Year List Continues - 3rd January 2025

 It was Jayne and my last day in Norfolk today, so we made the most of it, and added another 18 species to the Year List.

The first new bird of the day was Egyptian Goose (65), when 2 birds were spotted in a field whilst driving to RSPB Titchwell. Another species, Cattle Egret (66) was also seen, in a field by the A149, as we drove along. I was very pleased to spot this one, as it was, I think, my first self-found, in Britain. It posed beautifully, with the Highland Cattle!

Cattle Egret

We arrived at Titchwell, and, after feeding the local Robins and Blackbirds with a few left over mince pies, and spotting our first Song Thrush (67) of the year, in the car park, we went onto the reserve. We walked straight down the main path and stopped off in Island Hide, where we spotted 50+ Brent Geese, Coot (68), Redshank, Wigeon, Teal, Pintail and a single adult Mediterranean Gull (69) with the Herring and Black-headed Gulls.

Mediterranean Gull (and friends)

Continuing down the path, we spotted 6 Black-tailed Godwits, Curlew and a single Spotted Redshank (70). 

Spotted Redshank

Great-crested Grebe (71), Goldeneye - 2 females (72), Grey Plover (73), Ringed Plover (74), Stonechat (75), Avocet (76), Reed Bunting (77) and Linnet (78) were also added at this point. A single Black-winged Stilt was seen, but, as it was wearing a plastic ring, and is an escaped bird, it can't be added to the Year List!

A quick seawatch was pretty tricky, in the freezing wind, and we only managed to spot 6 Sanderlings, 12 Oystercatchers and  3 Turnstones!!

The last species of the day were: Red-breasted Merganser (1 male on the reserve - 79), Rock Pipit (80), Dunnock (81 - 1 in the car park) and Red-legged Partridge (6 seen in a field on the drive back -82).

Norfolk Birds

Jayne and I were in Norfolk for a few days this week. We visited RSPB Titchwell on Tuesday, where we spotted all the usual suspects, including my first year tick, Red-throated Diver, since 1st September.

We stayed in Blakeney, and had a few walks around the marshes there. Bearded Tits were seen in the reeds by the main path, and gave some great views. Other birds seen here included; Black-headed, Lesser Black-backed, Great Black-backed and Herring Gull, Marsh Harrier and Brent and Pink-footed Geese

Bearded Tit

I also spotted a couple of Muntjac Deer in a nearby garden, including this female.

Muntjac Deer

On the 30th I had a couple of hours sea watching at Cley, where I managed to see Gannets, Guillemots, Ringed Plover, Red and Black-throated Divers, and, best of all, a very distant Great Skua (year list).

Our last trip was to the marshes at Burnham Overy, where we spotted Little and Great White Egret (2), Redshank, Grey Plover, Knot, Dunlin, Curlew and a Kingfisher.

Year List update:
192 - Red-throated Diver
193 - Great Skua

Norfolk Birding - August 2018

Last weekend Jayne and I spent 3 days in Norfolk. We travelled down on Sunday and popped into RSPB Frampton Marsh to catch up with a Stilt Sandpiper - a lifer. We got good 'scope views as it fed in amongst hundreds of Black-tailed Godwits out on the Reedbed Marsh. Here's a distant, heavily cropped photo.

Stilt Sandpiper

Whilst in Norfolk we had a walk around Blakeney Marshes where we got great views of a Whinchat. 

Whinchat

We also visited RSPB Titchwell, where we managed to find, amongst others,  10 "year ticks" (numbers 189 - 198) and a Garganey.

Year List update:
188 – Stilt Sandpiper
189 – Bearded Tit
190 – Spoonbill
191 – Spotted Redshank
192 – Bar-tailed Godwit
193 – Grey Plover
194 – Common Scoter
195 – Red-crested Pochard
196 – Pintail
197 – Tree Sparrow
198 – Golden Plover

RSPB Titchwell

Whenever Jayne and I are in Norfolk we like to visit the Titchwell RSPB Reserve. We spent 3 hours there this afternoon, and had some excellent sightings including 6 new "year ticks".

The "best" new bird seen today was a Pectoral Sandpiper. Not only was this my first for a couple of years, but it was also my best ever views, and I even managed to get a half decent photo or two.

Pectoral Sandpiper

The other "year ticks" seen today were: Jack Snipe (brief sightings of 2 bobbing birds), Bearded Tit (heard, but not seen from the main path), Grey Plover (4 seen), Spotted Redshank (1 winter plumaged bird) and Bar-tailed Godwit (6 on the beach).

Bar-tailed Godwit

Amongst the many other birds seen today were: Marsh Harrier, Avocet, Dunlin, Redshank, Little Stint, Snipe, Sanderling, Turnstone, Oystercatcher, Golden Plover, Ruff, Cetti's Warbler, Redwing, Grey Heron, Little Egret and Black-tailed Godwit.

Little Egret

Back-tailed Godwit

Year List update:
177 – Bearded Tit
178 – Bar-tailed Godwit
179 – Grey Plover
180 – Jack Snipe
181 – Pectoral Sandpiper

182 – Spotted Redshank

Colour-ringed Gulls - an update

Earlier in the summer I blogged about 2 different color ringed gulls that I'd seen around the country, see here and here. Well, I've had details back from 1 of the 2 gulls, so I thought I'd pass on the information.

First the Great Black-backed Gull, that I saw in RSPB Titchwell. At the time I thought it was a Norwegian bird, so I was very pleased when I received an e-mail from Norway confirming this. The bird in question had been ringed as a pullus in July 2014, and had been recorded 3 times in the area in the next few days. My record was the first sighting since then, and the first one outside Norway.

In addition to these 2 gulls, I also spotted a couple of colour ringed  Herring Gulls in St Ives, Cornwall last week. Again, a quick search of the European Color ringing website ( see here), suggested that these 2 birds were local born birds, and an email from the West Cornwall Ringing Group confirmed this. Both gulls had been ringed in St Ives in June 2014 as part of  a study to investigate the movements, and feeding habits, of these gulls. Both birds have been recorded in St Ives, with one visiting the nearby RSPB Hayle Estuary Reserve.  Here's a couple of pictures of both birds.

W:185

 W:195

Year List tops 150

After a week away in Norfolk I thought it was about time I updated the Year List, especially as I've managed to reach the 150 mark again.

The first new addition, Barn Owl, was actually spotted in Derbyshire a few weeks ago. It suddenly appeared flying over the road as I drove to work through Apperknowle.

The other new birds were all recorded during the last week in Norfolk. Red-legged Partridge was seen in the fields around Sharrington. Sandwich Tern and Knot were seen at the Norfolk Wildlife Trust's Cley Reserve, whilst the two Godwit species (both in breeding plumage!), Spoonbill and Bearded Tit, were all recorded at the RSPB's Titchwell Reserve.

Whilst at Titchwell, I also spotted a juvenile colour-ringed Great Black-backed Gull. A quick check on the internet suggested that it had been ringed earlier this year in Norway- nice! Here's the colour ring.

JT187 

Colour-ringed Great Black-backed Gull

On the way back to the centre, we came across these 2 juvenile Reed Warblers that were sitting in the reeds just 20 ft or so from the path. There was a 3rd young bird lower down in the reeds as well, and whilst stood there, an adult bird came in to feed them.

Reed Warbler

Year List update:

146 - Barn Owl

147 - Red-legged Partridge

148 - Ruff

149 - Sandwich Tern

150 - Knot

151 - Black-tailed Godwit

152 - Bar-tailed Godwit

153 - Spoonbill

154 - Bearded Tit

Norfolk Highlights

It's been half term this week, so I spent a couple of days in Norfolk with Jayne. We were based in Wells-next-the Sea, and whilst there, we spotted a few nice birds, including a couple of "year ticks".

On arrival in Wells we walked down the estuary to the beach. Black-headed, Common and Herring Gulls were present all along the river. There were dozens of Dark-bellied Brent Geese  present on the river, including this family party of 2 adults and 4 juveniles.

Brent Goose

 

When we arrived on the beach there were dozens of Redwings and a few Fieldfares flying "in-off" the sea.

Next morning we drove down to Holkham Hall, and parked up on St Ann's Drive where we saw Pink-footed Geese grazing in the surrounding fields. We then walked down through the woods, and out on to the beach to scan the sea. We spotted 4 Red-throated Divers, half a dozen Common Scoters, and the two "year ticks"; Velvet Scoter and a winter-plumaged Razorbill. A couple of Oystercatchers and 5 Sanderlings were also seen feeding along the edge of the water. On our way back to the car we spotted a couple of Redwings and this Blackbird feeding on berries in the dunes. I think the white scalloping on the back of this bird points to it being a "continental" bird.

Blackbird

Our last stop in Norfolk was RSPB Titchwell. We only had an hour or so here, but we did get some great views of this winter-plumaged Black-tailed Godwit, along with hundreds of  Golden Plover, a few Dunlin, Teal, Shoveler, a Little Egret and a calling Cetti's Warbler.

Black-tailed Godwit

Year List update:
175 -Velvet Scoter
176 - Razorbill

Norfolk Highlights

Just back from a couple of days in Norfolk, where I visited a couple of good reserves and added 17 species to the "Year List".

First stop was the Norfolk Wildlife Trust's Weeting Heath reserve. This heathland reserve is the place to see Stone Curlews, and we were lucky to see a pair from one of the hides.

Stone Curlew

After seeing the curlews, we drove across to RSPB Titchwell on the north Norfolk coast and spent 2 hours walking around, where we added another 16 new species for the year. Highlights here were a pair of Bearded Tits, breeding  plumaged Spotted Redshank and Grey Plover and a booming Bittern.

Grey Plover

Year List update:

119 – Stone Curlew
120 – Brent Goose (Dark-bellied)
121 – Red-crested Pochard
122 – Bearded Tit
123 – Spotted Redshank
124 – Greenshank
125 – Common Scoter
126 – Common Tern
127 – Bittern (booming)
128 – Little Egret
129 – Sand Martin
130 – Little Ringed Plover
131 – Grey Plover
132 – Knot
133 – Bar-tailed Godwit
134 – Sedge Warbler
135 – Cetti’s Warbler