A mixed weekend....

Note: The post below has beeen updated! (18/6)

Day one...

After missing the Purple Heron by less than 5 minutes, the previous week at Titchwell, I was somewhat eager to see it second time round. My only other sighting of Purple Heron was a Juvenile at Minsmere in August 02, that flew over the reeds and perched in a Birch tree! Misses, include one at Cley and another at Welney, and so far, one at Titchwell! The longer I stood, the more this felt like another dip... Heron 2 (I have missed this bird twice) Roche 0 (I have yet to see the bird!) Though the Little Gulls did their best to entertain the spectators, the Heron failed to make an appearance within 2 hours of waiting... better luck next time. A quick stop at Holkham failed to locate any Spoonbills, but the morning was saved by the local Montys which gave great views en route to Stiffkey. A search of Stiffkey Fen revealed a single Common Sandpiper, whilst the flooded field just beyond the village revealed even less... Whilst realising that the day wasn't getting much better, our luck was seemingly reversed, with news of Wood Warbler, Firecrest, and Golden Oriole on Blakeney point. After a short moments pondering we were continuing along the coast and starting the trudge along the point.
Reaching the point it was soon clear that our luck had not been reversed, nor improved, but made rather worse... The birds had all departed. Out of the 3, it was the Wood Warbler that I was after. The last (and first) one I saw was in the Lake District in 01.

Day 2

We know day one was a disaster... what of day 2? It would be only fair that this was better. Then again, it wouldn't have to be particularly great to be better than day one. Better?! Of course it was better! what a crap weekend that would have been... The Purple Heron finally gave itself up at Titchwell, with a smart Temminck's Stint on the freshmarsh and my 1st ever Grey-headed Wagtail. Thats more like it.

Killdeer

The pick of the bunch...

Closer than the Breydon bird and in better light (most of the time!). By the end of the day, the number of people wayching the bird had dropped to less than a dozen. This remained the case for at least the last hour of the day, until the light put a stop to any more photos...

The patch so far

Since August 2002 I have managed to record 193 species (BOU- Feral Pigeon) on the patch at Snettisham, with 6 patch ticks so far in 06...

Smew - January 1st on the pits at the RSPB, later recorded in the main channel in the Costal park... Bizzare

Hawfinch - Found early one morning in the tops of the pines at the back of the car park in the Costal Park. Why I didnt look at it straight away, despite my 1st thoughts being "My, that looks like it could be a Hawfinch", I will never know!

Red Kite - Found on the same day as the Hawfinch, double patch tick!

Mealy Redpoll - Caught and ringed with about 9 Lesser Redpoll























Common Crane - 8 birds that came to pay us a visit, after returning from a netround. Fantastic views as they circled and called overhead, before drifting out over the wash and out of sight































Digibinned Cranes

White Stork (Life tick!) - Seen 15 minutes after the Cranes!

Patch ticks, waiting to be ticked...

Great Skua
Arctic Tern
Goosander
Long-tailed Duck
Razorbill
Nightingale
Firecrest
Yellow legged Gull
Lesser pecker
Barred Warbler
Richards Pipit

and maybe a rare wader or two....

Reading Laughter.... Take 2

As you can see, our 2nd attempt at the Laughing Gull was rather more successfull....



























You can also tell that the light was.... Poor. Finished with the Drake RNDuck nearby at Theale Gravel pits. Considering the distance/light/rain I am pleasantly surprised to be able to show you any photos of the bird at all!

So...

here it is