Great Knot in the bag and some local bits and bobs

Couldn't help but feel I had been here before, when a Great Knot was reported once again at Breydon Water. I absolutely love Wader watching so was not put off at all by the 'probable' reported on the Sunday night, and in preparation I slung some clothes and gear in the back of the car. I finished up at work early with a couple of tasks to complete, but there was only one place I was headed to first. It was a hot day, and I was glad of my shorts and t-shirt as I paced out the 1 and a half miles down the estuary towards Burgh Castle where I was delighted to find the bird feeding on the mud not too far out. I made a few notes at the time. Some spotting on the flanks, and scapulars looked black but fringed with white allowing for a chequered effect. The bill looked slightly decurved, the tail accentuated. The head colouring actually looked dark red but in fact was black, the sun playing tricks on this glorious hazy afternoon. I went home and read up on the Great Knot some more, who knows it could be me one day.

Although my local listing has slowed up I am still respectfully placed in the Patchwork minileagues. I have been very busy with wedding preparation which perhaps accounts for a lack of additions, but I still manage fairly regular visits at least to Church Marsh. Last night Debs and I heard at least one Gropper in full reel, saw our first Common Tern of the year fishing here and noted young Grebes and Tufted Ducklings doing well.

On Saturday we stopped briefly at Zak's in Mousehold and connected with a couple of Purple Hairstreak at the top of the oak in the car park. We also saw a young Peregrine near the river in the city centre.

At home in the garden, I have finally seen the local Nuthatch! A Gatekeeper was the newest addition to the Butterfly year list.

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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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