Grasshopper Warblers, Woodlark and Firecrest

I checked the moth trap in the dark on Saturday 29th April as I did it before heading up to Burnham Overy for dawn.  So in the garden for 5 minutes in the dark at around 4.15 am - not the most promising opportunity for garden-birding activity.  But a Lapwing was calling continuously - something I don't see or hear at home very often and a Skylark was singing away as if it was sunny - again something I don't hear from home all that often.  Then a Moorhen called, apparently from the neighbour's small pond.  I've never seen Moorhens here though (before or since), and this was a new species for the garden (hot on the heels of a couple of nocturnal fly-over Coots earlier in the week).  Then what was almost certainly a Water Rail flew over calling - just a couple of calls though, too quick for me to press record on my iPhone, and I'm not putting it down as I'm not 100% sure.  Wowsers.  Who needs daylight?

Three visits to Burnham Overy over the bank holiday weekend or thereabouts produced a few birds worth seeing but generally lacked the "wow factor".  On Saturday 29th the star bird was a singing Grasshopper Warbler.  It was so close it sounded a little odd but it never really had any of the characteristics that would make it a different Locustella species.  In the end I managed a good view of its head which put to bed any lingering doubts that it might be something more unusual.  There were still at least 15 Ring Ouzels in the dunes, with a Fieldfare among them, and I kept hearing (and eventually seeing) a Tree Pipit in the east dunes - perhaps the same bird that I saw on 24th?  Other migrants present included at least 6 Wheatears, a Whimbrel and 2 Common Sandpipers.  At least 10 Little Terns were in and a Cuckoo was cuckooing.

Ring Ouzel, Burnham Overy, 29th April

Willow Warbler, Burnham Overy, 29th April

There was a bit of overhead passage (vis mig) too - though this didn't get underway until about 7.30 am.  I've not quite mastered how best to record vis mig at Burnham Overy but it seems things filter through on a narrower front at the west end around Gun Hill.  I'd stood there first thing for a couple of hours (a little bit of wandering round the immediate area during that time) and recorded practically no passage but as soon as I started wandering through the east dunes, where things seem to pass over on a broader front so are harder to pick up, things started moving.  Consequently my counts will be very low compared to the actual passage - 29 Yellow Wagtails and 32 Swallows, the odd Redpoll but not a lot else.

Stragglers from winter included 22 Pink-footed Geese.  A Long-tailed Duck flew west along the beach turning up the channel between Gun Hill and Scolt Head where it looked like it went down.  A pair of Pintail were perhaps leftovers, spring migrants or maybe they are breeding somewhere up here?  I haven't seen them since.  Other birds of note included Great White Egret, 1-2 Spoonbills, 5 Red Kites, Peregrine, 2 Bearded Tits and 5 Stonechats (4 males).

Red Kite, Burnham Overy, 29th April

These balloons were heading straight out to sea - yet more marine pollution...

balloons, Burnham Overy, 29th April

A nice surprise at another site I visited that day was a singing Firecrest holding territory.  I don't think many birders visit this site so I shall have to return and keep an eye on what happens.

Firecrest, 29th April

The best day of the weekend around the county was probably Sunday 30th, but typically this was the one day I didn't have much available time.  I did manage to do a cruise of a few local gravel pits in the afternoon with a view to picking up on some of the day's tern passage (extraordinary numbers of Arctic Terns and lots of Black Terns moving through the county).  I drew a blank everywhere until I reached Sparham Pools where it was nice to see 8 Black Terns bouncing around.

Back up to Burnham Overy early on Monday 1st and it was noticeably quieter despite rain which I had hoped would ground some migrants.  There were still 5-6 Ring Ouzels in the dunes and 8 Wheatear.  The Grasshopper Warbler wasn't singing at Gun Hill but as I headed back towards the car at lunch time I heard a brief snatch of Grasshopper Warbler  reeling from brambles in the freshmarsh.  There were 3 Common Sandpipers and 6 Whimbrel and now at least 20 Little Terns.  The Cuckoo was still calling but visible migration was almost non-existent - just 1 Yellow Wagtail west.  Great White Egret, Spoonbill, Red Kite, Barn Owl and 5 Stonechats were seen but the highlight of the morning was a Woodlark singing in the dunes.  Another 2 Spoonbills were watched from Joe Jordan hide at Holkham and another Cuckoo and a Mediterranean Gull or two heard calling.

Woodlark, Burnham Overy, 1st May

Wheatear, Burnham Overy, 1st May

Great White Egret, Burnham Overy, 1st May

Bar-tailed Godwits, Burnham Overy, 1st May

Next day (Tuesday 2nd) was even quieter - quite disappointing in fact.  There was Greenshank and Whimbrel in the channel, along with 10 Bar-tailed Godwits (mostly in summer plumage) and 14 Knot (none in summer plumage).  The sea was quiet and there wasn't much left in the dunes - probably only 3 Ring Ouzels (possibly 5) and 6 Wheatear (and still 5 Stonechats).

Sedge Warbler, Burnham Overy, 2nd May

On a recent visit I'd seen an interesting Brent Goose among the Dark-bellied Brents on the saltmarsh.  It had really conspicuous white flanks but not like your typical Black Brant hybrid.  The bird was no darker than the accompanying Dark-belllied Brents - paler and browner if anything - and the neck collar was small.  I wondered if it might be a Pale-bellied x Dark-bellied Brent Goose hybrid, but when I looked at my photos (very poor) that evening I started having doubts - it looked like a pure Pale-bellied Brent Goose!  I was all but sure it hadn't been one - the lower part of the belly which wasn't clear in the photos had been too dark, but I decided to try and see it again before putting it down as anything.  I'd failed to find it on the last couple of visits but it was back again on Tuesday, and I confirmed my original impressions, and presume it was indeed a Pale-bellied Brent Goose x Dark-bellied Brent Goose hybrid.  Given the number of single Pale-bellied Brent Geese that turn up among Dark-bellied Brent Geese we might expect these hybrids to be more frequent but unlike Black Brant hybrids they seem to be quite unusual.  There was a mixed pair that were accompanied by hybrid young at Cley in at least two consecutive winters recently, and perhaps this bird was one of those offspring?

apparent Pale-bellied x Dark-bellied Brent Goose hybrid, Burnham Overy, 2nd May

Interestingly this hybrid seemed to be paired with a colour-ringed Dark-bellied Brent Goose.  The left leg had a blue ring with white Ys and the right leg had a blue ring with two white horizontal bands.  It turns out that "BYB=" was ringed in Taimyr in July 2008 and has been reported in Norfolk (Burnham Norton or Burnham Overy) in at least 4 winters subsequently (though interestingly never earlier than 21st February).  There have been various reports of it from Netherlands in October/November over the years and one from France (Aquitaine) in November 2015 (it was at Burnham Overy the following spring).  It also spent a while in Germany one spring.


Hihglights of local birding have included up to 2 pairs of Avocets, a Greenshank, the continued (intermittent) presence of a White Wagtail at Ryburgh, occasional visits from up to 2 Grey Wagtails and a one-off visit by a Yellow Wagtail.  There have been a couple of days with good numbers of hirundines but nothing red-rumped among them just yet.  I've seen up to 10 Barnacle Geese at Ryburgh and 2 at Bittering but the straggling White-fronted Goose has perhaps finally departed, along with the Pink-footed Geese.  A flock of 10+ Yellowhammers one day was a surprise - I didn't manage to find many flocks that big throughout the whole of the winter when I was looking for them with the hope of finding an overwintering Pine Bunting.

Avocets, 26th April

White Wagtail, Ryburgh, 28th April

White Wagtail, Ryburgh, 3rd May

Pied Wagtail, Ryburgh, 27th April

Finally this pair of Bullfinches graced my garden yesterday afternoon - not the first time I've seen them here but the first time I've seen them feeding actually in my garden.

Bullfinches, North Elmham, 4th May

Great Knot at last

This might feel like a 'blast from the past' post given how far behind I am, but it's not meant to be!  If you've read previous diary entries you'll know that I had several attemptes to see the Great Knot this summer mostly with no success and once with just poor views.  Well eventually I did see it well!

The Great Knot had spent some time at Gore Point, Holme over the previous couple of days so I started off there early doors, after seeing a Barn Owl on the way up at Brisley.  It was a lovely morning, very pleasant, all the better for the Hobby that whizzed through and 2 Spoonbills that flew west.  But there didn't seem to be any waders on the beach. There were a few scattered waders on the estuary, like this Ringed Plover, but no big flocks of roosting Knot.

Ringed Plover, Holme, 2nd July

Eventually I did find a flock of waders on the beach: 17 Sanderling.  They were very nice of course, but they weren't a Great Knot.  Robin Chittenden had indicated that he'd seen the Great Knot further round towards Old Hunstanton early morning a day or two earlier so I tried the beach opposite the golf course.  Nada.

Titchwell was the next place to try and there were plenty of Knot on the freshmarsh here.  From the bank I couldn't see a Great one among them so I went down to the hide for a different angle.  No-one there had seen it so after a quick scan I continued on to the beach.  Surprisingly, given how much time it has spent on the beach during its stay, and how many birders were on site, there was only one birder on the beach ahead of me, Mike Buckland.  He was already well down to the east where I could see a small flock of Knot and Oystercatchers.  I couldn't immediately pick out the Great Knot but needed to get closer, so headed down towards Mike, not feeling very optimistic given the quite small number of Knot in the flock.  As I reached Mike he indicated that the Great Knot was there and indeed it was!  It tended to keep to the back of the flock, often hidden from view but often appearing at one end of the flock.  The three of us now present moved further round to view the flock in better light and eventually we all got really good views of it.

Great Knot (with Oystercatchers and Knots), Titchwell, 2nd July

Eventually the entire flock took off and flew towards the freshmarsh.  The Great Knot is the lone bird top left in the flock shot below.

Great Knot (with Oystercatchers and Knots), Titchwell, 2nd July

I returned to the Parrinder hide where the bird was showing nicely at the front of the flock, although by the time I set up for photos it had moved round to the back of the flock where it stayed for most of the next couple of hours or so.

Great Knot (with Knots), Titchwell, 2nd July

Lots of Swifts were flying past the hide close by so I made a few attempts at snapping them.

Swifts, Titchwell, 2nd July

Avocet, Titchwell, 2nd July

There were at least 6 Red-crested Pochards on the freshmarsh and we heard a Bittern booming.  A couple of Bearded Tits showed.  Rob eventually turned up and saw the Knot - must have been the first time he's twitched anything for years!  We headed round to Patsy's Pool where we found 2 Little Ringed Plovers.

A successful morning after which I returned home knackered to catch up on sleep.

I think spring finished early this year

On the last Saturday in May I headed up to Burnham Overy in the hope of finding some late spring migrants.  A Spoonbill flew off from the staithe as I arrived (there were 2 Spoonbills feeding in the pools later on) and a Common Sandpiper was in the channel.  A Cuckoo was calling somewhere and it was good to see 3-4 Pochard ducklings in the dyke.

Pochards, Burnham Overy, 28th May

A short spell watching the sea resulted in two flock totalling 53 Dark-bellied Brent Geese flying east and a flock of about 40 Knot east.  A single Swallow moved east, and later one moved west, and that, I'm afraid to report, is the sum total of passage migrants I found all morning.  

Still an enjoyable morning though - love birding here even when I don't see anything of real note.

Little Tern, Burnham Overy, 28th May

Spoonbill, Burnham Overy, 28th May

Saturday gone I was up at the coast again, this time with the group at Titchwell.  Plenty of migrants around this time, but only of the micro moth variety - hundreds of Diamond-back Moths everywhere.  We headed down to Patsy's Pool first where we found 6 Red-crested Pochards (4 males).

Red-crested Pochard, Titchwell, 4th June

With the murky conditions (it was bright and sunny inland but the coastal strip was shrouded in mist) the Swifts were flying low.  I still didn't manage to get any sharp photos though... these were the best of my feeble efforts.

Swift, Titchwell, 4th June

There are some Black-headed Gulls nesting on the roof of Island Hide and one of the chicks had made it down to the ground (or just fallen off).  It's parent was feeding it as we went in to the hide, though seemed more reluctant to do so once the hide was full.

Black-headed Gull chick, Titchwell, 4th June

The 2 Little Gulls were in the mist from the hide but by the time we ventured further up the path it was bright enough (and it was close enough) for us to see one of them a bit better.

Little Gull (right, with Black-headed Gull), Titchwell, 4th June

From the central hides we enjoyed watching a new-hatched Avocet chick.  Apparently it was Titchwell's first this year and had only hatched that morning.

Avocet and chick, Titchwell, 4th June

Two pairs of Moorhen were engaged in some sort of stand-off for a while, after chasing each other round for a bit:

Moorhens, Titchwell, 4th June

Then they turned their backs on each other and started flashing their rear ends at each other, though with their backs turned they can't have seen eachother's displays.  Quite good impressions of lekking Black Grouse, don't you think?

Moorhens, Titchwell, 4th June

Other birds of note on the scrape were a summer plumaged Spotted Redshank (unfortunately right over at the very back, and usually out of view) and a Little Ringed Plover.

Gadwall, Titchwell, 4th June

Common Tern, Titchwell, 4th June

Linnet, Titchwell, 4th June

I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening looking for moths, but managed to see or hear a few birds too, including Stonechat, Tree Pipit, Hobby, Woodcock and Nightjar.

On Monday morning I saw a Red Kite over the road at Sculthorpe on my way to work.