Review of 2019 and 2020 - Birds: Finches and Buntings

FINCHES (family FRINGILLIDAE)


Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs - Common at the meadows and at home.  I rarely see more than a few but on 26th February 2020 there was a flock of 50 in one of the fields neighbouring the meadows.

Chaffinch, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 29th March 2019

Chaffinch, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 19th April 2019

Chaffinch, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 11th March 2020

Brambling Fringilla montifringilla - Singles at the meadows on 4 dates up to 27th March 2019 when one in song, and another present there on 18th April.  None seen there the following winter (a poor season for most finches) but singles seen or heard on 4 dates between 12th October and 23rd November 2020.  One heard over the garden on 14th November 2020 and 120 at Lynford on 23rd Febuary 2019.  Otherwise smaller numbers recorded at Santon Downham, Burnham Overy, Brancaster, Titchwell and Bintree Wood.

Brambling, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 18th February 2019

Brambling, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 27th March 2019

Hawfinch Coccothraustes coccothraustes - 26 at Lynford on 23rd February 2019.


Bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula - Common around the meadows and occasionally seen or heard at home.

Bullfinches, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 11th March 2019

Greenfinch Chloris chloris - Reasonably frequent at the meadows.

Greenfinch, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 6th February 2019

Greenfinch, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 27th November 2020

Spanish birds apparently belong to race chloratica, apparently covering most of the species' Mediterranean range (though some authorities subdivide this into a number of additional races).  Although variation between races of Greenfinch is described as slight I think if I saw this at the meadows it would give me quite a shock.

Greenfinch, Gava Mar (Spain), 22nd February 2020

Twite Linaria flavirostris - It's not just the Puffins that make Staffa a worthwhile trip when staying on Mull and a family of Twite nearly made me miss the boat back to Iona.

Twite, Staffa, 11th June 2019

Linnet Linaria cannabina - Common at the meadows although not always present.  Counts in 2020 included 47 on 25th March and 32 on 25th October.

Linnet, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 7th April 2020

Linnet, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 27th April 2020

Mealy Redpoll Acanthis flammea - At least one present with Lesser Redpolls at the meadows between 16th February and 1st March 2019.  The flock also frequented the garden feeders along Church Lane and was a bit easier to see here.  It is possible that more than one Mealy Redpoll was involved in all the sightings, however I couldn't convincingly establish the presence of more than one bird.  The subspecific identity of a well-streaked white-rumped Redpoll on 9th June 2019 at Druimsornaig Cemetery on Mull was unclear to me - presumably one of the north-western or hybrid (?) types that seem to breed in the NW isles.

Mealy Redpoll, Church Lane, North Elmham, 16th February 2019

Mealy Redpoll, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 20th February 2019

Lesser Redpoll Acanthis cabaret - Seen at the meadows between January and early April 2019 with a flock of up to 15 birds present between mid February and mid March.  They commuted between the meadows and the garden feeders along Church Lane, and probably also visited Millenium Wood.  Towards the end of their stay they also fed in the willows along the railway and beyond.  The 2019/20 winter was a complete void for redpolls at the meadows but there were a number of records later in the year starting with one heard on 22nd September and 30 Repdoll sp. and one confirmed Lesser Redpoll on 28th September.  There were also a few at home including 12 on 24th October and elsewhere I saw 60 at Bintree Wood on 11th November.

Lesser Redpoll, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 18th March 2019

Lesser Redpoll, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 12th October 2020

Common Crossbill Loxia curvirostris - One on the Cumbria/Durham border in December 2019 was my only record.


Goldfinch Carduelis carduelis - Common at the meadows and also reasonably frequent at home.

Goldfinch, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 5th July 2019

Goldfinch, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 19th April 2020

Goldfinch, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 27th April 2020

Serin Serinus serinus - Plenty of these in Spain.

Serins, Gava Mar, 22nd February 2020

Serins, Llobregat Delta, 22nd February 2020

Siskin Spinus spinus - Small numbers seen regularly at the meadows until late March 2019 then in autumn up to 10 recorded on two dates in October.  10 again on 28th February 2020 but it was a poor winter for this species and other finches.  A more unexpected summer record of a pair flying over on 20th July and then numerous records of up to 10 from mid September to the end of the year.  Occasionally seen at home and other reasonably local records included another summer record of 2 at Foxley Wood on 11th July 2020 and one at Bintree Wood.  Much larger numbers in the Brecks, the Lakes and on Mull.

Siskin, Strathcoil (Mull), 13th June 2019

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LONGSPURS (family CALCARIIDAE)


Lapland Bunting Calcarius lapponicus - At least one at Brancaster on 14th October 2020 and one at Stiffkey on 17th October.

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BUNTINGS (family EMBERIZIDAE)


Yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella - Common at the meadows though possibly declining even in the short time I've been watching there.  Not always easy to find there in the winter.

Yellowhammer, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 18th February 2019

Yellowhammer, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 13th November 2019

Yellowhammer, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 5th April 2020

Yellowhammer, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 19th April 2020

Cirl Bunting Emberiza cirlus - 2 near Emabalsa de Santa Ana (Spain) in February 2020.


Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus - Seen at the meadows reasonably frequently.



That's it for the birds - you can return to the Birds index or go over to my Mothing Diary for my review of 2019-20's non-avian wildlife (starting shortly...)

Wigeon x Mallard hybrid, Brant hybrid and the leucistic intersex Wigeon

I headed up to Burnham Overy on 26th November.  The walk out was uneventful save for my second Barn Owl of the morning and a flock of 7 Bearded Tits.  From Gun Hill I spent a while scanning the sea.  There were quite a few Red-throated Divers on the sea but very distant and it was going to be tricky picking up anything more interesting at that range.  Then I noticed another diver that was a little bit closer - it was a Great Northern Diver.  As I watched it a much smaller bird appeared next to it - a Red-necked Grebe.  I later saw a Red-necked Grebe flying west - not entirely sure if it was the same bird or a different one.  Also a few Great Crested Grebes on the sea and half a dozen Red-breasted Mergansers just beyond the shoreline.

I had a look round the dunes with little to report.  There were 3 Stonechats (all in different places) and a Merlin, but nothing else of note - in particular I didn't see the Isabelline Wheatear that I thought was long gone but which reappeared here a few days later.

Stonechat, Burnham Overy, 26th November

From the east end looking into Holkham Bay the Scoter flock was too distant to identify individual birds until it took to flight.  Then it became apparent that there were somewhere in the region of 20 Velvet Scoters among them, the best count I've had in Norfolk for a while.

As I returned to my car a fabulous male Hen Harrier flew west through the freshmarsh and on towards Burnham Norton.  The Brent Goose flock contained a bird with white speckling on the head - a pattern of leucism I have observed many times though I still do not know why they are prone to this whereas birds with evidence of leucism on the wings/body are so rare.

Dark-bellied Brent Goose, Burnham Overy, 26th November

The Black Brant x Dark-bellied Brent Goose hybrid was also there.

Black Brant x Dark-bellied Brent Goose hybrid, Burnham Overy, 26th November

Next day I didn't have much time but enough to nip up to Stiffkey to see a hybrid duck that Mike Buckland had tweeted about the previous day.  It was still there, on the marsh opposite the Red Lion best viewed from the Muckledyke Way permissive path, with 345 Wigeon - a splendid Wigeon x Mallard hybrid, the first I've ever seen.  It was mainly grazing with the Wigeon but occasionally the whole flock was spooked and came forward to the pool closer to me.  The light was poor so my photos were taken with very high ISO...

Wigeon x Mallard hybrid, Stiffkey, 27th November

Also on the pool were 203 Teal and 123 Black-tailed Godwits.


Yesterday (Saturday 3rd December) I headed up to Cley first thing.  As I got out of my car I heard Bewick's Swans calling and looked up to see a family party of 5 flying east over my head.  Good start!

As I started to walk out a Cetti's Warbler was calling away and, unusually, showing quite nicely.  As I crossed the bridge a Water Rail flew from under it and was then seen swimming in the dyke for a bit.  I entered Dauke's Hide, opened the flaps and there in front of me was a Water Pipit.  The day had started well!  It didn't contine so well.

Water Pipit, Cley, 3rd December

I searched the Teal flocks hard looking for the Green-winged Teal x Eurasian Teal hybrid that Mark had found earlier in the week.  No luck, although I was interested to see one Teal that seemed to show a very faint hint of a pale vertical bar between the flanks and the breast.  On closer inspection I think it was just the light - at any rate it didn't seem to be an actual plumage mark.  I don't think it was a hybrid - in all other respects it was 100% Teal and when it eventually moved the line seemed to disappear and didn't seem to be present on the other side.

Teal, Cley, 3rd December

As I returned to the car there were 2 Stonechats and then I popped along to Salthouse to see the odd Wigeon that's been wintering there for several years now.  It's a fascinating bird, apparently an intersex female, a female that's developed male characteristics, and has a white patch on the head.  Noel E and John M both contacted me recently to say that they had watched it on the duckpond apparently paired to a drake Wigeon and they heard it calling, giving a call that is typical of female Wigeon.  It was still there today, still paired with the drake Wigeon, but I didn't manage to hear it call.

leucistic intersex female Wigeon, Salthouse, 3rd December

It was still early and I had a little bit of time before needing to meet friends in town so I went on to Blakeney Freshes.  The walk out was uneventful save for a lovely Kingfisher in the channel, 4 Goldeneye and 4+ Red-breasted Mergansers.  A Stonechat was seen but not much else at first.  Eventually a small finch flew up and off - I was pretty sure from the call that it was a Twite but I hadn't seen it well enough.  Fortnately a minute or two later it returned and landed on the fence - it was indeed a Twite.

Twite, Blakeney, 3rd December

I had hoped to pop along to Stiffkey to see if the Wigeon x Mallard hybrid was still there but I'd now run out of time and had to race off to Norwich (where I saw a Grey Wagtail).  Fantastic lunch at Baby Buddha - it helps so much having a Chinese person in your group who knows what to order!  After lunch I had just enough time to look for a Ruddy Shelduck x Egyptian Goose hybrid that Dave had seen recently (possibly the same bird I saw at Burnham Market although a long way from there).  He hadn't seen it again during the last few visits and I didn't either - just 71 Egyptian Geese.  Not far away I saw at least 12 Red Kites at a known roost site.