Norfolk road trip Pt1 - White blobs on the Wash and scarce butterflies at Snettisham

So after the trials and tribulations of my aborted trip to the Somerset Levels and all the domestic 'busyness' surrounding my house sale, it was time to take a breather and head off in the new van.
My good friend Robin was free and came along for the ride and good news about my regular walkabout pal Mark .. he's gonna walk again!



The new van!

I Haven't  been to Norfolk for nigh on 15 years so reckoned it was time to revisit and the plan was to split 5 days (Mon - Fri) between the North Norfolk coast and the Broads, chill out with my guitar, Rob's cahon, the local flora n fauna and test drive the van that will be my roving home for a while once my house is sold.














Thankfully, large chunks of Norfolk are still a relative backwater in the UK (and I mean that in the nicest possible way)... few major access roads and lots of narrow winding ones - perfect! In short we had a cracking few days and with both of us snapping away far too much material for one post so here's the first of 3 or 4, starting bizarrely with our last port of call on the way back .... who needs order in the natural world!

Snettisham & The Wash
One of the largest estuaries in the UK with Norfolk on one side and Lincolnshire on the other, this is more than just a vast expanse of mud. Its a designated SPA (special protected area) and home to countless wading birds, ducks and geese, especially during the winter when its estimated that some 400,000 may be present at any one time (more info here - The Wash ).



Greylag Geese with chicks, Snettisham

The few hours we spent at Snettisham RSPB reserve were bathed in sunshine and the wet and wonderfully lush meadows that border the reserve were teeming with bird and insect life with many chicks taking their first steps.

The bushes were full of the sound of scratchy Common Whitethroats plus at least 2 Lesser Whitethroats, Reed Buntings and pleasingly good numbers of Linnets.

Female Linnet, Snettisham

Female Reed Bunting with bugs in its beak, Snettisham



Cuckoo calling from a way off, Snettisham

Cuckoos seem to me to have made a mini revival this year, we heard and saw many in Norfolk and back on my own patch one has been calling from my neighbourhood for the past week. This was a distant shot but came out ok and typical 'wings down' pose is shown off a treat here.













Brown Argus, Snettisham

The sun brought out the butterflies and amongst the brilliant Common Blues we spotted a handful of the locally scarce Brown Argus ... rubbish pic but hey it was a first for me so had to include it as a record!


The Blues were far easier, nonetheless this isn't far off as good as it gets of a nice bright male ... corker of a shot Rob!

Common Blue, Snettisham (pic by Robin Marrs)

Snettisham is renowned for the huge gatherings of migrating waders that gather there to feed on the mud and perform their spectacular aerial displays as they follow the tides .... this mighty fine pic, one of Chris Gomersall's (RSPB), gives you a fair idea!

We weren't blessed with such numbers!


Oystercatchers, Snettisham

...... but we were treated to some spectacular views across the Wash at low tide with a heat haze making distant Lincolnshire look rather more interesting than it actually is!

The Wash, from Snettisham towards the Lincolnshire coast.

 

 



Common Shelduck, Snettisham

and in the foreground those little white blobs you can just about make out are lots of these - we estimated close on 800 Shelduck resting up on the mudflats! Also spied a couple of summer plumage Grey Plovers when I zoomed in on some of these pics.

The vistas here are big and bold, typical 'estuary meets saltmarsh' you see around our coast I suppose, but here in Norfolk the surrounding fields seem more natural, lusher, less intensively farmed maybe, more 'hay rich' certainly and the consequent abundance of wildlife was very very obvious.

 

Young bucks (Roe deer?) with Greylag Geese, fields around Snettisham.

 

Next and coming up soon is Sandringham / Dersingham Bog and Cley Marshes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first few days of Spring - first returning Chiff Chaffs, Sandmartins and well turned out drakes!


Off birding this week for a few days in the Humber Head levels and then hopefully across to the coast  - maybe Gibralter Point or Spurn.... such an exciting time of the year I think; there's already a handful of migrant species knocking about and I aim to photograph every one and stick them on here as I see 'em (Turtle Dove is gonna be a real challenge!)....... so, in anticipation of a shed-load of images next week here's a photo round up of the past couple of weeks as we crossed from Winter to Spring ....



Lapwing, Idle Valley

March 7th and very gratifying to see so many Lapwings in the fields looking resplendent as ever, especially when the sun catches the green in their wing feathers. Many northern Lapwings winter here in the UK and now most of them have dispersed and are looking for fields to breed in.

Likewise birds like Shelduck and Curlew leave our sheltered and food rich estuaries and move inland to breed.














Little Ringed Plover, Idle Valley

Always good to see any waders around Hatfield
and I guess you could call this a migrant - a lone Ringed Plover which we took to be its closely related Little Ringed Plover. Almost more interesting in a way to see these normally tidal waders crop up amongst the crops in flooded fields in South Yorkshire.

 

Male Kestrel, Idle Valley

Not a migrant of course but looking resplendently lovely - albeit at some distance away, here's a male Kestrel looking to attract some female attention.


.... and can anyone enlighten me with the name of this shrub / plant? Stacks of it coming up in Barrowhills Wood ( Nth Notts) like some kind of asteroid borne Triffid!

What is this stuff?

Ok, this is no migrant, its a resident tit but he (or she) is in the mood for something .... tricky from such an angle I know but I reckon this is a Willow Tit rather than the commoner Marsh Tit and he (or she) was hammering and pecking away at this bit of branch for a full 5 mins just above my Yorkshire Wildlife recruiting spot at Askham Bog .... food source? nesting material? Or just a tit doing a woodpecker impression? Either way .... marsh or willow, nesting or feeding ... there was a descent of tiny wood shavings for a moment there!

Willow Tit, Askham Bog

Willow Tit, Askham Bog

Singing Wren, Askham Bog

No debate about the nature of this pic ... my Askham Bog Wrens are just sooo chirpy!!


Great aspect and always good to get a good singing shot.
































First Sand Martin, Tophill Low - 21/3/14

So I've photographed my first Little Ringed Plover (tick!) and moving swiftly on to last Friday - the 21st March here's a record pic of my first Sand Martin, one of 11 at Tophill Low nature reserve nr Beverley, East Yorks.

Another true migrant and always a magic moment ... like your first Swallow, first Cuckoo, first Swift, its like a welcome back and these days more than any other I'm just glad to see things returning numbers.












Yeah I know, Chiff Chaff's have been back for a couple of weeks now and I've heard 'em around (my first was at Wheldrake Ings on the 15th March) but my first sighting was today and a good 100 metres away so  I wasn't gonna snap that! Here's a good un from Spain last December ... who knows, this may have been one of Yorkshire's first back!

Back at Tophill Low and migrant wise there were at least 5 Chiff Chaffs there plus 4 Little Egrets (not sure if these can be counted as migrants ... once rare they're almost common UK residents now!), precious few other waders though - 1 Curlew, 1 Redshank and 2 Oystercatchers to be precise!

The morning light was superb, crisp, clear and great reflective light off the water

Lagoon side reeds, Tophill Low

.....and for me its only the light that makes this Pheasant pic so stunning.

Pheasant on the reservoir wall, Tophill



Sun dazzled Little Grebe, Tophill

.....too bright here though for this Little Grebe but ok with a bit of 'doctoring'

Little Grebe, Tophill

One of the great things about this time of year for me is seeing the many thousands of birds that have wintered here gradually acquire their breeding 'costumes' as they begin to depart ... Tophill is famed for it's winter duck population and there's nowhere better in my book for photographing one of my favourites - Goldeneyes

Here's a couple of my first efforts from one of the hides looking out onto the mighgty 'O' reservoir

Drake Goldeneye, Tophill

Drake Goldeneye, Tophill

.... not bad, I really wanted to capture that greenish sheen on their heads when in breeding plumage. Later on from the wall on 'D res' I got some sharper images. The brisk wind that sprung up in the afternoon was producing a sizeable swell out there, creating a mini seascape on which the Goldeneye were happily bobbing up and down on. Quite like the slightly bizarre head & neck shot ... up periscope!

Drake Goldeneye, Tophill Low





Head Shot!! Drake Goldeneye, Tophill Low

Impressive head gear! Male Tufted Duck, Tophill

There were maybe 150 Goldeneyes on both reservoirs ... impressive numbers, can't remember the last time I saw so many. Sticking with the duck theme and sharing the same water there were even more Tufted Ducks and some of the head plumes on the males were verging on flamboyant!


















...... bit distant and a tad 'glary' but thought I'd capture these 3 male Shovellers charging about together, surely some kind of territorial / display type behaviour and something I'd never seen before.

Shovellers charging about, Tophill.

Migrant strollings around Gibralter Point... first Redwings and last Swallows

With strengthening winds from the East all week the signs looked good for some visible bird migration but where to go? Had to be the East coast of coast but having done Spurn and Flamborough recently I fancied a bit of a change of county and headed off down to Gibralter Point on the NE coast of Lincolnshire.


















Walkway across the dunes





 

Gibralter Point is 4.5 square kilometres of coastal saltmarsh and buckthorn covered sand dunes. Long famed as a migration hotspot and bird ringing activity, it's quite rightly the jewel in the crown for the Lincs Wildlife Trust gang, a few of whom I met during my brief 2 day trip over the 1st & 2nd of Oct.

Its a cracking spot to just wander about in, a lot more open and accessible than Spurn, less birders too and with its many paths through the dunes it has a very laid back 'get away from it all' feel.

The first day of October, like much of the UK Summer before it, brought warmth and plenty of sunshine - great for warming my bones but sadly not always good for watching migrating birds. Yes the wind was fresh and blowing in from contintental Europe but with clear skies and nothing to 'down' passage migrants, most will simply fly right over and onwards.

 

Up with the larks bright n early at 6.00am I had many Meadow Pipits and finches, mainly Chaffinch Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Linnets in the sky. Then my first good bird, a male Redstart sheltering from the wind in one of 'dune valleys'. If I'd known that it was to be my only one I'd have tried harder to get a pic but he was skulking and I was sure I'd have more.

 

Not a migrant but certainly passing by was this rare old bird... at 7.00am with I thought the whole of the point to myself, the last thing I expected was to pass an old lady with a walking aid!

 Completely random!










I was quite chuffed with myself for picking out a single Brambling in amongst a small flock of passing Chaffinches... yey! In fact, up until midday, although nothing rare, there was a pleasing numbers of common migrants making their way down the coast and in off the sea... scores of Meadow Pipits, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Skylarks, about 50 or so Song Thrushes on the point were good to see but best of all was my first Redwings of the Autumn. 12 in total, they stayed only briefly, alighting at the top of a conifer tree for a minute or so before flying off.

1st Redwings of the Autumn, Gibralter Point

I saw 3 Swallows beating South just minutes before and it would be kind of neat to get my first Redwings of the season on the same day as my last Swallows!

 

 

 

 

 



There was a Red Breasted Flycatcher and 3 Yellow Browed Warblers on the reserve whilst I was there but a little frustratingly I dipped out on both. I did manage a male Blackcap and several Goldcrests but that early Redstart that promised so much was more of a 'red herring'!

 

No worries though ... it was pleasure enough to be out walking this landscape on a bright & breezy day. There were even a few butterflies on the wing, mainly Whites and Tortoiseshells but a few nice Red Admirals too. 

Red Admiral, Gibralter Point

 

 The light was good and I managed some pretty decent shots of some of the waders present in and around the scrapes.

 

Avocet, Gibralter Point

Black Tailed Godwits, Gibralter Point

There were 85 Black Tailed Godwits in all, one of my favourite waders to catch in flight ... those white underwings are simply stunning!

The Avocets (16 of them) were hanging around in front of one of the hides and doing that funny feeding frenzy thing .. so rapidly were they swishing their bills in the water most of my shots came a bit blurred but this one was ok and caught the moment well enough

Feeding Avocets, Gibralter Point.

I managed 15 wader species in all. Not bad going. Apart from the 2 above I also had Green Sandpiper, Curlew, Knot, Greenshank, Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Lapwing, Sanderling, Oystercatcher, Snipe, Redshank, Ruff and heard a Spotted Redshank.

The Greenshank picture is one of only a few pics took on the next day. As you can tell by the picture it was dull, and spitting with rain too. Apart from a few more Blackbirds and Robins  hanging about, good and different birds were thin on the ground and the only thing that looked any good through my lens was the Sea Buckthorne!

I'd like to have stayed on here for a couple more days, I'm still waiting for my first good Yellow Browed shot and sure I would have got it, still ... there's always Flamborough and I'm up there for a few days soon so that's this month's photo target sorted!
 

Out and about in blustery Lincolnshire reveals a rare Long Billed Dowitcher plus lots of other waders and raptors

Talk about bright n breezy ... must have been getting up for force 7 or 8 when we went out a couple of days ago to a reserve in Lincolnshire called Alkborough Flats. Personally I hate being out in the wind and what with the squally showers that came over in the afternoon it made for a trying day in the field but we (that's me n Mark of course) saw some good birds and met a few decent and very knowledgeable Linconshire birders .... all sheltering out of the wind in one of the hides there.

Although we got chatting and enjoyed some good banter for a couple of  hours or so to one of said birders, to our shame we didn't really introduce ourselves but many thanks to him for filling me in about the subtleties of Caspian Gull recognition (I'll be on the look out from now on!) and also for pointing out the long staying Long Billed Dowitcher, an American vagrant that has decided to over winter in these parts.


Long Billed Dowitcher (top left)

Distant pic obtained but cleaned up pretty nice after messing around with it.

As you can see there were other waders present (Lapwings and Redshank in the pic) and in fact we had some very decent numbers both species and more on the day. Always difficult to estimate when there are large groups of birds flying about but here's some approximations ...

Redshank c300
Lapwing c2500
Golden Plover c3000
Dunlin c400
Sanderling c100
Curlew c400
Black Tailed Godwit c100

The Godwits took us by surprise and before we'd really got out eye's in ..... flying overhead and then directly into the sun just as we'd got out of the car. Would have made a super pic but of course I just wasn't ready. We weer reliably informed later that there were a few Bar Tailed mixed in with these birds .. so we're having them both!

In addition we had 9 excellent Spotted Redshanks (which I didn't realise overwintered this far North), a single Ruff, 2 Green Sandpipers, and of course the Dowitcher which was a 'lifer' for us both.

As far as photography was concerned, because of the wind factor, I was restricted to whatever appeared within range from the hide but have to say that during the morning at least the light was superb and enabled some decent shots of especially the Curlews .... here's a few.

...............not a particularly clear photo but included here for it's comedic value, this one was having a spot of bother with the wind!

These Dunlins had the best idea.... just stick together and stay put!

I took a fair few pictures of Lapwings, simply because the light was so good, however none came close enough to really fill the frame but this highly cropped pic of a particularly shining example of one of our most beautiful waders is a good 2nd best!

 

Equally distant was one this Marsh Harrier, one of at least 5 seen on the Humber on the day

Also recorded on the reserve we had a couple of Buzzards, a Peregrine, a single Sparrowhawk, 2 Grey Herons, c50 Skylarks, a couple of Corn Buntings, c2000 Teal, c500 Mallard, c50 Wigeon, c30 Shelduck, c100 Pochard, 1 Shoveler and lots of Gulls (no Caspians!)

We did a fair bit of driving about and birding from the car in along some of the back roads in Lincolnshire, picking up Buzzard, Greylag Goose, Cormorant, Fieldfare, Little Grebe, Kestrel, Mistle Thrush, Jay and also visited Laughton Woods  where we had a small flock of Siskins, Goldcrest, Redwing, Fieldfare, Chaffinch, Long Tailed Tit, Coal Tit and flushed a Woodcock.

All in all and given the testing and at times totally adverse weather we had a great day and amassed
a very creditable 67 species for the day.