Tuesday 5th March Two Day tour
We started the day at Cley, we bumped into David & Pat Wileman whom had just seen a Water Pipit off the West Bank, but despite several attempts it remained elusive or had moved on! On the Beach pool the Purple Sandpiper was still present & showing very well, along with a couple of Ringed Plover, plus Lapwing &
5 "littoralis" Rock Pipit. We picked off a few birds whilst looking at the sea, Red-throated Diver, Gannet, Guillemot, Razorbill & 2 Gannet. The best bird was undoubtedly a female Goosander off the end of the East bank, that was close inshore before flying off west. On Arnolds there was a good scattering of shorebirds,Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit, Ringed Plover,Grey Plover etc.Off the East Bank we had very brief views of Bearded Tit, plus 2 Marsh Harrier, lots of wildfowl & c1000 Brent Geese, including one leucistic bird.
The group made a unanimous decision to spend the afternoon trying to see the WT Sea-Eagle. This turned out to be my 2nd failed attempt!! However, it was glorious sunshine & we did have continuous views of Buzzard, a Red Kite, Nuthatch, Treecreeper & a briefly flushed Woodcock.
Without too much trying we had recorded 94 species over the two days.
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Wednesday, 6 March 2013
Monday, 4 March 2013
Monday 4th March Two Day tour Day One of Two Goshawk & Woodlarks
Monday 4th March Two Day tour
Todays tour was mainly designed around seeing Goshawks. But we made an early start with a wander around Lynford, where there was Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Marsh Tit, Siskin & other commoner woodland birds but no sign of Firecrest or Hawfinch.
Although cold, the weather brightened & the sun was out, so by mid morning it made sense to head off & look for raptors. We started steadily with Buzzards up & down, not quite thermalling, but with up to 7-8 Buzzardvisible. 2 Kestrels were active, but no "accipiters" in the air in the first hour. Then the Buzzards became more active & we then eventually a male Goshawk got up & twice flew across the skyline. The second view was slightly more prolonged allowing able everyone to scope the bird & appreciate the size & wing action, with heavy slow flaps before & again disappearing into the trees. We decided to try one of the most regular sites, but access is still not possible from the South or West due to Forestry commission work. We did have 2 singing Woodlark here & 1 hunting male Sparrowhawk.
We took a late lunch at a 3rd site, but despite the sunshine raptor activity was slow, 1-2 Buzzards & 1 Kestrel,plus 2 more singing Woodlark. We finished the day looking for Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, we were a little late in the afternoon & we heard a Lesser Spotter Woodpecker drumming, but couldn't locate it before the drumming ceased. We did have lots of singing Marsh Tit, Nuthatch, Great Sp Woodpecker, Brambling Treecreeper, 2 Kingfisher & Siskin.
Sunday 3rd MarchA recce with Nick Moran down into the Brecks produced a male Goshawk, displaying Sparrowhawk, several Buzzard & singing Woodlark.
Todays tour was mainly designed around seeing Goshawks. But we made an early start with a wander around Lynford, where there was Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Marsh Tit, Siskin & other commoner woodland birds but no sign of Firecrest or Hawfinch.
Although cold, the weather brightened & the sun was out, so by mid morning it made sense to head off & look for raptors. We started steadily with Buzzards up & down, not quite thermalling, but with up to 7-8 Buzzardvisible. 2 Kestrels were active, but no "accipiters" in the air in the first hour. Then the Buzzards became more active & we then eventually a male Goshawk got up & twice flew across the skyline. The second view was slightly more prolonged allowing able everyone to scope the bird & appreciate the size & wing action, with heavy slow flaps before & again disappearing into the trees. We decided to try one of the most regular sites, but access is still not possible from the South or West due to Forestry commission work. We did have 2 singing Woodlark here & 1 hunting male Sparrowhawk.
We took a late lunch at a 3rd site, but despite the sunshine raptor activity was slow, 1-2 Buzzards & 1 Kestrel,plus 2 more singing Woodlark. We finished the day looking for Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, we were a little late in the afternoon & we heard a Lesser Spotter Woodpecker drumming, but couldn't locate it before the drumming ceased. We did have lots of singing Marsh Tit, Nuthatch, Great Sp Woodpecker, Brambling Treecreeper, 2 Kingfisher & Siskin.
Sunday 3rd MarchA recce with Nick Moran down into the Brecks produced a male Goshawk, displaying Sparrowhawk, several Buzzard & singing Woodlark.
Friday, 1 March 2013
Friday 1st March Exclusive Day tour
Friday 1st March Exclusive Day tour
We started the day at Sculthorpe NR, there was an excellent mixture of winter woodland birds, good numbers of Siskin, Redpoll, Brambling & Chaffinch, we also had lovely views of Long-tailed Tit, Treecreeper
& Marsh Tit. The feeder offered really excellent close views of around c30 Brambling, 6 Reed Bunting, plus apair of Bullfinch & great views of 2 Water Rail. We didn't manage to see the Bittern, but did have Buzzard & Marsh Harrier. We headed up towards the coast & stopped off for a lovely feeding flock of c40 Yellowhammer & a few Corn Bunting, plus 2 nice Grey Partridge.
We then lunched in a harbour area, nice views of Bar-tailed Godwit, Grey Plover, Redshank & Little Egret plus many Brent Geese & wildfowl. We spent the afternoon with a great mix of waders, shorebirds & wildfowl. Lovely views of Pintail, Shoveler, Wigeon, Teal, Black-tailed Godwit & Snipe.
We finished with a look a long the shoreline, a real nice selection & good numbers of Knot, Sanderling, Dunlin & big numbers of gulls. Suddenly, the shorebirds & gulls were in the air & a Peregrine appeared, swept through the flocks & stooped, it was soon clear the Peregrine had been successful with a shorebird hanging from it's feet. It perched up on a sandbar & sat plucking it's prey, it was a nice end to a couple of great days - but not for the shorebird!
We started the day at Sculthorpe NR, there was an excellent mixture of winter woodland birds, good numbers of Siskin, Redpoll, Brambling & Chaffinch, we also had lovely views of Long-tailed Tit, Treecreeper
& Marsh Tit. The feeder offered really excellent close views of around c30 Brambling, 6 Reed Bunting, plus apair of Bullfinch & great views of 2 Water Rail. We didn't manage to see the Bittern, but did have Buzzard & Marsh Harrier. We headed up towards the coast & stopped off for a lovely feeding flock of c40 Yellowhammer & a few Corn Bunting, plus 2 nice Grey Partridge.
We then lunched in a harbour area, nice views of Bar-tailed Godwit, Grey Plover, Redshank & Little Egret plus many Brent Geese & wildfowl. We spent the afternoon with a great mix of waders, shorebirds & wildfowl. Lovely views of Pintail, Shoveler, Wigeon, Teal, Black-tailed Godwit & Snipe.
We finished with a look a long the shoreline, a real nice selection & good numbers of Knot, Sanderling, Dunlin & big numbers of gulls. Suddenly, the shorebirds & gulls were in the air & a Peregrine appeared, swept through the flocks & stooped, it was soon clear the Peregrine had been successful with a shorebird hanging from it's feet. It perched up on a sandbar & sat plucking it's prey, it was a nice end to a couple of great days - but not for the shorebird!
Thursday, 28 February 2013
Thursday 28th February Exclusive Norfolk Day tour
Thursday 28th February Exclusive Day tour
Today got off to great start at Buckenham, We started with lovely views of several 1000 Wigeon. In the great light early in the day our clients were able to take some beautiful images of the Wigeon, around plus lots of Lapwing. We did extremely well for raptors this morning as well with 4 Marsh harrier, 2 Buzzard, 1 Merlin, 2 Peregrine & a male Hen Harrier. A nice surprise as well thsi morning with 110 Bewick Swans at the east end of the marsh, several flying west over our heads.
We stopped off at Buckenham & although the Geese have now clearly gone, there was around c3000 Golden Plover along with 1000+ Lapwing.
I stopped off further east so we could have lovely close up scope views of c70 Bewicks & 34 Whooper Swan. We made another stop & had lovely views of a hunting & then perched Barn owl.
We then moved further north, we had several large flocks of Lapwing & Golden Plover, plus another good flock of Bewicks - around another 200.
Cranes were proving more elusive today but we enjoyed a good flock of Pink-footed Geese around c1200.
A stop for lunch still failed to produce any Short-eared Owls, but some consolation was nice views of swarming flocks of Golden Plover & lots of Lapwing.We searched around the east end of Hickling & were rewarded with a hunting Short-eared Owl, a male Hen Harrier & several Marsh Harrier.
We finished the day with another good raptor roost at Hickling, 2 male Merlin, a male Hen Harrier very close views & perched on the ground including plus c30 Marsh Harrier, a Barn owl & 2 Cranes.
Today got off to great start at Buckenham, We started with lovely views of several 1000 Wigeon. In the great light early in the day our clients were able to take some beautiful images of the Wigeon, around plus lots of Lapwing. We did extremely well for raptors this morning as well with 4 Marsh harrier, 2 Buzzard, 1 Merlin, 2 Peregrine & a male Hen Harrier. A nice surprise as well thsi morning with 110 Bewick Swans at the east end of the marsh, several flying west over our heads.
We stopped off at Buckenham & although the Geese have now clearly gone, there was around c3000 Golden Plover along with 1000+ Lapwing.
I stopped off further east so we could have lovely close up scope views of c70 Bewicks & 34 Whooper Swan. We made another stop & had lovely views of a hunting & then perched Barn owl.
We then moved further north, we had several large flocks of Lapwing & Golden Plover, plus another good flock of Bewicks - around another 200.
Cranes were proving more elusive today but we enjoyed a good flock of Pink-footed Geese around c1200.
A stop for lunch still failed to produce any Short-eared Owls, but some consolation was nice views of swarming flocks of Golden Plover & lots of Lapwing.We searched around the east end of Hickling & were rewarded with a hunting Short-eared Owl, a male Hen Harrier & several Marsh Harrier.
We finished the day with another good raptor roost at Hickling, 2 male Merlin, a male Hen Harrier very close views & perched on the ground including plus c30 Marsh Harrier, a Barn owl & 2 Cranes.
Tuesday, 26 February 2013
Monday 25 February Exclusive Day tour
Monday 25 February Exclusive Day tour
I picked up the clients today from Catfield & it was just a short drive before we having lovely close up scope views of c240 Bewicks & 28 Whooper Swan. We made another brief stop for a roadside hunting Barn owl.
We then headed down towards Great Yarmouth. We stopped off briefly at one of the Broads & had nice views of Great Crested Grebe, Shoveler, Tufted Duck & the first Marsh Harriers of the day. At Great Yarmouth armed with a loaf of bread, we were able to feast our eyes over around 80 Mediterranean Gulls, with point blank views of 1st winters, 2nd winters & adults. We also noted 4 birds with darvic rings on, I hope to have the details of these birds soon. We also noted Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Black-h-Gull, lots of Common Gull, Herring Gull & Lesser BB Gull. Offsore there was around 300 Cormorants roosting & an obvious northerly passage of Gannet.
We then moved further north up the coast towards Horsey, a large flock of Lapwing & Golden Plover were overhead, & a good flock of Pink-footed Geese around c1200 were located, amongst the flock was 2 White-fronts, 6 Barnacles & a Ross's Goose. There was an odd large leucistic Pink-foot but I couldn't find any Tundra Bean Geese. Overhead 2-3 Marsh harrier pplus Buzzard & we heard Cranes calling in distanceA stop for lunch still failed to produce any Short-eared Owls, but some consolation was nice views of swarming flocks of Golden Plover & lots of Lapwing plus Egyptian Goose, 2+ more Marsh harrier
Shortly after lunch a 2-3 scans from various vantage points produced a group 11 Cranes in a flock feeding out in the fields. We then searched the beach at Sea Palling, but the tide was out & I couldn't find the Purple Sandpipers, Gannets were still moving & a nice flock of c40 Sanderling were present
We finished the day with a great raptor roost at Hickling, 1 male Merlin, 2 Hen Harrier including superb views close of a grey male, c30 Marsh Harrier, 4 Barn owl & 2 Cranes.
I picked up the clients today from Catfield & it was just a short drive before we having lovely close up scope views of c240 Bewicks & 28 Whooper Swan. We made another brief stop for a roadside hunting Barn owl.
We then headed down towards Great Yarmouth. We stopped off briefly at one of the Broads & had nice views of Great Crested Grebe, Shoveler, Tufted Duck & the first Marsh Harriers of the day. At Great Yarmouth armed with a loaf of bread, we were able to feast our eyes over around 80 Mediterranean Gulls, with point blank views of 1st winters, 2nd winters & adults. We also noted 4 birds with darvic rings on, I hope to have the details of these birds soon. We also noted Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Black-h-Gull, lots of Common Gull, Herring Gull & Lesser BB Gull. Offsore there was around 300 Cormorants roosting & an obvious northerly passage of Gannet.
We then moved further north up the coast towards Horsey, a large flock of Lapwing & Golden Plover were overhead, & a good flock of Pink-footed Geese around c1200 were located, amongst the flock was 2 White-fronts, 6 Barnacles & a Ross's Goose. There was an odd large leucistic Pink-foot but I couldn't find any Tundra Bean Geese. Overhead 2-3 Marsh harrier pplus Buzzard & we heard Cranes calling in distanceA stop for lunch still failed to produce any Short-eared Owls, but some consolation was nice views of swarming flocks of Golden Plover & lots of Lapwing plus Egyptian Goose, 2+ more Marsh harrier
Shortly after lunch a 2-3 scans from various vantage points produced a group 11 Cranes in a flock feeding out in the fields. We then searched the beach at Sea Palling, but the tide was out & I couldn't find the Purple Sandpipers, Gannets were still moving & a nice flock of c40 Sanderling were present
We finished the day with a great raptor roost at Hickling, 1 male Merlin, 2 Hen Harrier including superb views close of a grey male, c30 Marsh Harrier, 4 Barn owl & 2 Cranes.
Sunday, 24 February 2013
Sunday 24th February Day 3 of 3 day tour North Norfolk
Another cold, grey day - with a gusty NE wind, made it feel very chilly! However, we still had an excellent day......first we stopped off in a rough field full of unharvested rape & maize. A lovely mixed flock were scoped as they dived in & out of the hedgerow - 30 Brambling, 50 Linnet, c20 Chaffinch, 20 +Goldfinch, 2 Greenfinch, 1-2 Yellowhammer & Reed Bunting.
A brief stop for a smart Red Kite overhead & then another farmland stop; this failed to produce Tree Sparrow, but at least c60 Yellowhammer & more Linnet & Chaffinch, plus Buzzard & a Marsh harrier.
We weaved on along the lanes towards Burnham Overy, but were again distracted, this time for a nice flock of skyward Pink-footed Geese, after a bit of driving around we found them feeding inland of Burnham Deepdale - around 1500-2000 Pink-footed Geese. Despite 30 minutes of scanning we failed to pull out anything unusual.
We then headed to Holkham/Burnham Overy area, we had 1000's of Wigeon & Teal, plus Shoveler & Shelduck, several Marsh Harrier, plus 5+ Buzzard & a hunting Barn Owl, but we couldn't make any of these into Rough-legs! However, a nice surprise was c20 White-fronted Geese.
We lunched at Cley, 3 Red-throated Divers flew past, but the sea was relatively quiet. After a thaw & coffee in the cafe plus a close hunting Barn owl we walked out along the East & Sea bank, a lovely mix of birds along here - c130 Dunlin, c30 Bar-tailed Godwit, 6 Knot, Redshank, Curlew, Turnstone & a single Purple Sandpiper. In the dunes there was c20 Linnet, a few Skylark but no sign of Lap Bunts.
Total 3 days - 108 species
Saturday, 23 February 2013
Saturday 23rd February Day 2 of 3 Day tour
Today got off a little slowly! We arrived at Buckenham, but couldn't find any White-fronts or Bean Geese, nor were they at Cantley either. We did however have lovely views of the beautiful Wigeon, around c1500 still present, plus lots of Lapwing, 2-3 Marsh harrier, 2 Buzzard & a selection of wildfowl.
Next stop still failed to produce target birds! With no sign of any Short-eared Owls, but some consolation was nice views of Golden Plover, 500+ Pink-footed Geese, Egyptian Goose, 2+ more Marsh harrier & lots of Lapwing.
Finally our 3rd stop came up trumps, with lovely close up scope views of c180 Bewicks & 26 Whooper Swan. A stop for lunch was brief in the biting cold wind! This produced more Marsh harriers, 2 Barn owl en-route; but lacked the desired Cranes. However shortly afterwards a 2-3 scans from various vantage points produced a fantastic group & the largest I have seen together this winter with 27 Cranes in a flock including 3 juvs.
We then headed for the coast, we did well (not only the birds we saw, but managing over an hour in the absolutely arctic wind on the beach!!). First up were a couple of really smart adult Mediterranean Gulls feeding along the shoreline with a mass of other gulls. The shoreline was littered with seaweed & closer scrutiny revealed a good number of shorebirds as well, c100 Turnstone, c20 sanderling, 2 Knot & the real stars 2 Purple Sandpipers. Close offshore beyond the reefs were c80 Common Scoter & 3 Red-throated Diver flew south.
We finished the day with a great raptor roost at Hickling, 2 male Merlin, 3 Hen Harrier including a grey male, c50 Marsh Harrier, 1 Barn owl, 5 Bewicks swan & 12 Cranes
Day two 101 species running total
One of todays Purple Sandpipers -
Next stop still failed to produce target birds! With no sign of any Short-eared Owls, but some consolation was nice views of Golden Plover, 500+ Pink-footed Geese, Egyptian Goose, 2+ more Marsh harrier & lots of Lapwing.
Finally our 3rd stop came up trumps, with lovely close up scope views of c180 Bewicks & 26 Whooper Swan. A stop for lunch was brief in the biting cold wind! This produced more Marsh harriers, 2 Barn owl en-route; but lacked the desired Cranes. However shortly afterwards a 2-3 scans from various vantage points produced a fantastic group & the largest I have seen together this winter with 27 Cranes in a flock including 3 juvs.
We then headed for the coast, we did well (not only the birds we saw, but managing over an hour in the absolutely arctic wind on the beach!!). First up were a couple of really smart adult Mediterranean Gulls feeding along the shoreline with a mass of other gulls. The shoreline was littered with seaweed & closer scrutiny revealed a good number of shorebirds as well, c100 Turnstone, c20 sanderling, 2 Knot & the real stars 2 Purple Sandpipers. Close offshore beyond the reefs were c80 Common Scoter & 3 Red-throated Diver flew south.
We finished the day with a great raptor roost at Hickling, 2 male Merlin, 3 Hen Harrier including a grey male, c50 Marsh Harrier, 1 Barn owl, 5 Bewicks swan & 12 Cranes
Day two 101 species running total
One of todays Purple Sandpipers -
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