30th September - Two Barred Warbler - at last ...

 

30th September 

I had pretty much ignored the 2006 Filey bird and by the time I had got back into the Two Barred Greenish Warbler (What is this Two Barrred Warbler naming nonsense !) vibe, I was on Scilly for the 2017 Dorset bird. 

So i decided to go for the next bird .. I only had three years to wait. Ross Ahmed spent all day piecing together briefly seen "Greenish" Warbler at Budle Bay in Sallows above the Caravan Park there. 

I wasnt able to go super early the next morning, so it was with relief that it was still there at 8am and after a work call at 10am , I was able to head off. 

I arrived at the layby about 3pm , there was negative news as i arrived since 13:30, so i headed down to the Caravan park and had my hopeful hat on ( well it was a wooly one anyhows ) 

As I arrived , There was a lot of movement and i immediately got on a Warbler flying across Bracken, it landed on a Hawthorn, where i could see it was a "Greenish" Type 

It immediately flew to a large Hawthorn where I was able to see a 1 second view of it ! 

It then flew over my head into the sallows ... 

We then lost it for 10 minutes , it literally vanished, Suddenly it apeared back n the Hawthrorn where I was able to see it for 5 seconds again and then had it on a close flyby, where the secondary Median covert bar was seen extremely well in fight ! 

It then vanished again ... 

It was looking very likely that all i was going to see was fleeting glimpses , around 30 people were still on site including my old friend Martin Kerby. 

It was about 10 minutes before Martin tapped me on the shoulder ( virtully as we were all keeping our physical distance from everyone) that I had my best view, I was just searching through the Sycamore when the bird just hopped into view, I spent 10 seconds or so just taking in the long Greater covert bar and the afore mentioned secong Median covert bar as well as its overall "brightness" it was then that i shouted everyone over and saw it for a further 5 seconds before t flitted out of view and only one other person saw it move. 

 

That was it ... No further sign til dark 

But I had seen it and it was a bit lovely 

Really great to catch up with Martin

 

18th October: Finders keepers

Another full day trying to find rares on the Norfolk coast felt like a luxury. The winds had turned northerly during the night and were heading west as the day progressed. Heavy rain greeted the dawn, so I decided to head to North Point Pools at Wells. Here I could enjoy some waterbirds until the worst of the rain eased, and then work the hedgerows and bushes along the coastal path towards Wareham.

A first ‘scope of the westernmost pool in the rain revealed the two anser geese had orange, not pink, legs. Two Tundra Bean Geese, freshly arrived from their arctic breeding grounds. They stayed for less than half an hour before continuing off high SW.

One of the two Tundra Beans

Working the bushes and field edges produced few migrants, but highlights included a Lapland Bunting over, then down into a large crop field with Skylarks; fantastic views of a hunting juv Peregrine, and a Jack Snipe that flew over whilst I was talking to another birder on the coastal path.

Next stop was the Lookout at Holkham for much-needed coffee, bumping again into Paul Varney as I left. We walked across Lady Anne’s Drive and came to an abrupt stop by a very vocal Yellow-brow in the first Oak west of the drive. 

Walking slowly west I came across another two Yellow-browed Warblers, a very bright individual by Meals House (almost Pallas’s bright) and a very dull bird near the Joe Jordan high (almost humei dull). 

Stopping at the Bluetail spot I gave it half an hour and was rewarded with a 5 second view in the darkness. My fourth Red-flanked Bluetail of the weekend, and my 13th individual eastern vagrant passerine in 48 hours. 

The probable Stejneger’s Stonechat was still present and showing well, but the overwhelming feeling was that the show was now well and truly over. Now it was time to go home. 

17th October, afternoon: There's no place like Holme

Looking back through my old notes, autumn trips to Holme Dunes in the late 80’s and early 90’s resulted in a few ticks for me including Yellow-browed Warbler, Common Rosefinch, and Brambling! It’s been years since my last visit, though, and the lure of multiple Red-flanked Bluetails was too much.

Stopping to recharge myself (coffee) and the car (electricity) in Brancaster Staithe, I noticed a tweet from Graham Etherington that he’d just had a vocal Yellow-brow in Burnham Deepdale churchyard. Being so close I strolled down, and very soon was enjoying great views of a YBW, accompanied by Blackbirds, Redwings, Goldcrests and Robins. 

Next stop the village car park at Holme-next-the-Sea. I walked out onto the golf course and joined a small group watching the hedgerow where a Bluetail was doing a feeding circuit. Eventually I got a view, then after another wait another showing. Probably 30 seconds in an hour on site. Great birds, elusive as ever.

Returning to the car park, a second bird has been showing on the hedgerow at the eastern end of the car park, and again after another wait this bird reappeared. Two Red-flanked Bluetails at one site, unthinkable a decade ago. A Woodcock flew low over the car park, twice, whilst we were waiting for the Bluetails.  

Deciding it was time to move on, firstly I needed a call of nature. I was clearly so in the bird-finding zone and so focused on Sibe passerines that I failed to notice to toilet block opposite the car park entrance, as I walked round the gold course side to nip behind a small patch of sallows. 

No sooner had a found a suitable spot when I noticed a flickering in the trees in front. Binoculars on it and boom, Pallas’s Warbler. What a bird they are. Seeing another birder the other side of the sallows, the car park side, I caught his attention and shouted across what I’d seen, so he could get onto it from within the car park. Mission successful, and it showed delightfully in front of 30 birders for the next ten minutes.

Now it was time to move on, so I drove round to Thornham harbour, and was just starting to scan the saltmarsh, enjoying a Black-tailed Godwit in rich mid-afternoon sunlight, when news came through of a Dusky Warbler at Holme NOA. At this point I forgot my geography, as I should have just continued by slow walk around the sea wall straight into the reserve, and probably finding the Thornham Pallas’s on the way. Instead I drove all the way back round...

Always a treat to visit the NOA reserve, and chatting to warden Sophie Barker she’d found the vocal  Dusky working through the reedbed and bushes alongside the Broad Water. Nets were opened in the hope of catching the bird, but only a Robin and a disgruntled looking Chiffchaff so far. 

I spent the next couple of hours enjoying the NOA reserve, pishing out Blackcaps and noting a couple of RB Mergs on the sea. Then word got around the few birders on site that the Dusky had been seen again, and as I walked down to the Broad Water I could hear the distinctive tacking of a Dusky Warbler. The bird showed on & off, my first UK Dusky warb for almost 20 years.

I spent last knockings back in the car park, catching up with Mike & Rose Collard and Matt & Bryony Slaymaker, an old Bucks reunion after they’d been tempted across by the Bush Chat. Up to three Bluetails kept appearing for split seconds as a small group of birders tried to decide the best place to wait. Mike, Rose & I were last three standing on the golf course side when a Bluetail popped up on the brambles right in front of us, giving the best Bluetail views of the day. 

A fitting end, to one of the best days birding I’ve had in the UK for an awfully long time. 

17th October, morning: Decisions, decisions

First decision of the day was easy – stay in Norfolk. There were still good birds to be found, and being autumn I was confident many of the arrivals of the week wouldn’t be anywhere new anytime soon.

The second decision a little harder – where to start the day? The prospect for new arrivals felt low, so the day was all about digging out birds waiting to be found. Somewhere with enough cover to hold birds (not a Blakeney Point day) but not too much that it would be needle in a haystack time (Wells Wood) was required. I eventually settled on Wareham Greens, then a walk along the coastal path to Stiffkey, where the Campsite Wood had held three Pallas’s Warblers on Friday.

Up well before dawn, rain was falling that was not in the forecast. Perhaps there may be some new arrivals after all? A Tawny Owl was perched in trees overhanging the road as I drove past Holkham Hall.

Arriving at Wareham Greens in the dark, I couldn’t decide where to park. I’d seen a number of farmers active already this morning, and didn’t want to block their work. The fresh mud on the track at Wareham suggested very recent activity, and the last thing the farmers needed was a birder in their way. So it was I decided to drive to Stiffkey, park in the car park next to the campsite, and do my planned circuit in reverse.

I wasn’t expecting so many cars to be in the car park already. As I got my boots on in the half-light, 20 middle-aged, loud and terribly well spoken ladies were gathering in the car park, complete with bags and dogs. Great. Their very high spirits quashing mine.

In the hope of getting ahead of them I dashed past where they were stood and into the wood. What a mistake, it was far too dark to see anything in the wood yet. And then very shortly the whole group of ladies loudly passed me, on their way to go for a dawn swim in the very high tide. Unexpected, indeed.

Another birder soon approached me, from the direction of the car park. “Have you seen anything?”, the usual ask. “No, too dark still isn’t it” I replied. “No Rufous Bush Chat?” he said. I laughed. Then he turned his phone screen to me “cos one’s just been mega’d from here”.

WHAT?

Picking my phone out my pocket, which had been tucked away on silent, I could see Simon ringing me, plus a missed call and a message saying “Get to the ******* stiffkey campsite now”. The mega alert read “just east of the car park”, so being just 150m E of the car park meant I quickly turned back to try and figure out what was going on – I couldn’t see another birder!

Just before the car park, I suddenly bumped into four other birders, including John Reeve and Paul Varney. They were stood exactly where the group of ladies had been stood earlier, the spot I’d hurried passed, and looking towards a small patch of Suaeda on the edge of the flood.

It's in that first Suaeda bush

“Bush Chat?” I enquired. “Yes, it’s been on the track, now it’s in that Suaeda”. So, not a hoax! After a few minutes wait Paul called out “it’s on the track”, closer than where we’d been scanning. I caught a glimpse of a sandy brown passerine just as it decided to fly back into the Suaeda, revealing as it went a rusty red tail, with a black terminal band and striking white tail tips. 

RUFOUS BUSH CHAT!!

People began arriving, recognisable Norfolk faces, but the bird wasn’t showing. An agonising 15 minutes later I suddenly saw it fly out the back of the bush and called it “It’s flying!”. “Give it space” shouted Ticker from behind his mask as the bird dropped into the vegetation at the edge of the car park, “and remember your social distancing!”. Very 2020.

It promptly flew again, to the hedge line just west of the car park. A few people, James McCallum included, dropped back into the stubble field inland of the hedge and picked up the bird feeding on the ground in the field edge. Here it gave fantastic views for the next 10 mins or so to all assembled and arriving birders. What a bird, a UK listing myth in the skin in front of us. Fabulous.

Suddenly the bird flew up again, into the tree in the hedgerow, and then again out, across the saltmarsh. It landed 300+ meters away, in Suaeda on an island in the now retreating tide. Wow, was that it? Could that get refound, or would the 60 or so people on site be the lucky ones, the bird’s legendary status maintained?

On the back of Ashley Banwell's camera

More birders were arriving all the time, and with no desire to be anywhere near a crowd I headed off into the campsite wood. I enjoyed chatting with a shell-shocked John Reeve, the enormity of his find not yet sunk in. 

At the far eastern end of the wood a fantastic Pallas’s Warbler was showing well, restlessly moving through the sycamores, calling frequently. The woods held little else, and across the saltmarsh I could see birders spread out, wading between dry patches in what appeared to be a vain endeavor. Then, suddenly, I could see running, pointing and gathering; the bird amazingly refound. I had no interest in joining the resulting scrum. It was time to head west. 

16th October: Eastern Promise

We’d been watching the charts for days. A rarity expressway forming directly from central Asia. Wednesday and Thursday were looking like the main arrival days, with high pressure settled over Scandinavia and nor’easters forming in the North Sea, blowing straight onto the North Norfolk coast.

My only problem was two days of full day meetings in London. Sure enough, it was raining Sibes on the coast, but it looked like the NE’s would continue into Friday, so all was not lost. Waking up to a puncture on the car wasn’t a great start, though.

So the day played out via Kwik Fit, cafes for work Zoom calls, more work time and calls and some progress north, so by the time work was done for the week I was in the car park at Lady Anne’s Drive and ready to go birding.

Walking through the wonderful Holkham NNR it was clear there has been a mass arrival of migrants. Every tree seemed to hold Goldcrests; Blackbirds were obvious and tame; Redwings were constantly calling overhead along with finches; small flocks of Siskins, fewer Crossbills and individual Redpolls.

I headed to the west end of the pines, where the recently found “Eastern” Stonechat was showing well, fly-catching from brambles on the freshmarsh. A striking bird, very fresh 1st-winter. A clear Stejneger’s candidate, with a deep burnt orange rump surely beyond the range of maura, white-throat and pitch-black underwing coverts. But not a classic individual, I’d have loved the bird to have been darker brown on the back, and stronger orange on the chest. Andy Bloomfield spent the following day with this bird and was able to collect the essential faeces to enable the DNA to be profiled. We’ll get BBRC-level proof one way or the other.

In the dune hollow behind us, a very used Barred Warbler was showing well, feeding on berries, reflecting the usual spectrum that the further through autumn you go, the better Barred Warblers show. By November this bird will be sitting on your hand.

Out on the Freshmarsh eight Cattle Egrets were with the cattle, and three or four Great White Egrets were flopping around and feeding in ditches. I’m still not used to these being common yet.

Heading slowly back east I spent an hour or so looking for a typically elusive Red-flanked Bluetail, without success. A Pallas’s Warbler had been singing in the same earlier, but no sight or unfortunately sound now.

With dusk approaching I stood next to Washington Hide, watching the Starling murmuration building and Marsh Harriers coming into roost. Messaging the boys, Rob asked if it was busy at Holkham, and I told him I had not seen another person for half an hour. Bliss. Darkness was falling as I sauntered back to the car park, adding Barn Owl. 

Then the penny dropped. There really was no one around. Mine was the only car in the car park. Yes, the gates were locked. I had completely failed to see all the signs saying the car park closed at 6pm, half an hour ago. Fortunately, the team at the Victoria Inn took pity on me, and a night in the car was eventually prevented

9 October: A long wait for a beard.

At the end of September I spent an extremely pleasant week down in Cornwall. Very relaxing, full of Tribute and fish & chips.....but bird-wise it was very slow. In fact to describe it as pedestrian would be an exaggeration. And on my return it was with subsequent envy (and vicarious pleasure, I guess) that I read Simon's updates of what turned out to be a pretty decent week for him.

So I was a little bit desperate to see something good before I went back to work. Luckily "Vigo" the wandering Lammergeier kindly obliged. The results of DNA analysis on its feathers have recently been published, so we can now apply a gender specific pronoun and say that she resurfaced in Norfolk and Lincs after departing the Peak District a couple of weeks previously.

So off I went to the big sky flatlands of the fens just north of Peterborough, where the bird was swiftly located, and a crowd gathered, blocking up the roads and no doubt infuriating the local farmers and commuters.

Quite simply this was a magnificent bird. Beautiful - no, not really. Impressive - heck yes. Particularly in flight, where its attendant mobbing crows crowded around it like ineffectual gnats. She circled the roadside fields pretty low, before pouncing on something unidentifiable and long dead, and proceeded to scoff it down. See below for very amateur video.

Subsequently there were widely published photos of the bird actually holding up traffic as it crossed the road. I suppose that detracts a little from the "authenticity" of the sighting, if such a thing means anything. It didn't to me tbh, even if the bird is seemingly destined for Cat E.

I never thought I'd see a vulture in the UK, and I'm thoroughly glad I made the effort before she finally tired of this country (don't really blame her given.....well, everything).

So not a bad bird to mark my return to this blog! Hopefully my next entry, whenever that is, will describe something equally exciting.

6 October 2020 - Holme Dunes and Wighton

 

I was meant to be heading out for 24 hrs fishing but various things got in the way, so I ended up popping up to Holme for the evening.

Although a brisk westerly was blowing, I was hoping I would see something. I parked at the first car park and headed west past the golf course to Old Hunstanton and back.

No sign of 'my' pale Lesser Whitethroat but two Redstart made up for that, along with a couple of Chiffchaff and a Garden Warbler.

Further along the coast path, by the stretch where you can cross the golf course, I flushed a large, dull, long-tailed Warbler from the side of the path into the bottom of a tiny bush in front of me. I could see it in silhouette but not get anything on it before it dropped deep into the huge area of cover on the dune there. The only thing I got on it were white outer-tails.

It's in there somewhere

A few minutes pishing got me some very strange looks from walkers and 3 Lesser Whitethroat. It wasn't a Lesser Whitethroat.

Moving on down the path and I was pleasantly surprised by a Yellow-browed Warbler, showing very well along the path. Apart from a handful of Stonechat, I didn't find much else.

Nothing Under the Rainbow

The heavens opened and I got drenched on my way back to the car but that didn't put me off heading over to Wighton to see the showy Hoopoe. After a very slooooow journey (what are the chances of a tractor also driving cross-country from Holme to Wighton?!?), I managed to see the Hoopoe between showers - it was very obliging and felt quite out of place!

Mark.