Patch list creeps up, and a trip to the G Y.

Thursday morning, I snuck in a couple of hours on the patch before marking books loomed large.

Good bit of vis-mig taking place, including Greenfinch, Skylark and Pied Wagtail. On rounding the first bend, I heard the familiar mournful call of a Bullfinch- 2 birds flew from view. Siskin were here too, but then a less familiar call. Convinced this was not an odd Great Tit, I waited around and backed off a little. Sure enough, a Marsh Tit flew into view. Surprisingly, this is a new bird for my patch list, despite seemingly good habitat. Certainly never heard singing during the breeding season, so I wonder where this little chap has come from. My favourite tit on the patch!

Moving on, the ground muddy beneath my boots now, Geese and Corvids were busy overhead communicating in scattered groups. On the lagoon, another first: the only Duck species present were Teal, and 122 was a record count for the patch. Quite a day, then!

Yesterday (28th) I set off for Great Yarmouth cemetery for some sprite hunting. I began in the north section, but arrived back at the road a lot sooner than I had hoped to! Not a lot doing then. Sadly, the south section was even more quiet. In total, one Goldcrest, 2 Redwing, Linnet and Siskin in groups overhead and a couple of Fieldfare completed the below average haul considering time and place.

Breydon Water was at high tide, but a quick scan through revealed the expected Avocet, Golden Plover, Redshank, Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit and a selection of winter Ducks.

Best of all were three Little Egret, one of which was hunting under the bridge next to a late-ish Whimbrel.

Even more exciting (I know, it's October guys) were two Mistle Thrush over our house in Norwich yesterday.

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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 ...

Finally, just in time for the tail end of Spring migration........

.......we get some good weather. Too little too late? Only time will tell. I have enjoyed watching the resident birds go about their business on the local marshes and broads, but that ranks as the poorest Spring I can recall in terms of migrants and variety. That is not to say the birding is not good- but just a little underwhelming. Over at Rockland Broad on Saturday, I enjoyed a bit of a raptor fest, with 3 Hoby, 2 Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Marsh Harrier and Kestrel all seen well. 2 Garden Warbler were singing, one by the carpark and one by the broad. A couple of Common Tern were hawking over the broad, and a Kingfisher was up to the usual near the hide. Don't get me wrong, this is all great (and in the warm too) but I was hoping for something a little different at Rockland this Spring. Still, with the decent weather set to continue for the next week, eyes to the skies. And indeed, to the ground, for my first Wall Browns of the year were flying and I happened upon my first 4-spotted ...

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...

Notes from the valley

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