Tawny Owls

Driving back from Walberswick village this evening, after I had given a talk to the Local History Group, I saw a Tawny Owl sitting in a tree (10.10pm) bordering the road back from the village highlighted in my headlights, it sat in a small clump of trees on the south side of the road bordering the pig fields. The Owl flew back as I drove by.

Also on the previous Wednesday 28th October evening I saw a Tawny Owl fly across the road at Somerleyton again (9.15pm) returning from a talk I had just given to a Ladies group at Loddon.

Radde's Warbler 0 Brent Geese 3

Early on Friday morning before work I joined a small throng of birders at the southern end of Arnold's Walk, hoping for a repeat showing from a Radde's Warbler that had been found the day before by local birder Robert Win. This is a rare bird from Central Asia & a super find and all credit to Robert who regularly works this patch and I know this is one of his favourite birds. They have a reputation of being very elusive and sadly for us latecomers, it lived up to it's reputation because we didn't see it!

At work, I had a very welcome interruption early on in my lunchbreak, to help Peter A use the Ancestry website. Peter is a well known & respected local birder who must hold the record for the most number of rare finds (just yesterday he'd seen a Richard's Pipit fly over at Breydon!) and maximum flock counts on Breydon Water and he has found many first ever records of various waders for Norfolk on his local patch.

Peter told me of some very confiding Brent Geese that he had just seen on the south side of Breydon water.

I decided to use the rest of my lunch break to have a quick half hour look for them. So taking the turn past the Rugby pitch, I parked at the small car park and walked right up to the southern shore of Breydon.  Just 200 yards north I could see all 3 immature Brent Geese feeding quite close by the water's edge and amongst the rocks. All three had 3 indistinct white wing bars and an almost incompltete white neck collar proving they were immature birds. They were very confiding and they then swam slowly left, 2 birds taking the lead and a third bird following then about 10 meters behind. This third bird had a different shaped bill with the tip of the upper mandible dropping at a sharp angle. Causing a sharp triangular bill shape, very odd compared to the usual delicate bill!

All three birds swam around the water's edge and fed amongst the seaweed encrusted rocks.

The whole period of observation was very neatly "shoe horned" into the final half hour of my lunchbreak and I was pleased with the photos that I obtained.

Dartford Delight

Having a rare morning Time off in lieu from work (because I am working this Saturday) I heard and saw a calling Siskin flew low over the house, sadly it didn't drop into the back garden as hoped.

On a local heath, a couple of calling Siskins also flew over and near the cleared area, I soon heard the distinctive scratchy "churr" of a male Dartford Warbler that would frequently forage in the undergrowth before perching high on the top of small bushes and small trees. It did a wide circuit around the area showing occasionally, it's distinctive call often revealing its presence. A lovely bird, but it would always frustratingly show looking directly into the sun. At the local stream, I heard the screech of a Water Rail and as I approached the stream a Water Rail ran off into the mass of Japanese knotweed, spooked by a father and daughter walking by.

Warren Lane Dip (Again!)

Warren Lane borders the golf course on the cliffs between Gorleston & Hopton is lined with bushes either side and is obviously a very good habitat to view migrants. I have twitched several birds here, but I continued my unenviable record of having seen absolutely nothing there, and on a brief lunchtime visit I missed out on both a Pallas' Warbler and 2 Yellow- browed Warblers. 

Warren Lane successes 0 (0%) and dips 7 (100%)

Redpolls

Corton ORT was a little quieter today with 3 Lesser Redpolls seen briefly perched on the tree just west of the feeding station. It was sunnier and windier than yesterday. Green Woodpecker seen by the boardwalk with 2 Common Darters, both males by the pool and 10 Stock Dove on the fields just west of the path. Other observers seen hoping for a repeat of yesterday included Richard S, Peter N, the guy who found the Lound garden centre RB Shrike and one very, very lucky birder who had twitched the S. Shields Eastern Crowned Warbler. That had since disappeared, hopefully to be refound closer to home?

By the Old Sewage works, a worn Red Admiral showed well.

Alive with Birds!

A visit to my local patch around the Corton Old rail track area in the early afternoon (adjacent to the New Sewage works) was very productive, it was quite simply full of flocks of birds passing by. A fair south-east wind interspersed with a few light rain showers, kept the birds on the move. At the end of the stand of trees in the middle of the track a tree was full of at least 15 Chaffinches, Blue & Great Tits, screeching Jays, several Goldcrest and 1 calling Firecrest.

Walking past the feeding station area, 2 Bramblings flew from the Alder trees and perched high in a tall tree. Lots of Tits, Blue & Great were feeding on the seed maize provided. Waves of Long- tailed Tits were also flying past too. A female Sparrowhawk darted past, whilst an amazing flock of 18 Brambling flew past directly overhead heading south. Meeting Jeremy G we looked in the Sallow belt of trees with initially little success but as I made my sole way back to the feeding station, another wave of birds was travelling right through the far southern hedge just behind the feeding station. Mostly Tits, I then spotted a small warbler at 2.20pm which perched up briefly on a branch, it was the excellent Yellow- browed Warbler complete with thick cream supercilia and 2 cream wing bars before it too flew off right. Another Brambling perched up in the fence briefly too. In the rush to retrieve Jeremy, I unfortunately tore my trousers on the wire fence (!), but we saw the Yellow- browed Warbler fly calling to the Sallows but it was quickly lost too view.

The south-east wind was strengthening and rain started to fall so I decided to beat a hasty retreat and go home and for decency reasons change my trousers which were a little too aerated for my liking!! 

Back home, earlier in the day, I had witnessed a Jay fly into the garden and perch briefly on the garage roof and a Jackdaw perched in our middle tree.

Shingle Street Wheatear

Suffolk's Purple Patch continued with an appearance of the rare immature female Pied Wheatear on Shingle Street beach on Monday 19th October. Andrew E & I drove down to the site that afternoon and I was very impressed with the excellent habitat, an area I had never been to before (but I shall certainly visit again). Just south of the Martello tower, the immature female Pied Wheatear was seen perched on the fence just yards from it's admiring observers. It flew onto the beach and then flew down the central strip of the beach flying onto convenient perches such as bits of twig (just a foot of the ground) or Sea Kale.

It flew down to feed off insects on the beach even flying around in a figure of 8 to catch one particularly Houdini type insect! I decided to sit down carefully at one spot and my patience was eventually rewarded with views down to 18 feet at one point if even flew towards me and settled just 4 feet away, sadly totally obscured by Sea Kale.

I gave up taking pictures of the bird, when a certain well known bird photographer (the same one who had flushed the Ortolan back in September at Corton) started to walk up to the bird and push it further along the beach.

The bird showed it's characteristic long dagger shaped white outer tail feathers which were seen well when it fanned it's tail to balance in the brisk wind.