May Birdseekers Trip to Norfolk

Sunday, May 9th 2004

Report by Neil Glenn
Photos by Lynne Demaine

The first problem was to decide where this trip would be going! The previous week's bird news had produced a dodgy Chiffchaff and a 'plastic' White Stork in Cheshire (obvious non-starters), a good number of Pomarine Skuas off the west coast (very tempting but the winds were about to change direction) and a few goodies in Norfolk (the favourite choice, with a back-up of good birds in case the rarities departed). The forecast was for rain in the east of the country coupled with easterly winds, perfect conditions for something 'big' to turn up to join the few good birds already present (hopefully!). A brief scare came at 9.00pm on Saturday night when my pager bleeped with news of a Greater Sandplover in West Sussex, but it flew off soon after being found (thankfully!?). And so I decided that we would be making the trek to Norfolk on Sunday morning...

True to forecast, it was a rainy start to the day. Further bad luck struck when one of the participants failed to arrive at the rendezvous on time, leaving just nine on the minibus. Spirits were high though as I revealed the tentative itinerary.

Less than three hours later, we were scanning over Martham Broad to see if any Cranes could be seen. One or two members got a glimpse of two as they dropped into fields out of view: most unsatisfactory! We disembarked at Winterton for toilets and a quick glance on the beach to see if the Little Terns had returned. There was very little activity so we quickly headed north to Waxham. Three people were already 'scoping the female Dotterel in a bare field next to the road and our party soon joined them. We got superb views of this beauty plus a couple of Wheatears and a Yellow Wagtail. We were informed that just before we arrived, a Crane had flown over the field and dropped behind a bank out of view. So near yet so far...

A glance at the pager told me that the Red-footed Falcon was showing well just around the next bend, so we high-tailed it while the going was good. Within five minutes, the whole group was getting superb views of this absolute stunner. The first-summer male falcon was sitting under the canopy of a Hawthorn bush, sheltering from the fine drizzle, not a hundred yards away. Our attention was also drawn to a Cuckoo sitting out in the open a couple of bushes away from the star bird. Everyone had their fill of the falcon, Lynne even managing to obtain great digishots of the bird for posterity.

A quick scan of the surrounding fields failed to locate any Ring Ouzels so we decided to have a bit of a sea watch. Another bare sea revealed a solitary Little Tern and a Grey Seal. This was disappointing as conditions were perfect for birds to be passing; sea mist at about a mile's range and onshore winds. Very disappointing.

The pager bleeped to tell me that the Red-backed Shrike was showing again at Titchwell, quite a drive from our current position. A decision had to be made as to whether we went for this bird and other delights along the north Norfolk coast or head inland to The Brecks for Stone Curlew, Golden Oriole, etc. I surmised that because of the weather, the orioles would be difficult to see, so a majority voted for the North coast.

As we were leaving the falcon site, I remembered the Cranes. I couldn't let the day slip by without another chance of seeing one, even if this is the worst time of year to locate them. I drove the group down a track where I had seen them before, and sure enough there were four birds feeding in a field, oblivious to our presence. What a stroke of luck as persistence paid off again!

On the way to Titchwell, I decided a leg-stretch would be welcome so we stopped off at Cley. It seemed that quite a few of our group had visited here recently but it is always worth a walk along the East Bank, no matter how often you have been. The decision was vindicated when everyone got superb views of Whimbrel, Bearded Tit (very entertaining!) and Avocet. The sea was even more deserted than at Waxham: very strange.

Just outside Holkham, I unintentionally managed to reduce the Grey Squirrel population by one. The poor mite just couldn't decide which way to get off the road and it chose the wrong one. The Grey Squirrel was now a Red one, adding a new mammal species to the trip list. We finally arrived at Titchwell around lunchtime with shrike, toilets and food the priorities (in that order). The Red-backed Shrike was on show in the car park. It was a striking male bird, showing down to about thirty yards. Everyone had great views before it dropped out of sight.

The group mostly split up to cover the reserve on their own or in smaller parties. Everyone had good views of several Little Gulls, Marsh Harriers, Avocets and (of course) Sammy the Stilt.

It was now mid afternoon: I was hoping that something else would have been found by now but no such luck. Actually, my prediction that a goodie would turn up on the east coast today had proved correct. Unfortunately, that goodie was in south Suffolk in the form of a Citrine Wagtail, a nice bird but too far from where we were.

Another decision had to be made: head home or linger in Norfolk at Holme/Flitcham hoping to find something for ourselves or for someone else to turn up a biggie. To delay the decision, I made a hopeful stop at Wolferton for the Golden Pheasants that had eluded us on the January trip. No Such luck but it gave me time to ponder over the alternatives. It was time to head homewards, but with a slight diversion to Rutland Water on the way. Time passed quickly as the bus managed to complete their quiz for the day (guess the eight British species with only four letters in their name - ignoring those new-fangled names) in record time. PUT THAT BOOK AWAY TONY!

We arrived at the dam end of the reservoir at about 5:45pm. Very few birds were on the water. Fortunately, the Great Northern Diver (still in winter plumage) and the Red-necked Grebe (summer-plumaged) were easily located, though somewhat distant. Mosquitoes were also much in evidence so we beat a hasty retreat to the minibus. Unfortunately, I had left the doors and windows open so several of the nasty insects were waiting for us!

The final stop of the day was at Tim's cottage, further along the reservoir. No sign of the Ospreys though I had seen four here earlier in the week. A Greylag Goose was in the nest, looking strangely out of place! We managed to add Tree Sparrow to the day's tally, bringing the total for the trip to 103 species.

A great day out, with one member adding five species to his Life List! Bird of the Day was a relatively straightforward choice; Red-footed Falcon gained seven votes, Red-backed Shrike and Bearded Tit one vote each. It was a good job we had seen some good birds on the coast as five Golden Orioles had been showing well in The Brecks: so much for my prediction!

SPECIES POSITIVELY IDENTIFIED ON THE TRIP:
Birds in CAPITALS indicate rarities, target birds or good local birds. Your choices may differ!
GREAT NORTHERN DIVER:	1, Rutland Water
Little Grebe:	1, Titchwell.
Great Crested Grebe:	Rutland Water
RED-NECKED GREBE:	1, Rutland Water.
Cormorant:	Waxham, Titchwell, Cley, Rutland Water.
LITTLE EGRET:	1 in flight, Titchwell.
Grey Heron:	2, Rutland Water.
Mute Swan:	Cley, Rutland Water.
Greylag Goose:	Waxham, Cley, Titchwell.
Canada Goose:	Cley.
BRENT GOOSE (Dark-bellied):	~10, Titchwell.
EGYPTIAN GOOSE:	Cley, + flock of ~20 near Holme.
Shelduck:	Waxham, Cley, Titchwell, Rutland Water.
Gadwall:	Cley, Titchwell.
Teal:	1 or 2, Cley.
Mallard:	Everywhere!
PINTAIL:	2 males, Titchwell.
Shoveler:	Cley, Titchwell.
Pochard:	1 in flight, Titchwell.
Tufted Duck:	1, Cley; several, Rutland Water.
Marsh Harrier:	2, Waxham; 2M 1F, Cley; 1 pair, Titchwell.
Sparrowhawk:	1M, Waxham; 1F Titchwell.
Kestrel:	Waxham, Titchwell + travelling.
RED-FOOTED FALCON:	1st-summer male, Waxham.
Red-legged Partridge:	Waxham + travelling.
Grey Partridge:	Waxham.
Pheasant:	Everywhere.
Moorhen:	Cley, Titchwell, Rutland Water.
Coot:	Cley, Titchwell, Rutland Water.
COMMON CRANE:	4, Waxham.
Oystercatcher:	Cley, Titchwell.
BLACK-WINGED STILT:	1M, Titchwell.
AVOCET:	Cley, Titchwell.
Little Ringed Plover:	1, Titchwell.
Ringed Plover:	Cley, Titchwell.
DOTTEREL:	1F, Waxham.
Grey Plover:	Breeding-plumaged M&F, Titchwell.
Lapwing:	Everywhere.
Knot:	1, Cley.
Sanderling:	Several, Titchwell, inc breeding plumage.
Dunlin:	Cley, Titchwell.
Ruff:	1, Cley.
Black-tailed Godwit:	~30, Cley; several, Titchwell.
WHIMBREL:	At least 20, Cley.
Curlew:	1, Cley.
Spotted Redshank:	1, Titchwell.
Redshank:	Several, Cley & Titchwell.
Turnstone:	Several, Titchwell.
LITTLE GULL:	6 immatures, Titchwell.
Black-headed Gull:	Everywhere.
Common Gull:	1, in field on A47 near Wisbech.
Lesser Black-backed Gull:	Titchwell.
Greater Black-backed Gull:	Cley, Titchwell.
Herring Gull:	Titchwell.
Sandwich Tern:	Several, Cley.
Common Tern:	3, Cley; a few, Titchwell; many, Rutland Water.
LITTLE TERN:	1, Waxham.
Stock Dove:	Waxham + travelling.
Woodpigeon:	Everywhere.
Collared Dove:	Everywhere.
TURTLE DOVE:	2, Waxham; 2, Titchwell ? all in flight.
Cuckoo:	1 in full view, Waxham + 2 calling.
Swift:	Hundreds, Titchwell.
Green Woodpecker:	1, Rutland Water.
Great Spotted Woodpecker:	1, Rutland Water.
Skylark:	Waxham, Cley.
Sand Martin:	1, Titchwell.
Swallow:	Everywhere.
House Martin:	Hundreds, Titchwell.
Meadow Pipit:	1, Waxham; 2 or 3, Titchwell.
Yellow Wagtail:	2 or 3, Waxham; 1 heard, Rutland Water.
Pied Wagtail:	Everywhere.
Wren:	1 or 2, Titchwell.
Dunnock:	Waxham, Titchwell.
Robin:	Titchwell.
Wheatear:	2, Waxham.
Blackbird:	Everywhere.
Song Thrush:	2, travelling.
Mistle Thrush:	1, Waxham.
Sedge Warbler:	Cley.
Reed Warbler:	Heard, Cley; 1 seen, Titchwell + others singing.
Lesser Whitethroat:	1 heard, Rutland Water.
Whitethroat:	Waxham, Titchwell.
Blackcap:	1M, Titchwell.
Chiffchaff:	Heard, Cley & Rutland Water.
Goldcrest:	Wolferton.
BEARDED TIT:	Excellent views of 3 or 4, Cley.
Long-tailed Tit:	Waxham, Titchwell, Rutland Water.
Blue Tit:	Titchwell.
Great Tit:	Rutland Water.
RED-BACKED SHRIKE:	1M, Titchwell.
Magpie:	Everywhere.
Jackdaw:	Everywhere.
Rook:	Everywhere.
Carrion Crow:	Travelling.
Starling:	Everywhere.
House Sparrow:	In villages, travelling.
TREE SPARROW:	6, Rutland Water.
Chaffinch:	Everywhere.
Greenfinch:	Everywhere.
Goldfinch:	Everywhere.
Linnet:	Several, Titchwell.
Yellowhammer:	1 Heard, Rutland Water.
Reed Bunting:	1 or 2, Titchwell.

Other Species
Grey Seal:	1, Waxham.
Red Fox:	1, somewhere in Lincs.
Rabbit:	Everywhere.
Grey Squirrel:	1, Holkham; 1, Rutland Water.