Dad's Birthday

Dad decided to go to the Broads for his birthday, and we started off at Strumpshaw Fen. We started off with some Teal at the Reception Hide.

We then got some Snipe over Fen Hide, and also a Marsh Harrier

I then got a brief Cetti's Warbler over the reedbed at Fen Hide, and we missed a Bittern too. We then got about 60 Pink-footed Goose over the wood by the meadow...

I then got my first Jay of the year before moving on to Buckenham

We arrived at Buckenham, and walked out onto the marsh, and already we saw the Taiga Bean Geese, but they were quite distant..

Digiscoped effort

Scanning the fields we also picked up some White-fronted Geese, Barnacle and Canada Geese, Lapwing and a solitary Ruff. The unmistakable part of the marsh though was the amount of Wigeon. I scanned for a possible American Wigeon, but no luck. Here some that me and Mum took...

Over 600 Birds

We met my cousin Jim again and he took us to Claxton Marshes, to see the Short-eared Owls. Well, we got 3 birds hunting over the marsh. In the video, near the end, you may see the Barn Owl hunting in the background. Enjoy!

We finished the day off by going back to Strumpshaw Fen, to see if there were any Woodcocks, Chinese Water Deer, or Barn Owls. We saw all 3 things, including the Barn Owl very close past, 2 Woodcocks flying around where we were standing, and me and mum jumping out of our skin with the harsh barking of a Chinese Water Deer about 10 yards behind us! Thanks for reading and happy birding.

Yare Valley Birdwatching!

Dad and I headed for Norfolk on Thursday to go Birdwatching with my cousin James. It was an early start, so getting up at 7am wasn't the easiest thing to do. We met  James near his patch, Surlingham, and after following him to his patch, we got off to a start. A great wader to start off with was a Green Sandpiper.

Green Sandpiper at Surlingham

Another interesting passerine to get, especially for Jim was a Marsh Tit.

Marsh Tit at Surlingham

A nice Peacock too, with several Common and Migrant Hawkers

Peacock Butterfly at Surlingham

We then moved on to Buckenham Marshes, not a million miles away from Surlingham. A Hobby flew over, and a very close Buzzard too - you can see these videos on the video page. We got to the Hide, and some distant views of about 4 Yellow Wagtails were feeding beneath the cattle, and another 4 Green Sandpipers were on the mud. Just a general sight of the Barnacles, and Egyptian Geese.

We then moved on to Cantley to try and get Wood Sandpiper. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out that way, but a lot of Ruff, a few Avocet and Yellow Wagtail, a group of about 7 Snipe, and a distant Water Rail.

Ruff, Black-tailed Godwits and an Avocet

Snipe on the edge of Reeds

The visit before Cantley was a brief one to Strumpshaw Fen, looking for the beautiful Willow Emerald Damselfly. After 10 minutes of searching, Dad spotted the first one, then I spotted a second, what a beauty!

Happy Birding!