Let's Go Birding

Sunday November 11

Why are we out to-day, I asked myself. Heavy, dark grey cloud cover regularly hurling heavy, wind assisted showers at us. 

Deviating from our usual route, to find that there were no Waxwings at Kelling was a disappointment. I was hoping for a better photo opportunity. In this light ?

Pam had planned a visit to Morston as it was high tide. I've never before seen the tide as high. It was Waw factor. The creeks were not only full but overflowing into the car park. Temple's ferry was floating above the landing stages.

Upstream was also an unfamiliar sight. 

Still dark and louring, still raining. Pam had to position the car so that a window could be opened - in turn - which allowed photographs to be taken without drowning lenses and cameras .......... and us.

We'd been worried about Barry, our Valley Farm gamekeeper friend, as we hadn't seen him for months. His garden feeders have looked neglected too. Returning from a less than satisfactory heard only Tree Sparrow addition, he stepped out in front of us, asking after our health before saying '' I told the wife that I hadn't seen them two little old ladies for a good while and I think it's them what went up the road''.
State of health established, he asked about birds seen. Five Red Kites appear regularly over his house and earlier this week one was perched on the barn eating a rabbit. This morning, his wife reckoned that one was so low she could have touched it. 
Other news was that he'd only had a few walnuts off the very large gnarled tree in his hedge. We'd noticed that the normally heavily clustered branches weren't. Hot dry spell ?
Shortly after saying our goodbyes, two Red Kites appeared over a distant hedge.
My weather app had promised sunshine by mid-day. Still raining with a hand numbing wind chill at Snettisham. The tide was receding as rapidly as it comes in here. Many more birds to-day, including smoke-like wraiths of spooked Knot at the tideline. The number of Pintail had doubled. All the expected waders apart from Golden Plover. The Goldeneye have yet to make an appearance on the pits, late this year.
As we left, the sun made an appearance, even more welcome, the rain stopped - for the rest of the day as it turned out.
For the first time in a couple of months, there was room to park on Hunstanton cliffs and a lone Fulmar appeared. It played hide and seek with me for quite a while, appearing unexpectedly and briefly above the shrub edged cliff before dropping again. I managed one reasonably sharp image and discarded many.

Enduring another bumpy, lurching drive out to Holme NOA and back was both unnecessary and frustratingly  unrewarding. 

Brancaster Staithe's tide was fast receding too. Plenty of freshly exposed gloopy mud for the Black-tailed Godwits to probe for food. What a messy boy.

Washing it off - by accident

Less messy now

Gun Hill marsh still had the flock of Barnacle Geese we'd seen a week or so ago, with only a smattering of the winter flocks of Pink-footed Geese often present.
We still hadn't seen the new visitor's centre at the end of Lady Anne's Drive. Taking a risk, we drove down as far as the empty 'mobility impaired' parking spaces to turn. I can't see anyone who hasn't got a wheelchair or buggy being able to get as far as the centre even, let alone the beach. Unless the boardwalk has been improved since our last visit. We passed the parking attendant but he didn't stop us. We used to have a season ticket to park here and at Wells, until the charge became exorbitant and  parking permitted either for Wells or here, not both.
Happy and contented we drove home in time for the Manchester Derby.
Our state of mind changed........ enough said.

After Natural Surroundings

Tuesday November 8

It was cold at Natural Surroundings this morning, it does seem to be a generally cold place. Difficult to understand why as it's in a sheltered valley. Maybe what little warmth the sun has at this time of year doesn't filter through that early.

Nineteen species of moth in November is exceptional - especially as a bird had been in the trap, the bottom was littered with moth parts.  The Skinner trap's opening is protected by wire mesh but the holes look nesting box sized to me. Two lovely Sprawlers were the highlight for me, we never trap them at home.
After coffee, a quick visit to Morston brought.........nothing. Not even Redshank, usually present in numbers.
On to Blakeney Harbour

Having recently read David B's Blog where he wrote of the number of bird species he'd photographed, I remembered my vow to photograph common birds.

I have photographed these before but either not in this plumage

or not very well. I find Jackdaws and Wagtails difficult as they are easily disturbed and/or constantly on the move.

Thursday November 10 

Still plenty of Large Wainscots on Cley Marsh. 

After moth-ing, we were meeting Pauline for coffee . Part of our group departed early to go and see the Waxwings at Kelling, opposite the tearoom. As it's on our way home, we called in later. We saw four birds perched at the top of a tall tree and at the back to boot. No chance of a clear picture. 

One of them flew back to a heavily berried tree in someone's garden, stopping long enough to grab a berry before leaving. 

Always delighted to see such beautiful and iconic birds.

YES

Sunday November 4

Not raining, out by 7.30 a.m. and Man U and Wales won yesterday. Wales with rather more style than Man U.

The hedgerows were quite busy this morning, we'd added 20 species before reaching Sculthorpe Mill. I missed the Tawny Owls calling from the wood at the bottom of the garden at home as I wasn't wearing my aids. November is the hot month for territorial usurping of the year's young and re-establishing territory. I should hear them again.

We haven't seen the Grey Wagtails at the Mill for a few months, they usually hang around in the winter. Not this year. 

Winter Thrushes, mainly Fieldfare with a few Redwings, are still arriving and moving inland, one Mistle Thrush to-day plus a number of wildly skittering Blackbirds.

Maybe, if we'd consulted the tide timetable, we'd have given Snettisham a miss. Or maybe not ! The water was at its utmost nadir during a high tide period. I had to work hard to find any waders scattered on the miles of mud, Lincolnshire within reach. Again, no Knot flocks, where have they gone. Forty Golden Plovers and a large group of 40+ Pintail were the highlights. The latter showing very few males in proportion to the females, their white markings gleaming brightly in the dull light.

Our time at Thornham, was productive. A large flock of Linnets was accompanied by half a dozen Twite - which conveniently peeled off before landing. Our first Marsh Harriers of the day, a single Spoonbill out on the marsh - we'd missed one at Snettisham. Another birder said that one had flown low over the pits whilst we were scanning for waders. One Grey Plover and a few Curlew and Skylarks.

No Moths on the walls of Titchwell toilets.....rumour hath it that the lights are turned off at night these days. Spoil sports.

Brancaster Staithe, always a favourite, added Ringed Plover. Black-tailed Godwits sewing-machined the mud in the approach creek, retaining some of their summer plumage and quite a few leg ornaments.

A get out of my way squawk

Little Egrets are very photogenic and irresistible to me. I hadn't been able to take any photos to-day due to distance and poor light. It still wasn't good but, the subjects were larger.

Very suddenly the rescue boat in front of me swung sharply, at a right angle, on its anchor chain, until its bows were downstream, before rushing upstream backwards to the limit of its chain. All in a few seconds. The tide had turned. We've never seen such a dramatic inrush here before.The mussell bags and the mud islands were covered in no time. It was tempting to stay and watch, the current was actually visible as a narrow stream in the middle of the creek. We forced ourselves away.

A quick look at Holkham freshmarsh from the Gun Hill layby found a surprise flock of at least 30 Barnacle Geese. Such handsome birds and the first we've seen here.
Another look from the A149 gateway - mainly so that Pam could see her beloved Belted Galloway Cattle. I love them too. A pair of Egyptian Geese and a Grey Heron photo-bombed the scene.

Mid afternoon in fading light. The hoped-for 7 Waxwings at Kelling tea-rooms had been 'flushed', according to the pager, and hadn't returned. No hurry to get there then. Pam suggested Stiffkey Marsh. Unfortunately, many others had had the same idea, we had to shoehorn in at the eastern end of the parking area, views to our left hampered by mainly empty cars.

The first bird I scoped was a female Hen Harrier. Brilliant. She was followed by three Marsh Harriers and a lull. We left so that we could drive home in reasonable light, happy and contented with our day. I'm planning the next one.........

In Addition

A gunmetal grey, obviously military, vessel moored off Stiffkey was reported to be HMS Tyne, a British waters fishery protection vessel. One of two remaining ships. She had been partially decommissioned before Brexit forced a change of plan. Back in action, her latest job was ''escorting'' a Russian frigate through the English Channel.

Round-up

Wednesday October 31

The news about a King Eider off Sheringham didn't come through until mid afternoon when I saw a photo on Facebook. Still no messages on my pager at home.

Disgruntled, we drove to Ludham/Thurne Marshes. Scoping the far distant area around the two windmills and the river, I found ten Common Cranes in total. They kept me busy for a while as I was having to peer through several banks of phragmites and dodge a herd of nomadic black cows. I didn't know where they were going and they didn't seem to either. Finally, the Cranes flew a short distance at reed height and the number was confirmed.

Late afternoon, the groups of flying to roost Cormorants started coming over. Small groups whilst we were there but we've seen flights of 50+ .

A couple of Egyptian Geese not yet in full plumage were the only other birds seen.

Thursday November 1 

Such a dreadful dark and rainy morning, we didn't even take our bins up to Cley Centre and moth-ing. We'd also forgotten that it was the 1st and paid little attention to the birds outside the window,

Part of the way through coffee and after Pauline arrived, most of the group disappeared to see the King Eider, reported off the sea watching shelter in Sheringham again.

At the end of our pleasurable chat, we drove to Sheringham west car park, parked at the boating pool and walked to a bench. PL gave us the general direction in which the bird had last been seen, I began scoping. The eclipse drake King Eider appeared at 12 o'clock from us, showing very well on a flat calm sea. The many flags marking crab and lobster pots here don't help. 

Friday November 2

Would the Cranes be there again? No. But there was a mobile and very flighty flock of 500+ Fieldfare. 

Lovely to watch as they decorated the trees before flying on to others, some feeding on the ground, others drinking at puddles in the darkest part of the track. Very wary birds but, we were patient and a few eventually returned for some less than good shots.