Connor's Birding Site

17/1/11 New Year summary

2012-01-17T17:19:00.006Z

Hope all readers had a good Christmas and New Year. A few bits and pieces have nicely kept things ticking over, with the highlight the 1st-winter Coues' Arctic Redpoll (pictured above) at Titchwell, of which I enjoyed extended and exceptional views on 7th. The same day other highlights included a Scaup, a plethora of Geese at Holkham including 100 White-fronted Geese and 31 Barnacle Geese and the Lapland Buntings at Burnham Overy. A wintering Rough-legged Buzzard in the NW of the county has given itself up on a couple of occasions, with a few Hen Harriers here and there adding to the mix. At Holme a good day on 11th gave up 6 Bean Geese with the Pink-footed Geese, 2 Short-eared Owls and 25 Snow Buntings. It was a very mild day and felt more like March than January, with scores of Woodpigeons moving west along the coast (pictured above), seemingly more Meadow Pipits and perhaps most surprisingly 4 Marsh Harriers north straight out to sea (pictured above), roughly along the same line, in the period 08:40-08:54 hrs. They interacted over the wash and were lost as specks towards the Lincolnshire coast. Presumably reverse migration, but pretty early by all accounts? ('The Birds of Norfolk' cites February return migration records, but since publication it has presumably been much harder to judge with the increase in breeding birds). Any correspondence on this or other signs of early, perhaps weather-related, movements would be much appreciated.

31/12/11 End of year summary

2011-12-31T17:14:00.008Z

Thought I'd quickly update this site before the end of the year. Cracking first semester at university. Even the birding has been great! Some amazing highlights and the list of rarities since I last updated this site is first class: the WESTERN SANDPIPER at Cley, the SANDHILL CRANE (unfortunately) down in Suffolk, most recently the LESSER-WHITE FRONTED GOOSE at Buckenham, American Black Tern at Covenham in Lincolnshire, the Hume's Warbler at Trimingham, the Isabelline Shrike at Horsey, the Melodious Warbler at Happisburgh (cracking Norfolk tick), Dusky Warbler, Arctic Redpoll, Cattle Egret, Long-billed Dowitcher and Pallas' Warbler - phew! A few bits and pieces on the find front too, with a flyby Great White Egret at Holme, a Rough-legged Buzzard in off the sea at Bacton and a Yellow-browed Warbler at Trimingham clifftop wood. 2011 may not have had the sheer volume of 2010 but the Spring was particularly good and even if scarce has been hard to come by in autumn, the list of rarities has been full of quality.

Want to reserve a special mention for Holme too. Although I couldn't spend as much time there as usual because of A-level commitments and university, what another fantastic year for this site. Building on an amazing 2010, the list of rarities here again speaks for itself: Collared Flycatcher, Red-flanked Bluetail, Desert Wheatear, Dusky Warbler, Caspian Tern, White-tailed Eagle etc. Yet again right up there in the list of best Norfolk sites, probably only bettered this year by Cley. Having been written off a few years ago and dismissed as having had its best days, the current crop of rarities being churned out is a fitting tribute to the hard working observatory team.

Best bird of the year at Holme: undoubtedly the COLLARED FLYCATCHER. Best bird anywhere this year by a mile and best bird at Holme ever. I'll be eternally grateful David! Only other close contender really the Caspian Tern.
Best bird of the year elsewhere: probably the stunning male Citrine Wagtail at East Runton. Having seen a couple of duller spring birds before, this was much appreciated.

Best twitch of the year: Suffolk SANDHILL CRANE. Great company, full of drama and plenty of familiar faces.

Most frustrating moment of the year: a fair few. Usual clutch of dips and ones that got away! The Cley Great Snipe was probably the worst.

Best find of the year: I probably most enjoyed a local Stone Curlew. A species I'd always wanted to find near home.

FINALLY, A HUGE THANKYOU TO ALL READERS OF THIS SITE, BIRDING FRIENDS AND THOSE WHO HAVE HELPED ME AND PROVIDED GOOD COMPANY AND ADVICE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. YOU MAKE MY BIRDING SO MUCH MORE FULFILLING. HERE'S HOPING FOR ANOTHER GOOD YEAR IN 2012.

22/9/11 Holme and the end of an era!

2011-09-23T22:42:00.004+01:00

My final trip into Holme today before moving away. The only birds of note were a Greenshank and a Yellow Wagtail over, but mostly it was just about saying goodbye to the place and the people. In the morning I'm moving to Norwich to study History at the University of East Anglia - still in the best British birding county thankfully, but I'm going to miss going in to Holme regularly and my birding friends in west Norfolk. So, I'm going to take this opportunity to say thankyou so much to all those who have helped me so far in birding, those who read this blog and those who have been such great friends over the past few years. You really have shaped a huge part of my life and I can't thankyou enough; do stay in touch. I'm going to try and keep this blog going for my new exploits in the east of the county when I get the opportunity and I'll be back at Holme and my usual haunts occasionally - see you all at the mega!

19/9/11 Holme

2011-09-19T18:05:00.004+01:00

With no better plans in the WSW winds and some churning NW winds in the North Sea overnight I arrived at Holme for dawn and did a seawatch from 06:30-09:30hrs. This was reasonably productive, with the standout highlight being a Balearic Shearwater west at mid-distance at 08:42hrs. Having waited for 10 years without a sighting of this species at Holme, four sightings in four days is pretty remarkable and with the species having been noted at this site now for 5 consecutive days, it appears that birds are lingering on this stretch of coastline. However, to my eye today's individual looked darker than the birds seen on Friday 16th, so seemingly at least 3 birds involved. Other bits and pieces included 3 Manx Shearwaters west, 15 Great Skuas west, 1 Black Tern east, 1 adult Arctic Tern west, 8 Arctic Skuas west, 3 Guillemots, 2 auk sp, 19 Red-throated Divers, 1 Pintail west, 2 Shoveler west, 20 Wigeon, 55 Teal, 101 Sandwich Terns and 557 Gannets (537 west). On the land, a very small number of grounded migrants, presumably from the small arrival noted right along the east coast the previous afternoon with the N element in the wind, or grounded by the overnight rain shower, included 2 Pied Flycatchers (in the NWT carpark and by the observatory) and 2 Redstarts left over from the previous day at the west end. The same female Peregrine was again noted along the shoreline. It was particularly good to catch up with Maurice and Audrey for the first time in far too long!

17/9/11 Holme

2011-09-17T11:47:00.004+01:00

A few hours in the morning was reasonably productive, with a Redstart on the NOA reserve, 2 Peregrines, a few bits west overhead, with Redpoll, Siskin and Tree Pipit noted. Seawatching was again surprisingly productive, with the pick of the bunch a fine Balearic Shearwater that flew west close inshore and u-turned back east at 09.20hrs, as well as 2 Great Skuas east and 4 Arctic Skuas.

16/9/11 Holme

2011-09-17T11:34:00.003+01:00

With a small change in the wind direction to SE and an increase in general movement the previous day I arrived early, hopeful of some grounded migrants. Unfortunately this wasn't realised, with just a Garden Warbler, although a Redpoll and a Yellow Wagtail flew west. After the message about the Fea's Petrel heading west and a quick glance at the sea, it was clear that this was where most of the activity was likely to be and so I settled down for a seawatch for most of the morning and some of the afternoon, with Mark and Tracy and Dave H. General activity was very high, with a good count of 63 Red-throated Divers (49 west, 7 on the sea and 7 east), as well as 1 diver sp west (not a Red-throated, but too far out to clinch unfortunately), 6 Brent Geese, 40 ink-footed Geese, 60 Wigeon, 120 Teal, 5 Manx Shearwaters (4 west, 1 east), 700 Gannets, 20 Arctic Skuas, 14 Great Skuas, 1 Black Tern east, 1 Arctic Tern and undoubtedly the highlight of the day, 2 Balearic Shearwaters close inshore east at 12:20hrs in excellent light. This was a Holme tick and one I'd been waiting for for a long time, so very pleasing! Otherwise, a Spotted Redshank was on the broadwater, a Greenshank flew over calling and a Peregrine was again noted. Hoping for a few more migrants tomorrow...

14/9/11 Holme

2011-09-15T14:41:00.004+01:00

With forecast northerly winds in the north North Sea and a smattering of seabirds reports along the coast the previous evening a seawatch from early doors was on the cards, despite the WNW winds and so I was in position with a few others from 06:25. In the next 4 hours, to 10:25, I recorded a few nice bits and pieces: 1 Sooty Shearwater west, 70 Manx Shearwaters, 2 Shearwater sp, 13 Arctic Skuas, 14 Great Skuas, 2 Skua sp, 280 Gannets, 1 Velvet Scoter, 1 Black Tern west, 11 Arctic Terns, 7 Red-throated Divers, 9 Great-crested Grebes, 2 Guillemots, 1 auk sp and my first 22 Pink-footed Geese of the year in off the sea. A feature of the morning was the large number of terns moving in a westerly direction, with the vast majority too far out to specifically identity, meaning by the end of the watch 951 Tern sp, 91 Common Terns and 146 Sandwich Terns had been recorded. Another feature was that most of the Manx Shearwaters were passing by very close inshore and slowly, as opposed to the usually distant views, and this and the excellent light made it very enjoyable. In addition, birds recorded flying in off the sea, included a Marsh Harrier, a Kestrel and 133 Meadow Pipits, with 36 Swallows west along the dunes. Grounded migrants seemed virtually non-existent, except for a Tree Pipit in the Thornham outer dunes, a Willow Warbler and 2 Chiffchaffs in the pines and a Wheatear on the NWT reserve. The only other bird of note was a Greenshank in Thornham harbour.

12/9/11 Holme

2011-09-15T14:37:00.002+01:00

Very strong winds, still from the SW, made searching for birds very difficult. Offshore, a Great Skua flew west past Gore Point, whilst a walk into Thornham harbour was noteworthy for a good count of 8 Mediterannean Gulls (6 adults, 1 2nd/3rd year and 1 juvenile), as well as an Arctic Tern and 2 Wheatears along Thornham bank.

10/9/11 Titchwell RSPB

2011-09-15T14:32:00.003+01:00

After another week toiling in westerlies for no reward I took an afternoon trip to Titchwell RSPB, where I was pleased to see a host of familiar faces and, finally, some good birds! I arrived to news that the juvenile LITTLE BITTERN was showing well and raced around just in time to get views of it perched on the edge of the pools. More maneuvering resulted in excellent views of this smart bird. Unfortunately there was no sign of the Cattle Egret, but on the brackish marsh the Buff-breasted Sandpiper was showing, if a little distantly. The pools were looking excellent, with 2 Greenshanks, 2 Curlew Sandpipers and a Spotted Redshank all showing well on the freshmarsh, while 2 Wheatears and 6 Yellow Wagtails, including a bird that was probably a Blue-headed Wagtail, were also noted.

3/9/11 Holme

2011-09-06T12:26:00.002+01:00

Unsurprisingly, given the conditions, a quiet day. A Yellow Wagtail was on Redwell Marsh, where a Hobby caused pandemonium amongst the Swallows as it dashed through. Overhead, 10 Snipe west, 1 Greenshank, 55 Swallows and 3 Whimbrel were the pick of the bunch. Common warblers remained obvious, with at least 2 Lesser Whitethroats, 4 Cetti's Warblers, 4 Reed Warblers and 13 Chiffchaffs, while an Arctic Skua dashed east close inshore. Long range weather forecast doesn't look too great either...

1/9/11 Holme

2011-09-06T12:20:00.003+01:00

A full day in the field in the strengthening easterly winds. Just a small scattering of grounded migrants, with a Pied Flycatcher by the caravan early morning and a Spotted Flycatcher and a Garden Warbler on the NOA reserve, but the obvious highlight was a HONEY BUZZARD that I picked up as it flew high WSW over the small group gathered at the observatory at 11.12hrs, probably having come in off the sea. A fairly dark individual and only my second ever at Holme. Otherwise, a Spoonbill east over the marsh, 2 Tree Pipits west and 2 Greenshanks were the best of the rest.

31/8/11 Holme

2011-09-06T12:15:00.002+01:00

An afternoon visit, to see if the change in wind direction made any difference, was disappointing, with the highlights being a Crossbill east over Gore Point, a Turtle Dove along the river at Redwell Marsh, a Yellow Wagtail west, 3 Cetti's Warblers, a female Peregrine hunting the beach at Gore Point and, offshore, 3 Arctic Skuas west and 2 skua sp. east.

27/8/11 Holme, Walsey Hills NOA and Cromer

2011-08-30T19:26:00.003+01:00

Unfortunately on Friday and Saturday morning I spent much of the day in a bank, because of the incompetence of others... Having tied up the meetings at long last, the plan was to head to Cromer for the Bonelli's Warbler, a potential British tick. However, a call about an 'interesting' bird at Holme had my heading there first. By the time I'd got there the bird had turned distinctly uninteresting and as an added bonus I narrowly missed the newly-discovered Wryneck and only got brief views of the very elusive juvenile RED-BACKED SHRIKE in flight... Typically, news came through that the Bonelli's was showing. After a trundle round there, via a more obliging juvenile RED-BACKED SHRIKE at Walsey Hills NOA, I arrived at Warren Wood in the pouring rain. After several hours searching there was no sign of the Bonelli's Warbler, but as a compensation I did get quite good views of the elusive GREENISH WARBLER on a couple of occasions, my first since the 'invasion'. After a slightly frustrating but nonetheless enjoyable day, the journey home was punctuated by good views of the escaped Burrowing Owl at East Runton.

25/8/11 Holme

2011-08-30T19:06:00.003+01:00

Despite the SW winds birds were still being found along the coast, presumably undiscovered arrivals from the fall a couple of days before, and so I spent the day at Holme. The undoubted highlight was a juvenile RED-BACKED SHRIKE that Chris Mills found along the access track during the day. He had it briefly before it disappeared and he couldn't relocate and after an hour and a half searching I was starting to think it might have moved on. Fortunately Ray R relocated it from the high ground at Gore point and a timely phone call allowed me to see it for a few seconds, before it completely vanished again, although it was relocated again briefly in the evening! One elusive Shrike. Otherwise, notable bits and pieces included a reasonable overhead movement, with 5 Swifts west, 100 House Martins west, 55 Swallows west 7 Whimbrels west and 1 Greenshank, and a small number of grounded migrants, headlined by a Whinchat and 2 Garden Warblers, with a Cetti's Warbler, a Bullfinch, 5 Lesser Whitethroats, 7 Blackcaps, 25 Whitethroats and 3 Willow Warblers noted.

23/8/11 Holme

2011-08-30T18:59:00.002+01:00

With promising conditions and a scattering of birds along the north coast, I swiftly left work and headed for Holme. Although I didn't see any scarce, a pleasant couple of hours were spent at the west end, with the highlight being 2 Pied Flycatchers in the sycamores by the standing caravan. In addition, a Wood Sandpiper was calling on Redwell Marsh and a Wheatear was on Gore point.

19/8/11 North coast and Titchwell RSPB

2011-08-30T18:52:00.002+01:00

An early afternoon walk (after the previous evening...) 'off the north coast', following the arrival of the previous evening, was disappointingly quiet, with just a Lesser Whitethroat, Whitethroat and a Robin on the ground, although a fine juvenile Red Kite flew west at c.15:00hrs (having been earlier noted at Stiffkey and later at Titchwell RSPB). Later, at Titchwell RSPB there was no sign of the elusive Buff-breasted Sandpiper although the freshmarsh is looking very good at the moment. 3 Curlew Sandpipers were amongst the Dunlin, while 10 Greenshanks, 2 Hobbies and 6 Yellow Wagtails were seen.

18/8/11 Holme NOA

2011-08-30T18:45:00.002+01:00

A-level results day and thankfully everything on that front went as hoped! After a celebratory meal I headed back towards the coast, mindful of the E winds and forecast rain and news of a Greenish Warbler and a Wryneck on Blakeney Point was enough to encourage me out. Unfortunately I saw very little; just a Crossbill east, a Garden Warbler, 2 Treecreepers and a Yellow Wagtail west, although searching was difficult because of the weather conditions. Having been soaked enough by the drizzle I went and continued celebrating!

14/8/11 Snettisham RSPB

2011-08-17T19:11:00.003+01:00

A return visit to Snettisham RSPB was more successful, with the 2 adult WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS (the second found yesterday, also by David R) with Dunlin on the mudflats between the first and second hide, while other highlights included 2 Curlew Sandpipers (1 juvenile), 3 Yellow Wagtails, 3 Ruff, 1 Little Stint, 21 Common Sandpipers, 14 Greenshank, 11 Spotted Redshanks and 3 Whimbrel.

31/7/11 Snettisham RSPB

2011-08-06T20:20:00.002+01:00

After a family day out I made my way down to Snettisham for the evening high tide, after David Roche had glimpsed what he believed was probably a White-rumped Sandpiper in the morning. Unfortunately there was no sign of this bird (he refound it the next day though) but the tide was spectacular, with many thousands of Knot, Dunlin and other waders. Highlights included a Curlew Sandpiper, a Little Stint, an adult Yellow-legged Gull, a fly-through Arctic Tern, 3 Greenshanks, a Mediterranean Gull and a Common Sandpiper.

30/7/11 Great Massingham

2011-08-06T20:17:00.003+01:00

A trip to finish of my Atlas TTVs near Massingham and to try and get evidence of breeding for some more species. Highlights included a surprise Spotted Flycatcher, 25 Tree Sparrows and 2 Bullfinches.

27/7/11 Sandringham

2011-08-06T20:07:00.002+01:00

A walk at Sandringham produced a pair of Hobbies, a species I have found to be very scarce this year, and a pair of Bullfinches, whilst trying to avoid the flower show hordes!

24/7/11 Holme NOA

2011-07-26T14:44:00.002+01:00

More seawatching, but as usual on a second day much less productive. In 2 hours I recorded just 3 Manx Shearwaters and 2 Arctic Skuas, while 2 Yellow Wagtails and a Greenshank flew west.

23/7/11 Holme NOA

2011-07-26T14:37:00.002+01:00

With a fairly brisk northerly a seawatch was always on the cards for today. Considering the relatively early date there was a good amount passing. In 6 hours (06:25-11:25 and 13:25-14:25hrs) I recorded 130 Manx Shearwaters, 312 Gannets, 27 Arctic Skuas, 1 Great Skua, 2 juvenile Kittiwakes, 16 Fulmars, 8 Great-crested Grebes, 10 Shelduck, 1 Mediterannean Gull, 4 Arctic Terns, 242 Sandwich Terns, 145 Little Terns and 29 Common Terns. The standout species was obviously Manx Shearwater - this was my third highest count ever at Holme and part of good movement around the NW coast (with lots also recorded at Titchwell and even Snettisham), but surprisingly few were recorded off the north coast, where the numbers are normally better. Otherwise it was typically quiet for the time of year, with 2 Spoonbills east onto the marsh, 2 juvenile Stonechats, 2 Whimbrels and a Greenshank recorded.

19/7/11 Dersingham and Titchwell

2011-07-24T21:13:00.003+01:00

A productive morning moth trap was headlined by a Small Rivulet, Suspected and a Currant Pug, while 4 Crossbills over was a nice bonus. Later, at Titchwell RSPB, a few bits and pieces on the freshmarsh included a smart Curlew Sandpiper, a Spoonbill, a Mediterannean Gull, 3 Pintails and 2 Yellow Wagtails. In the evening 2 Siskins were still in the garden but it doesn't appear that they have bred successfully this year.

18/7/11 Dersingham

2011-07-24T21:10:00.002+01:00

With Simeon and James over for a couple of days, a local walk in the afternoon produced a pair of Bullfinches on the edge of the village, whilst an evening session produced 2 Nightjars, 4 Woodcocks, a Grasshopper Warbler and 2 Tawny Owls.

14/7/11 Holme

2011-07-16T17:46:00.002+01:00

A trip into the observatory for the first northerly blow of the autumn. As expected, being July, it was reasonably quiet, but 3 hours dodging the showers and driving rain (05:35-06:35, 07:30-08:30 and 09:30-10:30hrs) produced 8 Arctic Skuas west, 3 Kittiwakes (2 adults, 1 juvenile), 9 Fulmars and 126 Gannets. Otherwise it was very quiet, but a single Spoonbill did a couple of laps of the marsh and a Willow Warbler in the scrub along the East Bank was perhaps the first returning bird of the autumn.

4/7/11 Northamptonshire

2011-07-13T13:02:00.004+01:00

A very enjoyable butterflying trip to Northamptonshire with John Furse. At Fermyn Woods and Lady Wood we had 7+ Purple Emperors, including spectacular views of a male on the path for extended periods and a rather battered individual on my arm! Other butterflies included 15 White Admirals, 10 Purple Hairstreaks and a brief Silver-washed Fritillary, as well as a bonus group of 4 Crossbills, 2 Siskins, 5 Bullfinches and 5 Marsh Tits. Later, we enjoyed good views of at least 7 Red Kites in the countryside around Oundle and Kettering. A trip to Glapthorn Cow Pastures failed to produce the hoped for Black Hairstreak, but did produce 2 Silver-washed Fritillaries, including one of the scarce form 'valezina', a Purple Haistreak, 3 Bullfinches and a Red Kite. The superb pictures below were taken and kindly supplied by John Furse - thanks for a good day.

22/6/10 Broadland

2011-07-01T14:35:00.005+01:00

Took a trip round to the Broads for a day out with my nan and grandad. On the way we got the message about the Red-footed Falcon flying SW so we diverted to Hickling. Here, 2 Hobbies were seen around Canterbury hide and the highlight was a Spoonbill, which did a few laps of the main marsh before flying right overhead. Moving on to Horsey, we were pleased to hear that the Falcon had been seen again, but we soon got caught out by a torrential downpour. We sheltered under some trees before moving onto the beach to try and get less rain and wind-blown! Whilst standing on the beach with another guy, and to our complete amazement, the 1st-summer male RED-FOOTED FALCON soon swept past at point-blank range, presumably having been resting on the beach or rocks, it spent the next 15 minutes giving spectacular flight views as it hunted the dunes and fields just inland of here, before spending the rest of our stay sitting about on fence-posts and giving very good views. Smart bird all round. A nice showing of Southern Marsh Orchids added a bit of colour nearby.

18/6/10 Thornham harbour

2011-06-20T15:56:00.002+01:00

After a hugely stressful couple of weeks it was a great relief to get my last A-level exam out of the way on Friday. Feeling mentally exhausted, I was very much looking forward to a relaxing Friday afternoon and a well-deserved lie-in on Saturday. Of course these things never go to plan. Fortunately, I didn't go to bed too early on the Friday evening and so get the message about the Caspian Tern in the Thornham harbour. As Caspian Tern would have been a British tick I was keen, but it being in the Holme square increased my sense of urgency. Despite this, I couldn't take getting up at the crack of dawn, but made it down to the harbour at, what I thought, was a very respectable 05:30. Penny Clarke and Gary White were already on site but alas there had been no sign. I moved with Penny onto the top bank and kept on scanning the harbour, along with her and Andy joined us, while dad went out onto the beach further to the west. A few bits and pieces included a Cuckoo, a Hobby hunting over the saltmarsh which later showed well for dad on the beach, 9 Black-tailed Godwits and 300 Knots. However, the tide came in and unfortunately didn't put the tern up from one of the hidden gulleys, Gary gave up and I thought of doing the same. Then, at 07:15 the shout went up. I couldn't see it and rushed around to the carpark and was delighted to see the CASPIAN TERN drifting west over the harbour! It hovered and then went down onto a sandy spit, giving good views. Very smart bird! It took off, circled around for a short while and then slowly lumbered east at 07:18. It was later relocated at Titchwell, where dad enjoyed excellent views, although by this stage I had gone back home to bed. Excellent bird to kick-start my extended summer holiday!

Dreaded exams

2011-05-29T21:54:00.003+01:00

No more updates now because of revision for A2 exams - see you the other side in late June. Apologies if email replies are delayed or non-existent in this period too.

15/5/11 Wolferton

2011-05-29T21:51:00.004+01:00

I was frustrated during the day by the local singing Wood Warbler at Wolferton. I heard the bird calling several times during the morning and give a bout of singing in the afternoon but I did not succeed in seeing it!

14/5/11 Cley NWT

2011-05-29T21:41:00.004+01:00

After a frustrating week, 3 hours in the Avocet hide at Cley during the evening failed to produce the elusive 'lekking' Great Snipe, but did at least produce a few bits and pieces including the LESSER YELLOWLEGS, 2 Temminck's Stint, Spoonbill (3rd cy), Wood Sandpiper, Short-eared Owl, 2 Little-ringed Plovers, adult Mediterranean Gull, Whimbrel west, Greenshank west, 80 Sand Martins and a Greylag Goose with a neck-collar.

8/5/11 Holme

2011-05-29T16:30:00.022+01:00

The plan to do no birding over this May weekend because of A-level revision was scuppered by the promising looking conditions. On talking to several people and looking at the forecast I decided to work and sit-out Saturday before birding Sunday. I was annoyed by the reasonable arrival of migrants on Saturday and the fly-through Purple Heron, but was very hopeful for the next day. The forecast overnight rain materialised but there wasn't as much as hoped, but with no rain at dawn we were able to rush to the observatory and open nets. The first few hours were very dissapointing, but it was clear that some birds had arrived, including 3 Spotted Flycatchers. I walked through the dunes, with just a Turtle Dove, Wheatear and Yellow Wagtail, before I received a call from David Roche about a Wood Warbler seen by the pay-hut early-morning. I arrived fairly sharpish, having only seen one at Holme before, but alas there was no sign of the bird in its original poplar tree. I felt confident the bird would not have travelled far, probably just down the river and so we set-off. Unbelievably, just 10 minutes later David picked up the Wood Warbler in the trees around the standing caravan. Only my second at Holme after the bird the previous autumn. I called back Stuart and over the next hour or so we all had reasonable views of this elusive bird. Another Spotted Flycatcher was also present. I left, having had good views, while David remained behind for a couple of hours to try and get better views, before returning to the observatory.

That could well have been it. I thought the stand-out highlight of the day had been found. I phoned Dad to come and pick me up but first of all he stopped for the Wood Warbler on the way. David and Ray were keen to see it again and also to move on and see the Temminck’s Stints at Titchwell, so I hitched a lift with them. I was also keen to see the male Pied Flycatcher around the caravan, because I had only seen one at Holme in spring before. However, I wasn’t too hopeful on this front. While quite a few people were reporting it I only knew of a couple of people who had actually claimed to have seen it and no local birders, while a lot of us had spent a good deal of time around the caravan looking at the Wood Warbler. The situation over this bird was also confused by the definite presence of a female Pied Flycatcher. After a short wait back by the caravan myself, dad, David, Ray and several others all enjoyed good views of the Wood Warbler, but there was still no sign any Pied Flycatchers. I left with dad, knowing we needed to get back for dinner.

We walked the short distance to Gore point, started the van and had driven a mere 50 yards when, at 15:48hrs, the phone rang and ‘David Roche’ flashed up. I jokingly said to dad ‘what has he gone and found now’ and answered the phone. David was shrieking, a little hysterically, but remarkably not swearing, with the words ‘Connor, I’ve got a male Collard Flycatcher by the caravan’. I shouted at dad to ‘stop the van’, yelled ‘Collared Flycatcher by the caravan’, got out of the van and sprinted down the road! By the time I had got to David, Penny, Dave Holman (who had phoned the news out to RBA), Ray and the small crowd that had assembled, Dad had caught me up in the van! It took a couple of minutes, largely because I could barely stop shaking and my heart was racing, but finally there was it was – a stunning male COLLARED FLYCATCHER in full view, sat facing me!

It was an amazing moment. One of my dream Holme birds that I never really thought I would see. I managed to fast get over the disappointment of being 5 minutes away from that Holme find of a lifetime, I sat down to enjoy a stunning bird. It was suprising considering how many observers (at least 15 local birders) had been around the caravan during the entire day that the bird hadn't picked up earlier. While any of these birders could have found it, David had spent the most time around the caravan of anyone during the day and it couldn’t have happened to a more deserving guy.

After the initial shock I was keen to get better and more prolonged views and so manoeuvred into a great position along the stream (having made the necessary phone calls. The crowd was still remarkably small at this stage and I had several fantastic views of the bird on the front of the white poplar, often sitting out in the open for quite some time. Although on my first views I believed it was an adult male, it was clear from later, more prolonged views that the bird was a 1st-summer male, on account of the distinctly brownish-tinged primaries, the white rump being fused with grey tones (whiter towards the centre), the small size of the primary patch and the split, small forehead patch.

By now the crowd had swelled and I moved away from the stream to allow others in. I did see the bird again from the track on a couple of occasions though and got nan onto it! I was obviously much more relaxed now, just happy to loaf around and get good views of the bird when I could. I even managed to see the Wood Warbler again. By this stage dad had left and I got a lift back home with nan and granddad for tea, absolutely elated, having seen my best ever Holme bird.

After dinner dad and myself couldn’t resist returning. We bought some fish and chips for Sophie, who had until that point being going hungry on the gate at Redwell getting donations. Although we missed the Grey-headed Wagtail we both had nice views of a Red Kite over the ridge and marsh and the Collared Flycatcher was still showing very well and was at a lower level having moved across into the paddocks. It was still perching out in the open and actively flycatching. With the clear skies and the way it had been actively feeing up to dusk it was no surprise that there was no sign of it the next morning. This was only the 32nd record for Britain, 4th record for Norfolk and the 2nd for Holme. An unbeliveable day and the sort of bird I had always been waiting for at Holme.

1/5/11 Holme

2011-05-29T16:21:00.002+01:00

Another productive spring day. Started at Redwell Marsh, where there was plenty to keep me entertained, both from the hide and on the back scrapes. Waders seemed to be dropping in whilst I was present and then leaving to the west, which made accurate counting difficult, but at least 8 Wood Sandpipers, 3 Green Sandpipers, 1 Common Sandpiper, 2 Ruffs and 1 Black-tailed Godwit were seen. A Yellow Wagtail flew west and the Nightingale was still singing. After this I walked along the coastal path by the dunes with Sophie, followed by a good look around the pines and observatory. The highlight was a male Ring Ouzel in the dunes, as well as 2 Redstarts and a Tree Pipit in the pines. In addition, a Hobby came in-off at Gore point, a Yellow Wagtail flew east along the beach, 2 Mediterranean Gulls flew over, 5 Lesser Whitethroats were recorded and a few looks at the sea produced 3 Arctic Terns east and an adult Kittiwake east.

26/4/11 Hunstanton

2011-05-29T16:19:00.006+01:00

An evening trip to Hunstanton produced excellent views of the escaped Indian Eagle Owl. A smart bird regardless of it's origions.

29/4/11 Holme

2011-05-29T16:19:00.005+01:00

An evening walk along Thornham bank produced 3 Wheatears and an Arctic Tern east over the marsh.

19/4/11 Holme

2011-04-20T18:20:00.008+01:00

Another early start at Holme. Even on stepping out of the car it felt really good, much better than yesterday and my first stop, at the golf-course, certainly vindicated this assessment. Walking over the golf-course I recorded my first Tree Pipits and Redpolls of the day flying west, as well as 3 Wheatears. A Cuckoo and my first Lesser Whitethroat of the year were both calling too. As I returned to the car I noticed a Spoonbill drifting east towards the observatory, very smart indeed and then as I sat down to tot up my totals in the car by the toliet block, with the window down, a Nightingale started singing from the scrub opposite! I quickly manouevered into a position where I thought it would be visible but it seemed to have the ability to dissapear behind one stem! I only suceeded in seeing it a couple of times in flight. On to Gore point, where more visible passage was obvious, including more Tree Pipits and Redpolls and then a fine Short-eared Owl swept past before heading out onto the marsh. More Wheatars were on the flat ground and I spied presumably the same ringtail Hen Harrier as yesterday over the track. There were clearly a lot more warblers around than the previous day, especially Whitethroats. The excitement was still mounting, it always felt like another good bird was just around the corner and this was only heightened when I flushed a Tree Pipit from by the heli trap on the NOA reserve, before it flew west, and then the guys brought one back from the nets a little while later. Predictably, however, things quietened down late-morning, with just a small amount more visible passage. The afternoon had a few high points, with a cracking male Redstart trapped and ringed, 2 Mediterranen Gulls east, a singing Cetti's Warbler, more Wheatears, Grasshopper Warblers and other migrants and, remarkably (considering how scarce they are at Holme - the birds today were only my 3rd and 4th!), another Nightingale singing at the south end of the paddocks (although this one too I only saw in flight). A good day all things considered, with a significant grounding of migrants and a reasonable amount of overhead passage.

Final grounded migrant totals: 14 Chiffchaffs, 1 Cuckoo, 7 Lesser Whitethroats, 15 Wheatears, 6 Grasshopper Warblers, 2 Nightingales, 8 Whitethroats, 16 Willow Warblers and 1 Redstart.

Final overhead passage totals: 1 Spoonbill east @ 07:10, 10 Yellow Wagtails, 5 Redpolls (3 west, 2 east), 7 Tree Pipits, 4 Whimbrels, 33 Swallows west, 32 Sand Martins west, 58 Linnets west, 60 Meadow Pipits west, 18 Goldfinches west and 3 Pied Wagtails west.

On the way home a quick stop at Heacham produced a smart male Blue-headed Wagtail amongst 6 Yellow Wagtails, 2 White Wagtails and 3 Pied Wagtails, as well as a single Wheatear, 5 Whitethroats and 2 Blackcaps.

18/4/11 Holme and Burnham Norton

2011-04-18T18:49:00.007+01:00

After a few days with good numbers of common migrants I was interested to see what the new blast of ESE winds would do and so arrived at Holme early with David and Ray R. It was Ray who struck gold by finding the bird of the day, a Hooded Crow, which flew east past him along the dunes while he was seawatching. On this occasion I missed the bird by seconds, having been sat at the observatory, but around half-an-hour later Ray found presumably the same bird sat out on the marsh (must have u-turned - not quite sure how it slipped through the net!) before it took off and flew east, giving myself, David and Robert ample time to intercept it from our vantage point on Thornham bank as it went high towards Titchwell. An excellent Holme tick! Other overhead passage was fairly quiet, with a Tree Pipit west, a Whimbrel east, 27 Meadow Pipits, 34 Woodpigeons, 11 Redpolls (4 west, 7 around the pines), 3 Yellow Wagtails east, 7 Golden Plovers west, 40 Linnets, 32 Goldfinches west, 2 Siskins west, 3 Rooks west and 22 Carrion Crows. A ringtail Hen Harrier hunted the saltmarsh towards Thornham, while grounded migrants included a respectable tally of 31 Wheatears (of at least 50 seen in the recording area), as well as good numbers of warblers, with 4 Grasshopper Warblers and 13 Blackcaps, as well as 2 Cetti's Warblers, 10 Sedge Warblers, 8 Chiffchaffs, 2 Whitethroats and 3 Willow Warblers. Other sightings included 5 Robins, a Song Thrush, a Fulmar, 3 Canada Geese (my first on a seawatch) and 7 Sandwich Terns offshore, as well as 3 Mediterranean Gulls east. Overall not a bad morning. We moved on to Burnham Norton in the afternoon where the highlight was a Whinchat, with Grasshopper Warbler and Bearded Tit also noted. Finally, at Snettisham, another Wheatear and another Mediterranean Gull were seen. Roll on tomorrow....

15/4/11 Holme NOA

2011-04-16T13:11:00.004+01:00

A bit more activity on the migrant front today. Started at Sandringham but it was quite quiet and quickly moved on to Holme. A small amount of overhead passage with 21 Meadow Pipits, 1 Rook, 1 Siskin, 2 'alba' Wagtails, 12 Sand Martins, 16 Linnets, 1 Swallow, 17 Goldfinches and 2 Yellow Wagtails. Grounded migrants were still thin on the ground, with 5 Blackcaps, 1 Whitethroat, 2 Willow Warblers, 4 Chiffchaffs and 8 Wheatears noted. Other birds noted included a Cetti's Warbler and 2 Mediterranean Gulls west. Unfortunately I had to leave mid-afternoon for an appointment and in my abscense things typically picked up, with an obvious arrival of Wheatears and more Yellow Wagtails overhead. Late afternoon I had just pulled up Heacham, where 5 Yellow Wagtails were on the pony fields, when David R. phoned and had me heading back to Holme. There, on the marsh with the remaining 300 Pink-footed Geese, were 2 Bean Geese, an unblazed bird and one with an obvious white blaze. While there is still some debate about the sub-specific identification of the birds, either way they were a mega Holme tick for yours truly,with this species being very rare in the recording area.

13/4/11 Titchwell RSPB

2011-04-16T13:07:00.003+01:00

A trip to Titchwell thanks to a kind lift from Simeon was a nice break from revision and coursework and produced good views of the singing male IBERIAN CHIFFCHAFF.

8-11/4/11 Breckland and west Norfolk

2011-04-16T13:02:00.004+01:00

An enjoyable few days birding with a friend produced Golden Pheasants, Stone Curlews, Lesser-spotted Woodpeckers, Willow Tit, Woodlarks and Tree Pipit in Norfolk and Suffolk Breckland, as well as Woodlarks and some good visible passage, including 2 Yellow Wagtails and 25 Redpolls, in west Norfolk.

7/4/11 Dersingham Bog

2011-04-07T13:44:00.003+01:00

A local walk produced a group of 4 Ring Ouzels that flew south, calling, over the top plateau at Dersingham Bog.

6/4/11 Holme - WHITE-TAILED EAGLE

2011-04-06T18:19:00.005+01:00

Having broken up for the Easter holidays yesterday I had a much-needed lie in today! I woke up and then tried to formulate a plan for today. Soon dad phoned with news that the White-tailed Eagle had just headed west over his head at Burnham Overy, where he was working, as well as a Red Kite just beforehand. Phoned the obs guys and fortuitously they were heading back my way from another appointment (thanks for the lift guys). On arrival at Holme things looked a bit stale, with no news since just east of Brancaster, but it had still been heading west so I reasoned that it would surely work its way round eventually! An hour later and things didn't look good, before the call came through that it was over Titchwell village. This was surely it! Scanning from our position we were slightly blocked by the bank and so raced to even higher ground. Alas we were hit with the news that it had gone behind Willow Wood and then low towards Choseley and lost from view. Argghhhhh. The air turned blue for some considerable time. However, about 45 minutes later I walked out of the observatory, where I'd gone to get a drink, scanned the ridge and picked it out lumbering west. Yelled out, grabbed the scope and there it was! A Holme WHITE-TAILED EAGLE! For the next 10 minutes or so we had good views of it slowly moving along the ridge, being repeatedly mobbed by Buzzards. It started off close, then becoming more distant, before heading back towards us. It kept on heading towards us, right over the marsh at Holme. By now it was unbelieveably close, almost on the far side of the broadwater from the Observatory, before it turned and powered purposefully west, right over the top of the Firs house. Although I couldn't keep up with it, others watched as it flew over the dunes, right out over the sea, before dropping down and moving at considerable speed low over the Wash, making landfall on the Lincolnshire coast just south of Skegness. Incredible experience and amazing views. Other stuff was of course overshadowed in the euphoria, but did include some reasonable visible passage including 40 Swallows, 2 Sand Martins, 130 Linnets and 80 Meadow Pipits, as well as a Ruff and a singing male Cetti's Warbler.

2/4/11 Landguard

2011-04-06T18:15:00.003+01:00

A trip to Landguard on the Suffolk coast resulted in a hugely dissapointing dip on the elusive Short-toed Treecreeper. However, my first trip to this site did produce a Firecrest, 2 Black Redstarts, a Wheatear, a Willow Warbler, 8 Goldcrests and, on the way home, my first Swallow of the year at Whittington.

28/3/11 Heacham

2011-03-30T21:19:00.002+01:00

The first after-school birding trip of the year, now possible because of the increased light and sunshine, produced good views of 4 Black Redstarts at Heacham north beach, a fine male and 3 'female-types', part of an obvious push of migrants county-wide during the day. A single White Wagtail was with Pied Wagtails on the pony fields.

27/3/11 Lynn Point

2011-03-27T20:18:00.005+01:00

An afternoon walk at Lynn point produced reasonable views of the Hooded Crow, a very good bird for Norfolk. A Buzzard, 3 Marsh Harriers and 2 Chiffchaffs were also noted. A Peregrine showed well nearby at the usual spot, but unfortunately neither of the Rough-legged Buzzards were seen from either here or Wolferton church, although 2 Siskins were noted at the latter.

26/3/11 Holme NOA

2011-03-26T21:07:00.010Z

Braved the poor morning conditions for a walk around Holme. A small arrival of migrants, with 3 Goldcrests along Gore point, as well as 5 Goldcrests, 2 Chiffchaffs and a smart Firecrest on the NOA reserve (later trapped and ringed, unfortunately after we left).

19/3/11 Sandringham area

2011-03-26T21:07:00.009Z

A walk locally produced a male Golden Pheasant and a ringtail Hen Harrier amongst other, more standard fare.

12/3/11 Breckland

2011-03-13T18:24:00.003Z

A last-minute trip into Breckland was a reasonable success. No Lesser-spotted Woodpeckers were seen early doors, although 2 Mandarins, 3 Crossbills, a Kingfisher, a Redpoll and 40 Siskins were recorded. At the next, traditional, stop 3 Goshawks were recorded, including excellent views of one bird, as well as 4 Woodlarks and 10 Crossbills. The afternoon was one of mixed success. 2 Willow Tits eventually showed very well, with excellent views of a singing bird, but Lynford was dissapointingly quiet. A stop on the way home produced good views of 3 Stone Curlews.

6/3/11 Holme

2011-03-06T20:12:00.015Z

An afternoon trip to the observatory, trying to make the most of the limited sunshine at the moment. I had high hopes for the sea (David and Ray had an exceptional group of 40 Scaup, as well as Velvet Scoters, Long-tailed Ducks etc in the morning) but unfortunately the incoming evening tide failed to deliver anything of note, with a single pitiful Red-breasted Merganser... However, I was compensated by a Lapland Bunting west over the observatory. The main highlight was when I began to walk towards Thornham and the Pink-footed Geese got up from the marsh. Optimistically, as ever, I had a scan through and was surprised to come across a 'white goose' and after it went down I picked it up on the deck. It was a long way off, but the size and structure looked promising and eventually I was able to manoeuvre close enough to confirm it as a ROSS'S GOOSE. During the afternoon it eventually showed well on the deck and in flight to locals and visitors alike. A surprise refind of the bird that has been showing intermittently along the north coast and further inland through the winter, and only my second at Holme.

Recent roundup

2011-03-06T20:08:00.003Z

Since the Long-eared owl things have generally been fairly quiet. A trip into the Brecks on 20th February proved hardwork, but good views of a Goshawk and 2 Willow Tits made it worthwhile. I also finished off my two winter tetrads in the Massingham area and was delighted to have 10 Tree Sparrows in one square, consisting of at least one, perhaps two colonies, as well as a Brambling. At least 3 Woodlark territories have been recorded locally but the poor weather has made searching for this species hard work. In contrast, Barn Owls seem to be very obvious at the moment.

20/2/11 Thornham - LONG-EARED OWL

2011-02-20T21:35:00.006Z

A real cracker and surprisingly obliging!

29/1/11 Choseley

2011-02-01T21:28:00.002Z

A quick drive up to Choseley drying barns Saturday afternoon was quite productive, with 25+ Corn Buntings and 20+ Yellowhammers around the barns and an obliging Waxwing in a tree halfway down the road.

22/1/11 Holme and Titchwell

2011-01-23T09:59:00.004Z

Well it's been ages since I posted on here! That is because the start of my year has been dominated by AS resit exams, just grabbing a few hours of local birding now and again, but thankfully all finished exams finished now. After an exhausting week didn't start too early, just spent the morning around the Holme square. Started off with a nice group of 4+ Lapland Buntings amongst a group of 50 Skylarks in a coastal stubble field, including some nice views on the deck. After this a walk by the village hides at Holme marsh produced a group of 12 Waxwings east, 5 Woodcocks and 2 Bullfinches. It was now after midday and we carried on to Titchwell where we were successful in getting some nice views of 20 Twite from the new Parrinder hide and 2 Water Pipits gave great views along the freshmarsh. We joined Penny and had distant views of the putative 'Northern' Harrier over the saltmarsh, while a Whooper Swan was showing well to the west of the main path. Finished a good day at Choseley drying barns, where a single Corn Bunting showed well by the road.

2010-12-31T20:22:00.004Z

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
To all those who helped make my 2010 another special year -be it fellow patch-workers, friends for a bit of banter and good company, those who helped with information and planning trips and of course all of you who have taken some time to look at this site, a special thankyou.

2010 the year

2010-12-31T18:34:00.008Z

Another year gone by and the traditional yearly summary. The first winter period gave no hint of the drama that was to unfold but was solid enough, with quality in parts. 3 Smew, 2 Scaups and a Willow Tit in January were notable for being three species that I see surprisingly little of but were quickly under the belt. The usual clutch of expected winter fare, Long-tailed Ducks, Smow Buntings, Great-northern Divers, Merlins, Twite and so on, were all relatively easy to come across, although just a single Slavonian Grebe was again a poor return on a species that seems to have become remarkably scarce in recent years. A local tree-roosting Short-eared Owl, a good number of Woodcocks, with some feeding out in the open in the cold snap, a frosted Mealy Redpoll at Titchwell and the Snow Geese, which finally gave itself up for a Holme tick, made up the rest of the first winter period.

Early spring was excellent. The annual trips into the Brecks and around west Norfolk produced a clutch of Goshawk sightings at the usual sights, Golden Pheasants were setting-up territory locally, as were Woodlarks and other species noted included Lesser-spotted Woodpecker, Hawfinch, Willow Tit and Stone Curlew. Crossbills and Redpolls seemed notable plentiful. On the coast the Alpine Swift delighted me by becoming a Holme grip-back and then it showed superbly at Hunstanton to put the icing on the cake. Late March undoubtedly excelled itself, not only with the Swift but with Black Redstart, Firecrest and Ring Ouzel all arriving, with a few Tree Sparrows as well. The month ended on a high with a superb trip to Suffolk producing a stunning male Lesser Kestrel, Pallid Swift and 2 Alpine Swifts, the former two British ticks. April and May were severly hit by AS-level examinations, but nonetheless I managed to find Crane and Montagu's Harrier, see several local Red Kites and a reasonable amount of migrants including Great Grey Shrike, Firecrest, 3 Ring Ouzels, the superb singing male White-spotted Bluethroat at Welney and Black Redstart, although again just a single Whinchat.... What was turning into an abov average spring still had a surprise in the tail, with Trumpeter Finch, 5 Black-winged Stilts, Marsh Warbler and Red-backed Shrike all noted in June. Considering the amount of time spent in the field, spring 2010 was a good one and outperformed recent years.

The summer was the usual mix of breeding birds, butterflies and orchids. Fen Orchid and Swallowtail were secured on a memorable day out in east Norfolk, while locally Dark-green Fritillaries thrived at Holme, helping to offset a dissapointing summer for Bee and Pyradmidal Orchids. Breeding birds had an excellent season by-and-large, including both common species such as Lesser Whitethroats and Chiffchaffs and scarcer species, especially Firecrests and of course the Spoonbills. Montagu's Harriers, Stone Curlews, Long-eared Owls and the expected scarce species all obliged. A stand-out highlight of the summer and of the year was the singing River Warbler near Thorpe - thankyou to all the volunteers and the landowners who made this possible. A low-point was the White-tailed Plover dip, but 2 Purple Herons and the Great-white Egret were some consolation and who knows I might have another chance at the Plover next year.... Perhaps the thing I will remember this summer for was the fantastic Scotland trip, with Capercaillie, White-tailed Eagle, Golden Eagles, Black Grouse, Ptarmigan, Dotterels and 2 Surf Scoters, great stuff.

Autumn started early - always a good sign. The first tremors of what was to come where on 8th August with a male Montagu's Harrier and a close Sooty Shearwater at Holme. Then, one of the high points of the autumn, with an afternoon charge down Blakeney point on 14th August with Penny Clarke and dad producing self-found Icterine Warbler and Wryneck. Throughout the month it was great to see so many common migrants; Pied Flycatchers and Willow Warblers did well but the stand-out species was Garden Warbler. A Lesser Grey Shrike was smart off patch at Kelling, before Holme produced the goods on 27th August with Icterine Warbler and Barred Warbler. This started a stunning run of form for Holme that, to the delight of us regulars in particular, continued right throughout the autumn (making Holme comfortably the most productive Norfolk site?) I recorded Long-tailed Skua and Wood Warbler 30th August, Red-necked Phalarope 3rd, 4th and 11th September, 2 Barred Warblers and a Red-backed Shrike 4th September, Arctic Warbler 10th and 11th September, Long-tailed Skua 25th September, Yellow-browed Warbler 2nd October, Pallid Harrier 10th October, Red-flanked Bluetail and Great Grey Shrike 17th October and Grey Phalarope 30th October. The Yellow-browed Warbler, 2 Long-tailed Skuas and the Grey Phalarope were self-found, while the Pallid Harrier was a reidentification after the bird was reported as a Montagu's Harrier. Wood Warbler, Arctic Warbler, Red-necked Phalarope, Red-flanked Bluetail, Pallid Harrier and Woodlark were all patch ticks! This, though, only tells part of the story, as the most memorable aspect of the autumn was the common migrants. After a smattering of Redstarts, Pied and Spotted Flycatchers, October saw the movement of many hundreds of Chiffchaffs, Goldcrests, Robins and Song Thrushes, with very good numbers of Bramblings and Siskins. Added to this a spate of off-patch highlights including Olive-backed Pipit, Pallas' Warbler and Radde's Warbler, as well as a memorable walk up Blakeney point when it was flooded with common migrants and a holiday at Dungeness that yielded Penduline Tit, Grey Phalarope, 'europeas' Long-tailed Tit, Waxwings, Ring Ouzels and Firecrests and it seems fair to say that autumn 2010 was the best autumn I have experienced so far.

The second winter period was also surprisingly productive. The Northern Harrier eventually gave itself up at Thornham - a really smart bird and one that is largely thanks to the persistence of Stuart White, an excellent find. 'Northern' species were particularly plentiful with excellent numbers of Waxwings, good numbers of Lapland Buntings and Rough-legged Buzzards, 2 Northern Bullfinches at Wells and several good seawatches, with a few Pomarine Skuas, a trio of Little Auks on 7th November and Scaup and 2 Sooty Shearwaters the same day. As the year reached a close these cold-weather species continued to dominate with excellent numbers of Mealy Redpolls, pale-bellied Brent Geese and Barnacle Geese in particular. Probably the last stand-out highlight of the year was a fine 1st-winter Caspian Gull at Blackborough end tip on 23rd December.

To sum up - WHAT A YEAR! I can honestly say that it has been my best birding year. Time at Holme was slightly down this year due to a few more trips to elsewhere on the north Norfolk coast, exam pressure and the holiday to Scotland, but I honestly wouldn't change a thing.

Best bird of the year at Holme: a very difficult one, but probably between the Arctic Warbler and the Wood Warbler. If I had to choose, the former, because it took so long and to see and almost caused a complete mental breakdown for me in the process.

Best bird of the year elsewhere: probably the Stiffkey Meals Olive-backed Pipit - very smart and one I had wanted to see for a long time. The Lesser Kestrel was fantastic too.

Best twitch of the year: the Thorpe River Warbler. Great bird, great company, great atmosphere.

Most frustrating moment of the year: undoutbedly the Gull-billed Tern. I had told everyone, including myself, that Holme was on the cards after Titchwell and who knows why I went to the Montagu's Harrier. That was galling enough, but to be phoned and then to get the guys at the obs on it was, from a selfish point of view, devestating...

Best find of the year: technically the Pallid Harrier, but as a re-ID not quite the same, so probably the cracking Icterine Warbler on Blakeney point, which Penny so fantastically photographed.

2011 is going to struggle to top that. Much of the spring will be wiped out because of impending A-level exams and after October I wil be off to uni at a yet undecided location (unless everything goes completely to pot), although having the whole of September free might be a reasonable compromise... A good summer trip could save the year and a few are 'possibles' at present. Overiding aim (again) to find a BB rarity, but probably won't spend enough time in the field, in which case to plug a few of the more shameful gaps on my Holme list, many of which have featured this year (e.g. Marsh Tit, Mandarin, Little Owl, White-fronted Goose), would be good, as well as more local survey work.

30/12/10 east Norfolk and Swaffham

2010-12-30T17:10:00.002Z

A trip out to east Norfolk failed to produce the hoped-for target species but 6 Waxwings flew over, while 2 Bullfinches and 2 Woodcocks were also noted. The journey home was enlivened with a roadside group of 13 Waxwings just NW of the westernmost Swaffham bypass roundabout.

24/12/10 Holme and Titchwell

2010-12-30T16:42:00.002Z

A Christmas Eve spent birding could only mean one thing - the NOA sponsered birdwatch. As always I helped Sophie and Jed, who do this annual event for observatory funds, to hopefully locate a few extra species for them in order to reach that traditional 100 species target at Holme and Titchwell. Always a good laugh and usually very productive. This year didn't feel great to begin with though. Everywhere was still frozen and we agreed that it would take a good day to reach the 100, even with last years record-breaking 106 species still fresh in the mind. After a delicious fried breakfast we started at the golf-course, which again proved a good decision, with quite a few of the common species wrapped up quickly and highlights including a Velvet Scoter east with a group of Common Scoters, 4 Long-tailed Ducks west, Fulmar, 30 Snow Buntings and 2 Red-throated Divers offshore. A walk at Gore point was also very much worthwhile, with a single Waxwing west overhead calling, an excellent addition to the list, as well as 2 Lapland Buntings west, the first with Skylarks and the other with a group of 60 Snow Buntings. The wintering Cetti's Warbler along the river was seen without too much difficulty, while a Bullfinch was a surprise. Thankfully the observatory added many of the commoner woodland species, with fantastic views of a Woodcock creeping around in the undergrowth, while 3 Goosanders east into Thornham harbour was a surprise and thankfully the record-breaking flock of 40+ Barnacle Geese were still out on the marsh. More seawatching didn't add a great deal and it started to feel like the day was getting away, so on to the orchards, where a few more common species fell and then Thornham harbour. Black-tailed Godwit was a useful addition, but of course the seemingly ever-present, wintering, Spotted Redshanks decided to take a day-trip somwhere else, while only Jed saw the Merlin... We were still only in the low 80s and while the 100 seemed perfectly possible, we feared that a frozen Titchwell would be less productive than usual. Thankfully a stop just to the west of the Titchwell access road gave the team the lift we needed, with Whooper Swan, Mute Swan, Stock Dove, Pied Wagtail, Yellowhammer and Ruff added in quick succession. The carpark at Titchwell came up trumps too with a group of 40 Siskins and a single Redpoll, while a Bullfinch was notable even if it wasn't an addition... After a hearty lunch we added some of the commoner species on the freshmarsh but tension was beggining to creep in - only I had satisfactory views of the Water Pipit on the brackish marsh and the saltmarsh seemed completely devoid of raptors... The final pool before the beach relieved the pressure, with Tufted Duck finally secured and bonus Goldeneye (that only Sophie had seen off Holme). Then offshore in the nick of time a group of Eider flew west. Back to the freshmarsh and a few last minute additions, with a Bittern over the reedbed, a ringtail Hen Harrier east towards Gypsy lane and some pinging Bearded Tits. 2 Woodcocks flew over as we neared the carpark and a calling Tanwy Owl back in Holme village meant that as a group we finished on 103 species (Sophie 101, myself 100 and Jed 98). Overall a good species total considering the freezing conditions, which meant ducks were particularly hard to come across. Worst misses included Pochard (for the second year running), Little Grebe, Barn Owl and Great-spotted Woodpecker. Until next year...

23/12/10 Blackborough End Tip

2010-12-23T16:24:00.003Z

A late afternoon trip was much more productive than the previous Sunday, with masses of gulls around the tip and nearby. A fine 1st-winter Caspian Gull was in the fields by the A47 but I couldn't pick out anything else. That Glaucous Gull was in there somewhere....

19/12/10 Blackborough End Tip and Saddlebow

2010-12-23T16:21:00.003Z

A few hours out around King's Lynn. Unsurprisingly, considering it was a Sunday, few gulls at Blackborough End tip, although a Mealy Redpoll and 15 Siskins were in alders to the south of the entrance track and a Grey Wagtail was around the pits. Saddlebow was slightly better, with 3 Yellow-legged Gulls (2 adults and a 3rd-winter) but little else of note.

12/12/10 Holme

2010-12-12T16:44:00.007Z

A fairly quiet day at the observatory. Unfortunately the 3 White-fronted Geese found late the previous day by David R (too late for me to get there from Massingham) had gone (it would have been a Holme tick), but an impressive total of 13+ 'pale-bellied' Brent Geese were recorded, with 4+ west offshore and 9 on the marsh (2 adults, 9 juveniles). In addition, 3 Woodcocks were flushed from various parts of the reserve and singles of Redpoll and Siskin flew west. A pristine drake Long-tailed Duck flew west offshore, while 4 Fulmars, 7 Red-breasted Mergansers and 2 Red-throated Divers were also noted.

11/12/10 Great Massingham

2010-12-11T20:57:00.003Z

Did a couple of my atlas tetrads near Great Massingham this morning and recorded a nice selection of bits and pieces, including a Brambling, 8 Bullfinches, a Marsh Tit and 20+ Yellowhammers. Overall I recorded 34 species in one tetrad and 26 in the other.

4/11/10 Burnham Overy and Wells

2010-12-11T20:48:00.002Z

With Hume's Warbler and Arctic Redpoll at Wells on the Friday, a Saturday trip seemed sensible. But first of all, a sift through some Pink-footed Geese around Burnham Overy produced 2 Barnacle Geese. Then, on to Wells. Unfortunately there was no sign of either of the star attractions from yesterday, but a few bits and pieces was headlined by very good views of the 'trumpeting' male Northern Bullfinch, which was fairly audible throughout most my stay, as well as 4+ Bullfinches. In addition, a Lapland Bunting flew west over the Dell, 12 Mealy Redpolls gave good views and a Woodcock was flushed.

27/11/10 Thornham and Holme

2010-11-28T18:17:00.002Z

The day started well with excellent views of the putative juvenile male NORTHERN HARRIER around the coal barn at Thornham. Initially it was showing quite distantly over the saltmarsh towards Thornham but it then came much close, flying right past the coalbarn and away to the west, briefly sparring with a Marsh Harrier, before heading over the pines and towards Gore point, allowing all observers to note the full suite of features on this striking bird. After a brief spell in the dunes in then returned to the harbour area later. 10 Rock Pipits were also in the harbour, with 2 Hen Harriers and 2 Merlins noted over the saltmarsh. Having had my fill of views I went and did a seawatch in the brisk NE winds on the falling tide 09:50-11:20 and recorded a juvenile Pomarine Skua west, an Arctic Skua west, 1 adult Kittiwake east, 2 drake Goosanders west, 4 Velvet Scoters, 21 Goldeneye, 13 Red-breasted Mergansers and 10 Red-throated Divers. After this a look around the NOA reserve produced a small amount of grounded migrants including 15 Blackbirds and a Woodcock flushed into the heli. There was also a small amount of overhead passage, including 100+ Lapwings west and 60+ Skylarks west.

23/11/10 Dersingham

2010-11-23T18:35:00.003Z

While waiting at the bus-stop this morning a single Waxwing flew south calling - a nice surprise to the start the day. Inevitably this had to be undermined, this time by the frustration of the Hume's Leaf Warbler at Holme... Keeping everything crossed it stays until Saturday, but realistically....

21/11/10 Holme area and Wells Wood

2010-11-21T19:59:00.005Z

Birthday celebrations the previous evening meant it was a slightly later start to a days birding than normal! Unfortunately this meant I just missed the Rough-legged Buzzard seen by some over the dunes, however, this was made up for by a few nice bits and pieces. A seawatch from Gore point produced 2 juvenile Pomarine Skuas west at 09:45, quite close and in superb early-morning light, as well as a drake Goldeneye west, 3 Eiders west, 2 Red-throated Divers and 2 auk sp. On the beach a flock of 70 Snow Buntings were mobile but showed well at times and contained at least 1 Lapland Bunting. The NE winds had grounded a small amount of migrants, with 12 Blackbirds, a Redwing and 2 Goldcrests, while visible migration was also noticeable, with 70+ Skylarks west (with a few arriving in off the sea), as well as 50 Starlings, 10 Meadow Pipits, 90 Goldfinches, 30 Chaffinches and 15 Greenfinches, while on arrival at the NOA reserve at 10:55 a flock of 7 Waxwings flew east. Prompted by the pager message we headed round to Wells Wood, where an enjoyable couple of hours were spent around the Dell with John F. Overall we located 7+ 'Bullfinches', including at least one female Northern Bullfinch, probably 2, while the diagnostic 'toy-trumpet' call was also heard, although it was unclear whether this was from one of the females or from the 'tootling' male present earlier in the week (and if the latter is the case it annoyingly remained unseen). Of the others, at least some appeared to be bolder and brighter, with a subtly different call, than 'our' birds, but difficult to tell and probably unsafe to seperate. Also, 7 Mealy Redpolls, 15 Song Thrushes and 40 Blackbirds were in the Dell.

13/11/10 Burnham Overy

2010-11-14T21:13:00.006Z

With a lot of work to do the morning was spent indoors but in the afternoon I was leading a wildlife explorers group trip at Holkham, so left early and had a look at Burnham Overy, with a fair crowd already present when I arrived. Nice, prolonged views of 2 Rough-legged Buzzards over the marsh, as well as 6+ Barnacle Geese in with the Pink-footed Geese. The most intruiging sighting was a 'ringtail Harrier' quartering the marsh for a couple of minutes before dropping back down into the reeds. It was certainly the bird that has been mooted as showing characteristics of 'Northern Harrier', being very orange on the underparts, especially on the upper-breast, with particularly dark inner-secondaries and it appeared darker on the upperparts. However, for me the most striking feature, especially when the bird was on the deck, were how 'clean' the underparts were, appearing completely unstreaked and creating a clear 'break' between the neck and the rest of the underparts. Unfortunately I didn't have time to hang around (and it didn't come up for 2 hours anyway - when it was seen by a bigger crowd but again distantly and in poor light) and it was too distant to get any underwing detail. Interesting bird though.

7/11/10 Holme NOA

2010-11-07T21:20:00.005Z

With the NE wind forecast I worked all day yesterday to ensure I could spend the day in the field today. The day started well with a Peregrine over the NOA carpark clutching prey! Then did a seawatch with Ray and David R and as I hoped, it was very busy, an excellent duck passage in particularly with a few standout highlights. In 3.75 hours (08:05-10:35 and 14:30-15:45) I recorded 3 Little Auks (2 in the morning, 1 distantly west and a nice close bird east and 1 in the afternoon west and onto the sea), 2 Sooty Shearwaters west, 6 Pomarine Skuas west (all juvs), 1 Arctic Skua west, 99 Kittiwakes west, 10 Little Gulls west, 1 'pale-bellied' Brent Goose (west with a small group of dark-bellied birds in the afternoon), 100 Wigeon west, 75 Teal west, 1 Tufted Duck west, 9 Mallards west, 195 Eider west, 320 Common Scoters, 15 Goldeneye, 1 Great-northern Diver (close inshore east), 24 Red-throated Divers, 40 Shelducks (I missed a fairly good early afternoon passage of this species), 1 Scaup (drake east), 1 Long-tailed Duck (drake west), 18 Red-breasted Mergansers, 2 Goosanders (2 'redheads' west) and 4 Gannets west. There was also a small arrival on the land, with 2 Woodcocks (1 NOA, 1 west end), 8 Waxwings (a single west and a group of 4 east while seawatching and 3 lingering along the river Hun in the afternoon) and reasonable numbers of common migrants, with 50+ Blackbirds, 25 Robins, 12 Song Thrushes and 20 Goldcrests, as well as a female Blackcap, a Brambling in the pines, a Bullfinch on the NOA reserve (although I missed the 'Northern' Bullfinch) and a Lapland Bunting around Gore point, although the hoped for scarcity never materialised. Overhead was respectable during the day, with 8500+ Starling west, with several huge waves towards dusk, 5 Rock Pipits, 1 Siskin, 25 Skylarks, 35 Redwings and 17 Fieldfares. Another highlight was good views of the 'Eastern' Lesser Whitethroat that continued its long stay along the east bank.

Holme Harrier revisited

2010-11-05T20:10:00.008Z

On 10th October I posted this:

On reaching the track I noticed a 'ringtail' Harrier circling away to the east. It banked around a few times and was quite rufous on the underparts and was quite rakish - clearly the bird reported as a Montagu's Harrier but local birders are not convinced (it certainly doesn't feel like a classic Montagu's Harrier structure wise).

Now to add a bit more background! On seeing the bird I was worried. As posted, I didn't think it was a Montagu's Harrier but knowing the calibre of the observer who reported it originally and the calibre of those who had seen it I almost wrote it off as one (despite me and the friend I were with even going as far as saying it looked intermediate in structure between Hen and Montagu's and him uttering 'it could be a Pallid'....) During the day though it niggled at me. That structure surely wasn't good for Montagu's but I adamantly refuted the suggestion from some it was a Hen Harrier. I phoned several friends to try and drum up some enthusiasm for people to go and see it just and case and that I thought Pallid certainly wasn't ruled out. Unfortunately some local birders dismissed this out of hand. On getting home I waited and as soon as I saw the pictures posted I phoned 6 friends to state that from the photos and field views I couldn't see why it wasn't a Pallid (resulting in the carefully-worded birdnet message!) The apparent lack of a clear dark boa (it did show a subtle one) threatened to stall me and the response I got was hardly overwhelming. But I kept plugging away. I couldn't accept it was a Montagu's or a Hen and therefore if common sense prevailed it surely had to be a Pallid Harrier. Hours looking at photos wasn't getting me anywhere and some were still coming down on the side of Montagu's (obviously without having the benefit of seeing it in the field to gain an impression of structure etc). Eventually a better shot of the underwing and a nice email I got from Dick Forsman appears to have convinced most if not all that the bird was indeed a PALLID HARRIER. After all that effort it certainly felt like a patch tick well earned and I'm glad I had and listened to those niggling doubts.

30/10/10 Holme

2010-10-30T22:03:00.003+01:00

With news of an Albertross species heading west past Salthouse I clambered up to Gore point (having already been on route from home). Unfortunately that moment never happened... But the wait was more than adequately compensated when a fine Grey Phalarope jinxed its way past at 14:57 and 3 Lapland Buntings flew west in 1.5 hours. A fairly large Starling passage was taking place as well, with at least 600 noted, with small groups arriving in off the sea, while 20+ Skylarks and 4 Rock Pipits also flew west.

29/10/10 Flitcham

2010-10-29T20:32:00.002+01:00

After spending most of the day working I popped out with dad to Flitcham late afternoon. We decided to park by the road and scan rather than going into the hide and dad instantly picked out the Rough-legged Buzzard. Unfortunately on this occasion we lost it and I had only had poor flight views, but a little later we had some fabulous views of it at close range on several ocassions, including on the deck, although it could go missing for quite long period, presumably when it was out of view on the ground. Ray R came up and jammed in immediately on the best views of the whole stint and it was still showing when we left at about 17:20. For anyone going it is best viewed from the rather panoramic bend in the road at TF739266 and it can be over both the fields to the north and north east (around Loyds Wood and Barn plantation/Chalk Hill) and the fields to the SE (around Further Front wood). Smart bird. In addition, 3 Common Buzzards, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel and a fine male Peregrine were over the fields.

27/10/10 Burnham Overy Dunes and Wells Wood

2010-10-29T20:31:00.001+01:00

While I was on the way back from Dungeness dad had a trip out along the north coast and was rewarded with a Rough-legged Buzzard and 6 Waxwings at Burnham Overy and 6 Waxwings at Wells Wood. All good stuff.

23/10-27/10 Dungeness Bird Observatory, Kent

2010-10-28T18:45:00.003+01:00

A trip to try and round off the autumn in style down on the south coast and to spend some time birding an area I haven't before, save for a brief day trip earlier this week, while it was also good to spend some time birding with David R towards the end of his stint as Dungeness assistant warden.. Good, clear weather for the most part meant a lot of effort, especially on the ringing front.

23rd - Day 1

The long journey down to Kent was fairly uneventful and ran smoothly, with my spirits heightened by a call while at St. Pancras to say a Penduline Tit had been discovered at the ARC pit. After being picked up in Lydd a dash down to Hanson hide unfortunately failed to produce the said bird and I also missed a Bittern as a bonus, although a Merlin flashed through. Not a great start to the trip, but at least I was there and unpacked. An evening drive out was more productive, with a smart Ring Ouzel out on Lydd ranges and a Short-eared Owl, 2 Merlins and a Marsh Harrier tussling at Scotney.

24th - Day 2

In the clear conditions and light NW winds it was clear, even from well before dawn when we were setting up the nets, that there was quite a lot of stuff overhead, with plenty of Redwings, as well as Skylarks and Redpolls, calling before it was light. Figures by the end of the day were 70 Skylarks, 90 Fieldfares, 100 Redwings, 1000 Starlings, 250 Chaffinches, 30 Bramblings, 50 Siskins, 50 Redpolls, a Grey Wagtail and 45 Reed Buntings, while a Buzzard also flew over and a Woodlark called above the observatory. The main highlight of the day was while doing a net round in the trapping with David when I noticed 2 Waxwings flying overhead. They lingered for a few minutes before flying west towards th RSPB reserve, allowing those at the observatory to get distant scope views. Although I didn't realise it at the time, Waxwing is a very scarce bird at Dungeness with only a handful of records prior to these (less records than Short-toed Treecreeper, for example). Another major highlight was getting good views of a 'europeaus' Long-tailed Tit in the trapping area with the tit flock, one of three caught earlier in the week. A male Firecrest was also in the trapping area and the only other grounded migrant of note was a Ring Ouzel in the moat early morning, although a small number of common grounded migrants included 30 Robins, a Chiffchaff and 20 Goldcrests. 2 Black Redstarts were around and a trip to the patch produced 10 Mediterranean Gulls, a Little Gull, an Arctic Tern and 4 Kittiwakes. A Merlin was also seen over the trapping area.

25th - Day 3

Another very early start and even more birds overhead, with a passage of 10,000+ Starlings through the day, with several waves numbering over 1000 birds, as well as 90 Skylarks, 85 Redwings, 50 Fieldfares, 130 Chaffinches, 45 Bramblings, 15 Siskins and 20 Redpolls. On the ground Thrushes were slightly more prominent, with a reasonable count of 90 Blackbirds, as well as 10 Robins, 20 Goldcrests, a Chiffchaff, a Blackcap and 3+ Firecrests in the trapping area, while some quality was provided by a Jay and a Woodcock which came in from the south-west and ditched down on the open ground between the observatory and the trapping area, while a Marsh Harrier flew over. In addition, while doing a net round in the trapping area I spotted another 3 Waxwings heading north and this time they pitched down briefly, giving some good views, before continuing north, part of a wholly unprecedented arrival of at least 14 in the observatory recording area during the day. The afternoon fizzled out but had another late surprise, with a visitor reporting a Grey Phalarope on the sea between the seawatching hide and the patch and this came good, with nice views obtained as the bird lingered offfshore. At least 3 Mediterranean Gulls and a Kittiwake were also seen.

26th - Day 4

A much quieter day, with a lot fewer grounded migrants. 2 Firecrests were still in the trapping area while at least 12 Goldcrests and 40 Blackbirds were present. A seawatch produced 10 Kittiwakes, 4 Razorbills and 10 Gannets east, while overhead just 2 Redpolls, 2 Bramblings and 3 Siskins were noted. With the weather taking a turn for the worse and little activity it was with delight that I learnt of the continued presence of the male PENDULINE TIT and excellent, prolonged views were obtained of this gem right in front of Hanson hide. A Marsh Harrier was also over the ARC pit.

27th - Day 5

My last day and I only had a few hours in the morning. The weather was very poor and little was noted save for a Merlin around the observatory. I left and had another smooth journey back up to Norfolk. Of course, in the afternoon a Pallas' Warbler and a Caspian Gull were both found, but this barely soured what had been a very enjoyable trip. A big thanks to all the guys at the observatory for their help.

17/10/10 Holme

2010-10-17T21:13:00.002+01:00

After a tiring week a much-needed lie in and catching up with some work. Mid-afternoon the calls came in (thanks) and following some persuasion I was off to Holme. After a wait some nice views were obtained of the elusive RED-FLANKED BLUETAIL in the Forestry (they may be 'common' but still red and bold for me - mega patch bird after all!) Watching the bird hover, with it's blue tail quivering, was particularly memorable. The Great Grey Shrike also popped up briefly but was quickly forgotten! A excellent end to the weekend, hopefully some more still to come. Off to Kent on Saturday for 5 days, so watch this space...

16/10/10 Brancaster, Cley, Warham Greens and Wells Wood

2010-10-17T21:01:00.003+01:00

Another weekend and more optimism. Decided to steer clear of the sea despite the promising looking conditions in the hope of going all out for that Bluetail (at least). Bad call considering the stuff seen really. Still, a relatively productive walk at my new favourite site Brancaster produced a flushed Jack Snipe, 8 Lapland Buntings west (a group of 7 and a single bird) and 2 Wheatears as well as small numbers of other grounded common migrants (10 Redwings, 8 Blackbirds, 5 Song Thrush, 1 Goldcrest and 1 Robin). Hearing about all the stuff offshore meant we gave it a go from Cley coastguards 10:00-11:30 which produced a distant Pomarine Skua east, 6 Great Skuas, 10 Kittwakes, 8 Red-throated Divers and 150 Razorbills. Moved on to a few spots around Stiffkey, first of all the infamous 'House-on-the-hill' produced 3 Blackcaps, 2 Redpolls, 2 Goldcrests, 5 Reed Buntings, 10 Blackbirds, 8 Song Thrushes and 7 Redwings. A nearby flock of 200+ Golden Plovers didn't contain the hoped-for goodies. Stiffkey campsite woods was windswept and devoid of birds and we ended up joining the crowds at the central track at Warham Greens where we quickly saw a Yellow-browed Warbler and then eventually got excellent views of the very smart Pallas' Warbler. A final foray with John F. at Wells wood produced a very showy Firecrest on the north side of the dell, as well as 5+ Redpolls, 10+ Chiffchaffs, a Treecreeper, 30 Goldcrests, 25 Blackbirds, 20 Song Thrushes and 20 Redwings. Another solid day but not much in the way of new arrivals.

10/10/10 Holme, Thornham, Wells and Stiffkey Meals

2010-10-10T21:51:00.007+01:00

Well the hoped for find never came, but another spectacular day of migration and some more smart birds. Started off at Holme. First of all a walk along Gore point, followed by a couple of circuits of the pines and NOA reserve produced 2 Black Redstarts (1 on the Firs and another down the East bank), 1 Redstart, 1 Crossbill west, 1 Lesser Redpoll east, 1 Grey Wagtail west, 2 Garden Warblers, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Whitethroat, 3 Blackcaps, 20 Chiffchaffs, 500 Goldcrests, 400 Robins, 2 Bearded Tits west, 20 Siskins, 40 Bramblings, 350 Redwings, 40 Blackbirds and 200 Song Thrushes. We moved on to the west end but failed to locate much more around the standing caravan except more common migrants, namely another 10 Goldcrests, 20 Blackbirds and 15 Redwings. On reaching the track I noticed a 'ringtail' Harrier circling away to the east. It banked around a few times and was quite rufous on the underparts and was quite rakish - clearly the bird reported as a Montagu's Harrier but local birders are not convinced (it certainly doesn't feel like a classic Montagu's Harrier structure wise). Next it was on to Thornham, where 7+ Lapland Buntings showed well, often on the deck and out in the open - nice! However, the main highlight here was a Woodlark that called at least three times while I was on the seawall, a surprise bonus and although we have plenty locally an unexpected patch tick!

Moving on we decided to try the Dell at Wells Wood. 3 Redstarts, 25 Bramblings, including some still exhausted on the deck, 10 Siskins and another 15 Chichaffs were noted but little else, save for an elusive 'acro' warbler at the east end that probably (read hopefully) was just a Reed Warbler. It was quite bright and seemed to disappear completely. There were many more common migrants here, including 300+ Goldcrests.

Having failed to find anything we again resorted to twitching, this time heading round for the OLIVE-BACKED PIPIT at Stiffkey. Another British tick for me and another very smart bird. I was certainly impressed with how bright and bold it was and the nature of the walk out to the site made it even more memorable. Even in this very small area of scrub there were common migrants, with 5+ Goldcrests and Song Thrushes, Blackbirds and Redwings were still coming in off the sea and pitching in while we were present.

This should have been the memorable end to a fantastic weekend of migration. But on reaching Burnham Deepdale Penny Clarke phoned to ask I'd seen the Olivaceous Warbler come up at Wells! No I hadn't and the decision to do the Dell and not the drinking pool area at Wells seemed foolish in hindsight... The air was blue for some time but to cut a long story short we arrived, eventually found where the bird had probably been seen and only added a Garden Warbler to our tally from earlier in the day....

Dad meanwhile, was having a look at Brancaster and located a Yellow-browed Warbler, 2 Redstarts and 2 Ring Ouzels for his efforts.

Until next weekend....

9/10/10 Blakeney Point and Warham Greens

2010-10-09T19:57:00.006+01:00

With promising looking conditions the decision was made to spend most of the day on Blakeney point, with East Hills considered but rejected at the last minute. Ultimately this proved to be the wrong decision but it was still an enjoyable day with big numbers, despite lacking that rarity we hoped to find. At home and at the coastguards Song Thrushes and Redwings could be heard calling overhead in the darkness and were flushed from every patch of cover, with smaller numbers of Goldcrests, Robins and especially Chifchaffs scattered throughout. Bramblings and Siskins were often found feeding on the deck and several species, mostly Thrushes but also a Redstart, were seen coming in off the sea. The highlight was a Yellow-browed Warbler in the sueda on the south side of the Hood. Final figures: 1300 Redwings, 1100 Song Thrushes, 160 Chiffchaffs, 100 Goldcrests, 120 Robins, 75 Siskins, 65 Bramblings, 3 Redpolls, 2 Mistle Thrushes, 1 Yellow-browed Warbler (at the Hood - Penny found another one in the evening on Middle point), 2 Firecrests (1 just east of the Hood, 1 Far point), 3 Ring Ouzels (1 Halfway house, 1 Plantation, 1 Near point), 10 Redstarts, 2 Black Redstarts (1 east of Halfway house, 1 Halfway house), 1 Spotted Flycatcher (Near point), 3 Lapland Buntings west (over Far point), 1 Grey Wagtail west, 1 Merlin, 1 Blackcap and 1 Yellowhammer. Dissapointed not to have at least found any scarce (a very interesting calling Pipit over the plantation that shall not be mentioned again aside), with the remaining light we went and saw the RADDE'S WARBLER in the pit at Warham Greens, a smart bird which eventually showed very well and a new British bird to boot. A ringtail Hen Harrier was hunting nearby and at least 5 Bramblings flew over. Hoping for that find tomorrow...

2/10/10 Holme and Holkham

2010-10-02T21:10:00.006+01:00

An early start after a most frustrating week. It was quickly apparant when arriving at the obs in the cover of darkness that many common migrants were present, either remaining from the major arrival earlier in the week or in the rain and SE winds of the previous night or Friday. However, a lot of stuff seemed to leave with the clear conditions at first light. Visible passage from the observatory (06:00-13:30) was fairly decent (although lots of it was probably quite local movement), with a good count of 570 Meadow Pipits west, with many coming over the observatory before pitching down on the marsh, as well as 3 Lapland Buntings west (2 @ 07:30 and 1 @ 07:50), 3 Snipe west, 1 Merlin west, 20 Siskins west, 8 Redpoll sp (1 west, 7 east), 1 Brambling west, 3 Tree Pipits grounded from the east and then west a short while later, 2 Rock Pipits west, 4 Tree Sparrows west, 40 Skylarks west, 3 Swallows west, 140 Chaffinches west, 170 Goldfinches west and 42 Reed Buntings west. In addition, counts of other species (mixture of overhead passage and grounded migrants) included 58 Song Thrushes, 16 Redwings, 29 Mistle Thrushes (an excellent site count) and 4 Jays. A fairly small number of other grounded migrants did include 75 Robins, 60 Goldcrests, 3 Redstarts (1 NOA, 2 Forestry), 2 Cetti's Warbler (both on the NOA, although another that I didn't see was by the 5-bar gate), 3 Reed Warblers, 4 Garden Warblers (2 NOA, 2 Forestry), 6 Blackcaps, 2 Chiffchaffs and best of all a fine Yellow-browed Warbler that I found in the willows by the heligoland trap at 08:40. It showed well and was quite vocal at first but it spent the rest of the day being elusive in the pines at the west end of the reserve.

It was clear that by early afternoon little more was arriving and I was tempted away by news of an apparant Melodious Warbler at Holkham, a county mega. Unfortunately I didn't see it and it has caused quite a lot of controversy (with both Reed Warbler and Willow Warbler put forward as the likely identification this afternoon!) but, even though I somehow managed to avoid all the reported scarcities, a few bits were noted, with Pied Flycatcher and Spotted Flycatcher in the pines, 10+ Siskins overhead and a super Short-eared Owl hunting over the marsh at the west end of the pines, as well as a Garden Warbler along Bone's drift.

29/9/10 Hunstanton cliffs

2010-09-29T21:28:00.003+01:00

An early-evening walk along Hunstanton cliffs after school produced reasonable views of the Wryneck, as well as a Pied Flycatcher, 2 Willow Warblers and 10 Robins in the clifftop bushes. Being at school this week has been frustrating to say the least, but I have had a few bits and pieces. My first 9 Redwings flew over Wisbech on 27/9 and a Brambling, 2 Siskins, 10 Song Thrushes, 6 Redwings and a Dunlin flew over Dersingham on 28/9.

25/9/10 Holme and Blakeney point

2010-09-27T20:42:00.005+01:00

An excellent day with a stunning twist in the tail! Started off with the seawatch at Holme and although, as expected, the numbers were well down from yesterday, there was still some quality and variety. I watched in the dunes from 06:40-08:40 with the usual team and recorded 6 Red-throated Divers, (1 west, 5 east), 1 diver sp east, 9 Teal west, 2 Avocet west (the first time I have seen this species on a seawatch!), 2 Barnacle Geese west (part of a large movement down the east coast, with others also noted at Sheringham, Spurn and Gibralter point), 9 Pink-footed Geese west, 1 Red-necked Grebe west, 2 Great-crested Grebes, 1 Eider east, 2 Manx Shearwaters east, 5 Kittiwakes (2 west, 3 east), 3 auk sp (1 west, 2 east), 8 Pintail west, 3 Razorbills west, 11 Great Skuas (9 west, 2 east), 6 Arctic Skuas (1 west, 5 east), 1 Pomarine Skua east, 7 skua sp (4 west, 3 east), 27 Wigeon (19 west, 8 east), 14 Sandwich Terns, 1 Fulmar, 7 Snipe west and best of all a cracking pale-phase juvenile Long-tailed Skua close inshore east at 07:05. Unfortunately I had to leave promptly at 08:40 to go to school and help with an open day! Going back through the NOA reserve a Brambling was calling from the pines. On returning home I had some lunch and made plans to go back out to the sea as the tide came in, but this was rudely shoved to one side by news from Blakeney point, where the lure of an American passerine proved too tempting! After a collosal walk up the point into the gale-force NW winds, quite probably the hardest walk I have ever done, excellent views were obtained of the 'EMPIDONAX' FLYCATCHER in the plantation. Whatever species it is, it was a stunning bird and I'm glad I made the effort to see it. On arriving we were told the bird was a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher and certainly on my first views I noted the obvsious yellowish wash to the front, which seemed slightly stronger around the throat. Howevr, more prolonged views revealed this to be very dependent on the light and certainly closer, more prolonged views suggested it was more grey and white with only a soft yellow hue to the front. In addition, the structure seemed at odds to what I expected for a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, not as compact, and although this is probably a mere reflection of my inexperience it appears the bird is now being confidently IDed as an Alder/Willow Flycatcher. Otherwise the point was fairly quiet, although 2 Redwings were noted and the final surprise of the day was a locustella warbler, almost certainly 'just' a Grasshopper Warbler, flushed from underfoot in the sueda at Halfway house.

As for Sunday, what a day to have a family event in the middle of the country.....

24/9/10 Holme

2010-09-24T19:48:00.001+01:00

An evening seawatch from Gore point was over fairly quickly because the rain and bad weather closed in, but in the short seawatch a Sooty Shearwater flew east, as well as 3 Manx Shearwaters, 2 Great Skuas, 5 Arctic Skuas and 4 Kittiwakes. Hopefully there will be some stuff tomorrow.

18/9/10 Holme

2010-09-18T18:12:00.002+01:00

After being gripped of by news of yesterdays seawatch (with a full tail-streamered Long-tailed Skua and 2 'spooned' Pomarine Skuas amongst other bits and pieces) I had a 2 hour seawatch from the dunes this morning 07:45-09:45, but it was very quiet in comparison, with 1 Manx Shearwater, 9 Great Skuas and 2 Arctic Skuas west, as well as 6 Red-throated Divers and a distant duck west with a group of Scoter that was probably a drake Scaup. Overhead passage was, at best, fair, with 195 Meadow Pipits west by 13:20, as well as 1 Pied Wagtail, 43 Swallows, 3 House Martins, 2 Linnets, 2 Reed Buntings, 11 Jackdaws, 101 Pink-footed Geese, a Great-spotted Woodpecker south inland over the marsh and my first Rock Pipit of the autumn west. The land was even harder work, although excellent views were obtained on a couple of occasions of the ever-present Barred Warbler that has now almost completely regrown it's tail (first ringed on the 27th August and had dropped it's tail by the time it was retrapped on 3rd September) in front of the Dell hide on the NOA reserve. In addition, 3 Chiffchaffs, 3 Goldcrests, 2 Reed Warblers, 2 Blackcaps and a Lesser Whitethroat were noted around the pines, while a female Wheatear was along Thornham bank and 2 Spoonbills were in the channel at Thornham harbour.

11/9/10 Holme

2010-09-12T18:37:00.004+01:00

The main purpose of the day was to try and get better views of the ARCTIC WARBLER after last night's satisfactory show. Thankfully during the day I gained exceptional views of this smart bird on several occasions, most notably at 14:20hrs when it showed constantly at fairly close range in the sunshine for around 5 minutes, allowing everyone to note the whole set of features. Other grounded migrants were thin on the ground but included 3 Spotted Flycatchers in the pines, 3 Garden Warblers (1 NOA, 1 Forestry, 1 Redwell bridge) and 10 Willow Warblers. Other bits of note included a Hobby over the marsh and a Treecreeper in the pines. Overhead passage was fairly productive with 2 Yellow Wagtails and a large hirundine passage with 4000 Swallows, 150 House Martins, 80 Sand Martins and 5 Swifts west. The RED-NECKED PHALAROPE was still present and showing well on the NOA reserve.

10/9/10 Holme

2010-09-10T20:35:00.003+01:00

After a truly agonising week tonight, thankfully, bucked the trend. On arrival in the middle of the pines, north of the footpath, the area where the bird had been frequenting most of the day, it was a bit concerning to find noboy had seen it for about half an hour... Surely not again! However, just 15 minutes later, at around 18:20hrs, the ARCTIC WARBLER was relocated in a small clump of pines just south of the footpath by dad and Sophie and over the next half-an-hour the small number of people present, myself included, all got good views of the bird on several occasions, although it was at times difficult to see high up in the pines. Very smart bird to say the least and a quality patch tick! Hopefully it will still be present tomorrow so I can spend some more time with it. A Redstart was also calling on the seaward side of the pines and a Hobby flew west over the carpark.

7/9/10 Holme

2010-09-08T19:51:00.002+01:00

Another evening Arctic Warbler dip. Hmmmm, tricky bird really not helped by the fact it seems to get dark far too early now... One of these birds that just takes pleasure in playing havoc with your mind, it's only been seen a handful of times all day, the chances of seeing it in a couple of hours would be like winning the lottery but it's such a great bird you feel obliged to try! A single Redstart was the only bird of note seen. Chances of the Arctic hanging on to the weekend - surely zero, but who knows, it might pay to be wildly optimistic for a change....

6/9/10 Holme

2010-09-06T21:27:00.002+01:00

An evening trip failed to produce the hoped for Arctic Warbler that was ringed in the morning. It had been seen about 20 minutes before we arrived but despite searching Penny and myself failed to relocate it. 3+ Redstarts (including 1 male) were noted and a female Pied Flycatcher was by the heliogland trap.

4/9/10 Holme and Scolt Head Island

2010-09-04T21:23:00.005+01:00

Out early doors with Simeon but not too much happening in the way of activity except a reasonable selection of common warblers and a few other common migrants, as well as a Cetti's Warbler by the Gore point layby. Nonetheless, excellent coverage of the whole recording area produced a decent list by the morning's end, with all of yesterdays discoveries remaining overnight, meaning the excellent start to the autumn, especially at Holme, continues unabated. Grounded migrants included 2 BARRED WARBLERS, with one briefly in front of the NOA observatory mid-morning before heading down the east bank (confirmed as different to the one I saw ringed on 27th August, which on retrapping yesterday was shown to have dropped all but one of it's tail-feathers - per. J.An) and one, showing well at times, in the NWT dunes east of the Forestry, in the same bush (and frequently on view simultaneously) as the juvenile RED-BACKED SHRIKE discovered the previous day. In addition, the juvenile RED-NECKED PHALAROPE was still on Redwell Marsh NOA and showing well, although the light is not as good at Redwell in the morning. The 'best' new birds were 4 Lapland Buntings which I picked up calling over the end of the East bank. Over the space of a few minutes I thought I could hear some calling on several occasions and they were obviously circling high overhead, but thankfully they came lower, affording reasonable views and allowing my to get quite a few others on to them and they were also picked up calling from the observatory. They eventually circled away to the SE over the marsh.

Grounded migrants: 2 Barred Warblers, 1 Red-backed Shrike, 1 Whinchat, 1 Wheatear, 1 Cetti's Warbler, 12 Lesser Whitethroats, 9 Whitethroats, 8 Blackcaps, 10 Chiffchaffs, 13 Willow Warblers and a Stonechat (others saw a Redstart and 2 more Whinchats amongst others).

Overhead passage: 4 Lapland Buntings south-east, 4 Yellow Wagtails west, 67 Meadow Pipits west, 6 Reed Bunting west, 30 House Martins, 2 Sand Martins, 60 Swallows, 1 Pied Wagtail west and 3 Snipe west.

Other: 1 juvenile Red-necked Phalarope.

By the middle of the day too many people were around for my liking and so I took a trip over to Scolt Head Island. A few hours on the island wasn't particularly productive and seemed to confirm my suspicions that little was arriving, although a Whinchat, 6 Wheatears, 4 Willow Warblers, 2 Stonechats, 2 Whitethroats and a Chiffchaff were seen.

3/9/10 Holme

2010-09-04T21:21:00.002+01:00

A dash after school to Redwell Marsh NOA produced excellent views in the fine evening light of the bright juvenile RED-NECKED PHALAROPE spinning around in front of the hide. Another Holme tick, having dipped the last one on Redwel Marsh several years ago.

30/8/10 Holme

2010-08-30T20:03:00.003+01:00

Another excellent autumn day! Seawatching (with J. Andrews, S. Barker, R. Roche and D. Hawkins and later P. Eele and P. French) was productive, especially mid-morning and in 5.5 hours (7:00-11:30am and 12:30-1:30pm) I recorded a close juvenile Long-tailed Skua west, as well as 118 Great Skuas west, 105 Arctic Skuas west, 9 Manx Shearwaters (7 west, 2 east), 10 Kittiwakes (9 west, 1 east), 79 Wigeon, 265 Teal, 38 Pintail, 13 Fulmars, 71 Gannets and 1 Shearwater sp west, while others from our 'team' saw a distant Sooty Shearwater and a juvenile Black Tern, but not the amount of scarcer Skuas other visitors were claiming. There was also a good amount of grounded migrants, with 7 Wheatears (including 3 in off the sea in the morning), a Whinchat in the dunes, 2 Pied Flycatchers on the NOA reserve and a Garden Warbler by the observatory, but best of all a cracking, very bright Wood Warbler found in the afternoon in the poplar by the side of the NOA staff carpark, where it showed well into the evening for a fairly large appreciative audience. A much wanted patch tick in the bag.

29/8/10 Cley NWT

2010-08-30T20:02:00.003+01:00

An afternoon seawatch from the coastguards in good company produced 50+ Manx Shearwaters east, 35 Great Skuas and 25 Arctic Skuas. The injured Common Crane was circling distantly over Walsey Hills NOA.

27/8/10 Holme

2010-08-28T17:17:00.016+01:00

An excellent autumn day, with the low to the east obviously doing the trick and stuff getting through despite the low over Scandinavia. Activity on both land and sea. Started early setting up the nets and a bit of early movement promised much, with the first Tree Pipit of the autumn and a Hobby. However, it seemed slow in terms of general activity and so went to have a look at the sea with David H. Quite a lot of activity, with good numbers of Arctic Skuas and a few Great Skuas. However, frustratingly, a large Shearwater sp. flew east at 06:50, almost certainly a Cory's Shearwater but just too distant to be absolutely sure, followed by a probable Pomarine Skua that again was just that bit too distant. This was quickly forgotten though. I had obviously had my phone on silent and glanced at it to find a couple of missed calls and texts from Sophie. I only needed to read the first word, 'Icky', to yelp at David and rush down to the observatory ringing shed. Soon the fine ICTERINE WARBLER that Sophie had discovered in a net was posed in front of the handful of people present, surpisingly the first to be ringed at the observatory for 14 years.

By now the race was on to find the next good bird that we all felt sure was present. A Pied Flycatcher was trapped and ringed and the Redstart was now showing well, but despite good, much increased coverage only a handful of common warblers, including a few Garden Warblers, could be found, a rather surprising lack of common migrants for sure, especially in the pines. However, Jed was the one to find the second scarcity of the day, again in one of the nets, this time a fine BARRED WARBLER.

The fact that both of the birds were not seen in the field before or after capture suggests that they were both frequenting the very dense vegetation at the west end of the reserve or that they were actively moving through (both birds were carrying a lot of fat).

By now euphoria was setting in at the observatory, claims that the hatrick of birds was on and that the next one would be the mega... However, eventually the afternoon fizzled out. Another stab at the sea was largely unproductive as were, generally, new forays for migrants, although the number of the Pied Flycatchers around the observatory increased to at least 3, a female Redstart showed well in the Forestry, 2 Wheatears were discovered at the pillbox and a few more Yellow Wagtails flew west including a group of 13. After a Peregrine east along the marsh it was Redwell Marsh that delievered the last good bird of the day with a fine Wood Sandpiper that showed exceedinly well along the near shoreline. A fitting end to a superb autumn day.

Grounded migrants: 1 ICTERINE WARBLER, 1 BARRED WARBLER, 3 Pied Flycatchers, 2 Redstarts, 7 Garden Warblers, 2 Wheatears, 20 Lesser Whitethroats, 25 Whitethroats and 15 Willow Warblers.

Seawatching: 1 large shearwater sp (prob Cory's) east, 1 skua sp (prob Pomarine) east, 9 Great Skuas, 41 Arctic Skuas, 3 Kittiwakes east and 1 Arctic Tern west.

Overhead passage: 29 Yellow Wagtails west, 1 Hobby west, 1 Tree Pipit west, 45 House Martins, 20 Swallows, 45 Whimbrel west, 10 Greenshank west.

Other: 1 Wood Sandpiper, 1 Peregrine east.

26/8/10 Holme

2010-08-28T17:13:00.004+01:00

An extremely wet and windy day that made searching for migrants extremely difficult. The only bird of note was a very soggy female Pied Flycatcher in the pines and 3 Lesser Whitethroats. Tomorrow could be better....

24/8/10 Holme

2010-08-26T12:27:00.002+01:00

Generally fairly quiet, but a reasonable amount overhead with 2 Turtle Doves west through the dunes, 7+ Yellow Wagtails west overhead during the day, with some dropping onto Redwell marsh, 50 House Martins west, 2 Sand Martins west, 10 Swallows west and a Spotted Redshank west over the marsh. A male Bullfinch and a Treecreeper were also seen.

23/8/10 Holme

2010-08-26T12:24:00.002+01:00

A handful of typical grounded migrants recorded on the NOA reserve, with a Spotted Flycatcher and a Garden Warbler noted. 300 Golden Plovers and 13 Whimbrel flew over, while 5 Green Sandpipers were on the pools. There was a fair selection of common warblers, with 5 Lesser Whitethroats, 10 Whitethroats and 10+ Willow Warblers seen in the recording area.

18/8/10 Kelling Quags/Hard

2010-08-18T21:48:00.002+01:00

It gnawed away at me. Having been vaguely interested in it since it's arrival today I succumbed and went to see the LESSER GREY SHRIKE at Kelling. After several long days in the field I felt I deserved an easy break with a good bird and I'm glad I did, as it was very smart. With my nan and grandad, we watched the bird on fence-posts at fairly close range for about 5 minutes, noting all the salient features on only the third example of this species I've seen in the U.K, before it flew down the hill and wasn't relocated for some time. A quick look at Pat's pool at Cley NWT produced a Spotted Redshank, 3 Green Sandpipers, a Wigeon and a Golden Plover, while a Water Vole showed well from the bridge by the main road, with 5+ Bearded Tits calling from the reeds.

16/8/10 Holme

2010-08-16T20:23:00.002+01:00

...Or not. It turns out the sea was not as good as anticipated this morning, presumably because the strong northerlies didn't reach far enough out into the wash. Nonetheless in 2.75 hours 2 Manx Shearwaters west, 1 Shearwater sp east, 10 Great Skuas west, 13 Arctic Skuas west, 2 juvenile Kittiwakes east, 80 Teal, 2 Fulmars and 140 Gannets were recorded, although disappointingly I must have missed the pagered Sooty Shearwaters. Searching for migrants was hard in the fierce winds but by the end of the afternoon I had clocked up a Pied Flycatcher, a female/immature male Redstart, a Garden Warbler, a Lesser Whitethroat, a Blackcap and 18 Willow Warblers on the NOA reserve.

15/8/10 Holme

2010-08-15T17:56:00.006+01:00

A slightly disappointing day both in terms of seawatching and grounded migrants, with the numbers of the latter never reaching the peak associated with the obvious arrival of the previous evening. Nonetheless a small arrival of migrants included 3 Pied Flycatchers (2 of which were ringed - both 1st years, one of which was definitely a male) and 5+ Garden Warblers on the NOA reserve, as well as a notable arrival of 30 Willow Warblers and 2 Robins. A small selection of the common warblers included 2 Lesser Whitethroats, 7 Whitethroats and 1 Blackcap, while a Treecreeper was trapped and ringed. The sea was exceptionally disappointing in the morning but piked up noticeably in the afternoon as the wind swung to the north and strenghtened, with a 1.75 hours watch producing 1 Great Skua west, 2 juvenile Kittiwakes (1 east, 1 west), 15 Arctic Skuas west, 7 Wigeon west and 4 Teal west. Hopefully the forebearers of a half-decent seawatch tomorrow.

14/8/10 Blakeney point

2010-08-14T20:22:00.009+01:00

Read the pressure charts, looked at the stuff turning up on the east coast and decided on an afternoon trudge down the Point with dad and Penny. On the way down news from the Obs and various other sites was good, stuff was obviously arriving all the time. It didn't take that long for the first strike. After a token female Wheatear and 2 Spoonbills east over the marsh I flushed a stunning WRYNECK from under my feet by a patch of sueda east of Halfway house. It flopped over the channel but fortunately perched up on some sueda the other side, giving Penny some good views. A nice find to kick of the autumn proper. The next strike was soon to follow. After a female Redstart and a Willow Warbler we came across a skulky warbler in in the sueda at Halfway house. From the first brief views it was clear that it was chunky and had a rather grey wash and eventually it perched up and showed well, allowing us to nail it as an ICTERINE WARBLER. This also gave Penny the chance for some good photos (picture shown below, see Penny's blog for more shots and trip report http://pennyshotbirdingandlife.blogspot.com/) and it also showed fairly well to a reasonable-sized crowd in the evening. Result - another self-found tick!

Unfortunately as it turned out the excitement had peaked - a handful more Willow Warblers and 2 Pied Flycatchers in the plantation the best of the rest (another group had 2 Pied Flycatchers at the Hood), save another view of a Spoonbill, but well worth the sore feet by the end of the walk. Looking forward to tomorrow...

Grounded migrants: 1 ICTERINE WARBLER, 1 WRYNECK, 1 Redstart, 2 Pied Flycatchers, 1 Wheatear, 7 Willow Warblers.

Other: 2+ Spoonbills west, 30+ Whimbrels west, 2 Golden Plovers west, 1 Arctic Skua chasing Sandwich Terns offshore.

8/8/10 Holme

2010-08-08T20:57:00.002+01:00

A productive early autumn day. With fairly breezy northerly winds forecast I gave the sea 3.5 hours (07:20-09:50 and 14.30-15.30) and was rewarded with a smart Sooty Shearwater that went through slowly and relatively closely west at 07:50, as well as 13 Manx Shearwaters west, 1 Black Tern west, 1 Kittiwake west, 24 Arctic Skuas, 1 Pintail, 11 Teal, 200 Gannets, 325 Sandwich Terns, 70 Common Terns and 6 Little Terns. Other notable highlights from the day included 3 Spoonbills off the marsh then east at 07:15 as we were pulling into the carpark and a distant male Montagu's Harrier west along the ridge, viewed from the observatory at 16:05. Grounded stuff is still very thin on the ground, with 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Whitethroats and 2 Willow Warblers on the NOA reserve, but my first decent finds of the autumn and a sure sign things are gathering pace.

5/8/10 Holme

2010-08-06T22:18:00.002+01:00

A 1.5 hr seawatch in the morning produced 4 Arctic Skuas, 8 Teal, 14 Eider, 65 Gannets, 1 juv Medditeranean Gull, 110 Sandwich Terns, 60 Common Terns and 15 Little Terns. A few migrants on the NOA reserve, with 2 Willow Warblers and a Lesser Whitethroat, while wader passage was again pretty reasonable, with 10+ Whimbrel, a Green Sandpiper and a Greenshank west. 3+ Hummingbird hawkmoths added further interest. It begins soon.....