More garden birds

On Friday 30 December, it was nice to see 3 Blackbirds (1 male & 2 females) hunting for food in the garden in today's wet weather, although bad news for the resident worms. 2 Jackdaws were also on the feeders demolishing the fatballs.

Festive Waxwings

On Christmas Day, Sunday 25 December, a tweet from Mark E stating there were some Waxwings at Burnt Hall Way had me driving over but initially I couldn't see any sign of them, I checked all the usual haunts nearby including the Co-op car park along Hollow Grove Way (the 3rd lot I have found/refound in as many weeks!) and sure enough 5 Waxwings were briefly seen on a tree just SE of the car park at 11.18am, the only problem was they flew off! I drove back to Burnt hall way and all 5 Waxwings, which were safely back on the much berried Rowan in someone's garden from 12.10pm onwards, opposite Kestrel Green. They perched at the top of the tree and then would make the very short flight to the lower branches to gobble the berries! A small crowd had gathered too and I remained watching the birds from the car, as it was overcast and I didn't want to disturb the birds.

Garden birds

On Thursday 22nd December, it was nice to see up to 4 Blackbirds in the garden, a Robin and a Wren that was popping in and out of the guttering at the top of the western end of the garage. 1 or 2 Redwings have been heard as well flying overhead but not seen sadly in the garden during the recent cold snap.

Tystie has gone

This morning, Tuesday 20th December, I checked Ness Point and the North beach along to Linkls road car park, 1 ringed adult Mediterranean Gull was at Bird's Eye car park briefly, so brief I wasn't able to read the ring. Another adult Mediterranean Gull was on Link's road car park whilst on the groyne opposite was another unringed adult Mediteranean Gull seen and 2 2nd winter Mediterranean Gulls (again both unringed) so 5 Mediterranean Gulls in total (3 ads & 2 2nd winters). A Common Gull also seen as well as 18 Turnstone by Birds Eye entrance.

A tenacious Tystie- Black Guillemot- at Ness Point, Lowestoft

I arrived at Gorleston just after 10am and received a tweet about a Black Guillemot drifting north from Kessingland, I decided to put on hold my shopping and make a serious attempt at refinding the elusive Tystie, a much needed potential addition to my Suffolk list. With global warming this northerly species is destined to become even rarer so it was now or never! As the message stated it was drifting north from Kessingland, I decided to make a concerted effort & look around Lowestoft. I needed help with this, so I rang Jane F who I knew would be interested in looking and we initially tried from Pakefield looking out from the CEFAS labs: there was no joy here, but we received news from Carl B who had checked Kessingland and Benacre to no avail. So I was hoping it had drifted/ swum even further north, we had to re-double our efforts! So we decided to double back checking Hamilton Dock along the way, nothing there either. So next stop was Ness Point, I had to answer the call of nature and walking back from the Tamarisk bushes to rejoin Jane, I had been checking the sea walking back to Jane but had seen nothing and then Jane excitedly and hurriedly gesticulated to me to come over quickly and well done to Jane amazingly she had it, Ferguson luck strikes again! and looking out we could see the excellent 1st winter winter plumaged Black Guillemot or Tystie (to give its Shetland or Norse name) swimming north just a few metres out from the sea defence rocks at the northern perimeter of Ness Point. A dumpy squat auk with obvious large white patch on the wing, its ID was obvious, being a textbook example! Amazing, I had been trying to see one of these in Suffolk for over 40 years and had agonisingly missed one flying past at Ness Point in November 2015 when it was tracked flying north from Slaughden to Lowestoft, typically I missed out by just 5 minutes! The Tystie was just about to swim into the sea past Ness Point and around sea off the North Beach. I quickly tweeted at 12.10pm immediately after i had seen the bird & put the the news out on the following What's App platforms: Suffolk BINS, Thursday Clubbers and Lowestoft Lounge Lizards. One major problem because of my recent lower back problems I had ditched my camera and had to quickly go home to retrieve it! Driving back along Yarmouth road, I could see James W cycling like a demon along Yarmouth road, heading for Ness Point! Having retrieved said camera, I parked at the northern end of Bird's Eye. As I disembarked from the car, I spied Rob H who was running back along the sea wall, he had a meeting he had to attend. James W was already there (having passed him on the way back as he was cycling to Ness Point!) and James B, Rene, Anthony W and others latterly including the late arriving Chris & Alison A. The bird was soon picked up quickly swimming north and was being swayed around by the 3 foot waves on a very vibrant sea. I managed to clamber on some rocks to get some height and get a little closer but it was just a little too far for me given the weather and having to lighten the exposure by +3/4 or even +1 which always softens the pictures. The conditions were extremely challenging with very poor light rough seas often obscuring the bird as 3 metres waves crashed onto the shore in front of it making it very difficult to pick up the bird within the camera sights The bird was compared to Guillemot (the nearest confusion species) shoter more rounded and compact and not as long and sleek as a Guillemot being an estimated 3/4 or 75% the size/ length of a Guillemot looking plumper and more pot- bellied. It had a black medium sized pointed bill with a broadish base tapering to a point (shorter than on Guillemot being roughly 2/3 the width of the headand had greyish head with darker area in front of the eye. It had a white beast and belly with some dark flecking on the breast sides. It showed white crescents bordering the eye (above & below) It showed an obvious white wing patch flecked with some brown indicating it was an immature 1st winter bird and blackish back flecked with white and white belly. All these features clearly ruled out the other Auk species. When it flapped its wings the underwing coverts were white bordering a black line on the leading edge and thicker black area on the back edge. When it preened it showed dark wine red legs. We followed the tenacious Tystie as it continued swimming north being regularly buffeted by the tumultous seas and towering waves, as it reached the northern end of the north beach area (roughly opposite the newly reopened Link's road car park), it briefly swam back south again pausing to first preen and then flap its wings 3X (where the underside were white and we saw the underwing was white bordering by a thin black line on the leading edge and thicker greyish smudge along the rear edge and then we saw it change direction continue its northbound journey. I fear for its health, as it is surely unusual for an auk to be this close to the shore and its eyes were mostly closed during the period of observation. The bird continued swimming north on the sea just off north beach keeping to within 20 metres of the shore and sometimes a little closer. The distinctive aroma of cigars indicated the belated arrival of Roger C who last saw the bird swimming behind the remnants of a groyne still heading north half way along Gunton beach where we finally left this fine northern denizen. One last thought, during the period of observation I didn't see the bird dive for fish once. Only the 13th record for Suffolk, it is still a very rare visitor in Suffolk with birds breeding in Anglesey in North Wales (the nearest breeding pairs) and the north- western coasts of Scotland prefering rocky areas or those older harbours with holes where they can nest. I was hopeful however that one day soon we would get a bird either that we would find or would be twitchable in Suffolk as there had been increasing sighting of Black Guillemots off Cley and Sheringham, North Norfolk in recent years.

Waxwings still there & North Denes goodies

On Sunday 18 December, 19 of the Waxwings were still at Westhall Road and Wissett way albeit in very drab light, the birds initially alighted on the tree in Wissett Way before returning twice to the tree in Weshall Road. On the North Denes, by the cut seaward side I saw 2 Lapwings and the 3 Golden Plover.

Christmas starts here!

On Saturday 17th December, I gave Jenny a lift to Hollingsworth road PO to pick up an undelivered parcel and over the past few weeks I have been checking locations in North Lowestoft for Waxwings and as we were driving back, a detour over to Westhall road (a known Waxwing haunt in previous years), I hit the jackpot as I could see 13+ Waxwings perched in a tree just on the left hand side of the road. We drove back home, I let everyone know via social media and then went back with the camera to get some pictures. James W soon joined me and together we counted up to 23 birds! The birds were perched in a tall tree just south of Westhall road and would periodically (every 15- 20 minutes fly over to the tree where I had originally found them and then fly across the road to gorge on the berries by the Rowan tree opposite. Later on they perched in a tree just east and just west and later they would regularly fly over to the Rowan on the corner by Wisset Way. Up to 5 Lapwings flew over too and 2 Redwings in the Rowan and 4 Redwings in a more distant tree.

Waxwing at Rectory Road, Carlton Colville

On Saturdsay 10th December, I made my way to Rectory road, Kirkely/ Pakefield and was surprised no other birders were there and neither was the Waxwing. Short answer was I was in the wrong location, I had frgotten there was another Rectory road at Carlton Colville, where of course there had been a history of previous visits by Waxwings. I arrived there and promptly saw the waxwing in the tree by the corner with the Street. TBC

Waxwings at Lowestoft cemetery

On Sunday 4th December, whilst looking for a family burial plot in Lowestoft cemetery, at 2.15pm, I heard the distinctive trilling of Waxwings and looked up and saw 3 Waxwings flying north- east at tree height, they appeared to have flown up possibly from the old rail track, luckily I had my bins with me and saw they were clearly Waxwings they were lost behind trees near the chapel. We drove around and checked all the trees in the cemetery and had a drive around good berry bush areas nearby at known haunts of Waxwings in previous years but sadly they weren't relocated. (LIBRARY PIC BELOW).

2 Redwings south over the garden

On Saturday 3rd December at about 8am it was nice to see 2 calling Redwings calling and flying south over the western perimeter of the garden.