Notes from the valley

Ricky was able to join me for the afternoon of the 21st, and I was hoping he would bring some of his good luck with him after finding a Merlin on his patch at Thorpe earlier in the week. I'l be honest- the circuit around Church Marsh felt a little lifeless indeed mundane as we approached the river bend behind the hide. Ricky had certainly bought that luck of the Cleverley, for on the river was a female Scaup! Initially I thought I was looking at a female Tufted with large white flash at the bill base, but a closer inspection through the bins revealed a clearly larger Duck with a longer looking head and larger bill. We watched the bird for around 10 minutes before she dived, and oddly that was the last we saw of her. Scaup can dive and will hunt for food underwater but I cannot believe she did not surface in the 7 or so minutes we waited. Perhaps the Scaup surfaced round the river bend. Whatever the case, this will go down as a highlight of the year when I look back and I was please...

A thoroughly enjoyable morning exploring the Hockham area with birding gent Paul Newport, who kindly offered to show me around his patch. Do check out his blog: http://brecklandbirder.blogspot.co.uk/. Paul has birded the area for sometime, and knows every nook, cranny and corner much like I know Surlingham. We enjoyed a great variety of birds from start to finish, and I was especially pleased to see my first Siskins and Lesser Redpoll of the year. Cranberry Rough held both of these species, and what a gem of a site this is. Not far from here we also heard Woodlark, again my first of the year and always an evocative sound. Hockham Fen is vast, much bigger than I was expecting and an unlikely sight after row upon row of pine and conifer. Here, wildfowl included Shovelor, Teal, Mallard, Coot, Greylag and Wigeon. A male Sparrowhawk was a nice sight as he cruised over the fen, and up to 4 Grey Heron sat perched high in a group of Alders. A lone Snipe got up and disappeared high over the f...

Not as exciting as it sounds unfortunately, so I will get the night it out of the way before reporting on some proper birding. Connor and I continued our intrepid search for the elusive Long-eared Owl in The Brecks last night, visiting 7 different locations in and around the forest with no joy. We did enjoy a classic view of a Tawny (incidentally Tawnys were calling at each location), heard Barn Owl and saw a couple of Woodcock. Came away disappointed, but some really interesting habitat was looked over and of course, so much more still to do! Today was more standard fare, an afternoon visit to Rockland Broad. I counted c1000 Black-headed Gulls on the broad itself, clearly potential for something rarer here amongst the roost but usually rather distant. 26 Tufted Duck was a record count (!) and a single Pochard was a welcome year tick, never easy to pin down. A second year tick flew north towards Buckenham in the shape of a Shelduck, and as dusk fell 4 Marsh Harriers passed through,...

On Saturday 14th, I had some old uni friends staying with me for the weekend. It was a glorious day so we headed to Horsey on the east coast so that they could be introduced to the Grey Seal colony. The seals appeared to be enjoying the sunshine and many were hauled out on the beach. A few pups remained but I doubt many were taking milk and indeed a range of colours and markings were present. Walking back down the Nelson's Head track, I heard the bugling of Cranes and was able to show the group a pair grazing in the field. We enjoyed a few pints in the pub before heading back to Surlingham for dinner. I was of course disappointed to see that a Great White Egret had been reported whilst we were dining, but then at least someone had seen it if not me! I took to Church Marsh on Sunday to blow the cobwebs out. Of note were a pair of Marsh Tit and 4 Grey Herons, the latter making use of the exceptionally low water levels in the river, wading at knee height and catching small fish with...

The first day of the year I would describe as pleasant today, and with both Mistle and Song Thrush in the vicinity of the garden I was optimistic for the WeBs counts. Church Marsh totals: Teal 21 Mallard 20 Mute Swan 6 Tufted Duck 1 Moorhen 1 Greylag 2 GC Grebe 1 Away from the water, and a passing Pink-footed Goose was a decent year tick for the reserve list, and a large group of Thrushes have amassed on the hill across from the ruins. Mistle, Fieldfare and Redwing all busying themselves feeding, an excellent flock. In previous years the flock have roosted in the surrounding trees and Redwing have even begun to sing, something to listen out for especially if the weather continues to warm up. Elsewhere, a smattering of common birds and residents including Treecreeper, Skylark, Kestrel and Reed Bunting. I must applaud the team from Strumpshaw for doing some scrub clearance this last week, good for the wildlife of course but allowing the visiting birdwatcher better views across ...