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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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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