CATTLE EGRET and Classic Birds of the Norfolk Broads

On Monday, we headed up to the Norfolk Broads, as I was very keen on seeing the Cattle Egret that has been present up there for a couple of weeks. We started off at Buckenham Marshes, to look for Geese. We got round to the viewpoint, and we picked out 2 distant Taiga Bean Geese amongst the pink-feet alongside 2 other birders. There were also 6 Eurasian White-fronted Geese present amongst the other geese. A Dunlin flew over as did a Brambling, and there were some distant Cranes calling on the other side of the river. A male Peregrine was causing a lot of havoc amongst the ducks, but it didn't stop the Wigeon from showing very well by the path...

We then made our way up to Sea Palling, and onto the Hickling Road that connects Sea Palling and Hickling together. We found the cow field with with the white cows in, and Dad soon clocked on to the Cattle Egret, a lifer for me, and we got very lucky as it showed very well...

We then headed to Stubb Mill, at the Hickling Broad Raptor Roost. We got their quite early, and we picked out 2 Cranes in the field. We went on to see 5 in total. The pictures below show a juvenile in with this flock...

The totals of the roost were as follows:

2 Hen Harrier, 5 Crane, 34 Marsh Harriers, Goosander (flyover), Sparrowhawk, 6 Red Deer, 3 Chinese Water Deer (we left a bit early hence the short list)

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!

Barton Broad and Stubb Mill

Another 7 species was added to the year list after Dad and I visited Barton Broad and Stubb Mill (Hickling Broad) making the list total 110. By the 7th January last year, I had only 64 species! Anyway, we started off the day going to Barton Broad, and going through Repps we saw a Whooper Swan fly across the road which was a bit of a surprise. We got to Barton Broad, and were greeted with a flock of Siskin with a few Lesser Redpoll amongst them. We got to the viewing platform, and got onto the juvenile Scaup that has been lingering here.

There were also plenty of other birds here, like Goldeneye....

Canada Geese....

A couple of Pochard

Great-crested Grebes....

And plenty of Tufted Ducks...

We then moved on to Hickling Broad, at the raptor roost where it is known as Stubb Mill. We were the first to get there, and arriving at 2:30pm gave us plenty of time to scan. These are all videos because it was too dark for photos!

A male Hen Harrier

4 Common Crane coming into roost

And a delightful Barn Owl

We also picked up Grey Partridge, 3 Merlin, 2 Stonechat, 10,00+ Pink-footed Geese with 2 White-fronts, 25+ Marsh Harrier, a brief Woodcock and an Egyptian Goose.

It has been an active week in the garden. We have had regular Long-tailed Tits, the Common Gull and a Fieldfare in the tree - a first that has landed in the garden. This morning in fact, we had another Fieldfare in the garden, incredible.

School was closed yesterday, so I was working with Mum, but we did get a look in at the patch for 5 minutes at Needham Lakes, and shocked to see 5 Wigeon there. I never knew they came there in the winter. Brilliant. Bosmere was frozen, so nothing on there. Also some Common Gulls at Needham Lakes too.

2 of 5 Wigeon

Happy Birding