Tough luck out east ends with a flourish

An enjoyable if tough couple of days birding around Waxham and Happisburgh. Highlights included 3 Redstart at Happisburgh, large numbers of Brambling, Siskin, Song Thrush, Redwing, Chiffchaff and Goldcrest, my earliest Fieldfare ever, Hen Harrier at Waxham and finally a Hooded Crow in a ploughed field, also Waxham.
It was amazing to be out in fall conditions, and the opportuntity to observe Siskin, Brambling and Chaffinch so close was a real treat. A little gutted not to have turned up a rare Pipit or Warbler, but nonetheless a memorable couple of days in the field. Every bush flicked or ticked, the horizon often covered in Pink Footed and Brent Geese.
To finish with the Hoodie was the highlight. I pulled up at the road-side pull in, just south of Shangri La. I could see a few Crows, Lapwing and Goldies out on the ploughed field, so decided to have a scan before walking to the beach. Another birder was present, who said he thought he might have seen a Hooded Crow, but his optics weren't quite up to the job. I had a scan, and there it was, in East Norfolk! A combination of channels in the mud, discussion with the gentleman and fumbling for my phone meant the bird was lost to view, but no doubt it is still knocking about somewhere. Couldn't make out any signs of hybridization, and hopefully it can be refound.

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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...

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 ...

Notes from the valley

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