A trip to Brancaster on 11th October was worthwhile. I started off at Broad Lane where there were plenty of thrushes but little else, so I moved on to the golf-course. As I walked along the beach it was clear that there were a lot of birds arriving from the north, particularly Skylarks and thrushes. There were also 32 Red-breasted Mergansers on the sea, and 36 Lapwings flew west. With wall to wall sunshine I didn't expect so much to be happening, although the wind was in the right direction.
Blackbird in off the sea, Brancaster, 11th October
The dunes by the beach huts held Chiffchaff but apart from thrushes I'd seen very little else by the time I approached the far eastern point.
Song Thrush, Brancaster, 11th October
Redwing, Brancaster, 11th October
There there was a group of 3 Bramblings (a fourth flew over too), quickly followed by a lovely Redstart. Almost as soon as I finished watching this a Whinchat appeared. Suddenly it was getting good!
Redstart, Brancaster, 11th October
Whinchat, Brancaster, 11th October
I'm not sure if all the Woodpigeons on the point were newly arrived migrants or local birds.
Woodpigeon, Brancaster, 11th October
Walking east along the edge of the golf-course the sun had been in my eyes so I hoped that as I turned round and went back I might find some new birds. And so I did: a second Redstart and this cracking Yellow-browed Warbler!
Yellow-browed Warbler, Brancaster, 11th October
After that excitement it all calmed down again. A nice Red Kite drifted over and I heard a Water Rail as I returned to the car. There was also a Brambling at the chalk pit in Titchwell but nothing else, apart from a Tawny Owl calling at 2.55 pm.
A visit to Lynford on 13th October was focused on leaf-mines not birds so only the usual expected species noted like Marsh Tit, Nuthatch, Treecreeper and Siskins.
A bit of passage was evident at the meadows on 20th October with the likes of Meadow Pipits, Brambling, Redpoll sp. and a various thrushes noted. Much more excitingly though was a group of 3 Dark-bellied Brent Geese that flew over - an excellent record this far inland.
Dark-bellied Brent Geese, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 20th October
Song Thrush, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 20th October
Woodpigeon, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 20th October
After this I headed up to Beeston Common for a fungus foray which was very interesting. Overhead raptors included Sparrowhawk and Marsh Harrier. I pointed out the latter to the warden who was very pleased as it was the first time he had seen one there.
I then went along to Salthouse where the Stejneger's Stonechat remained. Unfortunately I'd forgotten to put my scope in the car so I had to borrow other people's scopes to get decent views. The two forms of Siberian Stonechat (maura and stejnegeri) have now been split and although there are average differences that are detectable in the field, it is not yet fully accepted by all authorities that these are possible to separate with absolute confidence in the field. This bird was subsequently seen to leave some droppings on some pathside vegetation and these were duly collected and sent off for DNA analysis, enabling it to be confirmed as Stejneger's, the first proven record for Norfolk. Although it was my first proven Stejneger's I am not counting it as a new species yet as I have never seen a proven maura. Some of the Siberian Stonechats I have seen in the past have almost certainly been maura (while others were almost certainly stejnegeri) but until such time as the identification criteria are sufficiently well established that past records can be accepted as one or other taxon without DNA I'm happy to count only the proven ones.
Stejneger's Stonechat, Salthouse, 20th October
The following day I was back up at the coast, this time to look at another first for Norfolk. Earlier in the day a Red-backed Shrike had been reported at Weybourne and I wondered whether, given the date, it might in fact turn out to be a Brown Shrike. Late Red-backed Shrikes do turn up sometimes but the odds of Brown are proportionately much higher, and Norfolk is well overdue its first. Well I couldn't make it up in the morning to check, but others did, and sure enough it WAS a Brown Shrike. I managed to get up later in the afternoon and with some difficulty managed to see it a few times.
I also popped along to Weybourne where a Canada Goose was present with Pink-feet. The race of this has been hotly debated and I am by no means sure, but whatever the taxon it was surely a wild bird from North America. A lot of people are saying it's Todd's (race interior) but it's certainly not a typical example. Others have suggested it is Atlantic (race canadensis) and it does show some real similarities to that form. I'm not saying it is canadensis, but there seems to be a lot of confusion about that race. Some references suggest that the feral British birds are canadensis, and if that is the case then this bird was quite obviously different. Some of the conversations I've had seem to go along the lines of it can't be Atlantic because that's what the feral birds are and it doesn't look like them. However other references suggest that feral British birds are in fact a mix including Giant Canada Goose (race maxima), or a mix of maxima and moffitti. Comparison with feral birds doesn't seem a very helpful starting point when it comes to identfying races of vagrant Canada Geese.
vagrant Canada Goose with Pink-footed Geese, Weybourne, 21st October
It was much the same sort of stuff at the meadows, without so much overhead passage, on 24th October. 3 Redpolls over, 3 Bullfinches in the hedges, 30 Redwings and a Fieldfare knocking around and both Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers.
Great Spotted Woodpecker, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 24th October
Redwings, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 24th October
Song Thrush, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 24th October
A Grey Wagtail flew over County School station as I wandered down that way - amazingly the species had eluded me so far at the meadows themselves. I then went on to Great Ryburgh where the highlight was a pair of Stonechats. Also Sparrowhawk and Kingfisher.
I headed up to Sheringham for a seawatch on 27th October, seeing Barn Owl at Thornage on the way. I didn't see everything but my highlights included a Black Guillemot, 2 Little Auks, 4 Pomarine Skuas, Long-eared Owl and 4-5 Short-eared Owls. Also Great Northern Diver, Purple Sandpiper, while commoner seabirds included 2 Manx Shearwaters, 8 Great Skuas, 3 Arctic Skuas, ~500 Kittiwakes and a Little Gull. There were hundreds of Wigeon, Teal and Common Scoter moving, and a selection of other species including 3 Scaup, 8 Goldeneye and Red-breasted Merganser. Afterwards I had a quick look at a few spots like Friary Hills in search of migrant passerines but apart from lots of Blackbirds I didn't find much.
I was back at the coast two days later, at Burnham Overy. A little bit of seawatching produced a Pomarine Skua, a Short-eared Owl and a flock of 11 Eider west. A Velvet Scoter was among 50+ Common Scoters off Gun Hill, and there were 2 Red-breasted Mergansers, but I couldn't find the treasure at the end of the rainbow...
rainbow, Burnham Overy, 29th October
A flock of 61 Ringed Plovers on the beach contained a single bird that appeared to have paler wing-coverts. I had an inkling that this was a feature of Semipalmated Plover, a bird that I have long hoped to find at Burnham Overy. But this bird was fast asleep and absolutely no other identification features were discernible on it. I stayed with it for what seemed like hours, only for it to eventually shift position slightly and the apparently paler wing-coverts now at a different angle to the light simply vanished. Then it woke up and was indeed an obvious Ringed Plover! Ah well, it was worth a try!
Ringed Plovers, Burnham Overy, 29th October
A Grey Wagtail was about the only overhead passerine migrant and there wasn't a great deal in the bushes either apart from a few Goldcrests.
Goldcrest, Burnham Overy, 29th October
In the fields there were 28 Barnacle Geese and the Black Brant x Dark-bellied Brent Goose hybrid.
Black Brant x Dark-bellied Brent Goose hybrid with Dark-bellied Brent Goose, Burnham Overy, 29th October
I then moved on to Stiffkey where I checked out the path alongside the flood south of the road. There wasn't anything noteworthy on the flood itself but I found a nice Yellow-browed Warbler in the wood along the side. There was Chiffchaff in here too as well as the usual Bullfinches. The Chiffchaff was a little less camera-shy than the Yellow-browed...
Yellow-browed Warbler, Stiffkey, 29th October
Chiffchaff, Stiffkey, 29th October
Redwing, Stiffkey, 29th October
This Cormorant on the bank of the ditch at the start of Cockthorpe Common didn't look too healthy. I doubt if it ever left this spot unless it was in the jaws of a fox or something.
Cormorant, Stiffkey, 29th October
I had a quick look at the fen but apart from a couple of Chiffchaffs there wasn't much doing so I decided to call it quits and head back home. As I turned off the coast road at Morston I noticed quite a few birds flitting around the bushes by the pond, so pulled in to have a look at them. They were mostly thrushes and tits, but then I noticed a couple of Waxwings munching on the haws. Fantastic!
Waxwings, Morston, 29th October
Eventually they flew up to the wires where I got a clearer but no closer view of them.
Waxwings, Morston, 29th October
A lovely end to the day!
A couple of days later there were a few birds around the meadows with about 30 Redwings, a Brambling, 2 Bullfinches, Nuthatch and 2 Treecreepers.
Redwings, Cathedral Meadows, 31st October
Bullfinch, Cathedral Meadows, 31st October
Treecreeper, Cathedral Meadows, 31st October
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