Ibis Magic

Following on from working this afternoon. I heard news of 3 Glossy Ibis at modern day Caister St. Edmund (Norfolk), this was particularly appealing to me, because of my great interest in both birds/ wildlife and history. Caister St. Edmund was the old Roman Fort site of Venta Icenorium which literally means City of the Iceni people, because following the Boudiccan revolt against Roman rule in the 7th century AD by Boudicca the Romans cracked down very hard on the native rebellious Celtic tribes including Boudicca's people the Iceni who lived in the area now called Norfolk & North Suffolk. They raised to the ground this city of the Iceni people and built a Roman fort in it's place.

History lesson over, I parked in the car park at the ancient site and joined Johnny B & Neil M in a search for the Ibis' which had been seen around the river just north west of the fort. Seeing other birders in this area including Lee G we were informed that had flow west a few hundred yards appearing to land neat the mill at Stoke Holy Cross.

Following Lee's car we drove west, parked just past the Mill and walked 1/2 a mile towards Dunston (following a positive sighting of one of the birds). Overlooking a cattle field with the river bordering the field edge, we suddenly saw an excellent Glossy Ibis flying up onto a heap of straw. A large heron-like bird with dark purple- brown plumage white flecking on the head and upper neck showing along down curved bill. It spent a bit of time asleep before preening and then jumping down in to the river and out of sight.

We heard a shout down the road and we walked a few hundred yards to witness the amazing sight of 3 Glossy Ibis (the one we had just been watching had flow in to join the initial 2 here) standing and feeding on the south side of the river in the company of a Grey Heron. One Ibis sported a yellow ring on it's right leg. After a few minutes all 3 Ibis one after another flew over to our side of the river but sadly out of sight.

Local patch

Friday morning (18 Sept) birding on my local patch (well earned time off from work after working several late nights) kicked off with a 1/2 hour seawatch off Ness Point. The wind was now blowing due East and I was rewarded with sighting of over 100 Gannets flying north in small groups.

At about 8.40am, I saw a small skua flying North way out to sea on virtually on the horizon.

It was slim bodied, with slim pointed wings and a "cold" grey-brown appearance it flew quickly North and sometimes bounced up and down almost tern-like flight, this was probably an immature Long- tailed Skua but sadly a little too far out to sea to say for certain.

Much easier to identify was a flock of 8 Common Scoter flying south.

A look around the Bird's Eye net posts revealed 4 Wheatears, always nice to see. It was nice to bump into Jack W (who I'd not seen for a while) just outside the Lighthouse cafe.

The Sparrow's Nest Park and Arnold's walk appeared devoid of migrants. I was pleased to see a Wheatear on the North Denes Oval and a Redstart which flew out of the bushes bordering the North wall to feed on the ground momentarily before darting back into the bushes.

Walking along the North Denes, a Redstart briefly flew out of a shelter bely feeding on the ground briefly before darting back into cover.

Without a doubt the highlight of the day was meeting Don & Gwen near Gunton Beach Dunes, although we didn't see many birds, an overflying lone Sparrowhawk being the sole avian highlight, the time whizzed by as we were entertained by Don's regular humourous quips and asides! 

Seawatching

An hour's seawatch off Corton Cliffs before work this morning (Thurs 17th) at last came alive with a close Great Northern Diver flying North at 8.15am. Five minutes later, an immature Pomarine Skua, initially close in flew out to sea and then settled on the water's surface.

Supporting cast included several Gannet flying North far out to sea.

Redstarts!

Visiting Corton New sewage works area is always a delight and today was no exception. Late this afternoon, down at the far end of the path overlooking the north edge of a wood bathed in sunshine, I saw James B and together we admired 2 Redstarts that flitted in and out of view perching on bare branches and even feeding from the ploughed field from time to time. Walking back, we saw a Redstart fly into the bush near the metal style and back by the north path bordering the road another Redstart (4 Redstarts seen in total) briefly flew onto a post at very close range but quickly flew off again before I could photograph it!

A seawatch at Ness Point revealed few birds but a close brief sighting of a Harbour Porpoise swimming North and surfacing just once just past the jetty at the tip. 

Yarmouth Cemetary

Yarmouth cemetary is like a green oasis in the heart of Yarmouth town being less than a mile from the sea, it is well situated to receive migrants. A lunchtime visit yesterday (Tuesday 15th) revealed few birds due to the gusty North- east wind conditions but I did see a Willow warbler and a calling Pied Flycatcher in some mature trees in the Churchyard area. As well as a few Song Thrushes, about 4 in total zipping from bush to tree.

North-East Winds

Despite the promising North-east winds very few migrants were seen in Lowestoft this weekend.

At Corton New sewage works, seeing James B we spotted a Common Sandpiper walking rather incongrously on the left hand side of the entrance road to the plant. On the western edge of the works a Whinchat perched briefly on the wire fence before flying down to feed. Avian highlight of the weekend for me!

A trek around the Gunton Old rail track was enlivened by the company of other friends Chris M & Peter K, just as well as I saw no birds of note. Although the other Peter briefly saw a Pied Fly.

A seawatch in the afternoon a look at the weather conditions promised much but inevitably was a let down with an immature Kittiwake and Common Tern the only birds of note during an hours seawatch, with 2 very tame Turnstones running along the ledge in front of me, vying for my attention.

Greenfinch Health Warning

Sadly, I found another very sick looking Greenfinch in the garden today. This is the second bird I have found ailing in the garden (see my earlier blog Greenfinch R.I.P. posted on 6 Aug 2009).

The bird was an adult male looking very lethargic an allowing me a very close approach, it's plumage was scraggy looking puffed up and it appeared to be constantly gasping for air. Exactly the same symptoms I had witnessed in the earlier bird which also showed matted wet plumage around the face and the beak.

Being concerned I investigated on the internet and found out exactly what the problem is.

Looking on the excellent RSPB site they had a page on the Trichomonad parasite that is killing Greenfinches in gardens, apparently the parasite lives in the upper digestive tract of the bird progressively blocking it's oesophagus eventually killing the bird through starvation as the food it tries to digest cannot be swallowed/ digested. 

Nothing can be done sadly to cure the bird.

Apparently the only thing that could be done (according to the RSPB ) was to clear all the finch feeders, disinfect them, clear bird feeding surfaces and not feed the finches for 2 weeks. This is to discourage birds from feeding collectively and therefore pass on the parasite from the infected bird or it's saliva/ excreta to another host.