Broads Tours, 25/04/11

The Broads looked great yesterday, a pleasure to be out and about, even with a few holidaymakers!

We began at Barton, hoping to catch more than just the tail end of the Black Tern passage. I had a feeling we had left it too late, and that was the case. We did however enjoy watching the now resident Common Terns here, and looked very hard at a few incase an Arctic was amongst them. 2 Common Sandpiper were seen, but not by us. The scrub around the boardwalk offered good views of Treecreeper and Blackcap.

Ranworth Broad was a first time visit for us, which again was heaving with Common Terns, and this time the scrub allowed us a close up of both a Cettis Warbler and a Willow Warbler. More was heard than seen, the trees and vegetation thickening by the day.

Upton Fen was not as hard to find as we expected, and is somewhere that will keep me coming back, this is a great reserve. It reminded me of a mini Hickling Broad, and as at Hickling there is potential for rare, with a vast reedbed surrounded by grazing marshes. A Savi's Warbler apparantly took up residence in 2000 (fast becoming a bird that I am setting my sights on to 'find' in the broads), and Red-footed Falcons have been seen in the last 5 years. We had great views of a hunting Barn Owl around midday, a pair of Marsh Harrier and 2 Hobby- my first of the year. Always a buzz seeing that first Hobby. Great variety of insects and Butterflies here too, not all we could put a name to, but will try to one day. No rush though, this is a great reserve to soak up. With so many good pubs located around and between, I think the odd evening visit here will be in order during midsummer. Bloody love The Broads.

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Everything is about edge

Hardley, where it is often confusing to define where the garden ends and the marsh begins. Tumble-down houses and rickety shacks, away from any bus route and Team Sky sorts wrapped in lycra, this is a village that by choice is cut off. The secret is out, and pre-storm Ciara as many as 10 large lenses littered the river bank firing at will. Their target- Winter ghosts. First, the classic Scooby-Doo type, as a Barn Owl responds to an ill-advised squeak in the grass and heads towards the onlookers. Another quickly joins the hunt, their formation a picture of double-edged stealth. But these year-round residents are not the key objective today, that honour is given to the Short-eared Owl. 3/4 of these can be seen from the staithe at the minute, floating like giant moths over the tussocks and edges. In a recent article in The New Yorker, Jake Fiennes states "Everything is about edge". Hedges, ditches, scrub, forgotten tracts of land that link nothing and no-one. Fiennes, now ...

Grey Phalarope- a new patch bird

The 7th of April was another bitterly cold Spring day, hats and gloves in prime position on pegs and in bags ready to be deployed. A few brave Garganey have been reported north of the river, but it was a bird from the north itself that had me rushing for the thermals and the telescope late in the day. I was thankful for the local Whatsapp group who were quick to report that a Grey Phalarope had been seen on Rockland Broad. This tiny Wader would have come in on the northerlies over the last few days, although to grace one of the broads is a real surprise, since most stick pretty close to the coast before moving on. Indeed, my experience of the birds has usually been on a sea watch in the Autumn, waves crashing and foam flying, my eyes straining to pick them out as they fly low just above the surf. They are fantastic birds, and now one was here on the patch. I had a brief panic when I realised my scope was in my car at the garage (thankfully I do have a much older spare) but once th...

Wood's End and Surlingham, 13/03/11

Decided it was time to search for a Lesser Pecker within and around the patch, ideal habitat alongside the Yare and plenty of deadwood. I should say now that the search was fruitless, but did throw up some good habo and a few decent birds for the area. Wood's End had a large flock of Siskin in a small conifer plantation, and a Nuthatch called from within. A Common Buzzard called overhead, and was seen again from the pub- I will keep an eye on this a potential breeding site. Great Spotted Pecker showed well, and my second Brimstone Butterfly in 2 days passed through- stealing a march, or so I thought! My first was seen from the staffroom yesterday, not all bad on the Western Front then. Surlingham was looking pristine in the sunshine, and approaching the lagoon I could hear Lapwing- usually across river at Wood's End- and then a familiar call which I almost ignored, but then realised where I was.....Redshank! Never actually saw it, but still a new bird for the patch. A pair of S...

Notes from the valley

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