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