A good number of Goosanders

23/12/05 Denver Sluice Leaders: Simeon, James.
We went to the sluice today to see how many Goosanders we could pick up. We got there and counted a good total of 17 birds. The lighting conditions were poor so we didn't manage to get any decent shots of them. We then took a walk along the left bank of the river Ouse and got nice views of the local Short-Eared Owl. Other birds we picked up on the trip were; 18 Tufted Duck, 1 Barn owl, 1 Grey Heron, 5 Great-Crested Grebes and a Nuthatch at a layby near the sluice. All in all a pretty good trip in my opinion!

Around west Norfolk

23/12/05 Tottenhill G.P, Massingham Heath, Holme NOA leaders: Connor

Myself and my dad travelled around Norfolk in a bid to get my 250th year tick. We soon managed this as the previous days drake Smew obliged at Tottenhill. At Massingham Heath there was no sign of the Rough Legged Buzzard but Common Buzzard, Bullfinch, two Kestrels, two Sparrowhawks, four Grey Partridge and a Jay.

In focus near Titchwell was the next stop. Here I purchased an adaptor for my Nikon Coolpix 4500 and Viking Scope (see gallery for early attemptes.) A seawatch of Holme NOA was relatively quiet to begin with. Two Slavonian Grebes, 15 Common Scoters, 4 Goldeneye, two Eiders, a single Great Crested Grebe and a male Red Breasted Merganser were seen. I then picked up a small auk flying west. It was a Puffin! A good seawatch to end the day.

Good Sea-watching!

Titchwell RSPB 20/12/05 Leaders: Connor
An hour at the RSPB reserve of Titchwell RSPB. On entry and departure the very tame Robins were hand-fed, sometimes sitting on my hand for up to a minute at a time! Birds seen included two Black Brants with Brent Geese on the freshmarsh and two Spotted Redshanks on the

saltmarsh.

The sea was alive with birds. The Common Scoter flock held a massive 38 Velvet Scoters, a personel record. There were good numbers of Goldeneye and Red Breasted Merganser with 18 of the former and twelve of the latter. Add to all this 4 Guillemots, a single Great Crested Grebe, one Red Throated Diver, a pair of Long Tailed Ducks and three absolutely super Slavonian Grebes, it was great.

Quality NOT quantity!

20/12/05 Titchwell RSPB Leaders:Simeon, Matthew, James.
After a very long and tiring day we dropped in at Titchwell for the last hour left of daylight. It took us about 20 minutes to get to the visitor centre from the car park, simply because we just couldn't ignore the adorable faces of those tame Robins on the path begging for a crumb or two. I had only ever hand fed one of these birds, but today I got a second chance. We fed them some crust and got some absolutely fabulous shots of them (see gallery). As usual I was the one with the bird on my hand so I couldn't take a photo of them in close contact with people. I must say, it was a truly amazing when they hovered next to you looking closely at your hand to find the food, and I did get a fabulous picture of one in the bush.
Other birds we saw were 600+ Brent Geese on the first marsh, 40+ Goldeneye, 400+ Common Scoter and 2 Velvet Scoter on the sea. An unidentified Harrier was also seen flying fast over the Salt marsh.
At the end of the day, I would have said that the close encounter with the Robins was my favorite thing on the trip.

Nearly there!

Hickling Broad NWT (Stubb's Mill) 3/11/05 leaders: Connor

After a fairly lengthy period looking for a new set of binoculars, with no success, at Titchwell RSPB and In Focus, it was decided the raptor and crane roost at Hickling should be visited.

On arrival at the viewing area and being told there were four Cranes in the area but that they had not been seen for some time, Marsh Harriers soon became evident. By the end of the evening 15+ had been seen. The next species to be noted was a Barn Owl hunting the marsh, as were six Kestrels. A slow period then began.

Ten minutes and several Muntjacs later the shout of male Hen Harrier went up and this ghostly male gave reasonable views and even came back two minutes later. A shout of a ringtail Hen Harrier then went up. The bird was clearly not a Hen Harrier as it was to bulky and had too much white on the rump. It turned out to be an escaped Harris Hawk!!!

Shortly after this four really elegant and ghostly white Cranes flew across the marsh. It ended with a Merlin dashing through and three ringtail and one male Hen Harriers. All in all a great trip. The Common Cranes mean I am on 249 for my yearlist. Smew has just arrived up at Tottenhill. Hopefully that will stay put!!!