Red-necked & Slavonian Grebes in summer finery

On Sunday I couldn't resist heading off to the Broads primarily to see the summer plumaged Red-necked Grebe at Ormesby Little Broad.  I've seen plenty of Red-necked Grebes before of course, but rarely in summer plumage.  Indeed the last time I saw one well in full breeding plumage was over 2 decades ago in 1995 when I saw a displaying pair in Scotland.

I rolled up at Ormesby Little Broad, had a very quick peek from the road before heading down to the viewing platform where most recent reports had come from.  It wasn't there and hadn't been for at least half an hour.  There were 4 Goldeneye, but that wasn't what I came for.  I gave it a while before heading back to the road to view from there.  I picked up the Red-necked Grebe across the water on the left hand side.  It was swimming towards me and in no time it was so close that it had disappeared behind the reeds just in front of me.  It came in and out of view often enough, and views were excellent when it was in view - but the reeds in the way made for difficult photography.  Interesting to see how a dark throat patch within the white cheeks appeared and disappeared as the bird's angle changed.

Red-necked Grebe, Ormesby Little Broad, 3rd April

At Rollesby Broad the Yellow-billed (Speckled) Teal x Marbled Duck hybrid is still present and a Bar-headed Goose was also there.

Yellow-billed Teal x Marbled Duck hybrid, Rollesby Broad, 3rd April

Bar-headed Goose, Rollesby Broad, 3rd April

I moved on to West Somerton from where I walked to Martham Broad.  Another 5 Goldeneye were on the Broad but on my first few scans I couldn't see the Slavonian Grebe.  It was diving a lot and I was just unlucky - it was there, at the back but easy enough to see most of the time.  Another beautiful breeding plumaged (more-or-less) grebe.

Slavonian Grebe, Martham Broad, 3rd April

Great Crested Grebe, Martham Broad, 3rd April

Plenty of Marsh Harriers here including a food-passing pair.

Marsh Harriers, Martham Broad, 3rd April

It was a beautiful sunny evening so I had a wander along the footpath along to the river.  A Willow Warbler was singing at the corner and a bit further on I disturbed a Grass Snake.  As a teenager I used to see Grass Snakes occasionally at Bough Beech Reservoir (Kent) but believe it or not this was my first ever in Norfolk and my first anywhere for 26 years!

Along the road north of West Somerton I paused to look at 2 Cranes.

Cranes, West Somerton - Horsey, 3rd April

I continued up the track through Sea Palling.  Not birding properly as it was late and I didn't have enough time, but thought I'd just go that way to see if I could see any obvious birds like Black Redstarts.  Turned out I could - one Black Redstart anyway.

A quick stop at Wroxham Broad on my way home, an excuse to stop and change out of my boots more than anything as it was starting to get dark and my dinner was going to be on the table soon.  A Common Tern appeared from behind the sailing club and disappeared back down the broad again almost before I'd managed to lift my bins up to my eyes.

On Monday I popped in to the patch on the way home, only for a very brief look.  Highlight was a pair of Avocets at a new site, though whether they remain to breed remains to be seen.  Also Little Ringed Plover displaying.

Quiet day in the Broads

Dave and I headed off to the Broads this morning for a change.  Wroxham Broad at dawn was quiet - 2 Kingfishers being the highlight.  Near Hoveton we flushed a Woodcock and got a few glimpses of a Cetti's Warbler.  Salhouse Broad was the first of at least 4 sites where we saw or heard Treecreepers today.  Also 2 Siskins here.

Great Crested Grebe, Salhouse Broad, 21st February

Pochard, Salhouse Broad, 21st February

On the river at Horning were 36 Tufted Ducks which, incredibly given the number of broads we visited, was the highest count of the day.  As we walked to Cockshoot Broad we heard Water Rail calling, more Cetti's Warblers and saw a Marsh Tit.  A Kingfisher sped past the hide and this grebe popped up in front of us briefly:

Great Crested Grebe, Cockshoot Broad, 21st February

As we headed back to the car Bearded Tit(s) called from the reeds.  This interaction between a Grey Heron and several Black-headed Gulls kept us amused for a while:

Grey Heron with Black-headed Gulls, Horning, 21st February

A longer series of photos of this interaction on this post if you're up for it.  Ranworth Broad had plenty of wildfowl - at least 115 Shoveler and 159 Wigeon among them.  4 Goldeneye were lurking at the back and another Cetti's Warbler was singing here.  There wasn't much on Malthouse Broad but we enjoyed watching the displaying Great Crested Grebes.

Great Crested Grebes, Malthouse Broad, 21st February

A longer series of photos of the displaying grebes on this post if you're interested.  Next we headed round to Potter Heigham from where we walked out to Rushill Scrape.  A raft of 350 Teal were on Hickling Broad but we failed to find any Green-winged among them.  We heard a Crane calling and Dave picked up an interesting Buzzard with extensive white at the base of the tail.  He thought it was nevertheless just a Common Buzzard and I agreed, but I could well imagine that being claimed as a Rough-leg sometime.  At least 2 Stonechats were feeding around the perimeter of Rushill Scrape, at one point passing a Chinese Water Deer.

Fish and chips at Martham were followed by a drive up to Waxham and back, during which the most interesting sighting was of Tim A.  Had a good chat with him before cutting our losses and deciding to head back via the patch.  I had a feeling that the 3 grey birds in a field as I sped past Billockby weren't herons so having woken Dave up I u-turned to have another look.  As suspected they were 3 Cranes.

Cranes, Billockby, 21st February

On the patch Creaking Gate Lake was full of wildfowl.  Mainly dabblers but 7 Pochard and 35 Tufted Duck were good counts of Aythya for this site.  12 Shelduck and a Marsh Tit were the best we could manage at the private site I'm now allowed to access, but close by 2 Pintail were much better - not often recorded on the patch.  Also 120+ Teal here.  Along Rawhall Lane there was nothing of note on the gravel pits but an all-white Pheasant was in the field opposite along with a herd of 21 Roe Deer - the largest herd I've ever seen.

white Pheasant, Beetley, 21st February

Displaying grebes

We saw plenty of Great Crested Grebes in the Broads on Saturday.  Displaying birds are always fun to watch and this pair entertained us on Malthouse Broad.

Great Crested Grebes, Malthouse Broad, 21st February