November Round Up and a bit of December

Almost half way into December and only just getting round to looking back at November. A pretty dismal month with enforced closure of non essential shops, some pretty dull weather and a list of domestic jobs to attempt that I never did during the first lock down, combined for an uninspiring month for me.

The long staying Lesser Yellowlegs did cheer things up a bit as it continued to perform for the "crowds" though on the two occasions I visited during the month there were only three other people there and just me on one occasion.

On each of the visits the sun disappeared which was a tad annoying, the only shot in some decent light shown below.

And talking of legs !

The trips to drop Tom off at Thornham Deli for work (they remained open for take aways etc plus he's was working on their website) allowed me some morning visits to Thornham Harbour but only when he didn't start at 7.30am ! The Twite numbers had being building up to at least six birds but they were incredibly jumpy. Some excellent views through the binoculars revealed some beautifully marked birds with remnants of rich breeding plumage, but alas photos were not so pleasing due to distance and gloomy conditions.

This picture of the Twite reminded me of Don McCullin's photograph of "The Guvnors in a bombed house in The Bunk" a picture that started McCullins career as a photographer which appeared in the Observer in February 1959

Other early morning sightings included Short-eared Owls, Whooper Swans and Woodcock. The flooded meadows had large flocks of Black-tailed Godwits and a Glossy Ibis which I missed by minutes.

During the second week of November a group of five Cattle Egrets had started to feed in the fields by the Norton bends accompanied by some 20 or so Grey Herons.

Cattle Egrets have now become a more common sight and a group of five birds often accompanied the Herons near Norton.

Cattle Egrets breed for the first time in Norfolk this year with four pairs nesting. They seem to now favour Burnham Overy Staithe meadows and salthmarsh where some of the young birds sporting dark bills are often seen - I have only seen a total of seven birds together but other people have seen more. The picture above was taken on the 11th and was one of five birds feeding by the roadside.

The following day I visited Titchwell beach to watch and photograph waders but go the tide times slightly out so with covered feeding areas the birds were a little more jumpy on approach.

On the 17th I cracked and visited Salthouse for a Desert Wheatear that had spent some days at Gramborough Hill. I have posted this "event" in the last update but here to remind me what a great looking bird this was is a repeat picture......

I couldn't resist another visit for it on the 20th but this was not as successful as the bird was ranging further afield and spending most of it's time in the gloomy shadow of Gramborough Hill. It was accompanied by a couple of Snow Buntings so the flashes of white as all three birds flitted around the cliffs was quite something.

The following day on the 21st , with yet more grey and gloom I had a pre work trip to Burnham Overy Staithe harbour to see a very elusive Black Redstart and Rock Pipit. The only saving grace was that I was on my own ! It was bitingly cold and damp.

December hosted some post work Tom drop offs and visits to Thornham Harbour again to see if the Twite were playing ball as on the last three visits they had been incredibly difficult.

There was that early morning warm light which made the Harbour and Coal Barn look lovely.

Six Twite were feeding in the adjacent Saltmarsh and by creeping forward in the car I was able to get some photographs.

Rock Pipits are becoming a bit of a thing for me - a challenge as they stay in the shadows, creep about under boats but are truly coastal birds and these Norfolk Coast "Rockits" are mostly from the Scandinavian littorals race. There will be more on this I hope and maybe even a picture should the sun shine when it coincides with me being out !

The month of November ended ( bit out of sync here ) with a walk at Roydon where I notched up my first ever Norfolk Raven as two birds flew close by gronking as they went.

All in all a bit of a grey and for me disappointing month ---- as I write this mid December not a lot has changed --- but there are a few days with some sun and strong winds so who knows, maybe an elusive Rock Pipit out in the sunshine !

Just Deserts

Before the November update a short post about a bird I'd heard was present at Gramborough Hill, Salthouse on the 13th but hadn't really considered having a trip out for a lockdown walk there. I've seen quite a few Desert Wheatears in Norfolk ranging from grotty first year males to resplendent females. It was a shock then when on Monday afternoon on a gloriously sunny day I eventually saw a picture of the bird at Gramborough - blimey it was a cracking adult male in superb condition, I checked the time and decided I couldn't make it to Salthouse before dark. What a missed opportunity and why hadn't I looked on line before this to see what the bird looked like. Chastised I packed my bag ready for tomorrow morning and the rather dismal weather forecast.

Dropped Tom off at work at Thornham Deli ( well.... he drove and I just gripped the sides of the passenger seat) and then headed east along the coast for a wander at Salthouse. There was no news of the bird being seen but my hopes were high as it had rained all night which would have kept it on site, but who knows if it had moved or just headed for the African deserts first thing.

Tuesday 17 November

On arrival at Salthouse news came through that it was still present so with expectations high I headed to Gramborough Hill - no sign of it on it's favoured area on the shingle ridge at the base of the hill. So a walk up onto the top to have a look for it and after just a minute I looked over to see one other birder pointing at a bush and there it was. What a cracker !

This wasn't a first winter bird but an adult summer male and it really looked the part. I lay down photographing it for about ten minutes before cramp got the better of me. Black bib, white scapulars and as the books say "in autumn black areas show pale fringes". The masked appearance with the black iris and ear coverts with a warm buff crown was striking. As as the bird turned in certain lights a prominent white supercilium was visible.

This was a real spanker as they say and I was so pleased I'd made the effort to have a walk here today ! I felt privileged to be watching this bird with only three other people present as it turned out when I reversed as low as possible. The bird spent the next ten minutes or so on top of the hill and still only four people present. A social distancing result !

Very cropped in picture and grainy to show distinctive rump pattern

In certain light the pale fringes were difficult to see but this added to it's bandit like masked appearance.

So this lovely bird was en route from western Asia towards the Middle East - Saudi Arabia -East Africa when it ended up here. Who knows if it will make it back, the shortening day length should trigger it to fly south and maybe it'll make it to Spain or Morocco. I'd like to think so.

Below is a photograph of a female type I saw at Gun Hill on 23 October 2016 - equally a great bird - this to show just how smart today's bird was.

I left and after discussions with Malc we decided to head to Muckleburgh to see if we could get a glimpse of the very elusive Dusky Warbler. Renown for being exceptionally skulking I was pleased with the three one second views I had of it !

I returned to Gramborough to see if the Desert Wheatear was on the beach - which it was so a few more photographs were taken. Light was poor so pictures were a bit grainy.......

a fluffy bandit ...........

This was it's favoured area - a bit protected from the wind .

The afternoon ended with a flyby of three Whooper Swans. So pleased I went today......

Eastern delights continue for the second part of October 8th - 31st October

10 October - first light ! Lincolnshire - just

News that the Bearded Vulture, previously wandering around the Peak District was now in Lincolnshire set my heart apacing - while it's origin was still in dispute it was simply a Lammergier ! "the bone crusher" and not to be missed............

This sent Oli and I off to the fens for a pre dawn start. It was somewhat weird arriving in the dark to make out a group of people looking up at a tree near the side of the road. We joined this small group to see a silhouette --- that belonging to a Bearded Vulture !

The origin and sex of this Bearded Vulture dubbed ‘Vigo’ were still being worked out but she is only the second Bearded Vulture to be seen in the UK, and there were many speculations as to where she had come from.

She had no ring, tag or markings, but local Yorkshire birder David Ball found and collected two feathers in the Peak District. These were analysed by Pro Bartgeier, and it was determined that ‘Vigo’ is a female bird that hatched in 2019 in a wild nest in the French Alps. There are however questions still remaining over whether its parents are wild-born birds. It is understood that VCF plans to reveal further details at a later stage.

Leaving all that aside this was an immense bird in every sense. I recall seeing these on a camping trip to the Pyrenees in the early 80"s

So we watched this roosting bird looking about as the light dawned and at 7.41 it lifted off and flew round the adjacent fields.

Luckily and almost unfortunately it found a rabbit carcass and alighted on it - landing on the road ! Cars stopped as local commuters presumably could hardly believe what was in front of them. Remember this bird has a near 3 meter wingspan - it's simply huge

We then watched it drag the rabbit to the middle of a field, feeding on it before flying off. Here some images of that experience..............

14 October

Morning visit to Holme and a walk from the village car park to the Obs. Loads of Goldcrests, Bramblings, thrushes a including a single Ring Ousel but nothing unusual or so I thought as it later turned out I had missed a very showy Pallas's Warbler by just ten minutes from where I had walked !

15 October

News at Holme that in the bushes round the village car park there was a Red-flanked Bluetail so after dropping Tom at Thornham Deli for work I went straight there and immediately saw it flying up and down the hedge line, frequently pursued by a rather determined Robin.

Robin in control - Bluetail hiding in the grass to the right on imminent attack

Bluetail in control with Robin nailed !

Some rather grainy pics as the heavens opened - I was last man standing as everyone ran for their cars...........

The real Blue Tail

16 - 17 October

More Yellow-browed Warblers and Pallas's at various locations and then on the 17th it was Global Birdwatch Day. The One Stop Nature Shop fielded a team which found Oli and I at first light at Walsey Hills doing a piece to camera about ringing with Emma Buck.

https://www.facebook.com/OneStopNature/videos/4659194870789807

En route to Walsey we heard news of a Rufous Bush Chat and it was at Stiffkey just a few miles away. We stayed calm, did the interview and hung around a while - then we cracked and headed to Stiffkey. On arrival it was evident that many other birders hadn't waited as long as us and the place was rammed ! We heard it had been seen first thing and flown from the footpath out onto the marsh. The general area it had disappeared to was by a small bridge. It was high tide but as the tide receeded a few of the keener/more desperate twitchers headed out. This bird hadn't been seen in the UK for some 40 years so it was highly sought after by many.

We sat back and watched as the "keenies" went up to their hips, poked about to find shallow water, fell over and generally kept the rest of us amused.

That said they did re locate it by the small bridge seen in the above photograph and the rest as they say is history ----- police, covid disrespect etc etc. In the end that morning there were some 300-400 hundred people there. We managed a distant and socially distanced from other birders view and decided to leave it to the crowds and have a look at the campsite woods for the Pallas's Warblers.

The Woods were relatively quiet with most people concentrating on the Bushchat but we had great views of two Pallas's Warblers and then returned to the car park but en route I found a third bird. These really are just exquisite little birds.

We couldn't resist another quick look at the Rufous Bush Chat and even with us socially distancing from the crowd managed to get a better view. View being correct as the photos were appalling !

At least we stayed safe !

Another Red-flanked Bluetail and our day was over. We listed all our sightings on ebird and it ended up with Global Birdwatch Day recording over 7000 species - quite an achievement.

24 October

Sifting through ducks really isn't my thing but a trip to Holkham lake to look for a reported Ring-necked Duck had me doing just that. It wasn't easy as it was hiding in amongst several hundred other ducks, mostly Tufted ! But eventually it was teased out.

The deer were actively shouting, moaning, calling and grunting ..........

The month ended for me with great views of a most delicate North American Wader at Cley

More on this in the November update ............................