Half a ton of Corn Buntings

A wander round Sparham Pools on Monday was pleasant but uneventful - a Kingfisher was the highlight.  I had a good look for the Great Grey Shrike that's been commuting between here and nearby Sparham but couldn't find it at either location, once again.

On Tuesday I headed up to Blakeney and had a wander round the freshmarsh.  The Lesser Black-backed Gull x Herring Gull hybrid was at the duckpond on my arrival.

Lesser Black-backed Gull x Herring Gull hybrid, Blakeney, 21st February

A ringtail Hen Harrier was hunting over the saltmarsh and a Kingfisher was flushed by dog walkers.  There were 2 Stonechats along the path.

Stonechat, Blakeney, 21st February

Skylark, Blakeney, 21st February

Reed Buntings, Blakeney, 21st February

There was a flock of at least 73 White-fronted Geese sleeping on the freshmarsh and a Pale-bellied Brent Goose flew over with Dark-bellied Brent Geese.  Bearded Tits were calling as I returned to the car.  I'd seen a flock of Goldies on the marshes but when they took to flight they gave an opportunity to photograph the whole flock and count them later - 1796 Golden Plover.

The duckpond is always worth a look and it was fun watching and listening to the pair of Hooded Mergansers displaying.

captive Hooded Mergansers, Blakeney collection, 21st February

There are always lots of Collared Doves around the wildfowl collection...

Collared Doves, Blakeney, 21st February

From the entrance to Friary Hills another (or the same) Kingfisher perched up and showed nicely for a bit while I studied variation in female Wigeon plumage.  Quite a lot of variation in the extent of internal markings in the scapulars and two out of 22 had obviously grey outer secondaries.  No real contenders for American Wigeon though... I'll keep looking.

Kingfisher, Blakeney, 21st February

I headed up to Kelling Heath where Woodlarks were singing and Dartford Warblers were chasing Stonechats (well, two of the four were).

On Wednesday there were still 12 White-fronted Geese on the local patch.  Wigeon numbers seem to be falling though they do move around sites so they may not be going far; Shoveler numbers were up slightly.

I spent Friday in the Fens, starting at High Fen, a site I'd discovered recently and been impressed by the number of birds present.  It wasni't quite as good today but it wasn't dead by any means.  The plover flocks were more distant, but I counted 268 Golden Plovers.  I also heard a Curlew calling - perhaps one of the birds that breed in the Brecks area.  A lot of duck on the flash I didn't have time to reach last time - mostly Teal but I also counted 105 Shoveler, and that was almost certainly an incomplete count.  There were also 14 Pintail on there.  Passerines along the lode included a singing Treecreeper and Bullfinch.  Good to meet one of the local farmers here too, a chap who was clearly interested in the birds and wildlife on his land and doing his bit to encourage them.

I moved on to Wissington where a large flock of swans were feeding south of the beet factory.  Some were out of view so I didn't do a proper count but there were at least 120 Whooper Swans and the odd Bewick's too.  There were 5 Greylag Goose x Canada Goose hybrids on the fishing ponds which I walked round, finding Kingfisher and a nice drake Goosander on the river.

Goosander, Wissington, 24th February

I walked through the beet factory where a Grey Wagtail fed in a puddle but the pools visible from the path were far quieter than last time.  This time I continued along the riverbank (north side) until I could look across to NWT's new (not publicly accessible) reserve, Hilgay Fen.  There were another 6 Whooper Swans, a Glaucous Gull and a Yellow-legged Gull.  I failed to read the tag of a green wing-tagged Marsh Harrier.  Another Treecreeper was singing in one of the copses.

Glaucous Gull, Hilgay Fen, 24th February

By now I was getting hungry and had forgotten to bring any snacks with me, so I decided to move on to Welney for lunch.  As I drove out of Ten Mile Bank a small field was heaving with birds - Fieldfares and a very impressive 50 Corn Buntings.  That's by far the biggest flock of this declining species I've seen in Norfolk for many years - in fact I haven't seen more than single figures since the end of the last decade.  A little further on I spied a Short-eared Owl quartering the fields.

As I walked into the cafe at Welney one of the staff asked me if I'd seen the Kingfisher.  It was showing nicely just outside the cafe.

Kingfisher, Welney, 24th February

I didn't see nearly as much at Welney as I had on my visit earlier in the month but of course there are always plenty of common birds to enjoy.  I also ambled down Cock Fen Road at Lakes End but didn't see much except lots of Whooper Swans.

Tufted Duck, Welney, 24th February

Buzzard, Welney, 24th February

Next I checked the various bridges between Stowbridge and Saddlebow, the highlights being 2 Goldeneye and a Barn Owl at Magdalen and 3 Scaup (all drakes) at Saddlebow.  Another Barn Owl was by the road at Massingham on the way home.

Barn Owl, Wiggenhall St Mary Magdalen, 24th February

A good day with Glaucs and hybrids

I started off at Malthouse and Ranworth Broads yesterday, hoping again to see the Ferruginous Duck-like hybrid and maybe that Scaupy thing I saw at Ranworth Broad last time and couldn't resolve.  There was nothing of note on Malthouse Broad, which was largely frozen over.  Nuthatch was calling, Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming and about 20 Siskins as I headed over to Ranworth Broad.  As I walked out I was serenaded by a singing Mistle Thrush, Kingfisher flew overhead, and so did a Lesser Redpoll.

James Gilroy was there and had seen the Ferruginous-like duck in the channel on the right hand side.  Nice to meet James who had emailed me recently about the duck wondering if I had any insight as to what it might be.  I hadn't really, which was one reason I was keen to see it.  It appeared briefly while we were there, and didn't strike me as looking very much like a Ferruginous Duck - the shape looked good but it seemed to be dark brown, too dark and too lacking in ferruginous tones for even a female Ferruginous.  It was too brief a view though but after a fairly long wait it did eventually come out again, this time allowing a more prolonged view, although I didn't manage any photos.  The head and upperparts (especially the head) really are dark - I have never seen any suggestion that pure Ferruginous Duck can be that dark - or have I just missed it?  At some angles there even seemed to be a slight green sheen to the head - very subtle but I don't think I was imagining it.  I've seen a similar thing on female Tufted Duck before.  Structurally it did look pretty good most of the time - actually the head shape was peaked enough to resemble male Ferruginous Duck, not just female which tends to have a less obvious peak.  But sometimes - quite a few times actually - it looked a bit wrong.  Sometimes it seemed to have a bit of a bump at the back of the head.  Maybe the feathering at the back of the crown was a bit looser than the feathering at the back of the head just below?  At other times this wasn't apparent at all.

Some have suggested it may be a Ferruginous Duck x Baer's Pochard hybrid, apparently common in captivity although I gather DNA analysis of some birds thought to be that hybrid have proved them to be pure Ferruginous after all.  That's not a bad theory and explains the dark head and even the green sheen.  I'm a little surprised there's no Baer's influence in the shape of the belly patch, but maybe that's possible, and I'm not sure my problem with the head shape is really explained by Baer's.  Not sure.

Another possibility I contemplated is that Tufted Duck is involved.  That would in theory explain the head shape although female Ferruginous Duck x Tufted Duck hybrids I've seen before have had a more obvious tuft, albeit much reduced compared to pure Tufted Duck.  Those birds also weren't so structurally good for Ferruginous Duck.

So for now this one isn't resolved, at least not to my satisfaction.

Also on Ranworth Broad were 8 Goldeneye.  I noticed one Tufted Duck with quite a bit of white round the face that looked a bit block-headed for a bit and wondered if that was the bird I'd seen on my previous visit.  It was just a Tufty though, and one of sevearl with a fair bit of white round the bill.  One of them even had white behind the eye - a leucistic bird.

 Tufted Ducks, Ranworth Broad, 18th January

Mallards, Ranworth Broad, 18th January

Ranworth Broad, 18th January

Another 5 Redpolls flew over, this time with deeper calls making me wonder if Mealy were involved though they didn't provide good enough views.  Two Water Rails called and another Kingfisher made an appearance.

I next headed up to Sheringham where straight away I saw two juvenile Glaucous Gulls feeding on a dead seal.

 Glaucous Gull, Sheringham, 18th January

Glaucous Gull, Sheringham, 18th January

One of the Glaucous Gulls flew off east and I headed west to see if the adult Glauc was off the RNLI or that way.  No sign so I headed off to the east end of the prom pausing to look at a confiding Purple Sandpiper.

Purple Sandpiper, Sheringham, 18th January

While I was watching that I met Robin who had seen the adult towards West Runton so I continued on that way.  I hadn't gone very far when I picked up the adult Glaucous Gull and a juvenile flying towards me.

 Glaucous Gull, Sheringham, 18th January

They returned to the dead seal so so did I.

Glaucous Gull, Sheringham, 18th January

A Shag flew past while we were enjoying the Glaucs.

Shag, Sheringham, 18th January

I then drove to Cley ignoring the road closed signs (it was easily passable) where I learned that the sparrow flock had only put in a brief appearance at the Cley Spy feeders.  I walked on to Steve Gantlett's garden knowing that he had still been seeing the hybrid at least up to a few days ago.  After some waiting the anticipated House Sparrow x Tree Sparrow hybrid finally appeared at his feeders.

House Sparrow x Tree Sparrow hybrid, Cley, 18th January

I drove on to Blakeney where I noticed the Herring Gull x Lesser Black-backed Gull hybrid at the duck pond.  Presumably this was the bird that spent last winter here though I hadn't been aware that it had returned this winter.

Herring Gull x Lesser Black-backed Gull hybrid, Blakeney, 18th January

Bayfield Lake failed to deliver anything better than a Sparrowhawk.  I was nevertheless pleased to see 2 Peregrines in a tree towards dusk at another location.  Do unpaired Peregrines roost together, and if not do paired Peregrines at this time of year suggest they might be thinking of breeding nearby?  Dunno.  Perhaps not, it is only January after all, but will be interesting to keep an eye out for them again.

Peregrines, undisclosed location, 18th January

Today I only managed the local patch where the highlight was 26 White-fronted Geese remaining.