Storm Arwen

Sunday November 28 

There have been so many storms this year that they've had to start the alphabet all over again. Arwen blew into the north on Friday night, bringing snow, gales and mayhem to the east coast of Scotland and north east England. We had some hail yesterday, a gusty wind with frequent showers, but nothing untoward. 

We drove to Bacton P and D car park at mid-day yesterday to do some hopeful sea watching. The waves were spectacular. Being down on the beach taking photos would give a truer idea of the height and depth. No thank you. We stayed in the car looking down from a similar height to that from the lower Sheringham sea watching shelter. There were very few birds in the twenty minutes before heavy rain set in and we left. A few Eider, one Great Northern Diver and three Scoter. I took these pics.

 

 

 

To-day we went earlier, as Little Auks and the odd Skua had been reported from the north coast. No repeat of yesterday's Brunnich's Guillemot at Wells, which made its way onto a sand bank to die. Poor bird. It must happen to hundreds of older, or emaciated, birds in this sort of weather. 

We spent an hour in sunshine/ hail showers/rain/ overcast, all very cold. Oh for DB's waterfront apartment balcony. I picked up a slow trickle of Auks way out, too far, even for my scope, to identify. A party of four, and then another seven, Eider ducks, two Great Northern Divers, several small groups of Common Scoter, and what could have been three Goodander. Again very distant. The beautiful adult Gannets were even further away, their very size and sparkling white plumage in the sunshine, standing out. With very few exceptions all the birds were flying north west, into the wind. The few flying south were whisked through at blink of an eye and you've missed it speed.

Younger grandson Josh is now the proud owner of his much desired Ute. Lack of funds, and available used cars, in the Covid affected market has kept him waiting for months. It's a beast. Pam would like one. A dark blue off roader. He needs the covered pick-up type back for his ladder and tools. I;ve got a great video of him driving it into his home - but it's too big to load.

 

Another Tuesday

 Tuesday November 23

A crisp, cold,  sunny morning, proved that the forecast cold spell had set in. October has been above average warm. Average where weather is concerned is about as useful as Common is an epithet for birds.

Apart from having a minor operation, a facial cutaneous horn removal, leaving me with a row of black stitches down my left cheek, and meeting Maggie and John for lunch, the last week has been uneventful. Oh, and Ole getting the sack after Man U's doleful showing against Watford, losing 4-1 with Harry Maguire sent off. Hardly fair that all the men who played so badly stay on - and get handsomely paid.

 

 

The stitches will be removed on Friday, the result of the biopsy on the horn will probably take longer. Makes me sound like a tup.

Shortly after the unmanned level crossing leading to Buckenham Marshes,  we had to make way for a large tractor and trailor, the latter contained cattle. That probably explains the lack of geese on the marsh, they will have been disturbed by the roundup.

Two Mistle Thrushes fed in a roadside field, their bounding steps alerting us to their presence.

 

Our resident thrushes have been increased by an Autumn continental influx. Several small groups have flown over the garden, always uttering their throaty rattle as they go. 

The biggest drainage channel held a group of Teal, their whistling calls stopping as they were frightened into the air by a passing Marsh Harrier. A very temporary departure, they were soon back.

 

I counted at least seven Chinese Water Deer amongst the Starlings and Lapwings, the only other birds on the marsh. One Buzzard and a lone Cormorant hunched on the gates which scatter the marsh. We haven't seen a Peregrine here for months. 

A Little Egret stood, in a small pool, overlooking the main pool viewable from the Wildlife Hide. 

This pool was teeming with Teal, over 40 Shovellers, a Gadwall, more Wigeon and Mallard. Two Canada Geese grazed the verge. A few hundred Pink-footed Geese flew distantly towards the beet factory, only to land out of sight the other side of the Cantley bank.

A very pleasant interlude before returning to a clean home.

Trip Tuesday

 Tuesday November 16

No, we did not see anything special. Yes, we had lovely weather. We had a cloudless, well laundered blue, winter sky, until we neared Snettisham. The incoming front gave complete cloud cover by mid-day. 

The highlights were: two Grey Partridges at Abbey Farm, they've been very scarce this year, 8 Buzzards, including one sat amongst  the yellow oak leaves shaded bough of the Little Owl tree at Abbey Farm.

 

A distant puzzlement on the mud at Snettisham was a Greenshank.

 

An RSPB warden was on site there. Again parked where we usually do so that we couldn't scan the Yacht Club area from the car. He asked us if we'd seen the Snow Buntings, reported from the Club area late yesterday. He set off in that direction. An hour later, the Bntings were reported as being present. Bother. 

Large skeins of Pink-footed Geese, arrowing noisily against the blue, have been a delight of the day. I love their noise. A flock of about 200 went over our home before we set off. The warden mentioned that there was a very large flock locally, never settling because of the repeat cannons used by farmers - even after they'd dispersed. That, and the current practice of ploughing fields almost immediately after the beet has been harvested, means that there is nowhere for them to feed. How long will they continue to winter here?

Snettisham was notable for the pristine, newly moulted, plumage of the Shelduck, recently returned from their traditional moulting area in the Zuider Zee off north-west Netherlands. Unable to fly during the moult, there is safety in numbers for them.

The lane to Thornham Point was closed off during our previous visit. We saw why. There are now wooden posts along the verges where cars used to pull off. Nearing the small car park at the end, we were pleased to see that it was empty. We could drive to the far end, park on a mound and have an excellent view of the marsh and shore, from Holme in the west to Titchwell in the east. No, we couldn't. Two hefty six inch square posts are concreted in place, so that cars are unable to drive into the area. Why?

It was good for raptors to-day. Another go at photographing one of the Kestrels, this one on a roadside wire with the light in the right direction.

 

At Holkham, I loved watching through my scope, an altercation between two Red Kites and a Marsh Harrier. The Kites had been perched in adjacent trees - until the Harrier came along. A splendid flying display, their foxy red aileron tails flashing brightly as they banked. 

Home to open the moth traps. One Scarce Umber was new for the year.

 

At Last

 Sunday November 14

On the previous two occasions, it was not our primary mission. We were on our way to Winterton, looking casually, in the Waxham area.

Yesterday, we were more focussed, seeing many small parties of Starlings coming in off the sea, six birders searching in the dunes and associated fields, a tractor being used to plough a field breaking down, a garage van quickly on the scene. A male Marsh Harrier  swept the inner dunes, scattering birds as it went. All very interesting, but no wanted bird. After an hour and a half - no-one else saw it either - as the rain intensified, we gave up. A few Whoopers in the Sea Palling Mute Swan field on the way there, none on the return trip.

As the bird had been reported early this morning, we decided to have another go, there's not much else we can realistically target.

Church Farm parking area was full of parked cars - and dogs off the lead. The Horsey Seal breeding area is very close. We slowly wended our way through, walkers reluctantly moving out of the lane, deciding to look elsewhere. That was a fortunate decision. As we neared the junction outside French's Farm, a binocular clad man and his dog crossed the road towards us. Pam asked him if he'd seen 'the bird'. There it is he said, waving an arm behind him, in the hedge next to the flat square hay bales. It  then appeared on the top. Our first Great Grey Shrike of the year. 

This shows how far away it was, taken with my 1-400mm lens at full stretch - unedited. 

 

Appalling light, huge cropping,  unmistakeable outline, through binoculars.

 

as the rain intensified

Stopping in front of the barn next to Cooke's farm shop, and looking towards the sea, a small pool held a family of four Whooper Swans, two of them juveniles.

On to Bacton Cliffs parking area to scope the calm sea. A regular passage of single Gannets, 1 Red-throated Diver, 6 Common Scoter, 20 Brent Geese, and a male Eider (Norfolk year tick), were the highlights. Seeing a Cormorant sitting on the sea with its wings in the drying off position, occasionally wafting them about was odd.I've never seen them do that before. It was obviously well as it eventually flew off.

Very Mixed Feelings

 Wednesday November 10

Stimulated by a photograph on Twitter yesterday morning, I resurrected the photo of a moth we caught at home, in the MV Robinson, on October 28. At the time, I believed it to be a moth I'd only seen at Portland and Dungeness Observatories. I was out-voted by both Pam and ObsIdentify, both believed it to be a Flame Shoulder. I was still reserving judgement, so kept the photos in a separate folder.

After seeing the Twitter feed, I sent a copy of my photo to Richard E, who reccomended that I forward it to Jim Wheeler, County Moth Recorder. At first, he responded asking for a photo of the hind wing - which I don't have. No response this morning, so I decided that that was that. Part of the way to Natural Surroudings, I got the following mail on my phone.

 Subject: Re: Possible Radford

Morning Anne,

Good news. Still waiting to hear from a couple of the team, but we think this is indeed Radford’s.

I ran it by the Suffolk CMR who also confirmed. 

If you could provide all details please for the database. 

I have added species to website. 

Congratulations!

Jim Wheeler - CMR Norfolk

Here it is. A Radford's Flame Shoulder.

 

 I do feel rather deflated, because Pam and I are the only moth-ers who saw it. I love to share good sightings, and am ashamed that I didn't have the courage of my convictions at the time. It deprived many others of the pleasure. Maybe another next year.........

We have also had two good micros.

Caloptilia falconipenella

and a Musotima nitidalis, Golden Brown Fern Moth

 

Adventive.
Native to Australia and New Zealand, this adventive moth was first recorded in the UK in Dorset August 2009, thought imported with ferns as a result of the horticultural trade.
It has since spread widely, with multiple sightings from other sites in southern England.

New for Norfolk in May 2020 when an adult moth was netted at Horsford woods (A. Starace, 23/05/2020) 

 

Our first sighting, a week ago, was of a dead moth in a pot, (found  alive by Ian and Sue Griffin), which unfortunately, expired overnight. Greg B also trapped one last night.

A fast spreading adventive.

Avoidance Strategy

 Saturday November 6

Going out for a couple of hours seemed to be a better healthy option  than is the need for tranquillisers/antidepressants/general anaesthetic when watching Manchester United at the moment. I tell myself that it's only a game - but that doesn't work. Just as well, as it turned out. Another 0-2 at home, to Man City, what's worse.

In the usual field between Ingham and Sea Palling, we found 16 Whooper Swans along with a few Mute Swans, which seem to act as an decoy.

 

 

Most had their heads up, a healthy number of young amongst them. As an insurance policy, I asked Pam to stop so that I could get a few shots across her, through a gap in the hedge, in case they went before our return journey, when they would be on my side. Lucky I did. An hour later, only the Mute remained . 

Yet another section of land has fallen at Winterton beach, the part near the turning area outside the car park.We parked at the far end as always, on a raised section for better viewing. The tide was coming in, starting to cover the large sandy mound to the north west where Seals like to pull out. Over 60 Greater Black-backed Gulls and a few Cormorants to-day. A few seals kept appearing along the shoreline, none beached. Probably because of the people and dogs off the lead on the beach.Four people wearing yellow bibs with Seal Warden stencilled on the back, talked long and loud alongside us. What were they supposed to be doing?

Sunday November 7

Ludham marshes to-day, Pam wanted to go out somewhere. A Kumlien's Gull had been ,reported from Walcott yesterday, soon seen flying away. Didn't seem worth looking for it, as Walcott front is a favourite with day trippers at the weekend. All parking spaces taken, chippy open, beach strewn with people and dogs. A Caspian Gull was reported whilst we were out, we called in on the way home, to find Walcott exactly as I'd suspected.

Apart from a female Stonechat on the approach road, no birds at all at the marshes. 

I'm still trying to take a decent photo of a Kestrel this year. Pure optimism - and some dsperation - prompted me to try some through the front windscreen, and against the light. These results are the product of editing.

 

Logging

Friday November 5 

The Norfolk Moth website is excellent. Much admired and envied by other counties, I believe that a few of them have bought in to the template. For various reasons, I have been dilatory about uploading the month records for our garden traps. Many moth-ers log in every time that they trap. We trap so frequently that once a month is my preferred option. The sun is shining, Adrian is planting Autumn onion sets, and I've completed October's recordings.

 I can't see that the year holds any more 'new for the garden' moths for us, althought we did have a new lifer micro moth last month. A Nomophila noctuella, an immigrant. An 'in pot' shot.

 

We have logged several new macros: Streak, Dewick's Plusia, Small Elephant Hawkmoth, Gem, Box Tree Moth and many micros (because I've got better at identifying them, with Richard's help). Unfortunately, Sue and Ian's new adventist, a Golden Brown Fern moth, ninth for Norfolk, was dead by the time we saw it. Our fault for not travelling sooner. I don't have a deceased moth list!

December Moth - which appears in October - has long been a favourite.

 

Wigeon are back, in large numbers. On the way home from Natural Surroundings, we stopped in at Cley and then Iron Road, as you do, finding a  flock of Canada Geese, a few Brent and Greylags. 

Shovellers on the sea pool were a month tick. As we were watching, a flock of Wigeon whistled their way in.

 

Friend Pauline tweeted a photo of a handsome Brambling on her garden bird feeders. Shortly afterwards, Pam came in to show me one on our feeders too. I'd read that large numbers had been seen flying in. No photo for me, he flew away.

 

The First on the Second

Tuesday November 2

The first frost of winter whitened the car windows. That had to be cleared before take-off. Pam saw one approaching driver leaning forward, peering through the small half moon which was the only clear patch of her front screen. Idiocy. Such a beautiful morning. Clear blue sky, trees in their closing down shades of Autumn, air filled with the contact calls of the hundreds of Pink-footed Geese which have taken up residence in our area.

Not in a hurry to get to Snettisham, we knew that it would be low tide, we made a short diversion to Selbrigg, for the first time in months. As we pulled into the small parking space, a flurry of birds appeared in the surrounding bushes. The first was a Marsh Tit. Pam's emergence to spread some food sent the birds a little further away. She had only moved a few yards to another post, when the first hungry birds came back to the bush/tree barely two metres away. Blue, Great, Coal, and Marsh Tits, Robin, Nuthatch - and four Grey Squirrels. Lovely. Too near for my lens, I took a few, less than sharp, shots anyway. I love taking photographs.

 

I didn't manage any of the wildly skittering Redwings and Blackbirds we saw in the hedgerows near Harpley Cottages. They were feeding on Haws, Elderberries, and an unknown black fruit which Pam identified as that of Wild Privet..Redwings have come in, in force during the last week or so, as have Skylarks, Meadow Pipits and Starlings.

Approaching Valley Farm Barns, Barry pulled out in his car, winding down the window for a chat. We thanked him for the potato gift, saying how good they were as jacket potatoes. He immediately said, 'I'll get you some more'. Horrified, we stopped him, Pam quickly saying 'next time'.he then told us that he was 80 earlier this year and still did some work for the farm. His wife - at 75 - is thinking about retiring from her work on the organic farm 'up the road'. Pam reciprocated, we had a short conversation about how well we were all doing , and moved on to Red Kites. Barry was a bit miffed that neighbour Paul, had seen two more than him coming to roost in the wood. Barry had counted 26.

Entry to Snettisham Reserve for permit holders, is via a motley collection of caravans, sheds, nice chalets, derelict examples of all, and some very attractive beach houses. Just before the yacht Club is a large patch of Nerines, which grows larger every year. It beats me why they flourish in such inhospitable conditions.

They always remind me of the 25 years or more when we visited the isles of Scilly during October half term - for a blissful 2 weeks after retiring. Nerines grew wild all over St Mary's. We always had a bunch decorating the dining table in our harbour side flat.

Snettisham was indeed a vast expanse of water gullied mud. I find it splendid and awe inspiring, as I find deserts. Others would disagree I'm sure. The birds were thinly scattered, either individually like the Grey Plovers, Redshank, and  Curlew. Or,  in small groups like the Dunlin, Sanderlings, Wigeon, Teal, and Mallard.  A medium sized flock of Golden Plover surged into the air before settling out of scope view. The vast majority of birds present lined the very distant shore. Greater Black-backed Gulls stood out by their very size and monochromic plumage. Knot, by their flight pattens.

A poorly looking Rabbit lolloped across the mud. It had obviously done some paddling, probably accidentally by the look of its swollen eyes.

 

No sign of it on the return jourmey. 

We did see a good selection of mammals during the day. Fallow, Roe, and Chinese Water Deer, Brown Hare, and a Weasel, in addition to rabbits.

Hunstanton for the necessary fuel fill up at Tesco, before a coffee on the clifftop.Several Fulmars sailing the cliff edge to-day, the first since August. There were four trawlers way out in the bay, each trailing a side net, and accompanied by a wake of birds. 

 

After turning left to head east, we encountered a 'Road Closed' sign.  This ended up being an inland diversion to Docking, before  we could return to the coast via Choseley. Not planned, nor enjoyed. 

Brancaster Staithe only had one other car, and the least amount of water we've ever experienced there. The solitude was wonderful, as was the view. 

 

A few Brent Geese gargled overhead, Ringed Plover, Turnstones, Oystercatchers and Black-tailed Godwits stood about, inactive. A lone Curlew fed in the main stream.

 

Inevitably (it always is), our last birding stop of the day was Wells North Point Pools. Despite rigorous scanning of the assembled gull and duck flocks, the only new bird for the list was Egyptian Goose.