David's Birding Diary

Rossi

2008-02-18T11:18:00.000-08:00

A glaring gap in the life list finally filled, with excellent views of the Westcliffe Ring billed Gull. The rest of the day was spent on Sheppey, finishing in style when all 35 Marsh harriers, that had made their way accross the marsh from the RSPB reserve, took to the air together... a fantastic site. Aswell as the Marsh Harriers, the viewing ramp managed to produce a distant Short eared Owl, ringtail Hen Harrier, Common Buzzard, Bewicks Swans, a couple of Green Sandpipers and a flock of at least 60 Corn Bunting. A small group of Bramblings were seen on the way down, feeding in one of the ploughed cover crops, but despite being seen shortly before arrival, the Rough legged Buzzard refused to play.

Slavonian Grebe Still lingering on Burrowes

Green Woodpecker resting on the bank in front of Hanson Hide

Bearded Tit One of up to 20 birds giving excellent views from the viewing ramp at Hookers pits.

Wallcreeper

2008-02-03T12:47:00.000-08:00

Part of the assembled crowd on the beach at Bolougne, a large one by French standards (even though more than half of the birders present were British) The previous day saw just three birders present!

A little too far off for decent pictures but still great views through the scope. After a relatively short wait, the bird was located on the cliffs to left of the steps, where it made its way further down towards Bolougne, before being lost and later relocated near the steps. After a 10 minute wait it reappeared in its favoured spot, where it had last been seen, and stayed within the same area of the cliff face, where it fed for at least another 10 minutes, before dissapearing round the corner and making its way towards the Fulmar colony. Several Mediterranean and a 2nd year Glaucous gull were on the beach along with Crested Tits and STTreecreepers seen in the woods nearby. Despite its persistant calling and close range the Black Woodpecker refused to show itself...

Glaucous Gull

The bird in action...

Spot the birdie

2008-01-28T09:57:00.000-08:00

Somewhere, hidden amongst the passing Gannet and Kittiwake, is a Sooty Shearwater.... Hand held against the scope, hence the large dark ring creeping into the right hand corner of the picture

Slavonian Grebe

2008-01-25T11:19:00.000-08:00

Finally.... something worth posting! This Slavonian Grebe (one of two on the reserve) has been giving great views on Burrowes pit throughout the week, often swimming close to the bank just below the visitor centre. Two Chiffchaff showed well in Lydd wood on the way to Scotney pit, where the Long tailed Duck flew into view and proceeded to feed close into the bank. As nice a bird as it may have been, the best sight of the day went to the group of 11 Smew (8 redhead and 3 drakes) swimming and diving together in front of Scott hide late afternoon.

Recent pictures

2008-01-17T09:41:00.000-08:00

Shag: Still on Burrowes Pit following its first appearance at the begining of November after a spell of rough weather.

Red crested Pochard: One of two pairs on New Ecavations

White fronted Goose: Part of a group of 14 birds that spend a short while on Burrowes pit during the morning appeared with reinforcements later on in the day when 38 birds came in to roost. A Dungeness tick! (191)

Overdue update

2008-01-16T11:23:00.000-08:00

Red necked grebe on the Long Pits

Since the death of my most recent camera I have taken very few pictures, only resorting to the origional Nickon on a handfull of occasions, hence the lack of any reacent updates. Whilst I wait to upload my most recent pictures, heres a few from the archives.... A Purple Sandpiper that I found on the outflow pipes at the end of Denge Marsh road (8th reserve record!)

A good start to the year at Dungeness with Novembers Shag still present daily on Burrowes pit and a Slavonian Grebe giving good views on New excavations, along with four Red crested Pochard and up to 21 Smew. January 16th saw 38 White fronted Geese drop in to roost on Burrowes pit (a group of 14 were present in the morning) a Dartford Warbler near the viewing ramp, and an adult Little Gull, a rare occurance during the winter, also on Burrowes. A 1st year Caspian Gull joined the gulls in the roost, and at sea thousands of Guillemot continue to pour westwards off of the point. Also off the reserve, the Red necked Grebe continues its stay on the long Pits.

A last visit to Norfolk proved very productive, with three patch ticks (Purple Sandpiper, Water pipit and Goosander) and the Cley White crowned Sparrow as well as Bittern, Lapland Buntings, Great Grey Shrike, Black Brant and extra Water Pipits at Cley. These take my Snettisham list to a total of 209 BOU, leaving Manx Shearwater as the most notable (and wanted) omission from the patch list!

Dunge Gulls

2007-12-05T05:29:00.000-08:00

Yellow-legged Gull (1st winter)

One at least 14 diffferent Caspian Gulls that I have seen on the reserve over the past couple of months. Unfortunately I have had to revert to using the old Nickon camera, hence why the images arent that great. Hopefully all will be put right over christmas...

French seawatching

2007-11-20T03:36:00.000-08:00

Part of the hardcore Dungeness seawatching crew braving the elements on the other side of the Channel at Le Clipont, probably the best seawatching site in France, standing from 07:00 till 17:15. Not the large numbers of birds we were hoping for but still a nice variety... 12 Leaches Petrels, 5 Sabines Gulls, 6 Pomarine Skuas, 8 Long tailed Skuas, Grey Phalarope, 20 Sooty Shearwaters and at least 17 Manx. Plus numerous groups of Arctic tern, Black Tern and Little Gulls and lots of very close Great Skuas. Conditions were pretty wet and windy with waves regularly sweeping over the pier, and rucksacks nearly dragged backwards into the sea. Had the wind been much strongher the trip would have probably called off 1) because it would have been almost impossible to watch anything going past and 2) because of the potential safety risk, demonstrated later on in early November when a car was swept from the pier and lost to sea...

Juvenile Arctic tern on ther beach by the fishing boats at Dungeness

Autumn moan

2007-11-09T11:04:00.000-08:00

Dungeness passerine highlights....

August: 2 Wryneck and a Nightingale

September 1 Wryneck remaining 2+ Yellow browed Warbler

October: More Yellow browed Warblers and a brief Great grey Shrike no Pendunline Tits

Compared with Holme...

Red backed Shrike
Great grey Shrike
Richards Pipit
Yellow browed warblers
Barred Warblers
Greenish Warbler
Raddes Warbler

And I have been told (on more than one occasion) that Holme is crap...

The recent lack of pictures is to be blamed not only on the lack of birds, but the fact that my Camera has eventually decided to pack in. There might be one or two pictures to upload, once I get around to transfering some of Octobers images to the computer.

Whilst there is still time yet for this years Pendunlines to turn up (and maybe a Dusky or late Pallas's) I hold out little hope of there being much else... autumn has died. Out of the above I managed to connect with a single Wryneck and Yellow browed Warbler. Grasshopper Warbler was a good bird for the reserve and Ring Ouzels turned up in some reasonable numbers at the start of October. Following the recent trend in migrant numbers, some species were very scarce... 2 Garden Warblers, 3 Pied Flycatchers and 5 Spotted Flycatchers. My personal tally for the three species for the whole of the autumn.

Its a good job I like Caspian Gulls....

Dungeness Crane

2007-09-19T11:33:00.000-07:00

After initially finding the bird in flight, it dropped down into one of the fields behing hookers pits and and was watched at very close range as it rested in the same spot for well over an hour. Despite this it was only seen by 6 or 7 birders and could not be found the next day. The first group of Redwing put in an appearance and 5 Song Thrush were present around the reserve today. Numbers of Robin have been gradually increasing and Chiffchaff have largely replaced Willow Warblers, with at lest 6 birds present in the pines at the top of ARC, and numerous others around the reserve. More pics to be uploaded shortly...

Common Whitethroat, Arctic Tern and Nottingham Catchfly, a nationally rare species commonly found on the peninsula.

Goodbye Norfolk...

2007-07-20T03:38:00.000-07:00

My last visit to Norfolk before dissapearing down to Dungeness...

Sunrise over Ken Hill Wood looking from the challets behind the sea defence just North of the RSPB reserve. Despite regular early morning high tide visits I failed to find the rare wader I was after (knothing in particular, just something rare) If you are wondering why there is naff all reported from the RSPB reserve its because there are bugger all people looking. During my 5 or 6 long visits the total number of birders must have come to no more than a dozen. less than half of those had scopes, and the rest probably wouldnt know an Albatross if it hit them in the face (ouch...) One can only imagine the number of rare waders that must get missed... White rumped and Broad billed Sandpiper must be pretty much annual! Wader highlights invluded 3 Green Sands, 5 Curlew Sands, 6 Spotted Redshank, 36 Greenshank, regular Whimbrels (including 3 over the bungalow) and the first Golden Plovers of the Autumn. The Guillemots seen on the pits would have been the undoubted highlight of the week.... pity they turned out to be Cormorants.

Larus sp Snettisham RSPB As far as im concerned this bird is a Caspian Gull... if anyone knows any reasons why it isnt one then please let me know!

Part of the crowd looking into the garden of number 10 for Norfolks 2nd (but 1st twitchable) Dark eyed Junco. Being at the back of the crowd (where you stood F all chance of seing the bird) gave us a distinct advantage when the garden of no 6 was declared open, allowing us to be some of the first people into the garden offering prime viewing positions.

Not just a picture of any old telegraph pole, but one with a Nightjar on top (right hand wire) Taken at Sandringham opposite the 2nd turning for the Wolferton triangle (if coming from Snetts/Hunstanton.

Roseates

2007-07-04T05:39:00.000-07:00

The main attraction... One of three Roseate Terns present on Arnold's Marsh Cley. This was only the third time I have seen Roseate Tern and the first that I have observed in Norfolk, away from breeding areas, this can be a very difficult bird to connect with.

Arctic Tern present alongside Common Tern on Arnold's Marsh (middle bird) - Note the visibly long tail streamers, short legs, dark red, shorter bill, and the overall colour tone lacking the contrast between the white breast and grey wings of Common Tern.

Winter plumaged Curlew Sandpiper Snettisham RSPB. Most of the birds we see are either moulting adults with remnants of bright red summer plumage (July/August) or fresh looking Juveniles (mostly in September). The longer down curved beak, longer legs, larger size and white rump (a key year-round feature only shared by 2 other, much rarer waders (White-rumped and Stilt Sandpipers) can still help you ID the species even when the plumage may be fairly bland.

Hunstanton social club

2007-06-27T14:03:00.000-07:00

No sign of the Alpine Swift returning to its roost but a pleasant social gathering all the same. The adult White winged Black Tern showed well at Welney WWT on the way up, and the Little Bittern reappeared at Titchwell RSPB after an absence of 3 days when it was assumed to have dissapeared from the reserve. This was only my 3rd lifer of the year and showed well for at least 15 minutes perched in the reeds to the left of the main ditch, making short flights from the ditch to the edge of the main pool.

Spring Half term

2007-06-27T13:03:00.000-07:00

The first few days of half term were dominated by strong winds and rain with several days stuck mostly indoors. The one reason to be outside was because of the good numbers of Manx Shearwaters passing along the coast (200+ past the Norfolk sea watching capital of Sheringham) and the chance for one or two to stray into The Wash, providing me with my MOST WANTED Snettisham tick. Though it was clear that there WERE birds moving offshore, the seemingly endless rain and the condensation on the lens every time I looked through the eye piece made it impossible to look through the scope and keep an eye on the sea for any length of time. A group of 5 Kittiwake close in shore were the highlight of several failed attempts, including a short lived 4:30 start in truly awful conditions. Not that Kittiwake wouldn't normally count as a highlight, these birds were a delight to see... it just wasn't the bird I was after.

Whitethroat at Stewartby Lake... taken after dipping the Caspian Tern

Scarce migrants made an appearance towards the end of the week, and included a wide scattering of Red backed Shrikes, one of which we saw in the reedbed at Cley NWT (my first ever male) Honey Buzzards showed well at Ryburgh and Nightjars gave good views around Sandringhm (the distinct lack of midges making the experience rather more comfortable than it has been in the past!) A male Woodchat Shrike turned up on one of the fencelines running across Holme Marsh, giving reasonable views once the heat of the day had died down, but the main prize came in the form of Norfolk's first spring Booted Warbler which showed well on and off along Blakeney point, just before half way house. On my return from the plantation the crowd had dwindled to just 5 observers, and it wasn't long before I was the only person left watching the bird. With a bit of patience the bird showed well at fairly close range and was my 2nd sighting of the species, following the West Runton individual in September 2003.

Spoonbill and Arctic Tern, seen during the course of the week, both counted as local patch ticks, taking my total Snettisham List to 205 species (92% of which has been self found) with 181 species seen from or within the Coastal Park recording area.

Dungeness

2007-06-27T08:42:00.000-07:00

My accomodation for the 6 months... right in the middle of the reserve at the back of the car park

From July 21st up untill December 22nd I will have adopted a new local patch down at Dungeness Kent volunteering for the RSPB on a long term basis. Staying so close to the pits, and being the first person out on the reserve in the morning, I should be in with the chance to find one or two decent birds.... Squacco Heron, Glossy Ibis, Great spotted Cuckoo, Audoins Gull, Laughing Gull, Red footed Falcon, Woodchat Shrike, Melodious Warbler, Red rumped Swallow, Bee eater and Great Reed Warbler all seen so far in 2007.

My own predictions...

Penduline Tit
Tawny Pipit
Raddes Warbler
Short-toed Treecreeper
White winged Black tern (Not rare enough? all right then... Bridled)

Baleric Shearwater should be farily easy and Long tailed Skua should find its way onto my temporary patch list, both of which would be lifers.

Bank holiday weekend

2007-05-09T07:19:00.000-07:00

Sedge Warbler at Heacham South Beach

Not the regular Snettisham Tawny but one of the birds from Holme, roosting in the bushes at the end of the East Bank (taken with the 823). The male Firecrest was seen singing in the pines and one of the drake Garganeys made a quick visit to broadwater before dissapearing into one of the channels out on the marsh. The 2 Spoonbills were seen from the seawall at Burnham Norton, with Little Tern, Turtle Dove and Montys also finging their way onto the year list (187 I believe). Sunday morning was spent with the Iberian Chiffchaff, with a Saturday morning stop at Grafham to see the female Wilsons Phalarope, showing much closer than last years bird in Bucks.

Shuttleworth Lesser spot

2007-04-29T13:46:00.000-07:00

Despite the Swiss Gardens being just at the back of College, and Spending many spare hours searching for them, Lesser spotted Woodpeckers had always eluded me. 3 days after hearing one I was finally able to track one down and enjoyed the best views I have ever obtained of the species, as it returned to drum in the same Sweet Chestnut tree, on the top edge of the lake. A Red Kite flew over whilst waiting for the bird to return, and on the return journey a flock of 20 Bar tailed Godwit (Beds tick) flew over farmland below the greensand ridge heading N towards Caldecote and the A1. 2 further county ticks were provided by Ring Ouzel and Wood Warbler (my first for at least 5 years) at Willington the following Sunday. Though generally elusive the Warbler showed well on occasions, with my first Garden Warbler of the year seen and heard along the cycle track. Nightingale was also heard singing in the distance.

The weekend after

2007-04-23T12:42:00.000-07:00

Not every day you get to digiscope a Firecrest... This male showed well in the Hawthorns at the back of the NOA Car Park and stopped to preen, long enough to get a few shots and a short video. Saturday saw me record 97 species (all seen) at Snettisham alone, with 107 species seen (of which only 5 were heard) at Heacham, Dersingham and Holme on the Sunday. 119 species in a weekend cart be bad.

One of 3 2nd year Med Gulls on the Pits at the far end of the RSPB (Remember to click on the photos if you want to view a larger image)

One of 5 Whinchat seen over the weekend. This obliging male was taken at Heacham, with others being seen opposite the car park at Snettisham RSPB (Alongside 4 Whimbrel) and Dersingham Bog and Holme (2)

April Half Term

2007-04-18T07:19:00.000-07:00

After hearing the Red breasted Geese had departed from Wells, and moved to Kings Lynn I was remaining optamistic that the birds would move around The Wash and eventually turn up at Snettisham. Sure enough, the birds were found friday night and we were watching them by Saturday morning (my first BOU lifer of 07). An added bonus was the Pale bellied Brent Goose that also hung around with the Brent flock, seen on at least 3 seperate occasions and picked out from my camera screen after checking the photos I had taken of the Red breasted! This bird was a UK400 club tick as I have always missed them whenever we had headed over towards Cley. The brent Goose photos either side were taken on the brackish marsh at Titchwell RSPB.

This female Common Scoter spent about a week on the pits and gave the best views I have ever had of the species. The Black-eared Kite was seen well on 3 more occasions and the female Serin at Heacham S beach just made into the northern corner of the Coastal Park, counting as a Coastal Park tick and giving me my 204th Snettisham species. A Marsh Tit ringed by me in the Coastal Park was the first to caught since 1996, and put my Coastal park list 0n 180. This is made up of anything on Ken Hill Marsh, between the 2 sea walls, (including the beach/out to sea) the road leading to the CP car park, and the fenceline behind the green hut at Heacham S beach

Redstart (Holme NWT) and Shorelark (Snettisham RSPB)

Migration was somewhat slow to get going and only really picked up towards the end of the 2nd week. Whilst Ring Ouzel where everywhere (I must have seen at least 34) Wheatear were really thin on the ground, with 8 being my highest count from any one sight. A summer male Lapland Bunting through Old Hunstanton Dunes was a surprise find and Dartford Warbler and Willow Tit also also added to the yearlist.

Wild Goose chase

2007-03-19T13:41:00.000-07:00

Barnacle Geese at Snettisham with 400+ Pink feet on Ken Hill Marsh.

Grey Plovers at Heacham

Snettisham Coastal park to the Ski ramp at Hunstanton and back

Wheatear: 0
Ring Ouzel: 0
Black Redstart: 0

Sunday was spent dipping Red-breasted Geese at Wells and Stiffkey. A Purple Sandpiper in flight over the harbour at high tide was the hilight. Otherwise, the biting wind and frequent hail showers did little to lift our spirits of ever finding the Geese.

Lifes unfair...

2007-03-07T04:25:00.000-08:00

Whilst the rest of the birding community is down in Cormwall having the time of their lives I am currently stuck in Bedford. Thanks to £25 of unhelthy petrol the car is currently out of action and is likely to remain that way for some time yet. Fair enough it it was in January or early July but with the appearance of the first Great Spotted Cuckoo and potential from the likes of Alpine Accentor and the first of the spring Bluethroat the feeling of anticipation is understandably high. Any way... enough moaning, here are a couple of Lapwing shots from the pits at Snettisham RSPB.

France

2007-02-25T09:43:00.000-08:00

Great White Egret

Cirl Bunting

Though I may have only gained 1 life tick (Short-toed Treecreeper) my 1st ever trip abroad was still a great experience and one that I shall relive at the end of April when I head off to Holland with College (ignoring the fact that I will have all ready been abroad so it wont be my 1st trip...) The Great White Egret came as a surprise as I had not realised they were within the are and the 1st flock of cranes were dismissed (on call) as some sort of chicken, or farmyard poultry species (Like the Egret, I was not aware they were around) The 2nd flock numbered around 115 birds. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was heard calling and drumming but refused to show itself and our only view of Coypu was one that swam across the back of the lake before disappearing into one of its tunnels. The last morning produced a cracking male Hawfinch within about half a mile of the house aswell as the expected Woodlark, Firecrest and Cirl Bunting plus a Black Redstart on one of the houses and excellent views of Short-toed Treecreeper. Ok, so most of these birds may be thought of as "dross" or "poor" but when you can see Cirl Buntings on the roof of the opposite house and sit outside eating tea listening to the songs of Woodlarks its difficult to complain... If people are wondering what you are up to and are talking to each other about it, you wont feel embarrassed or uncomfortable as you can't understand what they are saying.... unless you can speak French.

Glaucous Gull

2007-02-14T06:54:00.000-08:00

After spending the morning at Cley, waiting for the bird to reappear on its favoured Seal, the bird was refound at Salthouse, where it had found a fresh supply of meat further along the beach in the form of a freshly washed up Porpoise. On arrival, the bird was resting on the beach but retreated to the sea where it drifted further further away (and rturned to steal a fish from a fisherman), before taking to the air and flying back towards Cley.

Snow Buntings shown by the red circles.... As you can guess they were pretty close.

One of two Waxwings flycatching from the wires above the Holme NWT car park.

North Yorks

2007-02-05T14:36:00.000-08:00

The main reason for heading up North was not to see the American Robin (above) but to see the Pacific Diver that had taken up residence on a relatively small sailing lake near the village of Farnham. Thinking this first for the Western Palearctic was going to be the "easiest twitch ever" (after being told the bird was showing well on arrival) we were to be proved wrong, as we pulled up to watch it fly over the road, and slowly gain height. After an initial panic, and talks about the birds inevitable return, the bird changed direction and looked set to make a return to the lake. Unfortunately it had other ideas and proceeded to fly around in circles before disappearing as a speck in the distance, never to be seen again. Interestingly 2 further Pacific Divers have turned up in Britain since the Farnham bird so it can only be a matter of time before another twitchable one comes around again. On arrival the American Robin was showing well feeding on the rough area of grass, but disappeared into the nearby gardens after about 15 minutes where it remained for much of the day putting in only brief appearances. Compensation came in the form of a nearby Firecrest which showed superbly next to the canal. Unfortunately the camera was on the wrong setting so the pictures have come out worse than normal. Overall, quite a frustrating day... I was really looking forward to seeing that Diver.

Yellowlegs and Kite

2007-01-31T12:18:00.000-08:00

Had I remembered to put the memory card back in the camera I would have had more pictures... To be honest, the wind was bitterly cold and the call of a nearby hot cup of tea was too much to resist. Good numbers of Kittiwakes were feeding offshore at Holme (53 in one count) and 3 Little Gull appeared on cue during the afternoon seawatch. Saturday bought Hen Harrier and Bean Goose at Abbey Farm but the unboubted hilight of the weekend was laying eyes on the creature below....

After many weeks of frustration ,the Snettisham Black-eared Kite finally gave itself up, offering amazing views and providing me with my 202nd Snetts tick. The first weekend I had a chance to see it and it dissapeared on the friday, after being present all week. From here the Kite dissapeared to the broads (though it was claimed around the Snettisham/Wolferton area over the weekend) and then moved back along the coast to Cley. Here, it remained for a number of days before returning again to Snettisham. Thinking the bird was to be safely "in the bag" I was proved to be wrong as it then made a return journey back to Cley, where it remained just untill the new year. At this point I get a little confused as to the birds movements but the important point is that story ends with the bird returning to Snettisham and me being able tick it.... something I did with enormous satisfaction.

One of the caravans along the beach at Snettisham. Similar to the destruction of the College Wallaby shed but on a arger scale...

Snettisham hilights

2007-01-08T11:20:00.001-08:00

Short-eared Owl and Smew

After adding Red-throated Diver as the final patch tick of the year, my Snettisham year list was to finish on a new personal record of 181 species. Apart from Guillemot and Tree Pipit, and possibly Slavonian Grebe, most of the "expected" species were recorded, with a total of 14 patch ticks seen within the year...

Smew - Hawfinch - Red Kite - Mealy Redpoll - Common Crane - White Stork - Pacific golden Plover - Little Auk - Long-tailed Duck - Great Skua - Little Bunting -Snow Goose - Red-necked Grebe - Razorbill

Species that I managed to miss included Spoonbill, Manx and Sooty Shearwaters, Pom Skua, WRSandpiper, Grey Phalarope, Black-eared Kite, Goosander, Arctic Tern and Iceland Gull, all of which would have been snettisham ticks.

Black-eared Kite, Goosander and Lapland Bunting start off the 2007 dip list...

A total of 184 species were recorded at Snettisham RSPB last year...

Priory Diver

2006-12-02T13:13:00.000-08:00

Another addition to my Beds list, bringing it to a still not very impressive 150... Convieniently at my Monday work experiance site only 5 minutes from home. This was the best I could do in rubbish light. To give you an idea of just how rubbish my Bedfordshire list is here are some of the species I still need in the county....

Bittern
Little Egret
Egyptian and Pink footed Geese
Curlew
Black tailed Godwit
Ruff
Jack Snipe
Med Gull
Arctic Tern
Merlin
Marsh Harrier
Tree Sparrow
Rock and Tree Pipits
Grasshopper Warbler
Firecrest
Redstart
Ring Ouzel

And so on....

Devon Murellet

2006-12-02T12:35:00.000-08:00

Part of the crows that assembled at Dawlish to pay their respects to the once in a lifetime Long-billed Murellet. The sheer rarity value of the bird made up for the fact that it was actually quite ugly. An anxious wait followed before it decided to come back inshore, after arriving to find it swimming out to sea, and proceeded to give great views for the next hour or so. Another life tick was provided by some nearby Cirl Buntings with the Otter eastuary Cattle Egret (top bird) becoming my 2nd in the UK.

Patch ticks

2006-11-18T07:58:00.000-08:00

Between seeing the Stork and the Cranes (April/may or possibly June) and the recent flood of patch ticks Snettisham had experienced something of a dry spell... To make up for the lack of any recent ticks (PGP being the last) late october saw 5 patch ticks appearing within less than 2 weeks!

Little Auk - 5 birds in total, one of which showed down to a matter of feet...

Long-tailed Duck - Though this wasnt technically a "patch tick" it was the first I have seen since we got the bungalow in 2002 and was therefore added to the list. Having waited near the sea defences for 10/15 minutes I was somewhat of a surprised to see the duck emerge from the sea and start swimming away from me! I can only assume that because I was sitting down I was not high enough up to see the duck as it hugged the shoreline.

Great Skua - A long awaited patch tick... south into The Wash past the Coastal Park.

Little Bunting - Found in the bushes at the RSPB opposite the 1st hide and seen for the grand total of about 10 seconds... After raising the bins and and obtaining the briefest view, I was left with the though "SHIT!! that was a Little Bunting!! was it? Yes! It had to be?! Come back!!" at this point I faced a dilema... Do I put out the news and hope the bird reappears? or do I wait till I see it again and confirm the ID??? After waiting a short while it reappeared and flew from the top of the Hawthorn. I was lucky to get the bins on it pretty much straight away and was even more gratefull to the bird when it decided to call "Tink, tink tink" thats no Reed Bunting! After looking around the pumping station there was no further sign... a dreaded singe observer record (you can guess the words that follow)

Snow Goose - I was kicking myself earlier in the Atumn when I found out I had missed the Snow Goose roosting with the pink feet out on the wash. What made it worse was that someone had told me the bird was roosting there, except I never whent to look! When it was refound at Flitcham I made the effort to get down to the pits and scan through the Pinks, after all it seemed the most likely place that birds at Flitcham would roost. After a brief scan through the flock I picked up the bird... a quick fly around confirmed that I was watching the Snow Goose and not a dodgy white Pink foot!

Red-necked Grebe - Sitting on the water in front of the Snow Goose and offering me my 200th Snettisham tick. After watching it on the sea it took to the air and headed off towards Lincs... a bit longer on the water would have been nice.

Autumn 06

2006-10-30T13:46:00.000-08:00

August was quiet September never realy lived up to expectations and October was worse than the 2 combined... Quality rather than quantity. To be honest August was so far back I carnt remember much about it, a sprinkling of Barred Wablers along the coast (including one that I found at Holme NOA) and a self found Pacific golden Plover out on the mud at Snettisham are the 2 events that immediately spring to mind. Apart from the small arrival of RBShrikes, RBFlys and Wrynecks that arrived over a weekend at the start of september, the falls of common migrants that we all hope to see along the length of the coast failed to happen. No Icterine Warblers, no Greenish, no Radde's, no Pallid Swifts... you get the picture. A Wryneck in the hand at Snettisham was my 4th for the patch, with Redstart and Pied Flycatcher also being caught over the autumn. After shocking views of the last Norfolk Pallid Harrier the Juvenile at Winterton was a most welcome sight and lifted the guilt of the "tick" provided by the bird at Warham greens, unfortunately we had missed our chance to see the nearby Rose coloured starling...

Great grey shrike at Burnham Ovary

Red-backed Shrike at Burnham Ovary

I found this gull on September 13th roosting with Herring and Great black backed Gulls on the beach at Old Hunstanton just south of the track between Holme golf course. I though at the time that it was a Yellow legged (Michahellis) though others have questioned weather the bird could in fact be a Caspian (Cachinnans). Any ideas anyone?

In case you hadnt allready worked it out, this is a picture of the moon... This was taken at Snettisham during one of the realy high spring tides, where I spent an evening sat on the beach watching flocks of waders, gulls and geese against the fading sky staying untill the light had gone.... fantastic

Taken on the church roof opposite the youth Hostel in Wells, part of a quick trip to Norfolk for the benefit of our coastal management. A well timed trip to Blakeney Point produced stacks of Song Thrush and Redwing with the odd Goldcrest and Robin. Red throated Divers and Guillemots were seen close to the boat on our journey to the Seals, with the best birds of the day coming in the form of 2 Ring Ouzel and 4 Black Redstart. A pity we only had an hour on the point (half of which was taken up with survey work) what else was out there waiting to be found?! Thanks to the courtesy of 2 flat tyres, I was able to escape to Wells woods for a morning where I found a Yellow-browed Warbler giving great views in the sycamores at the top of the steps. A bonus Woodlark flew east along the beach whilst I was watching the bird. The woods themselves were devoid of birds, with remarkably few birders looking (no wonder more rarities are found around the area on a weekend!)

Mallard and Pintail at Holme Marsh

Gib Point

2006-09-26T13:57:00.000-07:00

2 crappy record shots of the Gibralter point Dowitcher ...

Stopping overnight in Yorkshire on the way back from the lakes, meant we were able to divert to Lincolnshire en route to Norfolk, to head for the Yellowlegs and Dowitcher, and the nearby Woodchat Shrike. The Yellowlegs had moved on, but the Dowitcher was there to oblige and gave better views than when I saw it there 2 years ago. The Woodchat showed well though was too distant for pictures.

Haweswater July 06

2006-09-21T06:29:00.000-07:00

Hand held shot of the Dipper (to the right of the trunk...)

Dippers have get to be one of my favourite birds, and leaving the lakes without a half decent picture of one of these birds would be rather dissapointing, to say the least. Most of the evenings were spent patrolling the nearby river and looking for the best spots for a picture, with mixed success. Sometimes you would just hit lucky and come accross one sitting on a rock, that refused to move and other times you wouldn't catch sight or sound one one at all. Due to the overhanging branches getting a decent picture was pretty tricky, and the bird needed to be pretty close so that the picture wasn't too dark. The above pics are the cream of the crop, and I was more than happy with the results! Unfortunately I was too late in the year for Wood Warblers, though Spotted Flycatchers were still out in abundance and the odd Redstart could still to be found.

Dark Green Fritillary and Golden-ringed Dragonfly - Both fairly numerous around the area

2 days were spend pulling up Himilayam Balsam... one of the most evil alien bastards you are ever likely to encounter (with the exeption of Perri Perri Bur). The scale of the problem was enormous and the picture shown above only represents a small infestation along what was an insignificant and feeble ditch. As well as growing in ditches we had to remove it from Bracken covered hillsides, not an easy task when you consider the density of the vegetation... The picture shown below was taken at Minsmere last year and shows the ball of Perri Perri Burr that I collected, with my Bins placed along side it for a comparison of size.... This was done by rolling it along the ground and collecting the burs that were clustered together on the end of the stalks. Considereing that one Seed head/Bur is about the size of your thumbnail it doesnt take a genius to work out that there were a hell of a lot of plants...

Having the weekends off I did manage to escape a couple of times and enjoyed close views of Black Grouse and Osprey. The Black Grouse gave an amazing flight view as I watched it come up from the field, cross the road and drop down on the other side of the Wall (after it had crossed 2 fields) whilst the Ospreys put on a fine show at Bassenthwaite. At one point we had 3 birds together calling over the watchpoint.... " Osprey! 3 of them!!" "are you sure they are not Buzzards?" how about you look for yourself... "Oooh yes! 3 Ospreys! Yes... I did mention that

Looking from the road into Eagle Valley

The Eagle...

Bempton seabirds and Blacktoft Spoonbills

2006-07-20T06:16:00.000-07:00

Spending the week volunteering for the RSPB at Blacktoft sands (Humberside) gave me a week to get a decent Spoonbill picture. Despite the bird coming realy close to the hides (see top photo!) I didnt get that many that made me think "Wow" My favourite shot is probably the one shown above the Grey Heron, this was taken when the bird was at the front of the nearest island (about 1/3 as close again as the nearest island shown in the top picture). Waders on the reserve included 6 Green Sands, 3 Greenshank, 12 Spotted Redshank, 113 Black tailed Godwit, 35+ Dunlin etc. 2 Spoonbills became one, One Spoonbill dissapeared, it returned with its friend (After a days absence), and another one joined them...

A week volunteering at Blacktofr offered the perfect oppertunity to pay a long overdue return visit to Bempton cliffs to pay homage to the many thousands of nesting seabirds. Having not seen a Puffin for 5 years (and missing them on Anglesey, last year) this offered the chance for my first ever pictures, provided through the magic of digiscoping! Despite some of the birds being realy close, getting pictures wasn't always easy. Part of the problem was getting the correct angle on the bird and adjusting the scope to the right height, whilst avoiding any tall vegetation and safety railings! Speaking with the watchpoint volunteers (those who show exited children (and adults) the location of the puffins, and help the public understand the differences between a Guillemot and a Razorbill etc) it was clear we had chosen a good "Puffin day" "Sometimes you can come and you just dont see them, other days you arrive and there are lots"

Scops

2006-07-20T05:43:00.000-07:00

This way to the bird!

The birds first appearance of the night

A closer inspection of the scrum

To get a good view of this bird you realy needed to be lucky. Flight views were pretty much untickable, and a view ofthe bird in "daylight" was an honour only to be had by a fortunate few. Once the light had gone, it was down to the power of torchlight.... My only view of the bird was when it flew accross the path infront of the house by the Horse Chestnut tree. As flight views go, mine were actually pretty good. So good infact that I could actually see the ear tufts on the bird! a pity it wasn't more cooperative when it was sitting in the tree... Despite returning to the same (relatively open!) tree about 5 times, I failed to see any more than the tail of the bird. By the time I got around to looking through the scope the bird had moved on. Looks like I will have to wait for the next twitchable Scops Owl before I can properly tick it...

Recent pictures

2006-06-28T06:34:00.000-07:00

Red Grouse in the Peak District

Coal Tit at Holkham

Tree pipit at Dersingham Bog

Meditteranian Gull and Mistle Thrush at Holme

Avocet and Garganey at Titchwell

Scaup Grey Partridge and Skylark at Snettisham

Ringing stuff

2006-06-18T11:31:00.000-07:00

Bullfinch

Nuthatch

Siskin

Crossbill

Marsh Tit

Grasshopper Warbler

A selection of birds caught and ringed from around Norfolk

A mixed weekend....

2006-05-26T08:48:00.000-07:00

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

2006-05-03T13:18:00.000-07:00

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

2006-05-03T08:54:00.000-07:00

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

2006-05-02T13:44:00.000-07:00

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

Hunstanton/Titchwell

2006-03-29T13:28:00.000-08:00

Grey Plover, Purple Sandpiper, Fulmar and Common Gull on the beach at Hunstanton

Record shot of one of the Wolferton "GoldenPheasants"

contaminated or not, I still tick em...

BT Kestrel

2006-03-28T11:28:00.000-08:00

Not a Peregrine, but a Kestrel... on the BT Tower in Bedford town.

Norfolk ringing

2006-03-28T11:25:00.000-08:00

My 1st ringing session away from Holme saw us catch and ring around 30 birds, a high proportion of which were Yellowhammers, followed in 2nd place by Blackbirds and Greenfinch. Thankfully we were able to ring in the warmth of the car and avoid the bitter wind outdoors...

Titchwell

2006-03-28T10:45:00.000-08:00

Male Brambling near the feeders

A selection of Grey Plovers and Curlew shots from Titchwell beach. Whenever I have tried to get decent shots of Grey Plovers in the past, the birds have alays run/flown away from me, making these shots most satisfying...

xbills...

2006-03-16T14:33:00.000-08:00

Part of a group of nearly a dozen Crossbills, that gave amazing views around the boardwalk at Dersingham; single birds would frequently come to drink in the puddles around the base of the boardwalk. These were the 1st Crossbills that I had had the oppertunity to photograph and have shown on every visit, since we 1st saw them about a month ago.

Reading Laughter

2006-03-14T13:40:00.000-08:00

After standing in the rertail park for 4 hours, the remainder of the day was spent exploring London. This group of 7 Black necked Grebes showed well in the concrete bowl of Staines Reservoir, along with a slightly diminished poplulation of Ruddy Ducks...

This was the only shot I managed of the Laughing Gull (Left hand bird). The picture was taken with no zoom at all, so as you can guess, the bird was pretty close... Unfortunately it only remained on the ground for less than a minute but gave fantastic flight views. At the point we saw it, the bird was developing its black head and is now (mid March) in full summer plumage, definately worth another visit. This was my second lifer (new bird) of the year following the Lesser Scaup on the Ouse Washes in Cambs.

Half term

2006-03-14T13:03:00.000-08:00

Part of a flock of 16 Snow Bunting, Baited to the eyeballs and extremely tame... Great views, a hell of a lot easier than trying to get shots at Holkham!!

A solitary Pink foot close to Lady Annes Drive at Holkham NNR

Blackwit at Titch (Black tailed Godwit at Titchwell)

Half term saw me record 131 species over the week, not bad considering that most of the time we stayed local. 4 Grebes, 8 Geese, 17 Ducks, 10 Raptors (including Owls), 9 Finches (+ Crossbill) and 5 Buntings.... it all adds up! A great morning in Holkham bay revealed GNDiver, Razorbill, 6 Slavonian Grebes, 2 RNGrebe, Long tailed Duck and Velvet Scoter along with masses of Common Scoter and good numbers of Eider. The Black Brant showed well amoungst the Brents (Dark bellied) and the Shorelarks and Snow Bunts abliged around the Saltings. Crossbills gave amazing views at Dersingham (finally!) and the Woodlarks were in full song.... Roll on Spring!

new pics..

2006-01-20T11:07:00.000-08:00

Lapwing (Cley) House Sparrow (Beds Gsrden) Little Grebe, Jack Snipe and Black Redstart (Snettisham RSPB) Pochard, Reed Bunting and Moorhen (Welney WWT) Redshank (Snettisham RSPB)

Divers and friends

2005-12-19T07:06:00.001-08:00

Great northern Diver - Paxton Pits Cambs

As the year reaches it end I should think there is one main thing in the minds of most birders... WOW... An excellent year with several quality birds "unblocked." (For those of you unfamiliar to phrases used by the likes of twitchers, this means a bird that is suddenly "available" to large numbers of people. This could be because one has not turned up for many years or, when it has, it has been seen briefly or at an innacesable location, e.g offshore islands)

This GNDiver showed very well at paxton pits and is still present at the time of writing 19/12 as well as the diver we managed great views of the American Wigeon and Long tailed Duck and had a superb bonus in the form of a Black throated Diver joining the Great Northern at Paxton, which i spotted flying onto the pit.

Green heron....

2005-11-23T12:26:00.000-08:00

More pics as promised.... This bird showed stupidly well down to less than 8 feet, A pity the same could not be said for the Black Scoter (Though I should imagine people have had worse) Another 2 quality lifers and a great day out. A shame the sun didnt stay on the Heron just a bit longer....

Red Wharf Bay

A Norfolk Autumn - September/October

2005-10-31T13:22:00.000-08:00

September started in style when a Greenish Warbler was found at Thornham point. I was at Holme when the news broke and had no means of transport other than my feet..... Before long I was legging it towards Holme, along thornham bank and down towards the beach at Titchwell, something that I managed to do in under 1 and a half hours!! Speaking with Will Bowell who was on his way back from the beach he had only managed brief, or be it " s**t frustrating" views of the bird, I had plenty of time and decided to stick it out.... I managed to see the bird fairly quickly though I was in for a long wait before I saw it out for any lengh of time. A 6 hour wait at that.... When it finally gave itself up the views were amazing, the light was fantastic and the bird was stupidly close. I must have watched it like this for over an hour..... Magic.
September 25th was certainly a special day... 1st up was the Tawny Pipit at West runton this bird showed well on and off running through the weeds in the fields by the "pigsheds" and represented another life tick for the list. Our next port of call was to be Beeston Bump in Sheringham, a chance to see what was about this turned out to be a good choice.... Looking in the bushes at the bottom of the hill I was greeted by the sight of a Blackberry picker working away at the bushes, not ideal. There was, however, a single bird feeding on the elderberrys close to the path.... A quick look through the bins....COMMON ROSEFINCH!!! Lifer!!! Before too long people were arriving from the pipit and were enjoying great views of the bird, though it did have a habit of dissapearing into the hilltop gardens....
Away from Norfolk the Bairds Sandpiper obliged atKirkby on Bain GPs in Lincs and showed well on the small pit oposite the rubbish tip. After an anxious wait of 2 and a half hours the Little Crake gave amazing views from Zeiss hide at Slimbridge, one of my favourite birds of the year....

Update!!

2005-09-29T11:49:00.000-07:00

Wow havn't done this for AGES!! The past couple of months have been pretty hectic with the year list at an all time high!! not surprising really, given the time that I have been able to spend in the field.... The patch at Snettisham has produced some pretty decent birds, the best being a Buff breasted Sandpiper found by Mark Ward which turned up back in August. One of now 30 lifers this year, this was made better by finding 2 Dotteral there 2 days after and hearing that I had passed 8 out of 9 GCSEs!! Other hilights there have included 2 different Wrynecks and Osprey that I have managed to miss... twice!!

One of 3 Red backed Shrikes with this obliging bird at Stiffkeyand a very approachable Wryneck at Cley, one of 4 this Autumn. These birds were just part of a huge fall that hit the coast following NE winds and Drizzle with High pressure over Scandanavia, we were lucky enough to be at Burnham Norton that evening. Wheatears were everywhere with good numbers of Whinchats Redstarts pied flys etc the RBFlycatcher showed beautifuly though was something of a back up to the sheer numbers of birds present. A shame I didnt have time to explore all of the dunes....

Starting college on the 22nd September gave me a slight advantage as I was able to spend more time in Norfolk! This ment I was able to witness the pretty impressive seabird passage that took place on Fiday 16th a quick stop at Hunstanton added Sooty shearwater to the life list(finally!!) with at least 2 birds viewed distantly from the cliffs. Carrying on to Holme we were rewarded with our 1st Leaches Petrels and finished with a total of 9, certainly an ampressive sight against the backdrop af a raging sea. Not quite the variety that Sheringham had to offer, but still a great experience.

A Tawny Owl has regularly been using the small copse next to the road at Snettisham just outside the bungalow, though this is the 1st time I have seen one there since October 2004. Is this a young bird? there still appears to be some tufts above the eyes and the face appeared quite brown...

A small selcection of images taken whilst volunteering at Minsmere RSPB

I enjoyed a fantastic 2 weeks volunteering back in July and recorded 128 species over the 2 weeks, the Lesser crested Tern being the icing on the cake.

After being reported early on the Saturday the Marsh Sandpiper had seemingly dissapered, with no sighn of it for the rest of the day. I decided to try my luck on the Sunday and was out by 4am watching the Scapes just after 5. I was somewhat surprised to be the only birder on sight and quickly relocated the bird from the public viewing hide. Lovely views in brilliant light and the bird to put me one over the 300 mark. So many hilights and far too many to mention here. The Nightjar was taken whilst working on the heath after I flushed the bird from my feet, a great slice of luck to see it during the day and so close.

Hilights included... Spoonbill, Countless Bitterns (including 3 on the ground) Arctic, Roseate and White winged Black Terns, Dartford Warblers, Woodlark, Yellow legged Gulls, Crossbills etc

Other hilights/decent photos.....

Merlin!!

2005-07-14T07:03:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to come accross this stunning female Merlin at Snettisham RSPB feeding on what looked like a young wader. The bird was unbelievably close and seemed unbothered by my presence!! Taken 15th May 2005

Sedge Warbler

2005-07-13T14:00:00.000-07:00

Caught in action at Summer Leys nature reserve in Northants

Norfolk

2005-06-27T02:43:00.000-07:00

Young Reed Bunting at Snettisham Costal Park

A morning visit to Titchwell in the hope of catching up with Bittern paid off with one low over the reeds seen from the main path, it is great to hear that these birds have sucessfully raised and are now feeding young, the first confirmed breeding in many years. other than the Bittern it was pretty standard stuff with Spotty spotted Redshank, Common Sandpiper and Little Gulls on the fresh Marsh. We would had waited longer for the bittern to show but leaft early after a Red-necked Phalarope was repoted at Burnham Norton. On arriving at the pool there was no sighn of the bird and with visitors arriving back home we couldnt stay out too long. After waiting at the pools with no further sighn we headed back to the car and were just thinking of leaving when someones phone rang with a message to say ''its back on the pool!'' The bird was showing when we reached the pools though was too distant for a pic. A Spotted Flycatcher obliged in the carpark on our return, with a female pochard and her 4 young resting in the reeds

Mystery Birds Gallery

2005-06-21T07:49:00.000-07:00

Time for some new pictues...

A fine selection of deliberately crappy images

Local patch list

2005-06-20T02:02:00.000-07:00

The vast number of birds drawn to The Wash are the main attractions during the winter months. Pink-footed Geese roost out on the mud and are best viewed during the early mornings when they leave their roost to return to feed on winter sugarbeet and other nearby fields. Large numbers of Teal and Pintail can be found amongst the tidal creeks with the pits holding good numbers of Goldeneye and Little Grebe as well as regular Scaup and Red-breasted Merganser. At this time of year the pits offer one of the most reliable sights in N Norfolk for Kingfishers. The end hide (Sanctuary) is probably the best spot to wait as the birds regularly return to rest at the back of the Suaeda (Shrubby sea blite) bushes below and left of the hide. Any of the other branches/brambles may provide them with a suitable perch (check out the area around the boat underneath the 2nd hide). The huge number of ducks and wading birds, along with the grassy areas and saltmarsh, inevitably attracts raptors. Along with Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Marsh Harrier and Barn Owl, Peregrine, Short eared Owl and Hen Harrier can be encountered on a regular basis.

Red-throated Diver
Little Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Great Crested Grebe
Slavonian Grebe
Fulmar
Gannet
Cormorant
Little Egret
Grey Heron
White Stork
Spoonbill
Mute Swan
Whooper Swan
Bewick's Swan
White-fronted Goose
Pink-footed Goose
Greylag Goose
Canada Goose
Snow Goose (Roosting with Pink footed Geese on The Wash)
Barnacle Goose
Red-breasted Goose
Brent Goose (Including Pale bellied Brent Goose and Back Brant)
Shellduck
Mallard
Gadwall
Pintail
Shoveler
Wigeon
Teal
Garganey
Pochard
Scaup
Tufted Duck
Eider
Common Scoter
Velvet Scoter
Long-tailed Duck
Goldeneye
Smew
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Osprey
Red Kite
Black Kite
Marsh Harrier
Hen Harrier
Montagu's Harrier
Rough-legged Buzzard
Common Buzzard
Sparrowhawk
Goshawk
Kestrel
Hobby
Peregrine
Merlin
Red-legged Partridge
Grey Partridge
Quail (Heard only)
Pheasant
Water Rail
Moorhen
Coot
Common Crane
Oystercatcher
Avocet
Little Ringed Plover
Ringed Plover
Dotterel
Greater Sand Plover
Grey Plover
Golden Plover
Lapwing
Knot
Sanderling
Little Stint
Pectoral Sandpiper
Curlew Sandpiper
Dunlin
Buff-breasted Sandpiper
Ruff
Woodcock
Snipe
Jack Snipe
Black-tailed Godwit
Bar-tailed Godwit
Curlew
Whimbrel
Spotted Redshank
Redshank
Greenshank
Green Sandpiper
Wood Sandpiper
Common Sandpiper
Turnstone
Great Skua
Arctic Skua
Black-headed Gull
Common Gull
Mediterranean Gull
Herring Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Little Gull
Kittiwake
Little Tern
Sandwich Tern
Common Tern
Arctic Tern
Black Tern
Little Auk
Guillemot
Razorbill
Stock Dove
Woodpigeon
Collared Dove
Turtle Dove
Cuckoo
Tawny Owl
Long-eared Owl
Short-eared Owl
Little Owl
Barn Owl
Swift
Kingfisher
Green Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Wryneck
Skylark
Woodlark
Shorelark
Sand Martin
Swallow
House Martin
Rock Pipit
Meadow Pipit
Tree Pipit
Pied Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
Yellow Wagtail
Wren
Waxwing
Dunnock
Robin
Redstart
Black Redstart
Wheatear
Stonechat
Whinchat
Song Thrush
Redwing
Mistle Thrush
Fieldfare
Blackbird
Ring Ouzel
Garden Warbler
Blackcap
Lesser Whitethroat
Whitethroat
Dartford Warbler
Sedge Warbler
Reed Warbler
Grasshopper Warbler
Cetti's Warbler
Willow Warbler
Chiffchaff
Yellow-browed Warbler
Goldcrest
Spotted Flycatcher
Pied Flycatcher
Great Tit
Coal Tit
Blue Tit
Marsh Tit
Willow Tit
Long-tailed Tit
Bearded Tit
Nuthatch
Treecreeper
Great Grey Shrike
Magpie
Jay
Jackdaw
Rook
Carrion Crow
Starling
House Sparrow
Tree Sparrow
Chaffinch
Brambling
Linnet
Lesser Redpoll
Mealy Redpoll
Goldfinch
Greenfinch
Siskin
Serin
Bullfinch
Hawfinch
Crossbill
Reed Bunting
Little Bunting
Yellowhammer
Snow Bunting
Corn Bunting

David's Birding Diary

Rossi

Wallcreeper

Spot the birdie

Slavonian Grebe

Recent pictures

Overdue update

Dunge Gulls

French seawatching

Autumn moan

Dungeness Crane

Goodbye Norfolk...

Roseates

Hunstanton social club

Spring Half term

Dungeness

Bank holiday weekend

Shuttleworth Lesser spot

The weekend after

April Half Term

Wild Goose chase

Lifes unfair...

France

Glaucous Gull

North Yorks

Yellowlegs and Kite

Snettisham hilights

Priory Diver

Devon Murellet

Patch ticks

Autumn 06

Gib Point

Haweswater July 06

Bempton seabirds and Blacktoft Spoonbills

Scops

Recent pictures

Ringing stuff

A mixed weekend....

Killdeer

The patch so far

Reading Laughter.... Take 2

Hunstanton/Titchwell

BT Kestrel

Norfolk ringing

Titchwell

xbills...

Reading Laughter

Half term

new pics..

Divers and friends

Green heron....

A Norfolk Autumn - September/October

Update!!

Merlin!!

Sedge Warbler

Norfolk

Sponsored Birdwatch

Mystery Birds Gallery

Local patch list