Keeping local

A Cuckoo was the avian highlight of a few more visits to the Cathedral Meadows, heard on most visis though not yet seen.  It's great to see and hear so many Yellowhammers there.  Other birds during these visits included Little Egrets over, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Bullfinches and my first newly-fledged passerines of the year, Mistle Thrushes (closely followed by Blackbirds).

Yellowhammer, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 5th May

Mistle Thrush, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 7th May

Rook, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 7th May

Whitethroat, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 9th May

Swifts finally made it back to North Elmham on 9th May.  In fact they may have made it a couple of days earlier - I could have sworn I heard one late on 7th but didn't eyeball it, and I wasn't around on 8th.

Buzzard, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 12th May

Red-legged Partridge, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 12th May

Robins, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 12th May

Whitethroat, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 12th May

The highlight of a visit to Great Ryburgh on 18th was a pair of Siskins, a species I'd not seen there before.  I say a pair, but although I had good prolonged views of at least one male I never got good views of a female.  At one point a second bird visited the feeders but remained directly behind the feeder for the whole time so I could only see such a tiny part of it I was unable to tell if it was male or female - when it flew it flew directly away and disappeared straight into the hedgerow.

Siskin, Great Ryburgh, 18th May

A pair of Common Terns visited the scrape briefly, displaying for the whole time they were here.

Common Terns, Great Ryburgh, 18th May

There was also a Sedge Warbler singing and at least 10 Barnacle Geese from Pensthorpe.
 

Wissington, Welney and Burnham Overy

On Saturday 10th June I started off locally and then headed out to Wissington Beet Factory and had a walk along the Wissey to opposite Hilgay Fen.  Nice to see Red Kite at Wissington and even better to see and then hear a pair of Nightingales.  I don't recall hearing the female Nightingale calling before, though perhaps I have done at some point in the past.  Unusual to see Nightingales before hearing them - these, or at least one of them, were feeding in the weeds across the path from the scrub and seen flying across from one to the other.

Nightingale, Wissington Beet Factory, 10th June

The rest of the walk produced more insect interest than birds (see my mothing diary if you're interested).  There were a few more birds at Welney though, if not very unusual ones.

On my way in I spent a bit of time chatting with the warden (?) about limosa vs. islandica Black-tailed Godwit identification and we attempted to identify some birds viewable from the centre.  They may have included limosa but I couldn't be sure.  Some more birds showed better from the main observatory but I'm pretty sure they were islandica (I guess I'll find out for sure when I get the ring details back).

Black-tailed Godwits, Welney, 10th June

I could see at least 11 Whooper Swans from the observatory but it was hard enough to see the adults in the long grass let alone the cygnets of the pair that had bred.  There was at least one Little Ringed Plover here but from Friends Hide there was a pair of Little Ringed Plovers with 2 tiny chicks.

Little Ringed Plover chick, Welney, 10th June

Given the amount of grief the parents got off the Avocets it's amazing they managed to rear any chicks here.  Here they are being chased off...

Little Ringed Plovers and Avocet, Welney, 10th June

...and again...

Little Ringed Plovers and Avocet, Welney, 10th June

...and still the Avocet doesn't give up...

Little Ringed Plovers and Avocet, Welney, 10th June

There was also a family of Shelducks here (11 ducklings) and a Yellow Wagtail for a bit (another had put in a brief appearance at the observatory).

Yellow Wagtail, Welney, 10th June

Common Tern, Welney, 10th June

That evening the Green Sandpiper was still at Ryburgh and I saw Little Owl and Barn Owl near Sennowe.

Green Sandpiper, Ryburgh, 10th June

I saw another Little Owl nearby the following morning followed by the Green Sand remaining at Ryburgh and a Grey Wagtail briefly.

Chiffchaff, Ryburgh, 11th June

As I was heading up to Holt on 13th June I received news of a Roseate Tern at Cley, so I popped in there first.  There was no sign of the tern but some Bearded Tits were seen along East Bank, a Razorbill on the sea and a group of 10 Kittiwakes flew west.  Later on a Woodlark was singing at Holt Lowes, I'm pretty sure I heard a Tree Pipit a couple of times and a Crossbill called from the Country Park.

Next day I saw 3 Red Kites on the way up to Burnham Overy where another Red Kite showed brilliantly in the dunes.

Red Kite, Burnham Overy, 14th June

A Great White Egret was perhaps the best bird seen, though becoming quite normal here nowadays.  Likewise Mediterranean Gull, one or two of which were heard calling today.  There were 4 Barnacle Geese, presumably feral birds from Holkham, and an over-summering Dark-bellied Brent Goose.  The Pochard's 3 ducklings are getting big now.

Pochards, Burnham Overy, 14th June

You can often see Redshanks perching on the fence posts at this time of year.

Redshank, Burnham Overy, 14th June

There were plenty of Little Terns around and Stonechats continue to be evident in the dunes.

I occasionally hear Lapwings calling at home, often at night, so I guess they must breed in the fields nearby but on 15th June one was flying around calling all morning much closer to my house than usual.  I can't imagine why it would have led its chicks this close to my house but I can't think of any other explanation for its behaviour.

That night I heard a Whimbrel calling over the house at 11.50 pm - not something I expected to hear here in mid June.

A Green Sandpiper was still at Ryburgh on 16th along with 14 Barnacle Geese and a heard-only Kingfisher.

Green Sandpiper, Ryburgh, 16th June