Tuesday, 14 March 2023

Norfolk Day 14.03.23

 Up early and straight to Wells Harbour in very poor light. Not much so quick coffee and long wander on Holkham Beach. Very grey so left the camera in the car. Shore larks flew off and out of sight and just a Red breasted merganser seen during a 15 minute sea watch. Sea was very choppy. By the time I returned to the car the light was better with patches of blue sky.

Drove to Cley beach: gannets on the horizon, fly through goosander but too late for the auk passage. A large flock of Snow buntings bounced their way west and lost to view before I could fire off a photo. Coffee at the Visitors' Centre and off to the central hides. Spoonbills, pintail, avocets before I wandered down the East bank. Very little here so back to the car and a quick visit to Warham Greens, just curlews and Brent geese. Stop offs at Brancaster harbour and Choseley drying barns before completing the day and a very grey Titchwell apart form a bright 20 minutes when I was on the beach. Plenty of wader movement west and the day finished off in semi darkness by 4.45pm with a Barn owl making an appearance over Thornham Marsh, shortly followed in almost complete darkness by a 2nd owl. Some very grainy photos due to high ISO.

Species List:

  1. Mute swan
  2. Whooper swan
  3. White fronted geese
  4. Pink footed geese
  5. Greylag geese
  6. Canada goose
  7. Brent goose
  8. Shelduck
  9. Egyptian geese
  10. Mallard
  11. Gadwall
  12. Pintail
  13. Shoveler
  14. Wigeon
  15. Teal
  16. Pochard
  17. Red crested pochard
  18. Goosander
  19. Red breasted merganser
  20. Red kegged partridge
  21. Grey partridge
  22. Pheasant
  23. Red throated diver
  24. Little grebe
  25. Great crested grebe
  26. Gannet
  27. Cormorant
  28. Little egret
  29. Grey heron
  30. Spoonbill
  31. Red kite
  32. Marsh harrier
  33. Common buzzard
  34. Kestrel
  35. Water rail (heard)
  36. Moorhen
  37. Coot
  38. Oystercatcher
  39. Avocet
  40. Ringed plover
  41. Grey plover
  42. Golden plover
  43. Lapwing
  44. Sanderling
  45. Turnstone
  46. Dunlin
  47. Ruff
  48. Redshank
  49. Black tailed godwit
  50. Bar tailed godwit
  51. Curlew
  52. Snipe
  53. Black headed gull
  54. Common gull
  55. Mediterranean gull
  56. Herring gull
  57. Lesser black backed gull
  58. Wood pigeon
  59. Collared dove
  60. Barn owl
  61. Skylark
  62. Shore lark
  63. Meadow pipit
  64. Pied wagtail
  65. Dunnock
  66. Wren
  67. Robin
  68. Song thrush
  69. Blackbird
  70. Goldcrest
  71. Cetti's warbler (heard)
  72. Great tit
  73. Blue tit
  74. Long tailed tit
  75. Magpie
  76. Carrion crow
  77. Rook
  78. Jackdaw
  79. Starling
  80. House sparrow
  81. Chaffinch
  82. Linnet
  83. Goldfinch
  84. Greenfinch
  85. Reed bunting
  86. Yellowhammer
  87. Snow bunting
Oystercatcher

Grey heron

Greylag goose

Shelduck

Avocets, Greylag and Shelduck

Spoonbill coming into breeding plumage

2 Spoonbills

Red crested pochard

Drake mandarin from the ornamental duck pond at Blakeney

Cormorant

Redshank

Marsh harrier with an apparent fungal growth on the leg

Brent geese

Brent goose

Very distant Whooper swan with Pintail behind at Titchwell

Gulls: 3 Black headed and 3 Mediterranean gulls (2nd, 3rd and 4th from the left.)

Incoming Brent geese

Golden plover, some entering into breeding plumage at Titchwell.

2 more Spoonbill

Bar tailed godwit, Titchwell beach

Bar tailed godwit

Dunlin

Bar tailed godwits with a Grey plover at the back showing the dark blotch on the underwing.

Grey plover

Series of a 3rd year pale Herring gull





Adult Herring gull

Common gull series



Another shot of the Marsh harrier

Turnstone leading a small flock of Dunlin

Oystercatcher

Oystercatcher, Titchwell beach

Adult Herring gull

Titchwell Curlew at dusk

Another evening Curlew

Barn owl hunting over Thornham Marsh at dusk

Same owl

Note dark upperwing plumage

2nd Barn owl, much less dark on wings and head.


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This is me

This is me
At the end of another Norfolk Coastal footpath walk. 47 miles, 3 days 99 species of bird. September 2009

Caley Wood view

Caley Wood view
sunshine through the canopy 29.05.08

A walk along the Warta Valley, Poznan, Poland. Feb 2007

A walk along the Warta Valley, Poznan, Poland. Feb 2007
Best birds on this walk: black and middle spotted woodpecker and short toed treecreeper

About Me

My photo
A primary school teacher for 30 years, I retired from teaching in July 2009 to set up my own science enhancement and communication company. The Primary Works offers science clubs, workshops and staged science shows nationwide. I have always been interested in bird watching since my early years. Apparently my first tick was after inquiring about a chaffinch and then receiving the Observer book of birds. By the age of 9 I had moved on to Tory Peterson's collins guide and was now involved on YOC birding holidays to Northumbria, Essex coast, Slimbridge and Yorkshire. My twitching rule is that I will willingly travel 1km for each gram the bird weighs. However, I have had many rarities just by being in the right place. I have travelled widely throughout Europe and also visited Australia and Sri Lanka. In 2016 I spent time at Portland Bird Obs and two trips to Aviero, Portugal. 2017 found me back in Sri Lanka in Feb/March, then July and back for New Year's Eve celebrations in December. Also returned to The Camargue in May for a 4 day trip. Few plans for 2018, but nothing yet booked apart from a trip to the IOW.

Grey heron

Grey heron
Over the allotment 28.09.08

Southern Hawker

Southern Hawker
Ridge footpath 27.08.08

Juvenile green woodpecker (17.08.08)

Juvenile green woodpecker (17.08.08)
Note the stripes, denoting a bird fledged this year.

common blue

common blue
Ash Valley G.C. 15.08.08

Indian balsam (impatiens glandulifera)

Indian balsam (impatiens glandulifera)
River Ash

azure damselfly

azure damselfly
River Ash 28.07.08

marbled white

marbled white
Discovered at Westland Green 22.07.08

ruddy darter

ruddy darter
Bush Wood 21.07.08

honeysuckle 19.07.08

honeysuckle 19.07.08
growing in hedgerow in Chapel Lane

cinnabar moth caterpillar

cinnabar moth caterpillar
Photographed on ragwort 19.07.08

Bittersweet

Bittersweet
Study of petals 11.06.08

male yellowhammer

male yellowhammer
08.06.08

common blue butterfly

common blue butterfly
06.06.08

River Ash

River Ash
looking south from the bridge at Hadham Ford

Common poppy (papaver rhoeas)

Common poppy (papaver rhoeas)
in rape field 29.05.08

Caley Wood sunshine

Caley Wood sunshine
29.05.08

Millenium Wood fox

Millenium Wood fox
24.05.08

common comfrey (symphytum officinale)

common comfrey (symphytum officinale)
06.05.08 banks of the River Ash

Garlic Mustard or Jack by the Hedge,(Alliara petiolata)

Garlic Mustard or Jack by the Hedge,(Alliara petiolata)
flowers, leaves and fruit edible . Good in salad and pesto

April showers

April showers
Double rainbow 30.04.08

Caley Wood bluebells

Caley Wood bluebells
22.04.08

Yellow Archangel

Yellow Archangel
Chapel Lane (20.04.08)

sunlight 16.04.08

sunlight 16.04.08
looking south west from Bush Wood

snowy buds

snowy buds
06.04.08 in Bush Wood

Looking north west

Looking north west
05.04.08 evening shower approaching

Back Garden

Back Garden
Easter Sunday (23.03.08)

Brick Kiln Hill

Brick Kiln Hill
Looking east (23.03.08)

No play today

No play today
The 2nd hole at Ash Valley golf course

Teasel head

Teasel head
Bush Wood (21.03.08)

Reflections

Reflections
daffodils at Bush Wood pond (21.03.08)

Swollen River Ash

Swollen River Ash
The river at the bottom of Winding Hill 16.03.08

Daybreak over the chapel

Daybreak over the chapel
Thursday 13th March

Wild daffodils (narcissus pseudonarcissus)

Wild daffodils (narcissus pseudonarcissus)
growing in Bush Wood

January snowdrops

January snowdrops
Banks of River Ash, north of Much Hadham

Good Moon

Good Moon
From garden 24.01.08

Village Green

Village Green
Looking east towards Acremore Street

Looking south before Hadham Ford

Looking south before Hadham Ford
rare January blue sky

Useful sites

The following are some useful websites that may interest readers of this blog.
Firstly, Bishop's Stortford Natural History Society http://bsnhs.webplus.net/

Fellow birder, Gary Whelan's blog. Gives reports from our trips out together plus reports from his trips abroad. http://hairybirders.blogspot.co.uk
http://www.hertsbirdclub.org.uk/ The official herts bird club website. Frequently updated, listing bird sightings around the county. Offers links to many other websites. Both of these sites also offer links to yahoo discussion groups.
http://www.birdforum.net/ An international site. You can enter as a guest but become a member( free) to post comments, bird sightings and just about anything to do with wild birds. Good news updates, classified section for binoculars, cameras etc.
http://www.guidedbirdwatching.com/ A new site set up where you can contact people worldwide who will help you find good birds in their country. UK section being set up presently.
http://www.britainsbirder.co.uk/
Fellow birders blog. Strtford resident, Graeme Smith regulary birds the area south of Stortford as well as around Spellbrook and the River Stort from Spellbrook to Twyford Locks. Some superb bird photography: Graeme uses a digital camera attached to his powerful telescope to get detailled images of the birds he sees. Well worth a browse.
Two local sites that may be of interest can be found at
http://www.thehadhams.com/ www.thepelhams.net/content/section/12/139/

South Easterly walk

South Easterly walk
black, normal, red extended walk

South Westerly route.

South Westerly route.
Black usual, red extended

North Easterly walk

North Easterly walk
black short, walk. Red, extended

North West Patch

North West Patch
black route regular. Red route the extended wander