Review of 2019 and 2020 - Birds: Thrushes, Chats and Flycatchers

THRUSHES (family TURDIDAE)


Ring Ouzel Turdus torquatus - One heard singing west of Carsaig (Mull) on 10th June 2019 and one at Burnham Overy on 6th October 2019.


Blackbird Turdus merula - Very common at the meadows and at home.

Blackbird, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 30th October 2019

Blackbird, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 22nd March 2020

Blackbird, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 23rd March 2020

Blackbird, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 3rd June 2020

Fieldfare Turdus pilaris - Only odd birds recorded at the meadows in the first winter period of 2019 but spring passage evident with a flock of 26 on 19th April.  Then in late autumn some good movements including 100 west on 28th October and at least 120 moving through the hedgerows on 8th November.  Not many at the start of 2020 but a few in March.  Autumn passage pretty much restricted to October when the best count was 100 west on 12th.  Only a few recorded at home and no significant records elsewhere.

Fieldfares, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 19th April 2019

Redwing Turdus iliacus - A flock of between 50 and 80 frequented the sheepfield south of the meadows in January and February 2019.  Some evidence of spring passage included 30 (in 3 flocks) on 22nd March and 2 in with the Fieldfares on 19th April.  Autumn migrants from 4th October when 30 in the meadows and several groups overhead.  Best movement noted was 210 southwest on 15th October.  After very little activity during the winter there was another spring arrival with up to 30 on 5th-7th April.  Autumn migrants from 29th September with 150 west on 16th October.  At home lots flying over at night.

Redwings, Brancaster, 14th October 2020

Song Thrush Turdus philomelos - Fairly common at the meadows and often seen at home.  No significant more significant records than 30 at Burnham Overy on 6th October 2019.

Song Thrush, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 18th April 2019

Song Thrush, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 20th November 2020

Mistle Thrush Turdus viscivorus - Often present at the meadows and not infrequently seen or heard at home.

Mistle Thrush, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 29th June 2019

Mistle Thrush, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 3rd February 2020

Mistle Thrush, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 2nd March 2020

-----------------------------------

CHATS and FLYCATCHERS (family MUSCICAPIDAE)


Eastern Rufous Bushchat Cercotrichas (galactotes) syriaca or Rufous Bush Robin or Rufous Scrub Robin or Rufous-tailed Scrub-Robin, not to be confused with the Rufous-tailed Robin I saw nearby a few years ago :)  Whatever its called nowadays, one at Stiffkey on 17th October 2020 was a very welcome UK lifer.   I decided I would prefer to keep social distancing than join the scrum that was close enough to take decent photos, so here are a couple of rubbish photos instead.

Rufous Bushchat, Stiffkey, 17th October 2020

Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata - At the meadows recorded near the chapel in July 2019, in the same area as I saw them in 2018.  I only saw them on one occasion but heard some squeaks which I thought were probably coming from them on other occasions too and I suspect they may be breeding in nearby gardens.  Elswhere at the meadows I had two records of birds along the track and on one of these occasions (26th August) I had a further two birds (adult feeding a juvenile) along the disused railway - proving that they have bred somewhere nearby.  In 2020 one singing near the chapel on 3rd June and 2 seen on 13th July.

Spotted Flycatcher, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 26th August 2019

Spotted Flycatcher, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 3rd June 2020

Spotted Flycatcher, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 13th July 2020

Robin Erithacus rubecula - Very common at the meadows and in the garden.

Robin, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 11th February 2019

Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochruros - 6 at 4 sites in Spain in February 2020.

Black Redstart, Platje de les filipines (Spain), 22nd February 2020

Black Redstart, Gava Mar (Spain), 22nd February 2020

Redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus - One at Warham Greens on 18th September 2020.

Redstart, Warham Greens, 18th September 2020

Blue Rock Thrush Monticola solitarius - A probable heard singing briefly at Monistrol de Montserrat (Spain) and at least one singing male (and possibly up to 3) at Emabalsa de Santa Ana on 23rd February 2020.


Whinchat Saxicola rubetra - On Mull one along the road to Carsaig on 10th June 2019.


Stonechat Saxicola rubicola - Getting on for 70 recorded in 2019-20 but none locally and no records of any significance.

Stonechat, between Carsaig and Rubha Dubh (Mull), 10th June 2019

Stonechat, Burnham Overy, 6th October 2019

Stonechat, Burnham Overy, 12th June 2020

Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe - Remarkably few in Norfolk in either year - just one at Winterton in August in 2019 and in 2020 one at Burnham Overy on 12th June and one at Brancaster in September.  I hope that reflects on my lack of coastal birding rather than anything more sinister.  A record at the meadows must be on the cards but it hasn't happened yet.  Elsewhere singing birds at Honister (Cumbria) in April 2019 and 13 on Mull/Iona in June 2019.

Wheatear, Honister Pass, 6th April 2019

Wheatears, Iona, 11th June 2019

Wheatear, Burnham Overy, 12th June 2020

Isabelline Wheatear Oenanthe isabellina - One at Cley on 12th November 2019, a superb find by Mark Golley.

Isabelline Wheatear, Cley, 12th November 2019

Next page: Sparrows, Accentors, Wagtails and Pipits

Or return to Birds index

Siberian Accentor and Isabelline Wheatears

I'd decided not to go for the Siberian Accentor in Yorkshire while there were easterlies in Norfolk and finding a Radde's Warbler made me think I'd made the right decision.  But the Accentor outstayed the easterlies so in the end I had a chance to see that as well, and headed up to Eastington with Dave on 18th October.  We would have liked to have spent a full day there birding the area but for reasons too boring to describe here we would only have enough time to see the main target and perhaps one or two other rares in the area if we were lucky.

Not sure I have any readers who need this explanation but Siberian Accentor is a rare relative of Dunnock that until this year had never been recorded in the UK and only a handful of times anywhere in Europe.  This year has seen an incredible arrival of them in northern Europe - well over 200 recorded including 13 in the UK (the Yorkshire one being the closest I think).

Anyway, we rocked up to Easington mid morning and as we walked up the road to see it we noted lots of Chiffchaffs - far more birds had arrived here than I had seen in Norfolk recently.  We were advised by people coming back from the Accentor that we wouldn't need our scopes (what were we meant to do... abandon them on the road?) and indeed we didn't - we hardly needed our bins!  The Siberian Accentor was hopping around just the other side of a small fence, sometimes too close to focus on.  It was strangely hard to get decent photos of it - not quite sure why.  These are the best of hundreds taken - ok, but for a bird that was virtually in touching distance not as good as they ought to have been.

Siberian Accentor, Easington, 18th October

Once we'd had sufficient views of this we would have gone straight down the road to see the Isabelline Wheatear but were under the mistaken impression that it hadn't been seen this day (very poor signal here making it hard to get up to date news), so we decided to enjoy the Accentor a little longer.  Eventually we realised that the Wheatear was in fact still there, so wandered down to see that - or more like rushed down as by now we hadn't got much time before we had to go.  In the relative shelter of the Siberian Accentor site we hadn't appreciated how windy it was but standing on the sea wall overlooking the open fields it was hard to keep optics still enough to get a good look at the Isabelline Wheatear.

Isabelline Wheatear, Easington, 18th October

Apparently Dave saw another bird close to the Wheatear but with the noise of the wind I didn't hear him mention it - I didn't see it and didn't know about it until I processed my Wheatear photos and found that one of them had a Lapland Bunting behind it!

Lapland Bunting and Isabelline Wheatear, Easington, 18th October

On the way back to the car we paused to have a look at a flock of 50+ Tree Sparrows.

The following day I headed up to Sheringham for a sea watch.  The strong north-westerlies should have produced more than they did but there were a few noteworthy birds that made the effort worthwhile, including 2 Velvet Scoters, Red-necked Grebe, 3 Pomarine Skuas (along with 8 Great and 3 Arctic Skuas), Little Gull and Puffin.  Things eased off late morning and I decided to call it a day, having enough time to get home and work the afternoon (I'm on unpaid leave now so didn't want to waste it).  As it turned out things picked up during the afternoon with over 50 Little Gulls and a Sabine's Gull among other things - typical!

On the evening of 21st a flock of Pink-footed Geese flew over my house after dark - sounded like quite a large flock.  A Grey Wagtail had been heard earlier in the day - heard several days in October.

On Saturday 22nd I thought there would be too many birders at Burnham Overy again so went somewhere quieter, Brancaster.  Turned out to be a bad decision as I ended up having to go to Burnham Overy after all.  Broad Lane was pretty quiet - hardly any thrushes though a flock of 30 Brambling flying over was good.  I headed down towards the beach with a view to walking up Gypsy Lane and was surprised to see a Water Pipit on the practice green.  A flock of 10 Bearded Tits flew up from the reeds as I headed up Gypsy Lane.

Bearded Tits, Gypsy Lane, 22nd October

When I reached the wooded part I received news of an Isabelline Wheatear at Burnham Overy.  That's a bird that I (and most other people) had never seen in Norfolk so I needed to get over there as soon as possible.  I was reluctant to hang around as I could foresee people flushing it over to Scolt Head where access would be extremely tricky but I was about as far from my car as I could be on my circuit.

I got to Burnham Overy as fast as I could and was pleased to find the Isabelline Wheatear still showing nicely, alongside a Northern Wheatear.  It was nice to catch up with lots of birder friends I hadn't seen in a while too.

Isabelline Wheatear, Burnham Overy, 22nd October

A Pallas's Warbler appeared in the bushes in front of us, although it was very hard to see.  Sadly we didn't know that just a few yards west of where we were standing someone photographed a Desert Wheatear - news of this only emerged after dark.  Another Northern Wheatear appeared on my way back to the car.

I had a quick look round Burnham Deepdale churchyard but apart from a few Redwings and a Brambling there wasn't much doing.  I walked along the coast path to somewhere between Brancasters Staithe and Brancaster but it seemed very quiet.  A Yellow-browed Warbler called briefly and 3 Red Kites were over Brancaster Staithe, but that was it.

Redwing, Burnham Deepdale, 22nd October