Notes from the valley

Saturday 12th, I picked up Connor around 6.30am and we headed to Waxham with migrant hunting in mind. It was clear that the NW blow and rain had dumped many common migrants. Every bush had a Robin, some more than one. There were also almost equal numbers of Song Thrush and Blackbird. As the sun rose, slowly more birds became active. Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and Goldcrest and ticked and tacked from cover. Superb stuff! Overhead, Brambling and Redpoll were moving, and some did rest long enough for decent views. Heading out into the dunes towards the pipe dump, we encountered a female Redstart and a Woodcock on route. Still, birds were arriving including more Thrushes and even a few Skylark. Without much success around the pipe dump itself (a Robin with a sore throat gave us a headache for a while) we headed back to the car and onto Horsey. Although there were less birds around by mid morning, little clumps of cover were alive with activity. In the same patch of scrub and pines that last ...

Ricky and I were keen to get in on the early October action so headed to to Caister Saturday morning, hopeful of some vis-mig and perhaps something rare too. We began at Caister golf course after a quick look for the Rose-coloured Starling (I caught up with this bird last weekend, and since Ricky already has it on his list we decided against a thorough search). 100+ Meadow Pipits were moving through, many coming to rest on the course. This bode well. Overhead, we had 7 Redwing and a single Fieldfare. 3 Stonechat were showing well, perhaps local migrants or looking at the habitat, residents. We extended our search to the northern side of the town, scanning the beach for any early Snow Buntings. No sign of these delightful winter visitors, but we did pick up 2 striking Wheatear. Probing the shoreline was a single Knot.Walking the heathland north, one berry bush was home to 6 Blackcap (5 females interestingly) and a single Whitethroat. 4 Brent Geese flew south for the winter, navigating...

Counted upwards of 7 Chiffchaff around the patch this morning, 5 at Surlingham Church Marsh and 2 at Rockland Broad. 2 were in song, which got me thinking. How many of the birds I saw today will be wintering here in Norfolk? A minority I would suspect, but wintering Chiffs are on the rise, so the data tells us. Perhaps the birds in song were the birds planning to stay, proclaiming this is me, and this will be my territory for Christmas dinner and beyond. The songsters remained hidden, but the birds I were able to see appeared to be fresh juveniles integrated with mixed Tit flocks, gleaning insects from the greenery. I also heard what I believe to be the warbled and guttural sub-song of a Blackcap, another candidate for residency. Add in the singing Cetti's Warbler (2) and for the first time in around 2 months, Warbler song had returned to the patch. After walking the circuit at church marsh and seeing no-one (lovely) I headed to Rockland Broad chasing a report of a juvenile Black ...

Looking back on a busy few weeks, I did catch the tail of the fall including a superb inland Wryneck at Strumpshaw Fen and a Red-backed Shrike at North Denes Lowestoft. Also here were a Whinchat and a Wheatear. Working now in Carlton Colville, that means Lowestoft and in particular Pakefield are within easy reach for a post-work visit if conditions are good. This morning I made an early start hoping for some migrants on the patch. The resident birds were initially the highlight: Kingfisher and Barn Owl at Surlingham got the day off to a good start. From the lagoon, a patch of scrub held at least 3 Reed Warbler, 1 Reed Bunting and a couple of Blue Tits. This reminded me of a similar encounter at Claxton over a week a go, a seemingly inconspicuous bush holding Lesser and Common Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, Stonechat and Reed Bunting. All birds looking like fresh juveniles, sticking together in the hunt for food before the long journey south. I was determined though to find a Whinchat today...

After more dips searching for Clouded Yellow than I care to remember (I got up early today only to be confronted with rain sheeting down, great) Debs and I escaped to Derbyshire for a week away. I had managed to convince Debs it was worth doubling back on ourselves in order to visit the Birdfair, so this we did on the Saturday. As usual, we divided our time between talks, book searching and chatting to a few friends. Jari Peltomaki's excellent presentation on the Owls of Finland was one of the best I have seen at Birdfair, polished to say the least. We also attended talks on Birding in Spain and the Wildlife on Yellowstone; both hot contenders for honeymoon/future trips. Incidentally, I have just finished Stuart Winter's gripping 'The birdman abroad'. His descriptions of American Warblers have pushed the USA right to the top of my must visit list. Back in Derbyshire, it was birding in the dales for the week. The hills and the peaks for me offer a piece of wilderness w...

That was quick! Results as follows. TG3206 Summary: Summary: the numbers relate to the number of bat passes rather than necessarily the number of bats. Bat species = where there is insufficient information to assign the recording to a species or bat family - normally where there is too much noise to pull out a reliable signal. Myotis species = this is where the recording belongs to the family Myotis, which in Norfolk includes Natterer's, Daubenton's, Whiskered and Brandt's. Low confidence = where there is a high chance of the recording being assigned to the wrong species. Confusion is most likely between Daubenton's, Whiskered and Brandt's, and between Noctule, Serotine and Leisler's. 30 July 1 Brown long-eared bat 8 Common pipistrelle 2 Myotis species 4 Noctule 28 Soprano pipistrelle 1 August 1 Brandts - low confidence 2 Brown long-eared bat 29 Common pipistrelle 1 Natterers - low confidence 2 Noctule 36 Soprano pipistrelle ...

Firstly, congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Emerson! A few notes from the start of August. Ashwellthorpe Wood on the 1st, no White Admirals but many Whites and Peacock. A Common Buzzard was calling and circling above the wood and a smart Kestrel was hunting on the woodland edge. On the 2nd, I completed my first of 2 Waterways surveys for Daubenton's Bat. 15+ passes of said species were noted, an improvement on the last survey which was 8 in 2008. Considering the proximity of Marriot's Way to the city centre, I was pleasantly surprised to record 5+ Noctule, 2 Common Pip and many Soprano Pip. I have since had a Noctule fly over my house on his evening commute, what a garden tick!  Debs and I visited Strumpshaw Fen on the 4th, enjoying the almost menacing flights of Migrant and Southern Hawker along with both Ruddy and Common Darter. 100's of Peacock Butterflies nectared in the reed beds, an amazing sight. Due to the sparsity of notes in my book (getting lazy) I cannot p...