Wigeon x Mallard hybrid, Brant hybrid and the leucistic intersex Wigeon

I headed up to Burnham Overy on 26th November.  The walk out was uneventful save for my second Barn Owl of the morning and a flock of 7 Bearded Tits.  From Gun Hill I spent a while scanning the sea.  There were quite a few Red-throated Divers on the sea but very distant and it was going to be tricky picking up anything more interesting at that range.  Then I noticed another diver that was a little bit closer - it was a Great Northern Diver.  As I watched it a much smaller bird appeared next to it - a Red-necked Grebe.  I later saw a Red-necked Grebe flying west - not entirely sure if it was the same bird or a different one.  Also a few Great Crested Grebes on the sea and half a dozen Red-breasted Mergansers just beyond the shoreline.

I had a look round the dunes with little to report.  There were 3 Stonechats (all in different places) and a Merlin, but nothing else of note - in particular I didn't see the Isabelline Wheatear that I thought was long gone but which reappeared here a few days later.

Stonechat, Burnham Overy, 26th November

From the east end looking into Holkham Bay the Scoter flock was too distant to identify individual birds until it took to flight.  Then it became apparent that there were somewhere in the region of 20 Velvet Scoters among them, the best count I've had in Norfolk for a while.

As I returned to my car a fabulous male Hen Harrier flew west through the freshmarsh and on towards Burnham Norton.  The Brent Goose flock contained a bird with white speckling on the head - a pattern of leucism I have observed many times though I still do not know why they are prone to this whereas birds with evidence of leucism on the wings/body are so rare.

Dark-bellied Brent Goose, Burnham Overy, 26th November

The Black Brant x Dark-bellied Brent Goose hybrid was also there.

Black Brant x Dark-bellied Brent Goose hybrid, Burnham Overy, 26th November

Next day I didn't have much time but enough to nip up to Stiffkey to see a hybrid duck that Mike Buckland had tweeted about the previous day.  It was still there, on the marsh opposite the Red Lion best viewed from the Muckledyke Way permissive path, with 345 Wigeon - a splendid Wigeon x Mallard hybrid, the first I've ever seen.  It was mainly grazing with the Wigeon but occasionally the whole flock was spooked and came forward to the pool closer to me.  The light was poor so my photos were taken with very high ISO...

Wigeon x Mallard hybrid, Stiffkey, 27th November

Also on the pool were 203 Teal and 123 Black-tailed Godwits.


Yesterday (Saturday 3rd December) I headed up to Cley first thing.  As I got out of my car I heard Bewick's Swans calling and looked up to see a family party of 5 flying east over my head.  Good start!

As I started to walk out a Cetti's Warbler was calling away and, unusually, showing quite nicely.  As I crossed the bridge a Water Rail flew from under it and was then seen swimming in the dyke for a bit.  I entered Dauke's Hide, opened the flaps and there in front of me was a Water Pipit.  The day had started well!  It didn't contine so well.

Water Pipit, Cley, 3rd December

I searched the Teal flocks hard looking for the Green-winged Teal x Eurasian Teal hybrid that Mark had found earlier in the week.  No luck, although I was interested to see one Teal that seemed to show a very faint hint of a pale vertical bar between the flanks and the breast.  On closer inspection I think it was just the light - at any rate it didn't seem to be an actual plumage mark.  I don't think it was a hybrid - in all other respects it was 100% Teal and when it eventually moved the line seemed to disappear and didn't seem to be present on the other side.

Teal, Cley, 3rd December

As I returned to the car there were 2 Stonechats and then I popped along to Salthouse to see the odd Wigeon that's been wintering there for several years now.  It's a fascinating bird, apparently an intersex female, a female that's developed male characteristics, and has a white patch on the head.  Noel E and John M both contacted me recently to say that they had watched it on the duckpond apparently paired to a drake Wigeon and they heard it calling, giving a call that is typical of female Wigeon.  It was still there today, still paired with the drake Wigeon, but I didn't manage to hear it call.

leucistic intersex female Wigeon, Salthouse, 3rd December

It was still early and I had a little bit of time before needing to meet friends in town so I went on to Blakeney Freshes.  The walk out was uneventful save for a lovely Kingfisher in the channel, 4 Goldeneye and 4+ Red-breasted Mergansers.  A Stonechat was seen but not much else at first.  Eventually a small finch flew up and off - I was pretty sure from the call that it was a Twite but I hadn't seen it well enough.  Fortnately a minute or two later it returned and landed on the fence - it was indeed a Twite.

Twite, Blakeney, 3rd December

I had hoped to pop along to Stiffkey to see if the Wigeon x Mallard hybrid was still there but I'd now run out of time and had to race off to Norwich (where I saw a Grey Wagtail).  Fantastic lunch at Baby Buddha - it helps so much having a Chinese person in your group who knows what to order!  After lunch I had just enough time to look for a Ruddy Shelduck x Egyptian Goose hybrid that Dave had seen recently (possibly the same bird I saw at Burnham Market although a long way from there).  He hadn't seen it again during the last few visits and I didn't either - just 71 Egyptian Geese.  Not far away I saw at least 12 Red Kites at a known roost site. 

Stork and Shrike

A Peregrine was the first noteworthy bird I saw at Burnham Overy on Monday 9th.  Among the lingering Brent Geese on the saltmarsh was the overwintering Black Brant x Dark-bellied Brent Goose hybrid.

Black Brant x Dark-bellied Brent Goose hybrid, Burnham Overy, 9th May

I've known for a long time how these things morph their appearance according to the light and the angle to the observer but the effect was really dramatic today as the bird showed in sunshine and at close range.  Some times it looked really black-and-white, very confusable with a pure Black Brant.  In fact if Black Brants can show that much dark in the flank patch (which I believe they can) you'd be hard-pushed to tell it from a pure bird at those times.

Black Brant x Dark-bellied Brent Goose hybrid, Burnham Overy, 9th May

At other times it hardly looked any different from the surrounding Dark-bellied Brent Geese... no wonder I don't pick it up every time I come here if it looks like this!

Black Brant x Dark-bellied Brent Goose hybrid, Burnham Overy, 9th May (it's the right hand bird in the lower pic)

At least one Pink-footed Goose remains and a Barnacle Goose was on the freshmarsh.  There were 2 Common Sandpipers in the channel and a Whimbrel, while a distant summer plumage Knot was among 55 Grey Plovers.  A little more unexpected was a flock of 5 Greenshanks flying east over the sea.  At least 3 Cuckoos were seen or heard and a Hobby.

Not many birds were moving through: 2 Yellow Wagtails and just the odd hirundine.  Not many grounded migrants around either though I did see the Ring Ouzel east of the boardwalk.  I also found another Whinchat and a single Tree Pipit in the dunes.  I could only find 3 Wheatears but 2 Lesser Whitethroats at Gun Hill were new in and posed nicely for photos.

Lesser Whitethroat, Burnham Overy, 9th May

Meadow Pipit, Burnham Overy, 9th May

Heading back to the car along the sea wall I saw my second Red Kite of the morning.  I also noticed a lot of birds get up from the heronry at Holkham in the distance.  I think I saw 4 Spoonbills among them but before I could give them a proper look my attention was diverted by a massive bird soaring above them, presumably responsible for the unrest.  It was being mobbed by a Grey Heron and the heron looked minute against it!  Sadly this was no eagle or vulture though, it was a White Stork.

There have been a number of reports of White Stork around the county recently, probably all involving escaped birds.  Unbeknown to me at the time this one has apparently been photographed in the Wells area recently and proved to be the polish-ringed bird, but it was way too distant for me to pick out any such details - I could only just see through the haze that it was a Stork!  It continued circling for ages, eventually coming marginally closer over the wood between the freshmarsh and the coast road, before finally disappearing behind that wood.

White Stork, Holkham (viewed from Burnham Overy), 9th May

Although polish-ringed, this bird was apparently taken into a wildlife rehabilitation centre following a collision with overhead powerlines in eastern Europe.  Among others, it was then transported to Shorelands Wildlife Centre at Diss in south Norfolk, apparently due to fears that the Polish winter would prove too cold for them.  I can't help thinking that if Shorelands don't have the means to look after these birds securely they shouldn't have accepted them in the first place, but given that it was allowed to escape presumably they don't.  Either that or they released it deliberately which is equally irresponsible and illegal.

That evening I heard a Woodcock calling while looking for moths near Anmer.

Next day the rain promised rain all morning and NE winds.  I hoped the rain would bring down migrants and planned to go out after the rain to find them.  In the end the rain continued much longer than had been forecast so I didn't have enough time to give justice to Burnham Overy.  Instead after a quick look round the patch (2 Avocets but little else) I headed up to Salthouse and Kelling.  Gramborough Hill was a migrant-free zone apart from a fly-by Greenshank with only the presumably local Stonechat making my notes.

Lapwing, Salthouse, 10th May

Kelling was just as bad.

Whitethroat, Kelling, 10th May

Chaffinch, Kelling, 10th May

Shoveler, Kelling, 10th May

On Wednesday I headed back up to Burnham Overy hoping to find some migrants.  When I arrived this pale Collared Dove was with a normal bird at the staithe - have seen a few such birds in various places before but not here.

Collared Doves, Burnham Overy, 11th May

A Barn Owl was hunting as I walked down the sea wall and a Spoonbill was seen.  One Barnacle Goose remained on the marshes and a pair of Mediterranean Gulls were seen.  Waders included 3 Common Sandpipers, Whimbrel, Greenshank and 14 Knot. 

Whimbrel, Burnham Overy, 11th May

Turnstone, Burnham Overy, 11th May

I was standing with Marcus when he picked up a Short-eared Owl flying over the saltmarsh, and we also saw a Hobby.

Marcus had seen some Willow Warblers on his way down from where he parked and we continued to find more Phylloscs.  I saw at least 6 Chiffchaffs and 3 Willow Warblers.  Not a huge fall, but enough to keep us hopeful for finding something good.  Well there was something good, but we didn't find it.  Marcus received a message from Ashley who was leading a tour and he'd found a female Red-backed Shrike.  We eventually got views of this, albeit a bit too distant for photos.  Apparently there was a Wryneck there later too.

This Reed Warbler showed on the way back to the car.

Reed Warbler, Burnham Overy, 11th May

On Thursday I headed up to Kelling Heath for a walk with the better half.  I was hoping to find some moths but also bump in to some birds.  Not a great deal doing from either perspective but my first Garden Warbler of the year (at last) was singing in the car park.  Heard a Woodlark singing in the distance and a Grey Wagtail flew over.  We also went round East Ruston Old Vicarage Gardens - some great birds there...

Red Jungle Fowl, East Ruston Old Vicarage, 12th May

Helmeted Guineafowl, East Ruston Old Vicarage, 12th May

I didn't get out much for the rest of the week, but one of a number of quick visits to the local patch revealed that Little Ringed Plovers had  managed to produce a few chicks - at least 3 tiny balls of fluff running arond one parent bird.

Ruddy Shelduck from the house

I've done far too little birding over the last couple of weeks, but did at least get out properly yesterday.  Prior to yesterday highlights were in lunch breaks.  On 2nd March north of Stanhoe I picked up a bird flying towards me from low down on a field that was immediately obviously a Rough-legged Buzzard.  But as it was flying straight towards me I decided to grab the camera, which got caught in my handbreak and by the time I'd freed it the bird was over the top of my car.  I couldn't get out as I was blocking the track and now something was coming, and by the time I'd got out of the way the bird was nowhere to be seen.  Then I started questioning myself as to what I'd seen in the quick view before my hapless decision to grab the camera.  Was I really positive that I'd seen what I thought I'd seen?  I ended up deciding I'd best not claim it.  Annoyed with myself for stuffing it up, and probably being excessively cautious over what should have been a perfectly good record.  Whether it was one of the birds from the Chosely area or not I don't know - it's not very far away so quite plausibly so.

A Red Kite and 2 Barn Owls were in the same area and seconds later the huge grey cloud that was looming suddenly deposited an incredible amount of hail leaving the roads looking like there had been a major snowstorm.  It was very localised and half a mile away the thick white covering on the roads finished abruptly and colleagues just down the road at Bircham hadn't seen any hail at all.

On 3rd March I was working from home when I saw a duck flying straight towards me.  That might not sound remarkable, but in the 18 months I've been living here I have only once seen a duck before.  That was flying towards me on a similar flight path but I didn't have my bins to hand.  Bizarrely it looked like a Ruddy Shelduck, but in near-silhoutte and with no bins I didn't consider that rather unlikely identification sufficiently certain to record it as such.  This time I had one of those déjà vu moments as I got exactly the same impression as I saw it flying towards me along the same flight path.  But this time I had my bins to hand and was able to confirm that it was indeed a Ruddy Shelduck!

Next day I was driving through Burnham Norton in my lunch break, around 1.00 pm I think and in bright sunshine, when a small Bat flew across the road and disappeared behind the house.  First time I've ever seen a bat flying in the middle of the day in broad daylight.  It seemed to fly out from the top of a tree, though it may have simply come from behind it; a bird (Blackbird I think) had just flown into the top of the tree so I wonder if it might have accidentally disturbed the bat?

On Monday I popped in to Brancaster Staithe during my lunch break.  The Red-necked Grebe was still there, along with a Goldeneye.

 Goldeneye, Brancaster Staithe, 7th March

Red-necked Grebe, Brancaster Staithe, 7th March

rainbow, Brancaster Staithe, 7th March

Next day I paused at Flitcham where a Little Owl remains in the roots of the oak tree in front of the hide, visible from the road.

Heavy rain all morning on Wednesday hadn't relented by lunchtime when I headed over to Holkham.  The weather meant fewer people and in turn that meant more birds showing by Lady Anne's Drive including lots of Ruff, Snipe and loads of other common birds.  Nearby a pair of Egyptian Geese were like chalk and cheese - one looked wetter than a drowned rat while the other looked in fine condition.

Egyptian Geese, Holkham, 9th March

Yesterday I headed up to Burnham Overy early in the hope of finding one or two early spring migrants.  Rather fancied finding a Great Spotted Cuckoo in the dunes.  Good dreaming, but back in the real world I couldn't even find a Chiffchaff.  I did see 2 Peregrines including one that put on a fantastic show stooping at a flock of Starlings.  Other raptors included Red Kite and Sparrowhawk.

Lots of waders on the freshmarsh with the tide being high including at least 150 Black-tailed Godwits.  Surprisingly few geese though - took me a while to see any Pink-feet though eventually a flock of 40 flew west and another smaller flock appeared later on.  The Brents were in the channel later on when the tide had gone down.  Among them was the Black Brant x Dark-bellied Brent Goose hybrid.  I say 'the', but I'm not convinced it's the same bird I've seen each time I've seen one over the last 2-3 winters.  Maybe, but sometimes it looks a much better contender for pure Black Brant than other times.  Today it looked extremely similar to a Black Brant, but the neck collar was very thin at the front.

A Red-breasted Merganser flew past but apart from 3 Great Crested Grebes there wasn't much on the sea.  A Goldeneye was on the reedy pool.  The only passerine of any note was a Stonechat.

Dunnock, Burnham Overy, 12th March

In the afternoon I headed to the local patch - more on that later...