Pallid Harrier, Haddiscoe & two hybrid ducks

I didn't see anything of note on Sunday except for a Grey Wagtail at Bylaugh.

Yesterday I headed up to Burnham Overy early, seeing a pair of Barn Owls at Hempton on my way up.  As I headed down from the staithe 2 White-fronted Geese flew over and there were 18 Avocets in the channel.  There were loads of Wigeon in the fields but light was awkward for searching through them.  The big field south of the reedy pool contained 7 Ruff and 153 Dunlin and a Bearded Tit called from the reeds.

At the mouth of the estuary there were 6 Red-breasted Mergansers and 4 Goldeneye, along with 2 Common Seal on the end of Scolt Head island.  Offshore a couple of Red-throated Divers flew east and a Fulmar west but the sea was quiet.

Grey Partridge, Burnham Overy, 6th March

A Stoat scurried through the dunes and I decided to skip the east dunes and head on to see the Pallid Harrier.  As I returned to the car a Red Kite flew over.

Dunnock, Burnham Overy, 6th March

Reed Buntings, Burnham Overy, 6th March

Red Kite, Burnham Overy, 6th March

Next stop New Holkham where the Pallid Harrier flew past 2-3 times giving good scope views but rubbish camera views.  Lovely bird to see.

Pallid Harrier, New Holkham, 6th March

Lots of other raptors in the sky too including up to 10 Buzzards at a time and at least one more Red Kite.

My next stop was Thursford Wood, an NWT reserve that I'd never visited before.  It's quite a  nice spot and I think it would be worth moth-trapping there sometime.  Birds included Marsh Tit and Nuthatch calling.

I then popped in to Great Ryburgh where I've been meaning for ages to see what the Ryburgh Wildlife Group site is looking like now.  Conveniently my arrival coincided with that of a member who kindly invited me in to the hide.  The group have done a great job here and it looks like there's plenty of scope for some good birds so when the chairman of the group turned up I paid up to join the group there and then.  I ended up spending quite a few hours there and saw lots of interesting birds.  There were 3 White-fronted Geese there the whole time and 2 Stonechats for a while.  Among the hordes of Teal and Wigeon I picked up what looked like a Wigeon with pale cheeks and a dark greenish headband, which at first I suspected might be a Wigeon x American Wigeon hybrid or something similar.  It disappeared before I could resolve it but eventually it reappeared and gave good if distant views.  The tertials were not Wigeon-like ruling out aberrant Wigeon or any Wigeon sp. x Wigeon sp. hybrid and it showed white sides to the tail and pale uppertail-coverts or rear rump feathers.  That made me wonder about Pintail and the dark-centred scapular pattern did indeed recall that a bit, although Pintail influence wasn't immediately obvious.  I've seen Wigeon x Pintail before but the head pattern was nowhere near so distinct on that individual, but I've also seen photos of birds with a more distinct head pattern (although still not quite like this one).  The pale crown stripe was divided by a narrow diffuse dark crown stripe and in the end I concluded that Wigeon x Pintail is the correct ID.

Wigeon x Pintail hybrid, Great Ryburgh, 6th March

I heard and then saw a pair of Mediterranean Gulls flying over, apparently the group's first this year, and 10 Barnacle Geese flew through.  A Pink-footed Goose appeared with some Greylags along with a fourth White-fronted Goose.

Today I headed down to Haddiscoe Island, somewhere I've only ever watched from afar, either the road at St Olaves, or from Burgh Castle, or from Waveney Forest.  There is a public footpath all the way round the island but it's a long way!  After seeing Little Owl near Swanton Morley en route I arrived at St Olaves and saw the first of 5 Barn Owls (3 on the island, 2 on Fritton Marsh).  I walked out through the boatyards at St Olaves hearing the odd Bearded Tit in the reeds as I headed north.

As I approached the bungalow about a mile down the footpath it became clear that there were some works going on that completely blocked the footpath, forcing me to retrace my steps and take the track down from under the bridge to the bungalow.  I could have done without adding another couple of miles on to the walk - it was going to be long enough already!  Anyway, I saw a Kingfisher where I turned round and a flock of 19 Bewick's Swans flew east on their way back to Russia.

I saw the first of 4 Stonechats as I continued on and heard 2 Water Rails calling.  A Green Sandpiper flew away and I saw an interesting Buteo land on a post.  I just glimpsed it in flight before it landed, thought I saw some white near the rump and/or base of the tail but didn't get a clear view of that.  At rest it looked like the Rough-legged Buzzard, and may well have been, but it was a long way off.  I watched it for about half an hour and it refused to budge or show me its tail, but I was pretty confident it was the Rough-leg.  I really wanted to see it fly - maybe I would see it again as I passed back down the other side of the island - I'd probably be nearer if it was still in the same area.

I picked up a couple of Short-eared Owls across the island and later one much closer which conceivably could have been one of the same but I doubt it.  A third or fourth Short-eared Owl was present at the very north end of the island from where I could see a Spotted Redshank among the waders opposite Burgh Castle.

Short-eared Owl, Haddiscoe Island, 7th March

The walk back down the other side was relatively uneventful, but a pale Buzzard was perched on what may well have been the very same fence that I'd seen the Rough-leg on earlier.  At first it looked like the same bird, I thought, but as I got closer I felt the head wasn't as pale as I had thought and the belly not as strongly marked.  I went from having doubts about my original ID to concluding that it had to be a different bird.  But then as I moved further away from it and looked back it started looking exactly like the Rough-leg had done originally, so maybe it was the same bird after all, and maybe it wasn't a Rough-leg after all.  The bird must have been in view for well over two hours all told and despite seeing it from both sides of the island it never flew again and never showed me its tail.  It seemed to be front-on no matter what direction I looked at it from!  Even at its nearest when it looked most like a pale Buzzard it was still a long way off and in the end I couldn't make up my mind.  If these are the views it was giving when I was on the island with it I shudder to think what sort of views people were getting from Waveney Forest!  The Rough-legged Buzzard was reported from there this afternoon - I hope they got a better view than me. 

Other birds seen on this leg included a few Snipe and a couple of Greylag Goose x Canada Goose hybrids, one being a normal bird with normal Greylags and the other obviously being the offspring of a domestic Greylag with a flock of white domestic Greylags.  There were lots of Chinese Water Deers on and around the island - must have been at least 25 but very probably more.

Chinese Water Deer, Haddiscoe Island, 7th March

Afterwards I nipped down to Lound Lakes in the hope that the Scaup x Tufted Duck hybrid that I heard about recently might still be present.  It was...

Greater Scaup x Tufted Duck hybrid, Lound Lakes, 7th March

Shore Larks & Pallid Harrier

I headed up to Burnham Overy again this morning, seeing nothing of particular note on my way out.  Reaching Gun Hill I spent a bit of time photographing the 3 Shore Larks that have been here for a few days now.

Shore Larks, Burnham Overy, 19th December

On the way back a Barnacle Goose was accompanied by a Ross's Goose x Barnacle Goose hybrid, perhaps the same bird I've seen here before but the first time I've seen it for quite a while.

Ross's Goose x Barnacle Goose hybrid (with Barnacle Goose), Burnham Overy, 19th December

Next I headed down to Flitcham where the Pallid Harrier has relocated to.  No sign on my arrival so I had a quick drive around the surrounding roads in the hope of bumping in to it before returning to its favoured area.  Fairly soon it appeared over the back of the field, but it kept to the back moving east and then south east.  A bit too far for photos so I got in my car and sped off down the lane towards where it seemed to be heading.  But looking right back towards the hide I saw it again, heading back through the field in front of the hide.  Figuring it might return to the fields I turned round and returned.  Most of the other guys left leaving just two of us to see it when it reappeared over the field in front of us.  Got good views here before it disappeared behind the hedge to the adjacent field nearer the village.  It soon reappeared but this time headed off west, disappearing somewhere over NW of the village.

Pallid Harrier, Flitcham, 19th December

I had a look along the road running NNW from Flitcham but no sign, so wondering if it was perhaps returning to Snettisham I headed over to Wolferton.  I reckon when it's at Snettisham it would sometimes be visible from the track from Wolferton, the start of which has public access.  Obviously not when it's out on the saltmarsh, but at times it should be I think.  No sign this afternoon though, not that I gave it all that long.

Pallid Harrier

I wanted to bird Burnham Overy on Saturday morning but I also wanted to catch up with the Pallid Harrier.  Knowing how long I take at Burnham Overy and knowing the forecast was for the weather to get worse as the day went on, I figured I could only manage one or the other, so headed to Snettisham first thing.  Or rather I planned to head there first thing, but actually overslept and rocked up around 9.00 am.

The Pallid Harrier had showed well first thing, but I didn't get down to the south end until 9.45, despite hardly stopping to bird on the way down (though I couldn't resist snapping these Sanderling).

Sanderling, Snettisham, 28th November

There was already a bitterly cold wing blowing but I joined a small crowd looking for the harrier.  A male Hen Harrier was nice to watch, a Merlin sped by, a Barn Owl or two were hunting and an Eared Owl sp. flew beyond the sea wall.  I only got the briefest view of the latter which had possibly been put up by shooters on nearby farmland; it looked dark to me and others wondered if it might have been Long-eared.  All good stuff, but not a Pallid Harrier.

By now my hands were frozen and I wandered away from the crowd to the sea wall, partly to check the farmland inland of the sea wall and partly to try and get out of the wind.  Sitting down I managed to warm my hands up but I wasn't out of the wind and it was freezing!  This Roe Deer almost ran into me coming up over the sea wall right next to where I was sitting.  It didn't stop long before legging it the other way.

Roe Deer, Snettisham, 28th November

After spending far too long searching from here I was frozen to the core.  Eventually, after what must have been a few hours in the cold wind, I had no choice but to abandon the search and seek the relative warmth of a hide.  First attempt at what used to be South Hide (I think) was no good as it was destroyed in the storm surge and the temporary replacement structure did little to shelter me from the cold wind (though a couple of Goldeneye were visible).  So round to Shore Hide where I slowly warmed up while enjoying conversation with Midlands birder Dean and his partner.  Dean's partner kept an eye on the crowd and after a while she alerted us to the fact that they seemed to be watching something.  We hurried round to find they'd had a "candidate" for the Pallid Harrier, but it was now out of view.

The weather was now even worse and it had started raining, long before that had been forecast.  Fortunately the rain didn't last too long and after a while the Pallid Harrier appeared briefly.  The structure was really distinctive with its very narrow pointed hand but relatively broad hand, and its really long tail.  Plumage details were hard to discern at this range, but we could just make out the more obvious features.  It soon went down again and the wait was on once again.  At one point it popped up briefly as a Marsh Harrier passed over it: the tiny size compared to the Marsh Harrier was clear to see - it looked about half the size.  A ringtail Hen Harrier appeared at a similar distance and it was good to watch that for comparison - an incredibly different-looking bird structurally.  The Pallid Harrier appeared again, perching on top of a post for a while, and then flying across the saltmarsh taking a very similar line to that which the Hen Harrier had taken but looking quite a different beast.

It disappeared over the sea wall and, with the wind getting stronger and the threatened rain looming, we decided we weren't likely to get better views today and started back towards the car park.  The Pallid Harrier had disappeared well to the south of where we had been standing, not long ago, and we were now walking back north.  So when a bird appeared over Shore Hide a few yards in front of us, coming from the north, I did not expect it to be the Pallid Harrier.  My first thought was Kestrel but was immediately struck by how much it resembled the Pallid Harrier we'd just been watching... hang on, it IS the Pallid Harrier!  Flying towards us from the north!  How weird.  It was close, but quick, and in my haste I failed to get any shots that were sharp and exposed correctly, and its head was turned away so you couldn't see any of the details of the head/neck on it.

Pallid Harrier, Snettisham, 28th November

Had it gone back across the saltmarsh and up the Wash coast before turning round and coming back over the pits, or had it gone north over the fields inland and then crossed the pits as it turned back south?  Probably the latter, as a bit later what was probably it did the same thing again.  We'd last seen the Pallid Harrier heading across the south end of the pit so headed up the east side of the pits.  Dean picked up what he thought was the Pallid Harrier over the fields.  It didn't show well, moving behind a copse most of the time, but in the views we got we started to doubt whether this was the right bird.  The wing tip didn't look nearly as narrow and pointed as it had earlier.  But it did look good, and it wasn't as broad and round-winged as Hen Harrier, so we were pretty sure it was the right bird.  Interesting how different it looked though under the different conditions - in a less exposed location.  It crossed the sea wall and the pits turning to head south over Shore Hide, just as it, presumably, had done when we saw it earlier.

It had been an educational bird and I was glad I'd braved the cold to see it.  I'd still like to see it better so if it sticks around I'll probably go back, but in some ways, with the comparison with Hen Harrier and the change in appearance under different conditions, it was as good as getting good close views on its own.