Stoat up a tree with a Yellow-browed Warbler before super moonrise and super sunset

I only had a few hours on the afternoon of Sunday 27th September so without enough time to do Burnham Overy properly I headed up to Brancaster.  Gypsy Lane might hold a few migrants and is perhaps poorly enough watched for me to have a chance of finding something, even if just a Yellow-browed Warbler.  Lots of Yellow-browed Warblers turning up at the moment so I thought I had a good chance of at least that.  But alas I could muster up nothing better than Chiffchaff, Cetti's Warbler, Greenshank and some Pink-feet over.

 Greenshank, Brancaster, 27th September

Redshank, Brancaster, 27th September

Little Grebe, Brancaster, 27th September

Tufted Ducks, Brancaster, 27th September

A walk west from Brancaster Staithe was more productive, though it didn't start well.  Nothing seemed to be doing around the copse at the start of the boardwalk where I found a Yellow-browed Warbler last year.  A Common Sandpiper was calling in the harbour and a couple of Kingfishers were whizzing around.  A Grey Wagtail flew west.

Further on I heard what I was listening for... just a single call but enough - Yellow-browed Warbler.  Eventually after quite a long wait it started calling again and finally I got a look at it.

Yellow-browed Warbler, Brancaster Staithe, 27th September

At one point it was flitting around in front of the most surprising sighting of the day - a Stoat 12' up in a tree!  Never knew they climbed trees before but this was clambering around in the tree for ages.  Is that normal behaviour?

Stoat, Brancaster Staithe, 27th September

Blue Tit, Brancaster Staithe, 27th September

Next I headed to Burnham Norton but it was late by now.  The super moon was rising looking huge and magnificent while looking the other way the spectacle was equally impressive with one of the best sunsets I've seen in ages.

Super Moon (with Barn Owl), Burnham Norton, 27th September

sunset (with Pink-footed Geese), Burnham Norton, 27th September

Super Moon (with Pink-footed Geese), Burnham Norton, 27th September

A few birds too - Hen Harrier and Barn Owl were both hunting while hundreds if not thousands of Pink-footed Geese were heading to roost.

Barn Owl, Burnham Norton, 27th September

Above my head at least 10 Bats (probably many more) were flying around.  My Bat identification skills are pretty much non-existent but I reckon they're perhaps Noctules... big bats anyway... can you tell from these pictures?  Let me know if you can identify them, please.

Bats (Noctules?), Burnham Norton, 27th September

Swarming Swallows

Can't believe I'm over a month behind updating this.  Anyway, 16th September, Burnham Overy, starting from the staithe early morning.  The tide was already well across the staithe parking area despite being some time off its peak.  It was calm and beautiful - one of those days that it was a joy to be out regardless of whether there were birds to see or not.  But there were birds - hundreds of them - Swallows covering the staithe lining the rigging of many of the boats in the harbour.

Swallows, Burnham Overy, 16th September

Some of them gave this Sparrowhawk some hassle as it sped through.

Sparrowhawk and Swallow, Burnham Overy, 16th September

Redshank, Burnham Overy, 16th September

3 Cetti's Warblers were singing at the reedy pool and a Garden Warbler was nearby.  I kept seeing a Kingfisher as I walked down and at one point it seemed to be being pursued by a Swallow.

Swallow and Kingfisher, Burnham Overy, 16th September

high tide at Burnham Overy, 16th September

The bushes by the boardwalk were alive!  A Redstart stared back at me from deep within the apple tree while another Garden Warbler, 2 Willow Warblers, 2 Whitethroats, 2 Goldcrests and several tits filled the bushes and Turtle Dove and Grey Wagtail flew over.

Whitethroat, Burnham Overy, 16th September

Among the tits out here were 2 Coal Tits.  Although they regularly stray from Holkham Pines into the very east of the dunes I don't often see them at the boardwalk, so I wondered if they might be Continental birds, given that we're supposed to be having an influx of them.  But when I eventually got a decent look at them they looked pretty unContintental to me.

 Coal Tits, Burnham Overy, 16th September

 Coal Tit and Whitethroat, Burnham Overy, 16th September

 

Linnet, Burnham Overy, 16th September

House Martin, Burnham Overy, 16th September

2 Wheatears were between here and Gun Hill but after that promising start with all those birds around the boardwalk, suddenly it all dried up.

Meadow Pipit, Burnham Overy, 16th September

Kestrel and Grey Partridges, Burnham Overy, 16th September

Several hours later all I had to add to the day's migrant list were 3-4 elusive Redstarts at the east end and a few Siskins over.  A Spotted Redshank called twice - a surprisingly good bird here.  Finally as I returned to the staithe a Mediterranean Gull was in the channel and a Spotted Flycatcher in the bushes by the dyke.

Spotted Flycatcher, Burnham Overy, 16th September

Starling, Burnham Overy, 16th September

Mediterranean Gull, Burnham Overy, 16th September

BROWN SHRIKE!

I try and keep my posts in order but I'm weeks behind and yesterday's excitement can't wait for me to catch up!

I'm down in Cornwall at the moment, staying in Trevilley as we couldn't get our usual cottage at Porthgwarra.  The main problem with Trevilley is that although Porthgwarra is easy walking distance, it has Nanjizal Valley in between.  There are two reasons I don't like Nanjizal - one is that from the outside you only see a fraction of what's there, so you feel pleased enough with seeing a couple of Firecrests but then find out that the guys who trap there had 6 Yellow-browed Warblers and 4 Firecrests there, which kind of feels a bit deflating (as happened on Monday).  But my real bugbear is the footpath.  I'm a bit decrepid and don't like clambering over awkward styles and big rocks, or steep slopes.  There are several points on the walk between Trevilley and PG that I struggle with but the worst is in Nanjizal Valley.  Styles or tight kissing gates at each end, steep slope down and steep slope back up, but what I really hate is that huge boulder at the bottom.  Carrying a telescope, camera, bins, camera bag and having dodgy knees, I find it a real challenge.  There's no space at the side to rest the scope or other baggage while I get myself over the boulder and even without all that I would find it hard to get over it with my knees.  Yesterday morning was no exception and in the process of getting over I twisted my ankle.  Fortunately although it was painful it wasn't quite bad enough to stop me, and I limped on to Porthgwarra.  Good job I did.

Crossing the wall at the top of the moor I dropped down to the dried up pool.  As I approached the pool I suddenly noticed a pale shape in the sallows left of the pool.  Bins up and a Red-backed Shrike was facing me. And then it was gone. I hadn't got much on it – pale front, obvious dark eye-stripe and a brown crown. Nothing to stop it being a Red-backed... but I had that niggling feeling that something wasn’t right. Maybe the prominence of the dark eye-stripe contributed but my doubt was over the very brown crown. Where had it gone? It didn't look like it went far but I looked for ages and there was no sign.

What sounded a bit like a Pallas's Warbler called from direction of where the shrike had disappeared. I was tempted to go in after it but decided I'd best keep back and wait for the shrike to reappear. In the past I think I would have acted differently. In the last few years I realised that one reason I never find rare birds is that I see something that looks interesting, it disappears and I talk myself out of it, giving up on it. I would have convinced myself this was obviously just a Red-backed Shrike and hurried down for look for what was potentially anther good bird. I'd have probably spent a few minutes looking for the Pallas's and then convinced myself that I'd imagined that as well, and carried on down the valley. The shrike hadn’t shown for ages and looking for that potential Pallas's Warbler was tempting – but I decided that seeing the shrike again was more important. Even if it was a Red-backed I needed to resolve it for certain, and that meant waiting for as long as it takes.

Mark Wallace birds Porthgwarra most days and I've met him there a few times in previous years.  I sent him a message to say I'd had brief views of a shrike but couldn't relocate it.  Probably Red-backed but need more views, I said.  He said he'd pop over but I didn't realise he was at St Levan... so it took him a while!  And for most of that while there was no further sign of the Shrike.

But then it reappeared, side on, and wow! It really was brown. Not the reddish colour of a juvenile Red-backed Shrike, and plainer on the upperparts too. This looked interesting! And the flanks... they were a lovely warm buff colour – really obvious. Isn't that a good feature for Brown Shrike, I thought? The dark eye-stripe is. And those plain, dark-centred tertials. And that long narrow reddish tail. And then it was gone again. I sent Mark another message, though he didn't get it... "Got it again - looks interesting!"  It looked bang on for Brown Shrike but in such a brief view had I really seen what I thought I'd seen?  Was there some imagination going on?

It reappeared and no, I wasn't imagining it.  The bill looked really thick too.

Brown Shrike, Porthgwarra, 20th October

I tried tweeting Mark again: "Would like a second opinion but it's looking very Brown..."  Internet reception is rubbish here and it didn't send, but it wasn't long before Mark appeared the other side of the valley.  Just before he reached me a noisy couple walked straight through with their dog and it went to ground once more.  When it eventually reappeared Mark agreed it looked good.  Encouraging.  But there were still two important features we hadn't seen.  I'd not been able to pick out the shorter outer tail feathers and I hadn't specifically noticed that the primary projection was short (I'd forgotten to check for this).  After it went out of view again Mark headed round to look from another angle while I stayed put.  Eventually it appeared low in a sallow next to a pool and perched facing me.  I could see the underside of the tail and could just make out the tips of the outer tail feathers - they were short!  That'll do!

Brown Shrike, Porthgwarra, 20th October

Mark had seen it again too and was also convinced now.  It was sorted.  Air punched it was now time to get the news out (easier said than done as neither of our phones had any reception now). 

Brown Shrike, Porthgwarra, 20th October

The above photos were taken with my DSLR.  The next one was digi-scoped - got some better detail on it but the colours are a bit off.

Brown Shrike, Porthgwarra, 20th October

By the time the first 4-5 people had arrived we hadn't seen the shrike again.  Eventually it did reappear and performed for the building crowd.  As the crowd grew the shrike retreated, but continued to show on and off until I left 2-3 hours later. Apparently it flew off down the valley towards the end of the afternoon and despite a cloudy night with rain before dawn there was no sign of it this morning.

Catching up with an Osprey

Well I've got far behind again with the birding diary, so now to start some catching up.  Non-birding events have overtaken somewhat so despite booking a few days leave I've still managed far less birding than I would have liked. Anyway, my last post related to 8th September, so since then I have been out a little bit...

I've been out looking for migrants in my lunch-breaks quite a bit but these have generally been unproductive.  11th September was a bit better with Spotted Redshank in the channel at Thornham and nearby a Redstart by the paperbank.

Spent a good 7 hours at Burnham Overy on Saturday 12th September, starting a little later than usual (can't remember why - think the wind was due to move round to the NE later on).  A party of 34 Pink-footed Geese dropped in on my arrival, my first of the autumn.  So too were 2 Dark-bellied Brent Geese in the harbour later on.

My first Stonechat of the autumn was the first grounded migrant I found, followed by the first 2 of 6 Wheatears.

Stonechat, Burnham Overy, 12th September

The Gun Hill end was otherwise very quiet and by the time I reached the east end of the dunes I'd only added a couple more Wheatears and a Whitethroat.  Hard work!  The east end was a bit livelier with 4 Redstarts and a Spotted Flycatcher, but lacking the bounty I felt I deserved.

Redstart, Burnham Overy, 12th September

Spotted Flycatcher, Burnham Overy, 12th September

Birds moving overhead were few and far between, with the exception of Siskins, a species that is proving to be unusually numerous this autumn.  Very difficult to estimate numbers as the vast majority were heard only, flying high.  2-3 flocks that were seen numbered 44 individuals but I'd be surprised if the true number passing this day wasn't in the several hundreds.

Waders included a Ruff and at least 2 Greenshank.  Here's one of them...

Greenshank, Burnham Overy, 12th September

Pheasant, Burnham Overy, 12th September

Another attempt to find migrants at Thornham on 15th September drew a blank, but from near the paperbank at Thornham I did manage distant views of the Osprey that spent a few days lingering at Titchwell.

Osprey, Titchwell, 15th September