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)

Felixstowe and Levington Creek

Yesterday afternoon Mum and fitted in a few hours of birdwatching. We headed to Felixstowe to see the Waxwings that had been roaming there. We timed it just right because as we went down Glenfield Avenue, we saw a flock of 50+ Waxwing in a tree down Springfield Avenue. I say we timed it just right because after about 3 minutes of photos, they all departed away heading to Grove Wood.

Stunning Birds

We then headed to Levington Creek, which Mum and I had never been before, so it was a new experience. We parked at Levington Marina, and followed the footpath onto the Creek. I was astounded by the number of Reed Buntings were about. I reckon there was at least 15 birds present.

A nice pair

We then met a bloke who directed us to a Mediterranean Gull on the shore, nearly in summer plumage, but too far for a photo. We then followed the path along the bank towards the lagoon, and we saw 2 Little Egret, more Reed Buntings a Meadow Pipit, a very twitchy Rock Pipit, and a possible Water Pipit

Rock Pipit, Cheers Jim

We then reached the lagoon, and we were maybe hoping for the resident Spotted Redshank to be on the lagoon. The only things of note were a flushed Snipe and another Little Egret. We had lunch, and moved on to the gorse bushes. I spotted a fairly big long-legged wader flying right over us. It looked like a Spotted Redshank but I wasn't saying anything until it called. Our luck was in as it proved to be the Spotted Redshank as it called and landed on the lagoon. We snuck up on it, but it saw us and moved on out of site. It was a brilliant bird. We then moved back along the bank and we flushed the bird again a bit further down the lagoon. Typical! It then flew back out onto the mudflats. Other waders and ducks of note were Dunlin...

Curlew...

Wigeon...

Teal and Redshank..

Plus Grey Plover and Shelduck...

Shelduck

A great day with 4 new species taking the year total to 132. A brief visit to the patch on Wednesday afternoon didn't produce anything apart from a pair of Great-crested Grebes on both Needham and Bosmere. The Grebes were the only water birds at Bosmere apart from 3 Mallards. Disappointing :(

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

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.