Sunday May 21st - A home weekend

With mixed weather , Saturday  I spent most of the day in Southampton with Adie. An hour in the garden before I left and 2 Honey Buzzards were drifting together for around 15 minutes before disappearing down in the trees on the ridge. A Bullfinch pair are spending a fair time at the feeders and a couple of House Sparrows are foraging around the edge of the pond most mornings where plenty of full grown newts are now visible.

Still Firecrest and Blackcap are heard in the gully, a bedraggled Marsh Tit has been around with young Great Tits and Goldfinch. Great Spotted and Green Woodpeckers are regular and Nuthatch are constantly in their Oak tree.

Thursday 11th May - Norfolk Day 4

A final day and the routine was much the same as there was nothing to go dashing around for.

I started with a walk to Warham Greens again along Stiffkey marshes. Today's camera drama was that my camera strap broke. Finally, the buckle has corroded through, luckily the camera was on the car seat when I picked up the strap so no damage, but slightly annoying.

Anyway the birds were fairly active first thing with a Greenshank on the marsh with the Brent Geese, Whimbrel and a single Spoonbill. I counted 12 singing Whitethroat territories on the mile or so down to Garden Drove also 4 Leseer Whitethroat, 2 WillowWarbler, 2 Blackcap ,  1 Whinchat and 1 Garden Warbler. A  Ring Ouzel shot past calling away and a commotion in the trees where a Tawny Owl was flushed a few times from the onslaught of Great Tits and Blackbirds. A pair of  Grey Partridge were flushed from the path and plenty of the more numerous Red-legged cousins were around.

After breakfast I went back to Titchwell, if nothing else it did seem to hold the most quantity of birds of all the marshes on the coast. At least 8 Red-crested Pochard were on the Fen pool and there was a Turtle Dove purring away near the Fen hide. The Black-headed Gull colony was very, with the 2 or 3 pairs of Mediterranean Gulls visible. The freshmarsh had a couple of Little Terns with the Common Terns 3 Common Sandpiper, a single Ruff and a Whimbrel. The sea had the large flock of Common Scoter, but I couldn't find any Velvets, a couple of Kittiwake flew past with the Sandwich Terns offshore and a small number of Sanderling were on the beach.

I drove around the lanes near Choseley, checking the fields but only found Corn Bunting and more Red-legged Partridge.

I headed to Cley Spy after lunch to see if there was a solution to my Camera strap problem. They very kindly let me have an old single strap, not a long term fix but good enough for a temporary over-the-shoulder one.

I finished up at Coastguards near Cley, walking along the beach. A few Wheatear were on the shingle and the herd of cows in the Eye-field were being followed by a few Yellow Wagtails. I put the scope up and found a male  Blue-headed Wagtail in with them. After a short-while they took flight and headed towards Blakeney there were 10 birds.

A final pub meal and then back home.

A very good trip, with slightly mixed weather, expected this time of year, with a good number of birds, probably 140 species. The waders were a bit thin on the ground although I did see Black-winged Stilt and Dotterel but there was a good selection overall.

Whinchat

Gardne Drove - Warham Greens

slightly overgrown

Avocets

Every small piece of water seems to hold a pair.

Wednesday 10th May - Norfolk day 3

Woke to bright bue skies but it was very cold as there was a slight frost but wind a light NE so a promising direction for the North Norfolk coast and potential migrants so Ikeenly set out at 6am for a walk along the coast from Stiffkey marshes towards Warham Greens.

Whitethroat, Blackcap and Lesser whitethroat were on the footpath to start and after about 10 minutes I stopped to photograph a Hare and realised I didn’t have a SD card in the camera  ! . so I resigned myself to continuing the walk without the ability to take a picture which was annoying as the light was perfect.

More Whitethroat and  Lesser Whitethroat were encountered with vocal Cuckoo, Blackap Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler plenty of Linnets as usual and a few Goldfinch and Yellowhammer.A single Whinchat was in the Sueda and a Redpoll flew over, loads of Whimbrel and a few Swallows moving through was the pre-breakfast haul.

After breakfast, I started heading East, thinking of continuing to Titchwell but instead decided to stop at Holkham and Lady annes Drive . I walked out to Gap along the beach, in vain hope really as a couple of the winter Shorelark flock had still been reported a couple of days ago but there was no sign. I sauntered slowly along the woods Sedge warbler, Lesser Whitethroat (there must have been a real influx of these over the last couple of days) and Treecreeper were added. I reached the Tower hide where there were good views of Marsh Harrier and 3 Spoonbill were on the most obvious pool on the Holkham marshes.

Continuing through to burnham Overy Dunes a Muntjac Deer followed me along the path, into dunes and eventually I saw a Ring Ouzel, which was typically flighty along with a male  Redstart and several Mistle Thrush. A Marsh Harrier that was hunting over a pool full of Sedge fspooked a Bittern, which made a couple of attempts to make itself invisible It was around midday when I walked back to the car and heard news of a Tawny Pipit at Weybourne.

So with little else planned I went there, walked along the coast where you cvould look beyond the fence to a patch of grass in the Weybourne Camp and where the pipit was and it was still there  amongst the grassy tussocks,  the Tawny Pipit gave ok views through the scope.  I bumped into Nik Borrow there who I had been on a few trips with and who has moved to Norfolk .Wheatears Skylark , Red Kite and more Swallows were also there.

I Started back West, stopped at Salthouse, nothing on Granborough hill bar the resident Stonechat and Sand Martins from the cliff colony , A Ringed Plover and Dunlin were in the pool and 2 Yellow Wagtails in the field.

I stopped at the Cley visitor centre and had a cup of Tea  and could tell the Marsh was empty – not just empty of any  unusual birds but of anything at all.

I headed back to Stiffkey marsh and walked towards Stiffkey Fen. The wind had increased but it  was still bright and clear/ Another  Lesser Whitethroat was in the campsite wood, and Marsh Harrier, Brent Geese  and Whimbrel on the saltmarsh. The Fen was fairly quiet other than a small gull roost and apart form  Avocet, Little Ringed Plover was the only wader, but the Fen looked more likely to attract waders than Cley.

Finished walking for the day, I met Ivan in the pub again at dinner. Not that I'm convinced it's entirely accurate by my phone declared I had walked 28km today.,

male Marsh Hariier at holkham

Tawny Pipit - Weybourne

Tawny pipit - Weybourne

Sand Martin - Granborough Hill

male Marsh Harrier - Stiffkey.

Tuesday 9th May - Norfolk Day 2

I was up early and went for a pre-breakfast walk at 6am, from the car park at Stiffkey marshes to Stiffkey Fen. It was still dark black clouds although thankfully the wind had eased and switched slightly more  NE which was a little more promising, but area wasn’t teeming with migrants, so I picked up Whitethroat, 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaff a good number of Linnets and Yellowhammers, a few Swallows flew over,  and loads of Brent Geese, which surprisingly hadn't yet left for their breeding grounds, they have nearly all departed the South coast a few weeks ago.

Then Fen itself had Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler  2 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Greenshank, 2 Dunlin, a small roost of Herring, Lesser Black-backed and one Greater Black-backed Gull and certainly had more wader potential than the high-water freshmarsh at Titchwell. On the return walk  2 Spoonbill flew over the salt marsh with a few flyover Shelduck and the dozen or so Whimbrel scattered over the marshes.

After breakfast I decided to start further East and drove to Salthouse, walking over Granborough Hill to Kelling water meadows, it was still cold and windy. Feeling more like winter was confirmed by the first bird I saw in the field, a Merlin , which was squatting down before flying 100m and doing the same. The hill had the resident Stonechat, and a Whitethroat with a few Sand Martins which were probably nesting on the cliff face. There was very  little on walk to Kelling with 2 Yellow Wagtails in the Cow field and Sedge and Reed Warblers around the edge, with Lapwing, Teal, Gadwall on the pool . A Wheatear was in the Merlin field on way back to the car.

I relocated to the East bank, but felt the results would be similar . Bearded Tits were in the reeds staying mostly out of view, Common Sandpiper and Little Ringed Plover were on the Serpentine pools. With Arnolds Marsh completely empty and nothing whatsoever passing on the sea. I walked along the shingle to have a look at what was previously the North Scrape which was also completely empty other than an Avocet  pair (which seem to occupy every small pool of water)

The Winter floods when the sea breached the area has obviously been devastating at Cley and there must be too much saline in what used to be very productive scrapes. Even compared with Titchwell there was very little birdlife in evidence , it may take a few years of careful management and hopefully no more Winter Storm surges to recover.

I had a cup of Tea at the Cley visitor centre but had no inclination to walk to the hides as I could see that the main pools were empty so instead drove over to Burnham Overy and set out towards the dunes and to  Gun Hill, the day had brightened a little although the wind as still fairly strong.

From the footpath there is a reasonable view over Holkham estate marshes and the various pools did seem to hold a number of birds. Swallows and  Swifts had built up and were passing through. A Great White Egret was seen in flight then a Spoonbill. Once at the start of the dunes the Sueda bushes near the boardwalk which were in the most sheltered spot harboured a number of Wheatear, a Redstart and a Lesser Whitethroat. I spent a couple of hours wandering the dunes and other than Meadow Pipit and Linnet the migrants were  more Wheatear in total c25 another Redstart and 3 more Lesser Whitethroat were added.  I went back to the car and drove back to Stiffkey. The Coincidence of the evening I bumped into Ivan Lang in the pub who is the warden at Pagham Harbour and had been on an RSPB course in Norwich and was staying at the Stiffkey campsite for a couple of night.

A good day, with another 100 species recorded although nothing spectacular but was still nice to be out all day despite the wind.

Stonechat

Linnet

Lesser Whitethroat

Wheatear

Monday 8th May - Norfolk

A very welcome break from work and my first few days off since Christmas, I decided to go to Norfolk, realising that I had not spent any time there in Spring for many years. I left home at 4am, determined to miss any M25 rush hour and duly arrived untroubled at Lakenheath Fen at  6.30am

I hadn't really bargained for the weather, it was very cold with thick black cloud with  a strong and strengthening Northerly wind. It was freezing, requiring several  layers plus a winter coat and topped off with wooly hat and gloves.

It is a wonderfully developed reserve since I first visited here some 20 years ago when it was mainly a focus for the Golden Orioles which used the Poplar plantations, now the last Golden Orioles were recorded breeding in 2009 but they have successfully managed the water in the fens the birdlife is abundant although still sounds a little incongruous with the F16 US fighter jets from RAF Lakenheath and the trainline which runs parallel to the reserve both creating a slightly industrial background noise.

Despite the inclement weather, as soon as I was out of the car the warblers  were in good voice, albeit buried at the bottom of any bush hiding from the elements In the vicinity of the car park, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Cettis Warbler, Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Garden Warbler backed up by a Cuckoo, gave a cacophony of sound that invited the sun to appear (it didn't !).  At the Washland viewpoint a  Glossy Ibis stood briefly all alone before heading off and immediately a Black Tern flew up the river then away and a Greenshank called loudly overhead.

Along the riverbank Little Egret and Grey Heron were in the margins and walking on the main embankment footpath the warblers continued their songs Sedge, Reed , Cettis, Garden Warbler, Chiffchaff and Whitethroat in abundance, but shelter was a bonus at least there was a little relief off the main path toward the Fen viewpoint, although there were not any new species added here.

I continued walking to Mere Hide, set in the reeds, for a bit of shelter a Coot, Reed Bunting and passing Marsh Harriers were added before I continued on towards Joist Fen, the farthest viewpoint. There have been reports of up to 50 Hobbies hawking over the reeedbeds late afternoon but the only falcon I saw was  a Peregrine. I heard a Bittern booming on the walk not far from the path, hidden in the reeds then I spent 45 minutes at  Joist Fen viewpoint, lots of Marsh Harriers, Swifts, Swallows, Sand and House Martins. Then finally 2 Bitterns took flight and headed towards the railway track.

Back at the car by 9.30am I then drove to  Welney WWT, which is not far. There had been no reports for a couple of days of the Black-winged Stilts that had been reported before the weekend so I was surprised to find 2 Black Winged Stilts fairly distant on the small pool at the back of the field known as Lady Fen, a few hundred yards of the reserve entrance. When I mentioned this on arrival the reserve staff seemed indifferent as if they didn’t want guests to know, my guess is they have seen some potential breeding activity and want these birds protected. Elsewhere, more Sedge Warblers were vocal and it was nice to see plenty of Tree Sparrows, 3 smart Ruff were in the lagoon from the centre and from the main hide 8 Ringed Plover 2 Little Ringed Plovers, 8 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Common Sandpiper and as many as 10 Whooper Swans who have obviously decided not to migrate back to colder climes- today I can understand this.

I then drove up to the Norfolk coast first heading to to Choseley on news that Dotterel had been seen in the morning.  Exact directions were a bit odd, which obviously confused other birders, but there was only one obvious (very large) Pea field which initially held no birds. Then 4 Dotterel  flew in & landed fairly distantly  but enabled good scope views, after spending a good while with the Dotterel until they had enough wandering around and settled down amongst the peas I went to Titchwell. It was still freezing as I walked out along the main footpath the wind seemed to have strengthened, the water levels on the freshmarsh appeared high for waders, holding only 3 Ruff and 2 Little Ringed Plovers and a Common Sandpiper with the breeding Avocets which were everywhere, but the higher water in the marsh was obviously good protection or the breeding Black-headed Gulls and a few Mediterranean Gulls.  The sea was choppy and cold and the distant  Common Scoter flock was barely visible. A Hobby flew over on way back to the car.

I drove to Stiffkey late afternoon, where I was staying and it had been a great day with 100 Species recorded..

Distant Glossy Ibis first thing

Perhaps doesn't convey the dark clouds, strong northerly winds and cold conditions !

Coot in one of the calmer pools

A wind-blown Whitethroat - I was pleased I managed to take the picture as the branch was swaying though 120 degrees

Bittern

Sedge Warbler at Welney

Tree Sparrows still doing well at Welney

4 Dotterel in flight

Landing in the Pea field

male dotterel - a bit distant but good views through the scope.

Grey Heron at Titchwell

Common Sandpiper

Saturday 6th May - Another Sussex Coastal Visit

A limited availability today as I had to pick Adies up from Bordon by 11am which meant I could only manage a short sea-watch from Selsey.

There had been a fair amount of mid-week action and today it would appear that the winds were shifting late morning so again later in the day would potentially be better, especially with reports of c20 Pomarine Skuas heading East past Portland very early.
 Despite this with low expectations, and the fact I had to leave by 10am to collect Adie from Bordon. thete was at least 1 Pomarine Skua which flew past around 7.30am  with 2 Arctic Skuas over 100 Commic Terns, 3 Hobby a Peregrine and a constant stream of inbound Swallows made for a good few hours.

Great Northern Diver 2
Red-throated Diver 2
Common Scoter 21
Fulmar
Guillemot 1
Razorbill 1
Common / Arctic Tern 124
Sandwich Tern 32
Little Tern 4
Pomarine Skua 1
Arctic Skua 2
Kittiwake 2
Swallows (est 400+)
Sand Martin 3
House Martin `10
Swift 2
Bar tailed Godwit
Sanderling 8
Hobby 3
Peregrine 1
Yellow Wagtail 4

Rather poor pictures below of the Pom

At home later on Saturday a Red Kite drifted over and 25+ Swifts went through under a thick cloud. A Cuckoo called from one of the Oaks which was the first at home this year. Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Firecrest are still singing in the Gully  near the house and one of the Robins now has young.

A walk from the house on Sunday morning to the furnace pond counted 5 Blackcap 4 Chiffchaff , 4 Garden Warbler 1 Whitethroat,1 Firecrest, 2 Skylark so other than the Garden Warblers which weren't there a few weeks ago the activity was slightly reduced. There was no sign of the Woodlark or Yellowhammer.

Monday 1st May - Spring Bank Holiday

The heavy frosts during the week had a toll on my potatoes ! and I had heavy snow of Thursday but I was in Zurich for the day. I heavy cold prevailed but it was fleeting and by Friday I had shaken it.
The wind looked promising over the weekend for coastal birding . A light SSE on Saturday at Selsey produced a decent return. I was there before 6am (by no means the first )

Common Tern 35
Sandwich Tern 20
Little Tern 5
Common Scoter 236
Velvet Scoter 4
Great Northern Diver 4
Red-throated Diver 1
Eider 1
Dark-Bellied Brent Goose 8
Bonxie 29
Arctic Skua 10
Sanderling 1
Dunlin 2
Whimbrel 13
Bar-tailed Godwit 144
Little Egret 1
Wheatear 1
Whitethroat 1

Wheatear landed on the beach

Dark phase Arctic Skua

Sunday was a domestic day, including trying to rescue the potatoes and other plants that had suffered with the frost and it looked like I might have missed the main sea passage as the strong SEasterlies had brought good numbers of birds along the coast with the seeimingly the best day for the prized Pomarine  Skuas.

So I headed back to Selsey very early on Bank Holiday Monday, thinking at best I might pick up a few scraps. It turned out rather well although it was crammed into an hour between 6.30am and 7.30am when the highlight was 12 Pom skuas with a flock of 8 being the best .

Sandwich Tern 42
Common Tern 73
Little Tern 18
Arctic Tern 8
Roseate Tern 1
Pale Bellied Brent Goose 2
Dark Bellied Brent Goose 6
Pomarine Skua 12 (1: 6.25, 8: 6.45, 1:6.50, 1: 7.45)
Arctic Skua 5
Bonxie 1
Great Northern Diver 4
Red-throated Diver 1
Little Gull 1
Med Gull 1
Whimbrel 5
Sanderling 4
Common Sandpiper 2
Swallow 7
Sand Martin 1
House Martin 2

The remainder of the day was cold with showers, even the sheep kept under their shelter most of the afternoon.

Pale-bellied Brent Geese

Intermediate phase Arctic Skua