Blakeney Point - 4th September 2014

Dad and I headed up to North Norfolk in hope of adding Ortolan Bunting and Black Tern onto my life and year list for the former, and just my year list for the latter. We decided to walk Blakeney Point, which considering we'd never done this before, seemed ambitious. We cheated a bit though, as we got one of Bean's Boat Trips (highly recommended) out to see the Seals, and then get off and walk back to Cley after landing on the point.

We got to the Seals, and they were fantastic to watch as always. Swimming by the boat or just doing what Seals do best...

We then got dropped off on the point by the National Trust Centre, and walked to the plantation. A Wheatear was very confiding on the way...

At the plantation, we saw 1 Redstart, 1 Pied Flycatcher, 2 Willow Warblers, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Spotted Flycatcher and 3 Whinchat. These were seen at about 14:00-15:00, and at about 17:00-18:00, there were 7 Redstart, 8 Pied Flycatchers and about 4 Spotted Flycatchers. This shows that birds were constantly coming in throughout the afternoon. We also had a Buzzard fly over too...

We were told that there was a Wryneck at long Hills, so we went to look for that. We flushed it from near the path were we saw it fly right in front of us, but landed quite a way from us, so we didn't bother to walk all the way back. We saw several Whinchat on the walk back, probably about 15 in total...

Waling back across the beach, we had a nice Bonxie fly east, but we also had a cracking juvenile Arctic Skua mobbing the terns just offshore. Incredible...

No sign of the Ortolan Bunting or any Black Terns, but still a pretty good day. However I don't think I will be walking Blakeney Point again in a hurry, as my legs felt like falling off when we finished to be honest, unless there is a MEGA perhaps.....

Happy Birding!

Nunnery Lakes and Lynford Arboretum + Bird Quiz - Week 10

On Thursday, Dad and I went back to Lynford Arboretum to try and get good pictures of the Two-barred Crossbills. First though, we visited Nunnery Lakes NR (permition only), to try and see the reported Ring ouzel. We got permission from the BTO HQ, and walked round. We didn't get the Ring Ouzel, but we did get Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Great-crested Grebes, common wildfowl and 2 collared Canada Geese. One was AA7, and the other was ACM.

Chiffchaff

 Cormorants

Hare

Holy Blue

Marsh Tit

Willow Warbler

We then went to Lynford. We got 3 Two-barred Crossbills, 2 males and 1 female. Also, 2 Hawfinch flew over, and a cracking Grey Wagtail was on the puddle, but no pics were taken of him/her.

Brimstone

Chaffinch

Common Crossbill

Orange Tip

Pied Wagtail

Siskin

Speckled Wood

Treecreeper

Two-barred Crossbills

Bird Quiz - Week 10

I tried to trick some of you guys with last weeks mystery bird by repeating it. It was indeed another Scaup, which I saw at Barton Broad a couple of years ago. Well done to Rob Stokes and Jim Bradley for getting the correct answers. Unlucky to those who got it wrong. Here's this weeks mystery bird.....

Just leave your answers in the comments, and I will reveal the correct entries next week.

Happy Birding and Good Luck!

Lynford LIFER!!!!

As I was off school on Wednesday due to the strike, Dad and I visited Lynford Arboretum, to try for the Two-barred Crossbills for the third time this year. We got to the car park, and could hear 2 Firecrests singing. I found them after a hunt, and then we moved on to the visitor hut. Dad found 1 Crossbill in the larches, but nothing else. We then met a chap who we spent the day with who had a Mealy Redpoll in the trees earlier. We went up to the feeders, and saw nothing much in there, just the usual Nuthatch. We then got a big flock of about 25 Crossbill flying over. Half landed in the surrounding trees, half went to the larches back by the visitor hut. We scanned the flock, but couldn't find any Two-barred's. So we went back to the visitor hut.

I soon spotted a male Crossbill in the top of a pine. But when I put my bins to it, it had 2 massive bars!!!!! It was a TWO-BARRED CROSSBILL! It then flew to the construction site, and into a big puddle, where I got this distant pic.

It then flew off, with about 5 Common Crossbills. I then could hear another 2 Firecrests in the local area. We managed to find them both, including one showy and vocal individual.

I did get a few Brambling down by the little stream adjacent to the river near the bridge, but to my knowledge not much else.

On the way back, another Crossbill flock came in and landed in the pines. We searched through the flock, and was delighted to pick out a second TWO-BARRED CROSSBILL!!!! This time though, it was the first winter bird, and clearly different to the first one we saw. The bars though were pretty obvious.

We then went to Santon Downham with this guy (sorry, don't know what your name is.) We got a distant Chiffchaff showing on the river...

We then got a female Mandarin...

After walking a mile down river though, we didn't see any of the Lesser-spotted Woodpeckers, even though 2 were reported on RBA. Annoyed!! We came back though and a male joined the female Mandarin, which was nice to see. We did get the usual Nuthatches as well...

There was also a Lesser-spotted Woodpecker and 3 Hawfinches reported at Lynford, exactly where I walked to see the Brambling's by the River!!! AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!! Always next weekend.

Tonight, I had a golf lesson at Stonham Barns. I got a Yellow Wagtail on the range which was a great early bird.

Happy Birding!

There Ticking Up!

The title is basically suggesting that my year list and life list are ticking up, with 214 this year, and 240 for my life. This is a fantastic year if you compare it, because I am only 26 species off my life list this year. That's incredible. My highest ever year count was last years 205, well, I have thrashed that this year, and were still in November!!!

Anyway, Dad and I went to Norfolk for a bit of birding on Friday. We started of at northern section of Yarmouth Cemetery. Our ambition was to track down the Yellow-browed warbler that was seen on Thursday, and to do this, we presumably had to find a tit flock. It wasn't long before my ears picked up the call of Long-tailed Tit's, and sure enough we found th flock. Of course, there were several Long-tailed Tits

And also 3 Chiffchaffs

Not great!

The, we spotted a tiny bird flitting about low in the ivy. Our hopes went up, but then down a little way, as it turned out to be a Firecrest. Still a cracking bird to see, as I haven't had good views of these birds for ages. The best I got was this shot...

We the headed to Caister to get the Rose-coloured Starling, a lifer for Dad and I.

It then cleared off onto the distant roof tops...

We then left for Winterton. Passing through the fields around the road, we saw thousands of Pink-footed Geese. It was incredible. The shots were taken while driving, so that's why they are so bad....

We didn't get much at Winterton Dunes, apart from some Gannets and Common Scoters. We didn't know where the Snow Buntings or Lapland Bunting were when we got there, and there were so many people here, so we didn't see them.

If you've got good eyes, you can see the scoters. Very distant.

Pretty Poor

We then finished off at the raptor roost at Stubb Mill, and got several Marsh Harriers, Pink-foots and 2 Crane. Not a bad day, but could have been better.

Happy Birding!