This afternoon we took a brief excursion to the pork pie capital of England – Melton Mowbray, though not on this occasion for ‘growlers’ but for the ‘resident’ Ring-billed Gull, a rare larid  from North America.  Similar to our own Common Gull but paler on the back and, on adult birds, a prominent black band on the thicker yellow bill.  This particular bird was a ‘first summer’ bird, with heavy flecking on the head, nape and ‘shoulders’.

A nice bird in a highly unlikely location and a welcome addition to the year list.

Finally, finally, this afternoon in a small patch of scrub just inland from the coast at Horsey Gap, Norfolk, I ‘unblocked’ a ‘Billy Bluetail’…or Red-flanked Bluetail, to give it it’s proper title – a bird which has led me a merry dance for many a long year. A three star rarity, that breeds in the Siberian taiga, occasionally as far west as Finland and winters in South East Asia. I knew there must be a reason for these constant howling easterlies over the past few weeks and now I know – it was to bring me this tiny, gorgeous, shy ‘slip of a girl’… for a female it probably was! If one was really greedy, which I am not, then a spring adult male in all his blue and orange ‘regalia’ would truly be a sight to behold but I am perfectly content with a female (or adolescent of the species) – perhaps more subtle, less ‘glitzy’. But don’t take my word for it judge for yourselves!

And to cap it all, a couple of miles down the coast at Winterton, roosting in a holly tree – a couple of Long-eared Owls.

A ‘Lifer’ and a Norfolk ‘tick’ ( I know, I ought to be ashamed of myself for letting this one go under the radar for so long!) all in one glorious, sunny spring afternoon….ah that’s the magic of birding!

I was pleased with this sequence of Glaucous Gull pictures so I thought I’d share them. Taken at Sea Palling on Easter Sunday, one of four present amongst the thousands of other gulls. This is a 1st winter bird, showing considerable fading to it’s ‘coffee’ coloured juvenile plumage. Glaucous Gulls are rare winter visitors to England from Iceland & Scandinavia. They are slightly bigger than our familiar Herring Gull, as can be seen from the first couple of photos and always have white primary wing feathers. They can be told from the very similar and equally rare Iceland Gull by size, structure and, in young birds, the reduced area of black on the bill-tip. ‘Glaucs’ are typically scruffy individual, found picking through urban waste on refuse tips or seen roosting on inland reservoirs, so it was nice to see them in their maritime environment in good winter/spring sunshine. Four birds at a single location is pretty exceptional.

And finally a flight shot of a second ‘1st winter’ individual showing rather more of it’s coffee coloured plumage

Hopefully the next birds to feature in this blog will be spring migrants!

Yesterday we decided to have a days birding and catch up on some of the long-staying scarcer birds that have been hanging around the Broads since the New Year.

We started at Earlham, just west of Norwich, to look for the Great Egret that’s been loitering in the Yare valley. Having parked the car and strolled back to the Tollgate Way bridge, the bird was obligingly out in the open, if a little distant –  feeding in the pastures to the west. First ‘target’ species under the belt!

Next, off to another stretch of the Yare, further down stream, to look for Bean Geese. We scanned from the platform at Buckenham station but this time no joy. They’ve not been reported from this spot for a while, so we didn’t feel too bad and the Short-eared Owl was some compensation anyway.

Our next stop was the Waveney forest to look for the Rough-legged Buzzards that have been wintering there. Having found the ‘mound’ and a couple of birders we were invited to look at a perched Marsh Harrier. We did and I said I was pretty sure it was a Rough-legged Buzzard! Twenty minutes later, when a farm vehicle disturbed it from it’s perch and it flew, the bright white upper tail patch, confirmed it’s ID. We also had a nice Peregrine there.

On to Gt. Yarmouth to look for Mediterranean Gull – which we found, 18 in all states of age/plumage, along the beach.

Cockshoot Broad was our next location – a lovely NWT reserve, good for winter wildfowl. We’d spent twenty minutes in the hide examining the small duck flock in some detail, coming to the conclusion that our target bird was not on show, when something disturbed the birds at the far end of the broad. Up popped the female Ferruginous Duck, which then quickly swam back to the vegetation and was lost from view! Another ‘hard to get’ species UTB!

Lunch was the ‘chippy’ at Wroxham before pressing on to Barton Broad and the last of our ‘pinned down’ species. Once at the observation platform it was apparent that all the ducks, apart from a small flock of Goldeneye feeding in open water, were at the far end of the broad. It took time and considerable eye-watering ‘scope work to locate one of the reported Scaup, in amongst the tightly packed Tufted flock. Still the nearby Water Rail provided some entertaining distraction.

It was then off to our final destination, to watch the evening roost at Stubb’s Mill. We got to the viewing platform by half past four, and the action was already starting – four handsome Common Crane flew through whilst a Merlin perched in a distant hawthorn and several Marsh Harriers where patrolling the fields before bedding down for the night. A male Stonechat was flitting around in the nearby bushes as  a splendid ‘ghost’ male Hen Harrier came to roost. “Egret…” was called and, as I studied the distant bird flying across the winter landscape, it became obvious that it was another Great White…our second for the day and a bit of a surprise! Forty plus more Marsh Harriers, a report of two distant Crane, and it was time to go. By which time it was nearly dark and we were utterly frozen but very pleased with our days work. Half way back to the car park, against the pink and mauve of the dusk sky, two honking Crane flew overhead – just perfect!

The first of our ‘target’ species – Great (White) Egret

If you look carefully you can just see a Rough-legged Buzzard sitting on the gate, next to the right-hand post.

One of the eighteen Med Gulls, on the beach at Gt Yarmouth

A quick snap of a Grey Heron

The elusive female Ferruginous Duck – behind the flock of Tufted

Jane, Bob & Sue on the viewing platform at Stubb’s Mill

If you look very carefully….two distant Crane, flying to roost!

The end of a really good Broadlands birding bonanza.

Birding at Felbrigg, during this weekend’s freeze-up, has been pretty good. Surprisingly perhaps the Bittern, first found at New Year, has hung around – I saw it again this morning fly into the reed bed from the surrounding marshy woodland. There has been a superb male Goosander on the near frozen lake, both Barn and Little Owl, Marsh Tit, up to five Water Rail, Whooper Swan, Green Sandpiper, Snipe and several Woodcock, as well as the commoner stuff.

Felbrigg House, in the snow

The ‘resident’ Whooper Swan

and now in ‘close-up’

One of up to five Water Rail feeding around the unfrozen margins of the lake

On our way home we stopped off at Deeping High Bank to look for swans but the fog was too thick. This Short-eared Owl was a bonus though

Yesterday, before departing for Norfolk, we stopped by in Werrington to see if the large flock of Waxwing, reported on Wednesday, were still about. You may think that having found a flock of these ‘winter jewels’ earlier in the week that we would be content, but oh no – such is the lure of these beautiful and engaging birds! Anyway, we did find about a dozen birds, feeding briefly on apples in someones front garden and I managed to get a couple of record shots.

We then set off for lunch and a walk at Titchwell. The drive over was fabulous, the roads were quiet, crystal clear air and scenery stunning – with every bush and tree encrusted with thick hoar frost. In roadside bushes, just outside Kings Lynn, I spotted two more Waxwing and, managing to avoid the passing lorries, take some photos.

Lunch at Titchwell was it’s usual high standard (for birders that is!) – soup & rolls and pasty & beans, then an hour or so of excellent mid-winter birding. The lagoons were frozen, so we headed straight for the beach, picking up Water Rail, Brambling and Lapland Bunting on the way. The sea was rather quiet with Red-breasted Merganser and Red-throated Diver being the main interest. Further along the coast at Stiffkey, on the salt marsh, we added Merlin. All in all, a pretty good day.

Waxwings at Werrington, feeding on apples

and another, in road-side bushes near King’s Lynn

Brambling, at the Titchwell feeding station

Arty Mute Swan picture

A very obliging Water Rail

This afternoon, in an effort to boost the ‘year list’, we decided  to attempt to track down the Waxwing flock that has been seen around  Ferry Meadows, the country park in the heart of Peterborough. There’d also been reports of Hawfinch in a village, just over the border in Northamptonshire, so we set off in eager anticipation. Close to the village of Blatherwycke, on the busy A43, I saw some familiar shaped birds in road-side bushes as we flashed by. A quick three point turn and we were parked up on the verge watching and hearing a delightful flock of 22 Waxwing – no need to go to FM now! After enjoying the spectacle for a while we carried on into the village and made our way to the church yard. Not much doing, until three Hawfinch flew into the top of a nearby tree. Unfortunately they departed as quickly as they had arrived! On the journey home, I couldn’t resist a quick shot of Fotheringhay church in the late afternoon sun.

Two, of the flock of 22 Waxwing on the A43

A poor record shot of Hawfinch, in flight

…but a nicer view of Fotheringhay church in the late afternoon sun.

On the way back home from Norfolk today, we called in at Thetford to ‘collect’ the Black-bellied Dipper, which has been hanging around on the river there since New Year. A muddy 100 yd walk from the Nunn’s Bridges Road car park and ‘bingo’ there it was. And very obliging it was too. Dipper is a Norfolk ‘tick’ for me and if they should split cinclus (Black-bellied) from gularis, the British race, it’ll be a ‘life’ tick!

Photo taken on my Sony compact!

New Year and the start of another birding ‘year list’! A couple of hours walk around the Felbrigg estate this morning produced fifty species to get the list off to a good start. Highlights included Woodcock, Whooper Swan, Mandarin, Siskin and Nuthatch. Then this afternoon a quick drive along the coast to Cley delivered a ‘life tick’ in the shape of a Richardson’s Canada Goose! The Sacred Ibis was also present in the next field. Not a bad start to the birding year.

Happy 2013 to you all.