I was heading south from Holt, intending to catch the second-half of Man City v Chelsea, when my pager Mega Alert sprang into action....
Earlier in the day, I'd been birding around Stiffkey. I'd started off at Stiffkey Fen, then to Stiffkey Woods and then went out to the little plantation on Stiffkey Saltmarsh. It hadn't been a bad day. A couple of Spoonbills dropped into the Fen, a rather tame Lapland Bunting allowed me to take some nice photos of it and the first Pink-footed Geese of the autumn had returned to Norfolk. But after battling away in the wind and rain and not seeing a single passage migrant, I decided to cut my losses, nothing was going to show it's face in this weather....
Eurasian Spoonbill
Eurasian Spoonbill
Pink-footed Geese in flight.
Bar-tailed Godwit
Lapland Bunting
Lapland Bunting
Lapland Bunting
I picked up my pager and glanced down at the message. It's not what you should be doing when driving, but the message that met my gaze almost made me crash the car. I pulled over to double check I'd read the message right "MEGA Norfolk Empidonax flycatcher (probably Alder, Willow or Least) Blakeney Point in Plantation at 1.05pm. Approach with caution"!!!!
Reverse, break, first gear, wheel-spin, away....
20 minutes later I was geared up in my waterproofs starting the arduous 3 mile trek into a raging wet North-westerly in order to get to 'The Point'. 1 hour and 10 minutes later I arrived and after a rather nervous wait, the Empid put in a brief appearance. It showed briefly on and off for the next 3 hours that I watch it. The pager was carrying the bird as Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, but I wasn't really convinced about that and discussed the ID with a few locals. (It now appears that my scepticism was well founded and that the bird is an Alder Flycatcher).
Here's some naff video of it.
This rather cute little Grey Seal pup was sheltering on the beach on the way back
Grey Seal pup
Grey Seal pup
26 Sep 2010, Waxham
I only popped out for the afternoon, but the wind had subsided considerably from yesterday and a few hours around Waxham finally paid dividends when I heard a Yellow-browed Warbler give a short call and found the bird feeding in some sycamores just north of Shangri-la Cottage. It's a bit out of focus, but you tell what it is.
Yellow-browed Warbler
27 Sep 2010, Waxham
The wind was north-easterly today, so I started out at Wells Wood, looking for yesterday's Western Bonelli's Warbler. The bird didn't show, but it was obvious there were lots of birds on the move; Ring Ouzels, Brambling, Siskin, Pied Flycatchers, and loads of Song Thrushes and Redwing were flying around. I decided to head off to Burnham Overy Dunes to see what migrants were around. I spent 6 hours in the dunes and the west side of Holkham Pines and saw lots of birds, but not the 'biggy' I was hoping for.
Shorelark and Wood Warbler were the best birds of the day, but 7 Ring Ouzels, 6+ Redstarts, 40 Chiffchaff, 10 Willow Warblers, 5+ Garden Warblers, Lesser Whitethroat, and Northern Wheatears were all nice to see, but the most amazing thing was the amount of thrushes. I estimated at least 2000 Song Thrush, 150 Redwing and about 200 Robins. I hardly remember a second when there wasn't a Song Thrush within a few metres.
Shorelark, Burnham Overy Dunes
Shorelark, Burnham Overy Dunes
Shorelark, Burnham Overy Dunes
Wood Warbler, Holkham Pines
Wood Warbler, Holkham Pines
Wood Warbler, Holkham Pines
Wood Warbler, Holkham Pines
Redstart, Burnham Overy Dunes
Redstart, Burnham Overy Dunes
Garden Warbler, Burnham Overy Dunes
Garden Warbler, Burnham Overy Dunes
Blackcap, Burnham Overy Dunes
Northern Wheatear, Burnham Overy Dunes
And just to show it's not ALL about the migrants...
Headed up to Holme NOA today in the hope of seeing the Arctic Warbler which was caught and ringed on Monday, but had been a real nut to crack for the rest of the week, only showing once or twice a day. I arrived at 7.30 and spent the first 90 minutes trying to get to grips with the tit flock in the NWT car park, but the bird departed so I joined the small throng of birders in the pines, where after chasing around for 5 minutes I finally saw the bird low down in a pine tree. The Arctic Warbler remained very difficult to see, spending all of its time near the top of pines and never showing for more than 10 seconds.
Redwell Marsh was not quite so frustrating, with a lovely juvenile Red-necked Pharalope feeding on the marsh, along with a nice apricot-coloured Ruff and a couple of Green Sandpipers.
I'd long predicted seeing a Red Kite over my workplace at The John Innes Centre and when I first saw a large raptor circling from my office window I thought today was the day. The bird was back-on and could just make out the dark back and slightly downward-flexed wings. I was expecting the bird to circle round and reveal a long forked tail and white wing patches, but when it did turn I was momentarily flummoxed. Instead of red-brown underparts with a big white wing patches, I was confronted with a short-tailed bird with black and white underparts, with a large black carpel patch. "Oh my God! Osprey! Osprey! Look up here - it's a fuckin' Osprey!!!" was my reaction to my somewhat bemused office mates. I grabbed my bins and watched the bird as it soared around, gaining height on a thermal. I rushed round to a the office of a work college who I knew was interested in birds, but by the time we returned to see the bird it had drifted off west.
This now brings my work list to 81. BUBO Work list
Even a 5 a.m. rise wasn't early enough to earn me a spot in the fully-occupied Sheringham seawatching shelter, so at 5.50 a.m I found myself sheltering behind a small wall at the far western end of Sheringham promenade with my scope trained on the 'busiest' area of sea. The seawatching started off quite well, with plenty of skuas, mainly Arctic and Great but also a single Pom. I got onto a possible adult Long-tailed Skua, which promptly disappeared behind a trough, never to emerge from the other end of it. The rush of shearwaters that others had witnessed the day before wasn't apparent this morning. I saw only two shearwaters - one Sooty and one Manx, both heading west, into the wind. There were lost of waterfowl heading west too. A few hundred Common Teal and lots of Common Scoter, along with a few Pintail and a single Greater Scaup. A few Arctic Terns also added to a bit of diversity.
After watching the sea for 4 hours, I headed off to Muckleburgh Hill as it was about the only sheltered spot that might have been harbouring some migrants. A Spotted Flycatcher was nice to see, and the large flock of Chiffchaffs and Long-tailed Tits occupied about an hour of my time.
One of many Chiffchaffs at Muckleburgh Hill.
I then headed off to Cley where I was first on the scene of a juvenile Red-backed Shrike that had just been found at Walsey Hills.
After that I spent the rest of the afternoon on Cley reserve in Dauke's hide, photographing waders and waterfowl. Gargany Some of my efforts are below.
Juvenile Ruff, Cley.
Curlew Sandpiper, juvenile, Cley.
Spotted Redshank, adult winter, Cley.
Curlew Sandpiper, juvenile in flight with Dunlin.
Curlew Sandpiper, juveniles in flight with Dunlin.
