Review of 2019 and 2020 - Birds: Raptors

VULTURES, EAGLES, HAWKS, HARRIERS, KITES and BUZZARDS (family ACCIPITRIDAE)


Lammergeier Gypaetus barbatus - News of a Lammergeier summering in Derbyshire had been of some interest but never really excited me enough to think it worth travelling up to see it during a pandemic.  It hadn't been seen for a while and wasn't on many people's minds when James Lowen found a huge raptor just down the road here.  He was in a hurry and assumed it was a White-tailed Eagle, but thankfully wasted no time posting pictures of it on Twitter.  I saw his message and immediately wondered if it might be something a whole lot more interesting, but he was reporting that it was in a field south of Foxley and frankly even if it was "just" a White-tailed Eagle, I didn't want to waste any time getting to it.  So, rather than lookng at the photos closely enough to make sure of the ID I jumped straight into the car, put foot to the ground and sped to Foxley, not entirely sure if I was going to see an eagle or a Lammergeier when I got there.  

Five minutes later I arrived but there was no sign of any large raptor nor anyone looking at it.  By now Twitter and WhatsApp were buzzing and James had been made aware that his photos did in fact show the Lammergeier - but he was half way to the coast.  I called him for more details and although he wasn't sure of the road numbers I worked out that he'd seen it in the field at the junction of the B1145 and the A1067 which I had just passed (so Bawdeswell really), but more to the point it had flown off low to the west - i.e. towards where I had come from!  So I headed back to North Elmham, keeping my eyes out as I went, but couldn't see it.  I decided the higer ground the the north west of North Elmham muight be a good place to look from and set up there.  After seeing a few Buzzards I picked up a large raptor in my bins that looked more interesting, and went to find it in my scope.  At this point James called to say Mike had relocated it, but James didn't know where and suggested I call him.  After scrambling around to find Mike's number I called him, but couldn't get through, and now I couldn't see the bird again.  Fortunately Mike messaged me back to say he was watching it from the Bintree to Billingford road (so it may well have been the bird I had picked up which was in that direction).  I got back in my car and sped back to Billingford.  I'd been in touch with Dave N and he arrived before me so was able to direct me as I arrived to see it flying directly overhead, slowly moving west with Buzzards.  What an amazing thing to see less than 2 miles from my house!  

Having enjoyed watching the Lammergeier for um, not very long, it occurred to me that it was flying straight towards my house, and not very fast.  Not as fast as I could drive.  How cool would it be to see a Lammergeier from my house?  A couple of mintes later I was tumbling out of my car in my drive and running upstairs to my study with its east-facing window.  After 2-3 minutes Buzzards started coming into view.  They were circling around going in and out of view behind houses and trees, but they were coming this way, and then YES, there's a HUGE raptor among them!  I switched to my scope as it disappeared behind a tree and that was it.  The whole flock seemed to be veering further south, so out of view from my position.  That briefest of views of what obviously was the Lammergeier (but frankly could have been any raptor that's at least 3 times the size of a Buzzard) was going to be all I could get from my house and I'm still not convinced I made the right decision to leave it where it was showing well just to be able to say Ive seen a Lammergeier from my house.

Anyway, I decided to get back in the car and see if I could relocate it.  It was seen again by others but being so distant from the viewpoints it was seen from it was difficult to work out exactly where it was from their directions, and I didn't manage to connect with it again.  Still, an amazing experience even if in hindsight I might have enjoyed it even more if I hadn't run round quite so much like a headless chicken.  Had I gone straight to the meadows I am sure I would have seen it from there and got it on my patch list, but then I wouldn't have also seen it from my house and wouldn't have had the views I got from Billingford.

Lammergeier, Billingford, 28th September 2020

Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos - A first for me was seeing Golden Eagle chicks in an eyrie on Mull in June 2019.  Although I was watching from a safe distance I didn't feel like spending too long there and so didn't see the adults.


Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus - Despite evidence of breeding locally I don't see this species as often as I would expect at the meadows (and still less at home).  8 records at the meadow in 2019 and only 2 in 2020, but a good handful of other local records.

Sparrowhawk, Lobregat Delta (Spain) 22nd February 2020

Sparrowhawk, Gava Mar (Spain) 22nd February 2020

Marsh Harrier Circus aeuginosus - 2 records at the meadows in 2019, on 26th April and 25th August, the latter a bird with red wing-tags that was hunting the meadows.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to read the tags.  4 records there in the last quarter of 2020 involving at least 2 birds but one that seems to be overwintering locally (seen again in 2021).  One flew over my garden on 30th May 2020, my first record here.  Another red wing-tagged bird was at St Benet's Abbey on (this one inscribed CC, a female ringed near Thorpe Haddiscoe on 9th June 2019).

Marsh Harrier, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 25th August 2019

Marsh Harrier, St Benet's Abbey, 2nd December 2019

Marsh Harrier, Burnham Overy, 25th December 2019

Marsh Harrier, Llobregat Delta, 21st February 2020

Marsh Harrier, Llobregat Delta, 22nd February 2020

Marsh Harrier, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 27th November 2020

Marsh Harrier, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 28th December 2020

Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus - An adult female flew low over the meadows on 27th November 2020.

Hen Harrier, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 27th November 2020

Red Kite Milvus milvus - One at the meadows on 15th February 2019 was, surprisingly, the only bird I saw there in my first 2 years of watching.  2020 was slightly better with birds seen on 27th May and 18th September.  Also one from the house on 3rd and 8th June, my first here.  A few other records from other locations both years.

Red Kite, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 15th February 2019

Red Kite, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 18th September 2020

White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla - 3 adults on Mull including a pair at a nest site.

White-tailed Eagles (and Hooded Crow), NE Mull, 9th June 2019

Rough-legged Buzzard Buteo lagopus - One at Wells on 1st January 2020.

Rough-legged Buzzard, Wells, 1st January 2020

Buzzard Buteo lagopus - Regularly seen at the meadows with up to 10 in the air at once and birds sometimes roosting around the meadows. Sometimes seen from home too.

Buzzard, Carsaig Road (Mull), 13th June 2019

Buzzard, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 4th December 2019

Buzzard, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 23rd March 2020

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Eagle surprise and Savi's

I arrived at Potter Heigham church at dawn on Saturday and walked out to Rush Hill scrape where I hoped to see the Savi's Warbler.  Almost the first bird I heard, and certainly the first Locustella, was the Savi's Warbler and it proved reasonably easy to get some kind of views of it.  I must have stayed with it for at least an hour and a half and during that time it sang continually, and was usually visible, if only just, as it did so.  It tended to keep quite low in the willows so it wasn't easy to see, and was pretty much always a bit obscured, but it was visible and views were perfectly adequate.  It wasn't as distant as I'd imagined, but with it being quite obscured and low down it was very hard to photograph.

Savi's Warbler, Potter Heigham Marsh, 22nd April

While I was watching this a Grasshopper Warbler was reeling close by, from the bushes adjacent to the hide I think.  At least one Bearded Tit kept appearing and a Water Rail called.  Another Grasshopper Warbler reeled further away into the reeds the other side of the hide.  There were 2 Spoonbills sleeping on Rush Hill and a Pintail among the Shovelers.  As I continued along the footpath to Potter Heigham Marsh a Cuckoo was calling and a third reeling Grasshopper Warbler showed.

Grasshopper Warbler, Weavers Way near Rush Hill, 22nd April

As I approached Potter Heigham Marsh I saw a group of 3 waders flying off - two were clearly Grey Plovers but the other was much much smaller and had a short straight bill.  I've an inkling it was a Little Stint, or at least Stint sp., but I can't be certain on the views I got.  A pair of Cranes were on Heigham Holmes but flew off north from there.  Another Cuckoo was calling over towards Potter Heigham and there were 31 Avocets on the marsh.

As I headed back from the far end I found a drake Garganey in the SE corner.  It was my intention after finishing here that I would head down to Ormesby Broad to see the White-tailed Eagle that had been there yesterday and it had been confirmed as still present this morning.  The thought occurred to me that I might get really distant views of it from here if it were to get up high, though I thought that fairly unlikely.  However as I scanned in that direction I was surprised to see the White-tailed Eagle - not miles away over Ormesby but not far away at all - my side of Martham! It was circling around but soon disappeared behind some trees at which point I lost it for a while.

White-tailed Eagle, Martham, viewed from Potter Heigham Marsh, 22nd April

A little while later I picked up a flock of 16 Cranes over to the SW.  They spent a while circling before eventually coming towards me, over me and off to the north-east.  I've seen larger flocks than this before but I think only on the deck or low in flight - the sight of such a large flock spiralling around high in the sky seemed like an exciting and novel experience for me, although I'm sure Broads locals see it all the time.

Cranes, Potter Heigham Marsh, 22nd April

The 2 Spoonbills, presumably the ones from Rush Hill, dropped in on the marsh.

Spoonbills, Potter Heigham Marsh, 22nd April

I found another 2 drake Garganey sleeping with some Teal.  At least I had only just left the first one in the corner behind me so I assume they were probably both different to that one, but in an attempt to make sure I retraced my steps the check the first one was still there.  It wasn't, or at least it wasn't on view, so I shall have to put it down as 2 in total, though I suspect there were 3.

After a while I picked up the White-tailed Eagle again, this time somewhere over towards Horsey, and now a long way off.  It was still visible quite some time later, mobbed by corvids and now seemingly drifting south slowly.

I noticed that there were now 3 Spoonbills on the marsh before I headed off back along Weavers Way (hearing Kingfisher along the way).  There were 2 Cranes on the fields north of Potter Heigham Marsh (is this Candle Dyke Marsh?) - I can't be sure if they were the original 2, 2 of the 16 (two had split off from the rest) or additional birds.  Another or the same pair of Cranes were later seen in flight as I neared Rush Hill.

Cranes, near Potter Heigham Marsh, 22nd April

After this I had a quick look at Rollesby Broad where the Blue-winged Teal x Cinnamon Teal hybrid was still present, along with a female Mandarin.

Blue-winged Teal x Cinnamon Teal hybrid, Rollesby Broad, 22nd April

Ormesby Broad had 5 Common Terns and a Sparrowhawk flew over.  Lastly I headed off to the local patch where 4 Little Ringed Plovers (2 sites) and a Snipe were the highlights.

On Sunday I popped into Longwater on my way back from Norwich and saw the 16 Waxwings that have been hanging around there for a while.  They failed to come down to the berries for photos though, and instead headed off towards Longwater Lane.

Yesterday I went up to Burnham Overy, again arriving in the dark so that I could get to Gun Hill by first light or thereabouts.  Once again a Spoonbill was seen in the dark feeding in one of the pools just across the dyke, and a Barn Owl was visible as it started to get light.  Vis mig was relatively slow early on so I didn't spend too long at Gun Hill before wandering round the dunes.  It included a Marsh Harrier west at sea, at least 7 Yellow Wagtails and single figure counts of all 3 hirundine species.

I heard Tree Pipit a few times but wasn't convinced they were different birds moving through - maybe one bird knocking around in the dunes somewhere.  Eventually I located it at the east end of the dunes.

Tree Pipit, Burnham Overy, 24th April

Not the best photo, I know, but I was happier with this hastily grabbed shot of a Meadow Pipit.

Meadow Pipit, Burnham Overy, 24th April

There were still a few Ring Ouzels around - I saw 8, others saw more.  Also 9 Wheatears and 7 Whimbrels and, at last, my first Whitethroat of the year.  Hanging on from winter were 20 Pink-footed Geese and a Golden Plover.

Wheatear, Burnham Overy, 24th April

Pochard, Burnham Overy, 24th April

I also found a pair of binoculars lying in the dunes - if you have lost them or know of someone who has get in touch!

Next I headed to Burnham Norton where there were at least 9 Wheatear and 7 Yellow Wagtails including a party of 5 which were the first I've seen on the deck this year.  Also at least 4 Whimbrel, 3 Mediterranean Gulls and, on Deepdale Marsh, 2 Little Ringed Plovers.