Redwings over the garden

On Tuesday 6th october, at 7.20pm I heard at least 4+ Redwings flying south over the garden

a Two Shrike afrenoon

On Monday 5th October, I was able to take my deferred early leave off, so by 3pm I was driving home and collecting the optical gear. Closer to 4pm, I parked in the car park of the Kessingland caravan park, bumping into Dick on the way and armed fresh directions and seeing Kevin B at the Pit, walked further south and along the first part of the cliff bordering the field and the excellent Steppe Shrike was seen at 180 metres distance. It was perched a top a field hedge and moved a little nearer to within 150 metres where the pale plumage, horn coloured bill and more white on the wings marked it out from GGShrike. Nice to see Nathaniel C after so long. Once it flew over the hedge and disappeared before re-appearing perched in the hedge. People could get slightly closer by walking along the cliff edge and literally taking their life in their hands as their cracks along the path and when one chap walked past he made it but a section of the cliff fell around the 60 metres to the beach! I walked back to the field directly behind the Pit and seeing Rene B, he kindly pointed out the fine Great Grey Shrike, a much more striking bird with black bill and steel grey plumage and black on the wings. It was perched on top a rough hedge direcly left of a telegraph pole and it too flew behind the hedge. Walking back to show Rene the Steppe Shrike, he braved the cliff edge at his own risk and fortunately made it, the Steppe Shrike was still showing within a hedge but soon disappeared. My queue to leave and I checked Benacre sluice bushes where several Robins and a fine Redstart flew up from the grass. Checking the western end of the Kessingland sluice bushes a fine chacking male Ring Ouzel flew up from the gorse and in the fading light flew into a large bush presumably to roost. Walking northfirst a male Stonechat showed lightly albeit in fading light and his mate a female Stonechat also perched up and around 14 Linnets perched on a bush, concluded a fine afternoons birding but very poor on the photography front.

Radde's to the rescue!

On Sunday 4th October, Eastern Mange started to set in... a condition where you don't know where to go first to twitch eastern goodies. The Rustic was still around but thick dark cloud and heavy rain meant I would defer further homage until later. The Booted was still at Sizewell so I drove down there parked just by the village and walked up with Matthew S joining others where rather fortuitously, the "Booted" had just been refound in front of the sycamores in front of Sizewell A. It was raining steadily, so I took my glasses off (can't see so well without them!) and started taking pictures of the warbler which was busy feeding mainly making its way in the front fronds of the sycamores. Later when I looked at the pics (in the dry) it was obviously it was not a Booted but a Garden Warbler! Next stop was Souhwold Camp site and walking into the south- east corner, Matthew and I almost immediately heard then saw 2 & then 3 fabulous Firecrests which showed reasonably well, a Goldcrest was also seen, Matthew said he had the Radded's Warbler and I got a back view showing the rusty undertails coverts then the creamy supercilia. All in all a rather big heavish looking warbler. Later it flew and perched in dead Alexander right in front of us for a milli- second then flew right. Later on it was seen further right by a bank where good views were seen albeit always on the move and joining Chris L we saw again amongst the Alexander and then briefly perched up 5 feet up in a pine. Driving back to Lowestoft I was keen to do some local patch birding (sadly the Rustic had departed flying south at 8.30am earlier) and walking past Warren House Wood, a House Martin flew overhead and south, around 3 Chiff- Chaffs seen by the Shrike bushes further north and looking around the NE corner of the wwood, I again failed to see the tame Brambling. But fortunately I found another Brambling (which was quite wary feeding along the green area just south of the wood at the western end, I walked on my knees and it allowed an approach only to 15 metres, but it fed onstantly first in a dip and then it flew to the edge of the wood, before again flying down and feeding. It was only when I got back home that a further example of camera blindness occurred I hadn't noticed it didn't have a tail, it was (to quote Rob H) a rudderless Brambling!

A Big Day in Lowestoft

The last few autumns especailly the September/ October months over the past few years have been very disappointing. Not so this one, after an excellent September, October is shaping up to be even better and at last with promising wether conditions the fall finally delivered. I was about to have my breakfast at 7.45am a tweet from Rob H that he had found a Rustic Bunting had me scrambling to get my gear and 10 minutes later I was drawing into Links Road car park. Paul & Jane F (do they have teleport, they always seem to get there before me & they live in Oulton Broad!), Andrew E & Rob H were there. We were looking in the Marram grass in the north- east corner of the car park, Andrew got onto the bird and they I did, it was feeding just in the Marram grass and obscured, I saw it, the magnificent Rustic Bunting, which looked like a first year male to me) a few times before a jogger flushed it and it flew to the Marram grass just north of Links road, a false alarm with a Goldcrest moving through the Marram grass & here it was seen from the edge of Links road, by now a sizable crowd had appeared, the Bunting was by a sandy path sloping upwards a couple of times before it disappeared and they I saw it come out right at the front. Steve J shouted "Honey Buzzard going south!" over the sea and sure enough at 9.39am a superb Honey Buzzard was seen flying relatively low over the sea flying south. The structure was spot on with pointy cuckoo like head slender wings and longish narrow tail. Great to see! A dog flushed the bird back to the vegetation running along the north border of Links road car park, it was seen in a bush half way down then feeding by the vegetation before feeding on the road often along the double yellow lines! It then flew up to the concrete block and then gave stunning views around the vegetation of the north east corner of the car park at one stage feeding barely ten feet from me! After this I left it to have an early lunch after missing breakfast. As I was preparing it, the "tsuiip" call of a Yellow- browed Warbler, was clearly heard and the Warbler seen briefly in the garden hedge before flying south, wow! After lunch, I walked around Corton, it was apparaent there were lots of Thrushes in the hedge just west of the sewage works, a Redwing perched and looked at me. Another Redwing heard, 17 Song Thrushes, 14 Blackbirds and a flighty Ring Ouzel (female or immature) seen briefly in flight with silvery wings and chacking call heard around 4X but it was very elusive. On the fields were around 50 Herring Gulls mostly adults, there were no other larid species present. Walking back past the sewage works, a pair of Siskin (male & female) were feeding on a weed and were very confiding and I dashed back and retrieved my camera and managed a few shots. Little along Corton ORT and James B had tweeted the Rustic was back, so thinking the light was better I dashed back, the Rustic had gone to ground but amazingly James B had found a Wryneck and walking halfway along the North Denes the super Wryneck sat in a Rowan bush for 20 miniures before hopping up and out of sight. Another tweet James B had found a Radde's Warbler (some people have all the luck) along the northern end of Gunton ORT. I had a narrow miss at the Gunton Links Road car park when OFB inexplicably started reversing quickly (after a queue had formed to exit the car park) I was able to reverse quickly myself (and safely) to avoid the collision, otherwise he would have definitely reversed/ crashed into me! At Gunton ORT walking around from the pitch and putt viewing from the Greenish copse no sign but I did hear a Yellow- browed warbler here later on. James W joined us and we saw a super Hobby flying low over the Gunton ORT flying south barely just above the tree line. In the Orchid meadow just west of Corton wood, I was amazed to see a Migrant Hawker flying around in the middle of the meadow in the rain. I went back to Gunton/ Links road in the fading light, I failed to see Nick B's confiding Brambling around the NE corner of Warren House wood, but the Rustic Bunting was stll showing very well down to 15 feet (the light had gone for any further photography) in the Marram grass just north of Links road, it then fed by the wall then by the side of the road before finally flying up to the vegetation in the north- east corner of the car park.

Little at Corton

On Wednesday 30 September, a long walk around Corton ORT, Drudge wood and the fields nearby plus Corton OSW revealed a Buzzard flying into Drudge wood and I heard some Goldcrests in Corton churchyard and that was it.

Birds in the Nest

On Tuesday 29th September, at around 2pm, in a rain soaked Sparrows Nest with mizzly rain, birds were hard to come by, a Pied Flycatcher suddenly appeared in the sycamores above the bowling green and perched in full view for sometime albeit in appalling light, it flicked right and then by the top loop track a Chiff- Chaff was seen and what was almsot certainly the Yellow- browed Warbler flew in smaller and white below, it then started calling continuosly for about a minute but we couldn't see it was in the very top of a tree which couldn't quite be viewed either from the top loop track or the sloping path cutting through underneath. It or the same bird briefly called from behind the museum but we couldn't see that either. Walking up to the very top of the park, by the entrance just to the right, a fine Redstart flew up showing its reddish tail in all its finery before it was gone. No other birds seen in the rapidly dafling light.

Lowestoft local patching

On Monday 28th September, I started out at Links road car park, where I soon saw 2 Purple Sandpipers on the beach, quite confiding, they were continually flushed by walkers, dogs, runners and cyclists and would often fly up to the seawall. One bird soon had enough, but the 2nd bird had a slightly dodgy left leg. It remained on the sea wall, the the groynes just north of there. Having to get my brake light changed as one was out, I was waiting at the North Quay Retail park, a Siskin flew over calling. Back out after that, Gunton ORT was very quiet with several groups of Siskin flying west overhead (45 & 30) and 3 Treecreepers in large elderberry bushes along the north end of the track. 1 tree was blown down by the path just east of the "Greenish" copse. James W had tweeted saying he had a YBW just north of the Oval, so parking back at Link's road car park, I was just heading out when the sceeching of Parakeets revealed 2 Ring- necked Parakeets flying north along Gunton Cliff then then flew south then north again heading back towards Hubbards' Loke. There were 3 Chiff- Chaffs calling and along with some LT Tits one Chiff- Chaff chased out a smaller Warbler, the excellent Yellow- browed Warbler into the large hawthorn, where all the ID features seen were in a minutes observation, creamy supercilia, double wing bar small size, olive above and white below. After lunch I viisted Ness Point and saw a female Stonechat by the posts by the funnel and aon a brief seawatch an adult Mediterranean Gull flying north. I finished seawatching at 3.30pm James W has sen a Ring Ouzel half way along the railway line at Gunton ORT, I went back initially no luck but bumping into Chris A we walked it again and in hawthorn bushes we heard a very soft 'chaking' initially no sign Chris A left but hoing back from the same area, a fine female Ring Ouzel flew up and perched briefly at the top of th bushes and then flew back and was heavily obscured. She then flew into the fieeld and started feeding and then made her way towards the Woodland burail northern grassy perimeter where she fed for sometime before being harried by a Magpie and she flew into the Woodland burial copse. At this point Gus H had amazingly tweeted to say he had seen a BBA fling south off Lowestoft at 3.47pm, how I wished I ghad contined seawatcing at Ness Point for a further twenty minutes, is the understatement of the day. After that I gave up.