Norfolk Birders

1st March

2nd March

Lacking any photos today on this grey, dull winter's day I thought I would brighten up the day by using a couple of photos that I took a while back earlier in the year of some Mandarins. Enjoy! I love the reflections in the water of the second photo. 

My day started at the dentist....always a joy! Luckily I escaped with just a brush and clean-up! After negotiating several sets of roadworks, traffic lights and queues I stopped off once again at West Newton on my way home where a couple of Woodlarks were singing. This time I actually managed to see them! Once at home I could not believe that my bird feeder was empty once again. Yesterday I counted 15 Greenfinches as well as an array of Chaffinch, Siskin, Robins, Blue Tits and Great Tits all enjoying the feast. I topped it up and a couple of hours later it is nearly half-empty again! 

I managed to finish of my power-point Mongolian talk which I shall be giving in April before booking a couple of flights for a short trip for John and I in the spring.

3rd April

It was fantastic to be back with one of my birding pals from over 20 years ago. Paul and I made our way down to Aldeburgh where we parked up at the Martello Tower at Orfordness. Skylarks and Meadow Pipits were flying up and out of the grass as we braved the cold and the wind and enquired from local birdwatchers where the recent sighting of the Glossy Ibis had been seen. We walked along the bank of the River Alde and watched Mute Swans, White-fronted Geese, Canada Geese, Redshank, Teal, Gadwall, Wigeon and Mallard. There was no sign of the Glossy Ibis and so we retraced our steps and took the advice of a local birder and made our way back towards the path towards the Town Marsh. Paul then spotted the Glossy Ibis in flight that landed on a pool on the Town Marsh. We quickened our step and stopped to admire the bird through our scopes and took a few photos. After a few minutes a couple of people appeared with a dog off a lead. Yes you guessed it.....the dog ran straight at the Glossy Ibis deliberately flushing it. How stupid can people be? The dog was completely out of control. I remonstrated with the owners and after apologising they put the dog on a lead which is where it should have been in the first place! 

Paul and I walked back along the bank and watched Dunlin and Ringed Plover as the tide had now dropped a bit exposing some mud. A Little Egret flew alongside us as we headed for the car and lunch. 

At Westleton Heath Paul and I watched a Woodlark in flight before driving to Minsmere where we had a good catch up in the cafe accompanied with a beverage and cake in the warm. We ventured towards the beach after admiring 3 Stonechats along the path. A new boardwalk to East Hide looked wonderful where a Wren flew across the path before we sat in the extenteded hide. We watched 4 Goosander, Curlew, Black-tailed Godwits, Teal, Gadwall, Shelduck, Pintail, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Black -headed Gull when I heard a Mediterranean Gull calling which flew down and sat on the water in front of us. Paul spotted a Barn Owl flying over near the woods which we both enjoyed watching.  We continued our walk along the beach and watched more Stonechats and a Barn Owl flying towards us before walking back along the path towards the woods. We watched a Grey Heron and a Little Egret on a pool before returning to the car park where Blue Tits, Great Tits and a Robin were finishing off the bird feed in the feeders. It had been an excellent day and so good to catch up with an old friend. Thanks Paul!

During the afternoon I received some news which I shared with John this evening which made us both laugh and grin from ear to ear! Some people never learn that if your life has slid into a hole you stop digging! Life is what you make it and after a wonderful day like today I am glad that I have friends with  a common interest to enjoy a day's birding with.

4th February

On opening my kitchen blind this morning my bird feeder was completely empty once again. As I filled it up a Red Kite flew over and as I looked up a Mediterranean Gull called. I dashed back for my binoculars in time to see it along with a few Black-headed Gulls. I was due at a funeral this morning at Cromer and as I drove along my lane a Barn Owl was flying in the roadside field. I met up with several birders at the crematorium in Cromer and together we said goodbye to our friend. 

5th March

Before we went out for Sunday lunch at a local hostellry, John and I met up with Les and Ann at West Newton. Here we watched 2 pairs of Woodlark feeding on the ground before they flew up and disappeared. Two Red Kites were interacting with each other along with some Common Buzzards. Three Mistle Thrushes were along the lane with a Song Thrush and a few Blackbirds. A Goldcrest was busy picking up insects in the ivy along the hedgeline. There was little on the shooting pool except a lone Mute Swan and a Tufted Duck. Les and Ann are experienced Yellowstone NP visitors and they shared information of their trips there. We cannot wait! We drove onto Sandringham where we watched two Ravens before making our way to lunch.

The afternoon was still grey and cold but John kindly put my owl box back up after it was taken down from my Cherry tree last year. It proved a more difficult task than we thought and we had a few false starts. However it now back up and so is a new tit box! Let's hope they are both sucessful! We also manged to find a slot to have a short visit to Scotland. It's going to be another busy year!

7th March

It was a cold but beautiful day as I drove to work this morning. Corn Buntings were singing in the sun on the wires as I arrived at the corner at Choseley and there were many gulls following the plough as I looked towards the wondeful view of Titchwell in the distance. It is a view that I have loved over the years as I had the little lane all to myself and admired the beauty of the scene in front of me. It may have been chilly but what more could you want on your way to work.............Corn Buntings singing, gulls following the plough, the sun shining and a work place as wonderful as Titchwell Masrh RSPB. 

I stopped my car and grabbed my camera. I was too distant from the Corn Bunting and edged a bit nearer but the Corn Buntings flew a lttle further along the wire. This happened twice and I had to settle for a distant photo which I had to crop heavily for the website. I arrived at work and set up the Welcome Hub. Trevor and Bruce arrived and I set about filling up the bird feeders. Both glass feeders had fallen off the windows as our squirrels also get hungry and are too heavy for them. I tried to put them back together and stick them back on the windows but the dirty glass was having none of it. There was nothing for it but to clean the windows. As we had few visitors to welcome so I decided to clean them all. It was a glorious morning and I was glad to be outside. It took quite a while as most of the windows are also full-length glass doors. Eventually they were all clean and luckily the stickers stuck and I re-filled the feeders which attracted Blackbirds, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Robins, Long-tailed Tits, Chaffinches and Dunnocks all day long.

I was now into the swing of cleaning and it was still glorious outside so our outdoor cafe tables also got a clean! I could talk to visitors as I cleaned and it was nice to see some friends arrive too. After lunch the skies clouded over and I retreated to the Welcome Hub. The skies darkened and visitors were telling us that snow was falling at Brancaster. It didn't take long before snow was falling at Titchwell too which had our visitors scampering for shelter into the shop and cafe for some much-needed warmth. I left Trevor and Bruce in the hub and went to work in the back office where i could see a Barn Owl hunting over Thornham Marsh as I sat down to work. The sun was now out again and it was just wonderful to watch it with the light shining through its primaries. 

After a lovely working day I watched a Barn Owl at Flitcham hunting along a hedgeline on my way home. 

8th March

9th March

11th March

12th March

As my daughter had arrived yesterday afternoon for the weekend there was no birding done today. Kathryn liked the dress that I have been busy making for my granddaughter and we were just discussing measurements for one for her other daughter when two Siskins landed on my garden feeder. Siskins have been regular visitors to the feeders in the last few weeks as they often are between February and April.

14th March

I just love my journey to work. Today was no exception as I admired all the Red Kites in the air gliding on the wind. I sometimes see Corn Buntings singing on the wires on sunny mornings as I round the corner at Choseley. A Kestrel is often sitting here too along with Yellowhammers and Chaffinches. Grey Partridges sometimes run across the fields as Stock Doves are feeding head down. Today though was different as I was taken by surprise as a male Hen Harrier flew low over the hedge infront of my car and up and over the hedge the other side of the road. I stopped the car in hope of a photo and stood in the gap inthe hedge but the bird was now too distant for a picture. 

I continued on to work where I had a busy day working outside, in the Welcome Hub and in the cafe! Along the entrance path Scarlet Elf Caps were making a very pretty show, resplendent in their beautiful colouration. Visitors came to see me to tell me that a Little Ringed Plover had arrived on the Tidal Pool, the first summer migrant for the reserve this year and a sign that spring is on its way. Later in the day at a meeting I watched a Barn Owl hunting over Thornham Masrh with some of the staff before driving back up to Choseley where another Barn Owl was sitting on a post. 

15th March

16th March

John and I spent the morning booking hotels and boats for some more holidays to fulfil some bucket list wishes, mostly wildlife orientated. A couple of Siskins flew over my garden whilst I was hanging out the washing and John was filling up the feeders. The Greenfinches are just feeding from them for most of the day. I drove to to West Newton where Red Kites, Kestrels and Buzzards were displaying over the woods and Skylarks were filling the air with song. A small flock of Chaffinch were sat in a tree above the cover crop.

This evening Drew Lyness gave us an insight to the birds of Strumpshaw Fen at the Wensum Valley Bird Society. His sightings at night with a thermal imager produced some interesting results for the reserve. The meeting was well attended and it is always good to meet up with fellow birders for a few laughs. It was lovely to be individually thanked for my article writing for the newsletter.

17th March

With an adverse weather forecast for the afternoon, I decided to have an early start for a walk on Roydon Common mainly to avoid the plague of dog walkers that now blight the common most days. As I left the car Skylark song filled the air. I watched two pairs in courtship mode on the former model airplane field before stopping to admire a Yellowhammer singing as well. A Red Kite flew by as I made my way to the top of the common whilst I watched another pair over the top of the woods. Several Common Buzzards were noted as I watched Linnets and a pair of Stonechats. I dropped down into the quarry but the Little Owl was not present. On the pond a couple of Mallard were present but flew off as I approached. A Reed Bunting was singing at the top of one of the bushes and I attempted a photo in the poor light. 

Back along the path I met up with a couple that owned a farm, that I knew when I lived in Long Sutton; they had asked me to visit them along with a friend of mine to advise them on how to attract birds to their farm as they were keen to put in a scape. I was thrilled to hear that many years later the scrape has been a great success and they have Avocets breeding on it. I had often wondered how it had fared and now I know! After a long talk together sharing some memories of people that we knew I watched another pair of Stonechats before making my way back home. 

18th March

19th March

With the morning available for birding, John and I made a very early start and met up with Paul at Santon Downham in the hope of seeing the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker down the riverside. Sadly there has only been a female seen spasmodically and often not seen at all but claims of some drumming has been reported. It has not been reliably seen for some weeks now. We thought we would give it a couple of hours of watching but we only saw Great Spotted Woodpeckers. We enjoyed watching three Mandarins, two Kingfishers, two Marsh Tits as well as many Blue Tits and Great Tits. After searching for Crossbills fruitlessly we motored onto Lakenheath where we watched a Garganey whilst listening to Cetti's Warblers calling from behind us. There were many Shoveler and Teal on Hockwold Washes as well as a few Shelduck and Mute Swan.

We called into Weeting Heath where we watched a lone Stone Curlew and two Curlews whilst Lapwing displayed in front of us. 

20th March

Rain put many visitors off visiting Titchwell this morning which was a shame as we had many good birds on site. After my meeting with my line-manager Lucy I walked down the West Bank path and joined Matt for a bit of seawatching before walking back up to the Visitor Centre where a Barn Owl was flying close to the path. 

The NarVOS newsletter arrived today with many interesting articles and February's sightings. The editor does a good job getting it all together. The articles were a mix of local interest and reports of exciting foreign birding talks as well as identification articles followed by the sighting's sheet of club members' sightings during the month. February is always cold and grey and not exactly exciting birding in the UK. The sightings were much as expected and I suppose I should feel sorry for those left counting feral Greylag Geese on a cold winter's day (Is this what UK birders have sunk to?)  ; but I don't as I just love my birding in hot foreign climes at that time of year (Let me think...............to stay in the UK in February or....................enjoying helicopter rides in the Grand Canyon, birding in Hawaii and Los Angeles watching exciting birds, swimming in tropical seas watching Manta Rays with Humpback Whales leaping out of the water whilst watching a Bristle-thighed Curlew...............it's a difficult choice isn't it?) As my next foreign holiday is rapidly approaching, I am hoping that it will be a bit warmer there and the UK will have some decent migrant birds to look at by the time I get back!

A big thanks to those of you that have sent me messages via Facebook (Birding in Norfolk-Reare and Scarce bird page),  Twitter and come to Titchwell to thank me for my recent photos that I have posted on my website. 

22nd March

24th March

25th March

John and I had a wonderful day out in Oxfordshire today when we met up with Ian Lewington at his house who was going to show us a Giant Orchid (Himantoglossum robertianum ) not far from his house. Last year was the first time that this orchid was found growing in the wild in the U.K. We knew we were privileged to be able to see several plants along a grassy slope. Ian is a well-respected bird artist and has shown us rarer butterflies and dragonflies in the past so it was good to see him again. We walked together in the countryside and after descending a steep slope saw several orchids in the sun.

After taking Ian back to his house, John and I found a lovely pub for a pub lunch before driving to Farmoor Reservoir where we walked around the perimeter of the reservoir and found a Lesser Scaup amongst a group of Tufted Ducks. The breezy conditions made for difficult conditions but we were lucky when the ducks suddenly came close to the edge and gave me an opportunity for a few photographs. We walked back to the cafe to warm up and evade a squall of rain that passed through. As my daughter lives close by it was nice to share to spend some time with her and my grandchildren, husband and his parents before driving back home.

26th March

27th March

It was an extremely busy day at Titchwell yesterday. The weather forecast of sunny weather all day brought out many visitors as the rest of the week looks like being either very cold or wet and windy. I was shattered by the end of the day after welcoming so many visitors on site. After I finished work I drove to John's for tea and together we drove to Great Yarmouth for the Great Yarmouth monthly bird club meeting. It was well attended for Steve Smith's talk on Ghana. It was an almost replica of the short trip that I did in 2007 to see Yellow-headed (White-necked) Picathartes known as Rock Fowl, a strange hopping bird that puts its next hanging and clinging underneath a big rock. Back then we were not allowed to take cameras to the site but now this rule has cahnged and Steve had some memorable photos of them. Steve also had some photos of the famous canopy walk way constructed high up in the canopy. It is probably the highest and longest of all the canopy walkways that I have done anywhere in the world. It was lovely to be reminded of this wonderful, albeit short trip. I always enjoy this bird club meeting as it is much more informal than my other bird clubs as all the attendees are birders and are full of information. An excellent evening. Thanks Steve!

28th March

It was a very different day at work today as the weather closed in and once again it was cold and grey. This had an impact on the number of visitors to Titchwell giving me a bit of spare time. I had been given the task of writing the month's sightings blog for March and so I made the most of my time and collated the sightings. The round up can be seen here: https://community.rspb.org.uk/placestovisit/titchwellmarsh/b/titchwellmarsh-blog/posts/titchwell-s-march-sightings-2023 

After lunch I had a quick walk to the junction of the Meadow Trail and Fen Trail where I met with some visitors and pointed out the arrival of a Sand Martin that was flying over one of the dragonfly pools. I felt sorry for it trying to find some insects in all the rain. Later I received another request for one of my talks. Goodness knows how I will fit it in!

29th March

After flying from Stansted in the early morning we arrived in Malaga, Spain by lunchtime but took an inordinate amount of time to clear passport control and sort out a hire car due to many planes, having been delayed by the French air-traffic controllers strike, all arriving at the same time. It was chaos! Once on our way we drove north to Sierra de Andajur watching Black Kites, Spotless Starlings and a Booted Eagle en-route and found our delightful converted farmhouse all nestled by itself up in the hills. Bee-eaters flew overhead and Dartford Warblers, Serins and Spotless Starlings kept us entertained as we sipped wine and beer on the terrace in the warm evening sunlight. The peacefuness was just wonderful. Not a dog in sight, no people, no cars, no music playing, no lawnmower going, just the sound of Bee-eaters and Serins singing! Absolute bliss!

30th March

We had a lazy get up this morning as it did not get light until 8am and had a leisurely breakfast in the sun on the terrace. Bee-eaters called above us as we listened to a Crested Tit even though we did not see it despite searching for it. After breakfast we were soon on our way and drove up to the well-known Lynx viewing track where a Lynx had been see two days before our arrival. Although this is our target species, John and I just wanted to escape the awful British weather and fancied a few days in the sun watching a few nice birds. A cheap Ryanair flight was found and accommodation near where we needed to be was also found that suited our needs. It was a wonderful recently converted farmouse in a remote area accessed down a track in an Olive grove.

We were soon watching Spanish Imperial Eagle, Cinereous Vulture, Griffon Vulture and many Azure-winged Magpies. Corn Buntings were singing everywhere and hirundines included Swallows, Red-rumped Swallows and House Martins. Pallid Swifts were also airborne as we admired all the cork Oaks that contained several Mistle Thrushes and Green Woodpeckers (Iberian). Two Little Owls caught us by surprise as they posed on a log. It was now very hot in the sun and we needed to take off a few layers of clothing. As we walked up and down the track we saw a few Sardinian Warblers and a lone Rock Bunting. A pair of Great Spotted Cuckoos were rather distant as I struggled to get a photo in the heat haze but a Woodchat Shrike posed whilst we had some lunch. We added more common birds to our list during the afternoon before enjoying an evening meal at Los Pinos.

31st March

After a short shopping trip we went birding around our converted farmhouse where we watched Crested Tits, Serins, European Bee-eaters and Mistle Thrushes before driving back up to the Sierra de Andujar. We stopped en-route to watch Red-rumped Swallows, Spotless Starlings and Azure-winged Magpies but none were keen to have their photos taken! During the day we watched Spanish Imperial Eagles, Griffon Vultures, Little Owl, many more Bee-eaters and a multitude of Corn Buntings. A Great Spotted Cuckoo was chased off by a Magpie as we noted Common Swift, Barn Swallow, Carrion Crow and Red-billed Chough.