New Years Bird Trips

Sorry about the delay of the posts of our trips. Some of you may have an incite to what I have been seeing through the "Daily Sightings" page. Anyway......................

On Sunday 4th, we all went to the Norfolk Broads, in the new (rubbish) van. We started off by going to Buckenham Marshes. We crossed the railway, and caught on to a male Peregrine sitting in a Tree at close-ish range. We got great views....

They are different pictures - trust me!

We then searched the other side of the path, and picked up the Taiga Bean Geese, White-fronted Geese, Barnacle Goose, Canada Geese, Greylag Geese and flying Pink-footed Geese. That's 6 species of Goose in 50 yards! We also got a Buzzard in a tree, right next to the Peregrine.....

Bit poor I know!

There were also good numbers of Golden Plover on the marshes, with about 400 birds flying around, then resting.

We also got Ruff and Lapwing here, with a 2nd Peregrine, but a lot more distant than the 1st bird. The Wigeon were a joy to watch as usual.

We then moved on to Ludham Abbey Ruins, to have lunch. We picked up a group of 12 Cranes resting in the fields, but no sign of any Whooper or Bewick's Swans. We tried to find Ludham Airfield - where the swans were - but could we find the place. So we thought the best bet was to scan through the fields and look for white blobs. And sure enough, it worked. We picked up the Swans, and took the necessary roads to get closer to the birds. The swans were with 30+ Egyptian Geese.

Egyptian Geese

Whooper Swans

Bewick's

Bewick's

There were a lot more Bewick's than Whooper Swans, but still a joy to get close. Coming out of Ludham and through the village, we noticed a large passerine flock in the trees surrounding the road. We picked up Brambling, Reed Bunting, Chaffinch, Redwing and Goldfinch in this flock.

We then moved on to the Raptor Roost at Hickling Broad NWT, at Stubb Mill. We arrived to see a mass of birders that had come from Essex. I thought there was some MEGA about here, but obviously not. With about 25 pairs of eyes, it was easy to pick out anything that came by. As soon as I got there, I spotted the local Kingfisher, and I think then everyone thought I was a decent birdwatcher, not just a bored solid child kicking stones about. LOL. We got a further 3 Cranes....

..... a ringtail Hen Harrier, and another 2 Brambling. this was of course along with the Marsh Harriers which were great to see.

On the 6th January, Mum and I were in Ipswich, so we paid a visit to Whearstead Strand. We got Red-breasted Merganser, Oystercatcher, Dunlin, Redshank, Knot and Sanderling onto the year list. Met Phil Whittaker there, and we looked at the splendid Black-throated Diver that was present. What a great surprise.

Now on 89 for this year. Lets keep going!

Happy Birding!