Surlingham Garganey

Before the obvious, a brief look back at last Sunday.

Laid up with a cold for a few days, I emerged on Sunday to find the 4 Glossy Ibis at Cantley looking pristine in the sun, a full array of greens, purples and blues when the sun caught the plumage. Lovely stuff. Also popped to Marlingford, 2 Grey Wagtail on the river here, 2 Common Buzzard overhead. Stopped for a pint in The Bell, lovely spot this and a decent pint of EPA.

Surlingham this evening was rather warm, and driving home listening to Gram Parsons I could have been anywhere, but glad I was in Norfolk. 3 Chiffchaff are now singing on the reserve, and the Kingfisher frequenting the landspring continues to show. A Little Egret was in front of the hide, and there appeared to be a good few Duck present. I set about scanning the wildfowl, and stumbled across a pair of Garganey! Patch mega! Both were asleep, the white head stripe giving the male away. After a short wait, he woke up and dabbled in the water at the edge of the mud. Always nice to see this species, let alone on me patch! A look at the sightings board showed that the pair had been present since at least midday (Thanks Mr. G Moore) which is encouraging, since that would have been when the Gun Club were popping off rounds. Will they stay? Stay tuned for more information.
Other stuff of note included a pair of Marsh Harrier (per sightings board) Common Snipe and Great-spotted Woodpecker. Coal Tits in song today, with aplomb.

Great start to the year- Northern Bullfinch, Hen Harrier and now this.
Below is the worst shot of a Garganey you will see. But they were there.

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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 the ho

A change is as good as a rest

Casting my mind back to February 14th, survival rather than love was in the air for the birds of the Yare Valley. Tramping across the Surlingham corner of the patch, I recorded 8 Woodcock within 2 hours. These Cryptic Waders had been forced out of hiding, and even amongst the woodland floor they were easier than usual to spot against a backdrop of snow. The small pine wood opposite the church and adjacent to the parking area held at least 2 birds, creeping around and huddled up low to the ground. A further investigation of likely habitat around Church Marsh and I was presented with 6 more, a record count for me in a single day. I hope they made it through the trial sent from the north in the form of ice and snow. A Great Egret exploring a dyke at Postwick must've been thinking twice about the whole range expansion thing. However, a small Squadron of Bewick's Swan and a single Goosander over Claxton fitted the mise en scene nicely during this period. That image and that day fee

Claxton-on-sea!

Although it was not quite the Christmas we wanted here in the valley, the rain has bought its own gift. A grim vision of the future, perhaps. But right now, the patch is peaking and is alive with birds, and for that I am thankful. On Christmas eve, it was a job to navigate away from the village due to standing water that had left abandoned cars and undelivered presents in its wake. The rain had been persistent and unforgiving, the ground, saturated. Over on the marsh, where there had once been a muddy puddle amongst the pasture, a city had sprung from the leak, with a plethora of new occupants noisily laying claim to a patch of sodden marsh. Wigeon and Black-headed Gulls in their thousands now wheeled and whistled over and amongst the newly formed pools, accompanied by smaller numbers of Teal and Shoveler. A flock of two hundred-strong Lapwing enjoyed feeding on the less damp spots where green grass was still exposed, and thrown in for good measure have been a couple of Ruff, the firs

Notes from the valley

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