ORIOLE BIRDING TOUR REPORT NORFOLK 13th 18th FEBRUARY 2011

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1 ORIOLE BIRDING TOUR REPORT NORFOLK 13 th 18 th FEBRUARY 2011

2 Monday 14 th February A superb day of weather for the start of our second Winter Wonderland tour of the year. We headed down into Breckland to kick off the week with some forest birding though rather disappointingly given the conditions most areas were very quiet. At Santon Downham we had good views of Marsh Tit, Great-spotted Woodpecker [several birds seen including drumming male and pair in courtship], European Nuthatch, Goldcrest and Eurasian Siskin. The hoped for Lesser Spotted Woodpecker did not materialise though so we moved on to nearby Lynford. A similar story here with plenty of common woodland species showing well such as Redwing, Coal Tit, Goldcrest, Green and Great-spotted Woodpeckers, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Marsh Tit and a flock of forty Eurasian Siskins, but no sign of any of the key species. After lunch we headed back North to the coast to try and change our fortunes and this we did with a spectacular end to the day in the beautiful light conditions. Looking across Holkham Freshmarsh from the A149 vast flocks of birds included mainly Northern Lapwing, Eurasian Curlew, Eurasian Wigeon, Starlings and Common Teal but we also saw twenty Northern Shoveler, Little Egret, Marsh Harrier, Common Buzzard, Common Shelduck and large numbers of Pink-footed Geese. A nice flock of around 100 Eurasian White-fronted Geese held a single Barnacle Goose, and we also noted two Stock Dove in the fields. Moving along the road towards Burnham Overy Staithe some birders parked in a gateway looked interesting enough for us to stop a bit further on and scan back towards the woods on the marsh. This proved a good move as one of the juvenile ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARDS present in the area this winter was perched in full view with a Common Buzzard. A second Rough-leg then flew from the same wood back towards Holkham Park, so we had great views both perched and in flight. In fact the perched bird was close enough to see the diagnostic pale iris of juvenile birds. A dozen Egyptian Geese and over 1000 European Golden Plovers were also seen from this vantage point along with a few Dark-bellied Brent Geese and hunting Barn Owl. Finally we headed back along to Wells East Quay and enjoyed the final rays of sunshine looking towards East Hills. Bar-tailed Godwit, Ringed Plover and Grey Plover looked stunning at close range in the evening light and a ringtail Hen Harrier swept across the marsh showing its white rump and ochre underparts indicating a juvenile. Two more ringtails and a Marsh Harrier were also seen. Little Egret, Barn Owl, Common Redshank and European Oystercatcher were also seen, with another Barn Owl seen on the way home. Tuesday 15 th February A grey and breezy day but we stayed dry despite an indifferent forecast. A Barn Owl in Burnham Overy set our day list off and down at the staithe we had close views of both Black-tailed and Bar-tailed Godwits, Ruddy Turnstone and Grey Plover. A female Common Goldeneye was also in the channel here. At nearby Choseley Barns, good numbers of feeding passerines included about twenty Corn Bunting and thirty Yellowhammer, while a flock of about 700 Pink-footed Geese were in the adjacent fields. At Thornham Harbour, a ringtail Hen Harrier gave decent views and we also had brilliant views of a Spotted Redshank in the channel, often in the company of a Common. Little Egret, Rock Pipit, four Common Snipe, Reed Bunting, Black-tailed Godwit and large flocks of Northern Lapwing were also on the saltmarsh. Moving on to Titchwell, Eurasian Siskins were in Alders by the feeders and a Common Stonechat was on Thornham Marsh. A few hundred Brent Geese were spooked by a hunting Marsh Harrier and Great Crested Grebe and Gadwall were both new trip species on Thornham Pool. From the bank, a flock of twenty Common Pochard and ten Common Goldeneye were on the Freshmarsh and forty Pied Avocet were resting on one of the islands. To our surprise, two redhead SMEW were resting on the same island and subsequently gave excellent views. Good numbers of European Golden Plover, Dunlin, three Common Snipe and forty Ruff were also feeding here, with Northern Pintail also present. On the Brackish Pool, good numbers of Skylark were feeding but unfortunately the TWITE flock were skittish today and flew past us calling but didn t settle. From the beach, a huge flock of Common Scoter could be seen distantly, along with a few Red-breasted Mergansers, Common Eider and more Common Goldeneye. Fifty SNOW BUNTING flew East along the beach, where small numbers of Sanderling were feeding. On the walk back to the car park, the pool on Thornham Marsh held a drake RED CRESTED POCHARD. After lunch, we headed along to nearby Holme and enjoyed a productive walk out onto the beach. Nine LONG-TAILED DUCKS were the undoubted highlight giving good views in flight and on the water. A Red-throated Diver was very close in, a Northern Gannet flew East and twenty Red Knot were mingling with Dunlin and Ringed Plover on the beach. Finally at Hunstanton twenty Northern Fulmar were seen along with more Red-breasted Merganser, Common Eider and twenty Great Crested Grebes on the water. Wednesday 16 th February A fine and largely sunny day for our trip around the Norfolk Broads which started out on the East Coast at Waxham. A large flock of Pink-footed Geese was feeding in the coastal fields here and from

3 the dunes three Red-throated Diver were noted but little else. Still the sun was shining and the views back along the coast towards Happisburgh were excellent, and we headed round towards Horsey in search of Common Cranes. A Stonechat and the first Marsh Harrier of the day were noted and it wasn t long before we found two adult and one juvenile COMMON CRANES resting in fields northeast of the B1159. Good views of the birds preening and then feeding were obtained with the light behind us, so we continued on to nearby Winterton noting our only Barn Owl of the day en route. From the cafe, twenty Common Scoter and a few Red-throated Divers were offshore, though again the sea was relatively quiet so we pressed on. A fruitless search for wild swans in the vicinity of Acle meant we arrived at Cantley around noon and began scanning the marshes from the end of Burnt House Road for goose flocks. Around two hundred Eurasian White-fronted Geese and one thousand Pinkfooted Geese were feeding in the far north-west corner of the reserve, with a single Barnacle Goose amongst them. Vast flocks of Northern Lapwing were noteworthy here, filling the skies with intense flocks of flashing black and white as a passing plane sent them skyward. The biggest surprise however was a HOODED CROW picked out distantly on the marsh as it bathed in a pool before drying itself off and flying North out of view, only the third Ashley had seen in the county. After lunch, one more scan of the marsh from the footpath proved crucial as fourteen TAIGA BEAN GEESE flew in from the west and dropped in giving great views in the excellent light conditions. At neighbouring Buckenham, vast numbers of birds was again the order of the day as the Eurasian Wigeon flocks ran into thousands, and more huge numbers of Northern Lapwing were present,with fifty or so Ruff and thirty Dunlin mixed in amongst the feeding frenzy. Common Teal, Northern Shoveler, Marsh Harrier and Common Snipe were also present though the highlight was the good views we had of four WATER PIPITS near the new hide. Finally we spent the remainder of the day at Strumpshaw Fen noting a good selection of birds. In the woodland, we noted our first Treecreeper, Eurasian Jay and Bullfinch of the trip with four of the latter seen well close to the path. From Fen Hide, a GREAT BITTERN flew past just a few metres in front of the hide almost as soon as we had settled in, to the amusement of the photographers who had been sitting there some time waiting for that precise moment! A Water Rail sneaked out of the reeds in front of us and back in again almost as quickly, but not before we d had good views. From Tower Hide, good numbers of Northern Shoveler were making plenty of noise as they chased around the pool in courtship and Gadwall and Common Teal were also present in numbers. Six Marsh Harriers roosted and another GREAT BITTERN made a more distant and brief flight. We ended the day watching the colossal numbers of corvids heading in streams through the sky from the west towards their roost at nearby Buckenham, one of the biggest of its kind in the UK and the feature of several recent wildlife programmes. Thursday 17 th February Thick fog for most of the day today made birding a bit of a challenge, as we couldn t really contemplate looking for anything that was likely to be more than about 50m distant! We started at Weybourne with a walk down to the clifftop fields where it didn t take us very long to locate a flock of thirty five LAPLAND BUNTINGS feeding in a stony ploughed field with Skylarks. Unfortunately a Barn Owl flushed them just as we got into a decent position but luckily one bird stayed behind and allowed very close scope views. At nearby Salthouse the bunting theme continued as around thirty SNOW BUNTING were feeding on grain near the car park, allowing approach down to about 6ft. The usual large flock of Ruddy Turnstone were also enjoying the free bounty and we also saw Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Gadwall and small flocks of Eurasian Wigeon. Along at Cley, we walked the East Bank though due to the conditions little could be seen other than a couple of Black-tailed Godwits and two hundred European Golden Plover. Along the shingle ridge North of Arnold s Marsh we located four superb SHORELARKS and watched the birds feeding at the base of the shingle ridge through the scope getting magnificent views. A tip off from some other birders then saw us return to Salthouse to look for a EURASIAN SPOONBILL on the coastal pools west of the Little Eye. We found the bird in the company of a Little Egret but the fog was now so bad that the views were poor, even though it was actively feeding and preening. After lunch we began a whistle stop tour of some inland sites near our base hoping to add one or two new trip species. A small, new reservoir at Crabbe Castle hosted a large number of loafing gulls and we picked out a smart adult MEDITERRANEAN GULL preening at the back of the flock. Near Great Walsingham, fourteen Brambling gave good views at our game cover crop and we also noted a Yellowhammer and two Stock Dove here. Our first attempt at finding Little Owl near Fakenham produced only pellets but the second try near Shereford gave good views of a single roosting bird, as well as a hunting Barn Owl, though there wasn t any sign of the Tree Sparrow flock often present here. Finally in West Barsham a flock of fifty Brambling were seen and we rounded off the day by flushing three nice EURASIAN WOODCOCK from cover just 100m from our base in East Barsham. After dark, we tried a couple of spots locally for TAWNY OWL getting a couple of glimpses of a bird in flight near East Barsham church.

4 Friday 18 th February Our last day and a decision to make about how to fill some of the gaps in the list. Spending the day looking for the Northern Harrier was one option but instead we decided to try again in Breckland after a quiet session there on Monday had meant we d missed out on one or two birds. In East Barsham we had good views of three EURASIAN WOODCOCK again before setting out for Santon Downham. Sadly it was once again very quiet here apart from the local Great-spotted Woodpeckers though we did get good views of a Common Kingfisher on the River Little Ouse. It seems as though the woodland birds have suffered through another winter of harsh weather and at nearby Lynford we again struggled to see much of interest. Despite our best efforts, the hoped for Hawfinch did not materialise and probably Treecreeper, Goldcrest and Redwing were the highlights. We transferred to King s Lynn where participants were able to make their travel connections homeward. Systematic List Birds 1. Red-throated Diver 2. Great Crested Grebe 3. Little Grebe 4. Northern Gannet 5. Northern Fulmar 6. Great Cormorant 7. Grey Heron 8. Little Egret 9. Eurasian Spoonbill 10. Great Bittern 11. Mute Swan 12. Greylag Goose 13. Canada Goose 14. Egyptian Goose 15. Brent Goose 16. Barnacle Goose 17. Pink-footed Goose 18. White-fronted Goose 19. Taiga Bean Goose 20. Common Shelduck 21. Mallard 22. Common Teal 23. Eurasian Wigeon 24. Gadwall 25. Northern Shoveler 26. Northern Pintail 27. Common Scoter 28. Common Eider 29. Red-breasted Merganser 30. Smew 31. Common Goldeneye 32. Long-tailed Duck 33. Tufted Duck 34. Common Pochard 35. Red Crested Pochard 36. Grey Partridge 37. Red-legged Partridge 38. Common Pheasant 39. Eurasian Sparrowhawk 40. Common Kestrel 41. Marsh Harrier 42. Hen Harrier 43. Rough-legged Buzzard 44. Common Buzzard

5 45. Common Moorhen 46. Water Rail 47. Common Coot 48. Common Crane 49. Pied Avocet 50. European Oystercatcher 51. Common Ringed Plover 52. European Golden Plover 53. Grey Plover 54. Northern Lapwing 55. Dunlin 56. Sanderling 57. Red Knot 58. Ruddy Turnstone 59. Common Redshank 60. Spotted Redshank 61. Eurasian Curlew 62. Ruff 63. Common Snipe 64. Eurasian Woodcock 65. Black-tailed Godwit 66. Bar-tailed Godwit 67. Black-headed Gull 68. Common Gull 69. Herring Gull 70. Lesser Black-backed Gull 71. Great Black-backed Gull 72. Mediterranean Gull 73. Green Woodpecker 74. Great-spotted Woodpecker 75. Common Kingfisher 76. Barn Owl 77. Tawny Owl 78. Little Owl 79. Woodpigeon 80. Collared Dove 81. Stock Dove 82. Skylark 83. Shorelark 84. Meadow Pipit 85. Rock Pipit 86. Water Pipit 87. Pied Wagtail 88. Winter Wren 89. European Robin 90. Dunnock 91. Stonechat 92. Common Blackbird 93. Redwing 94. Song Thrush 95. Mistle Thrush 96. Fieldfare 97. Goldcrest 98. Blue Tit 99. Great Tit 100. Coal Tit 101. Marsh Tit 102. Long-tailed Tit 103. Treecreeper 104. Nuthatch 105. Rook

6 106. Carrion Crow 107. Hooded Crow 108. Western Jackdaw 109. Magpie 110. Eurasian Jay 111. Common Starling 112. House Sparrow 113. Chaffinch 114. Brambling 115. Greenfinch 116. Goldfinch 117. Bullfinch 118. Linnet 119. Twite 120. Eurasian Siskin 121. Lapland Bunting 122. Snow Bunting 123. Reed Bunting 124. Yellowhammer 125. Corn Bunting