused to remove the wings and legs from a darter before swallowing its body in one gulp too. The shrike was the perfect subject for my husband to try out his new digiscoping adaptor, one of the results of which is above.
Following reports of a Barred Warbler at Eccles we headed further in to deepest East Norfolk along narrow single track lanes to where a long ribbon of residential caravans and ramshackle wooden chalets nestled in the lee of the coastal dunes. Just a few birders were stationed by an enormous wide dense bramble patch. There had been no definite sign of the Barred Warbler since its initial sighting and we were not to be lucky but the brambles were a haven for several Lesser Whitethroats, Blackcaps, Common Whitethroat and a Garden Warbler.
Today's heavy rain made the prospect of birding unappealing so instead I spent my afternoon at the Wonder Of Birds exhibition at Norwich Museum. I'm in the middle of reading Mark Avery's new book "A Message from Martha" about the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon, and one of the first exhibits my eyes fell on was a stuffed Passenger Pigeon. Its colours were inevitably faded only hinting at the rich purple and red of its plumage in life which with its long pointed tail must have made it a beautiful looking bird. The sheer size of the now disappeared flocks described in the book are hard (if not impossible) to comprehend but we have surely lost one of the greatest wildlife spectacles of recent history. The Red-backed Shrike is a bird that became extinct as a British breeding bird in my birding lifetime but at least we can still enjoy it as a passage migrant and it has recently returned as an occasional breeder. Maybe it will one day return full time.