Breckland Produces - Again!

On Sunday, Dad took me out to the Brecks again, to try and pin down some of the specialities, and also some early spring migrants. We started off at Great Livermere Lake, where a scan around picked up an slightly unusual gull sitting on one of the bars. My initial thought was Caspian, and lots of people said Caspian, but I'm no expert on finding and identifying scarce gull species. Here it is...

Further scanning around the lake produced 2 Mediterranean Gull, a late Pink-footed Goose and a lone Barnacle Goose which were the highlights...

We then went to look in the pig fields north of the lake to try and find an Iceland Gull which was seen the previous day. Unfortunately, we couldn't find it, but there was still hundreds of gulls that were not searched. 

We moved on north to Santon Downham, to try and look for a hopeful Lesser-spotted Woodpecker. After a lot of searching, we couldn't nail it down, but we did get several Nuthatch, Grey Wagtail, Brambling, Chiffchaff and Lesser Redpoll. The star of the visit had to be a cracking Firecrest however...

We then got a call from our good birding friend David to say that he had a pair of Wheatear and 4 Stone Curlew at Cavenham Heath, so that's where we headed next. After scanning around, we picked up one cracking male Wheatear, 8 Stone Curlews and a singing male Stonechat. I do love the brecks!!!

Happy Birding!

A Big Migration!

You would not believe the amount of Homework I am getting now that I'm in Year 8, its about 2 bits a day! This is why the Blog has been quiet. A lot to mention so I'll get on with it.

Some time ago, Mum was here on her own and got this having it's lunch on the garden!

Sparrowhawk

A pair of Yellow Wagtails over Bacton on Monday was a nice sight, and plenty of Jays around home and school - sightings probably reaching 15! 2 Sightings of the Great Spotted Woodpecker on Wednesday and Thursday. The Chiffchaff is still about but not so regular. A Skylark was over the bus stop also on Thursday, and the Coal Tit put in an appearance...

Past Picture of a Coal Tit in the Garden

An incredible surprise at Cretingham today was a flock of 5 Redwings seen several times going round the golf course with their bell like trill. The first for the autumn. Other birds of note included a Buzzard, a Jay, a Kingfisher, a Long-tailed Tit flock, Bullfinch, Kestrel and Goldcrest, plus several Chiffchaff. 

Going to Norfolk coast for a Birdwatching trip onto the coast, hopefully picking up some lifers. Only things that I think are about are a possible Blyth's Reed Warbler at Titchwell, Caspian Gull at Cley, and a Pectoral Sandpiper at Kelling. Anything else please let me no before tomorrow morning, thanks a lot.

Happy Birding.

Once Again

Having to have a bit of a wait to get into the house last night, I had a little migration count. I spotted a single Sparrowhawk drifting in the wind, along with several House Martins, numbers reaching probably 100. Another great sight was a flock of 5 Meadow Pipits going south with the hirundines. Dad had 2 Jays playing golf today, with a Kestrel and plenty of Chiffchaffs on the course. Happy Birding!

A Blog Post, at Last!

On Sunday afternoon, after coming back from Golf, I was in the garden hitting a tennis ball on the side of the house with a racket when I heard the alarming call of Meadow Pipit coming over my head. I looked up and saw 6 of them flying over towards Ipswich. These were firsts for the garden, so this will be updated on the Garden List page, so look out for that.

Then, I came home from school on Tuesday and Dad said that he had seen 6 Curlews fly over the house which I was absolutely gobsmacked at, and this is actually the first ever wader specie ever to be observed near the house. Superb!

Friday evening, we were watching the Masterchef Final, when a grey fury friend ran across the fence, followed by his mate. They were Grey Squirrels. 

The local sparrows weren't bothered at all.

Grey Squirrel Friday evening

Grey Squirrel Saturday Morning

Saturday was a golfing day, with a bit of birding in with it too. I got off to a good start when a couple of Jays came up from the roadside. A few Bullfinches were in the roadside bushes. I didn't get off to a good start with a double bogey, but followed that with a par regained myself. After being 4 and 3 over par at different points, I managed to regain myself both times to come level par. And I finished level handicap so that was great. Going round, a calling Little Owl was unusual, and a big passerine flock containing Goldcrest, Treecreeper, Long-tailed Tit, Marsh Tit and Bullfinch. The final action was a fantastic Buzzard that flew right over our heads and we got great views.

The Chiffchaff proving to be quite elusive in the garden now, but I reckon over 20 were at Cretingham yesterday, so they were good to watch. Always, I was checking for a Yellow-browed Warbler as there was over 70 in the British Isles yesterday. 

I also collected another egg shell yesterday, which dad thinks it could be a partridge or pheasant. I shall put a picture of this on next week. 

A Few Highlights!

A couple more Stowmarket Golf Tournaments gone by, and even when I play pants, the birds produce great sightings. On Friday, it was Stowmarket vs Haverhill, so, it was formatted in a Ryder cup way, called Match-play. There were 4 matches, and me and my playing partner won our game 5 and 3, which means, the other team couldn't beat us with 3 holes to play. That was the highest score of the day. We were over the moon. The final score was 2 each, so the match was tied. Anyway, on the 16th Hole, there are some dense trees on the left of the putting green. I happened to spot one of the local Tawny Owls roosting up againts a tree. Fantastic. I didn't see him with his putter though :)

Back in the Garden, we have had both the Chiffchaffs and a Willow Warbler back in the garden every day, but the Willow Warbler not quite so frequent.

Chiffchaff in the Garden taken on Sunday

A nice Peacock Butterfly shew well on Sunday

There's 2!

Monday morning, the day after all our great sightings in the garden, I'd thought I'd be a warden like person for the garden, but not for the first time though. About 11am, and The local Chiffchaff looked perky, calling and singing in the tree by the corner. Eventually, after about 15 minutes of singing - unusual - another bird turned up, incredible. I am fortunate to say that I was quite lucky with the camera, because some decent pics and a video really worked out. On the video, you can hear the Chiffchaff's singing. Maybe they are pairing up already for the winter maybe?

All 2 Chiffchaffs!