First few migrants :-)

31/3/08 James, Simeon and Connor.
We left Norfolk early and were at Minsmere by 8:30am. On arrival the Bluethroat wasn't showing (it never did show in the end), but several Cetti's Warblers were singing along with loads of Chiffchaffs. We positioned ourselves along the path where the Bluethroat had been, but the clear skies the night before meant that the bird had probably moved on.
Despite extensive searching we failed to locate it, but we did find some summer migrants in the meantime. 3 Wheatears were on a bank on the edge of a pool, 1 Sedge Warbler was singing near South hide, 1 Swallow and 4 Sand Martins flew over, as did a splendid male Yellow Wagtail. 5 Red-Throated Divers were on the sea along with about 100 Common Scoter and a Great-Crested Grebe.
We then went to Sizewell and found another Wheatear along the beach. At the power plant a Willow Warbler sang briefly along with many Chiffchaffs. On return we split up. Connor went to East hide and found a female Black Redstart in the dunes behind the hide, whilst James and I went to West hide, where we had a Bittern fly over the reeds.
All three of us located a Caspian Gull on the marsh. A Bittern was heard booming.
We then went to Dunwich Heath and had a singing male Firecrest but didn't have time to see any Dartford Warblers.
The next stop was Gorleston, near Great Yarmouth. On arrival the Glaucous Gull was sitting in the sun on its own on a jetty. It showed very well for about ten minutes, allowing us to get brilliant views and several pics (see front page). The bird then flew towards the sea with some other gulls, showing the white wings.
The final stop was a site in the brecks where we got 2 singing male Firecrests and 1 showed very well at the top of a small tree.
It was an awesome day, but annoyingly we returned with no Bluethroat on our lists!

Holme can be good sometimes

Connor had kindly invited Simeon and I round for a sleepover with a spot of birding, so we got down to business on arrival spending 5mins outside the front door counting curlews. Continuing the productive theme we spent the rest of the evening on the PS2.

Generally when we have a birding sleep-over at Connor's we leave with about 27 lifers in the bag. However, Connor had already seen the Bluethroat so that wasn't on the menu, and Norfolk didn't have much else to offer. In view of the situation we therefore decided to go on a migrant finding mission!

The day began exceedingly early with a spot of visual migration at Hunstanton. Between 6:20 and 7:50 we managed to lock onto an incredible 708 Woodpigeons and 193 Meadow Pipits, together with good numbers of finches and Pied Wagtails, with a probable White Wagtail. A Redpoll, Grey Wagtail, 2 Reed Buntings and 11 Tree Sparrows added interest, together with 2 migrating Great Tits! Meanwhile there was a Red-throated Diver and Kittiwake on the sea with 30+ Eider, good numbers of Fulmars and a large flock of Brent Geese. A Black Redstart added a touch of class. Every single bird was moving South. Please see Connor's personal diary for full details.

We moved on to Holme, where the migration continued overhead. A Marsh Harrier and displaying Ruddy Duck were on the reserve, though sadly there was no sign of any Bluethroats lurking in the forestry, or even the elusive Great White Egret. Another Red-throated Diver flew past over the sea. Most of our time was spent tracking (shadows of) Firecrests through the pines, until Sophie saved the day when she located 3 showing brilliantly - most people on the reserve were treated to fantastic views.

There was nothing left to see at Holme, so naturally we decided to go to Minsmere to see the Bluethroat. We realised the foolishness of our plans around about Fakenham, so we ended up at Hempton Marsh where we saw a long-tailed tit with no tail - always good comedy value. As we were in the area we stopped off at an old favourite, Flitcham, which also produced very, very little.

Connor resigned, so we dropped him off in time for the Norwich match and went patchwatching. A call from Connor told of a summer-plumaged Black-necked Grebe on the sea at Titchwell. We knew we wouldn't see it. We went anyway.

On the way back from Titchwell, where we had seen hordes of Red-breasted Mergansers, I finished patchwatching out of a sense of duty. And it delivered! A cracking Whimbrel made for an excellent early yearer, and put the day's rating from 5ish/10 back up to a solid 7.

James

01/02/08, Norfolk Coast

James and Simeon

After a February devoid of lifers we decided to kick start March with a day trip to the coast. We took Nigel as he hadn't seen the White-crowned Sparrow yet, and really needed a break from work. However, the trip maybe wasn't what the doctor ordered, as it was a far from relaxing day!

We set out at 6:30, with the wind buffeting the car and debris all over the road! Somehow we arrived safely at Cley, to find a somewhat smaller crowd than when we went in January! The atmosphere was still there in part however, and Nigel was ecstatic when the bird eventually showed (much better than when it was on the driveway). Next stop was Salthouse where the Snow Buntings showed extremely close, as did the sea - it wasn't far off from crashing over the bank! The Ross' Goose at Holkham showed extremely well from the roadside when we stopped off on the way to Titchwell.

On arrival at Titchwell we were greeted by a flurry of Robins, which seemed to be putting on a show for us in the hope of being fed. We promptly sat down and had lunch inside the car. After lunch we made our way to the feeding station - 3 Bramblings showed extremely well. There wasn't a great deal in the way of variety on the lagoons (perhaps unsurprising considering it was still winter), but a Kingfisher flew over the reeds and Simeon and Nigel had another flock of Snow Buntings through. Moving on to Parrinder hide we were delighted with some showy Spotted Redshanks and a Water Pipit, the latter another lifer for Nigel! The weather had decided to play behind schedule, so the wind didn't die down until very late on - we didn't go to the beach! This turned out to be a great decision - a flock of 9 Redpoll in front of Island hide and a Black Brant in fields on the way back to the visitor centre polished off our visit rather nicely. Of course it wouldn't be the same without bacon butties, which we noticed had dropped in price for once... Feeling generous, Nigel bought a tub of mealworms for the robins on the way back. A Woodcock was skulking near the path in 'the usual place'.

With a bit of time to spare we popped in at Holme as Nigel had never been. 7 Bramblings and a Barn Owl were in the pines (yes, that's right, a Barn Owl!). Jed collared us to play cricket for Holme in the Summer, as he often does around this time of year, and we were also forced to do a seawatch in the interests of science. I won't be doing anything in the interests of science for a long time...

A great day out, despite the crumminess of Holme!