Norfolk Birding - Shore Larks, Rough-legged Buzzards, Bean Geese and the Golden Pheasant of Wolferton

Me and Alex decided to take a New Year’s trip to Norfolk in order to catch up with all the birding goodies that were on offer in what is surely one of the most productive of counties for birds. With a wealth of species concentrated in a small area near Kings Lynn, we had three days to connect with an impressive line-up of great birds.

Staking out Flitcham that afternoon for the resident Pallid Harrier unfortunately drew a blank (although we had already seen an individual last autumn in Somerset) but we were rewarded with a beautiful flock of feeding Bramblings, a hunting Merlin and a pair of gaudy Egyptian Geese as consolation prizes.

Phone-scoped shot of one of the Bramblings

The next day saw an early rise and the obligatory trip to the now famous Wolferton Triangle in order to catch up with the resident Lord of the Estate – the legendary Golden Pheasant himself, before heading over to Choseley Drying Barns to try and spot one of the two Rough-legged Buzzards that have been calling this area home. 

After eventually finding the right location and after a fair bit of driving and scanning fields, I managed to pick out a pale coloured Buteo heading over the ridge with pronounced black carpal patches and a white upper tail – our target bird.

Enjoying brief views, we drove over to the field in question and after some careful scanning, I picked up our sought after Buzzard, this time perched in the field next to us. Taking flight and being harassed by two persistent crows, we both got excellent views as this majestic raptor flew along the edge of the field, the white inner tail above distinctive along with the much paler wings and characteristic markings.

With the Rough-legged Buzzard now out of sight and perched in a distant tree, we headed over to Cley for our final stop of the day in an attempt to catch up with one of the four Bean Geese that had been present on the reserve associating with the regular Pink Feet. Travelling past many farm fields, it was a refreshing change to see coveys of both Grey and Red-legged Partridges in large numbers as we drove through Norfolk, with both species being plentiful.

Arriving at Cley, we immediately locked on to a Barn Owl gracefully quartering the reeds in the afternoon sun, while several Marsh Harriers patrolled the reserve.  Entering the hides, the Bean Geese were extremely difficult to pick out amongst the large flock of Pink Feet, and after some careful scanning it wasn't until the other birders in the next hide along pointed them out to me that I was able to pick them out. Extremely similar to Pink Footed Geese, the good views really enabled us to note the subtle differences - their orange bills really stood out from the pink bills of the Pink Feet. Having only ever seen one Bean Goose before at Telford a few years ago, this was a great opportunity to really get my eye in on these two confusion species.

Two orange billed Bean Geese interspersed with the Pink Feet

A quick check on the fields further up the track resulted in us also trying to pick out the Black Brant that had been present in the Brent goose flock for several weeks. Alex eventually managed to pick it up in what was becoming fast fading light, and we both admired this attractive American subspecies - my first in the UK. 

Differing from our Brent Geese by sporting a complete white neck collar and having much bolder white markings on the sides, once we had our eye in we could easily pick out this American stray amongst the hundreds of Dark-bellied Brents. 

The Dark-bellied Brent Geese - Black Brant at the bottom left!

With the light now disappearing, we headed back to the hotel for a feast of pizza and pasta before our final day in Norfolk and what would be our first birds of 2016. 

With New Year’s Day dawning and just one full day left, we decided to head over to Thornham Harbour where 3 Shore Larks had been present on the shingle beach next to the estuary mouth. One of my favourite small shore birds and a species I don’t often come across in the North West, I was keen to catch up with these delightful Bumble Bee patterned larks.

Stopping to admire the flock of around 30 Twite that had been feeding amongst the salt marsh plants right next to the car park and giving excellent views, we headed off in to the dunes to locate the Shore Larks.

With an ever present stream of New Year’s Day birders having scopes set up watching the birds, they weren't hard to find, and we were soon enjoying close views as the three birds fed along the tide line in the debris washed up by the waves.

Having only ever seen the Rossall Point bird last winter, it was great to admire these brightly coloured birds as they went about their business and it was a fantastic end to what had been a hugely successful trip to Norfolk.

Autumnal Birding - Short-eared Owls, Scaup, Jack Snipe and Cetti's

With the rustic tones of autumn coming to a close and the cool chill of winter fast approaching, I’ve been able to catch up with a selection of good birds locally as the seasons shift and the birds follow suite.

Short-eared Owls in particular seem to be in great abundance this year, and I managed to see up to 6 different birds at Parkgate/Burton Point during the recent high tides, all taking advantage of the large numbers of voles and other small mammals forced out of the vegetation as the water levels rose. With further individuals at Frodsham Marsh as well as this beautiful bird found hunting along the banks of the River Clywd in Rhyl, the winter of 2015/16 already seems to be a bumper year for these charismatic owls.

There also appears to have been a mini-invasion of Firecrests taking place throughout the North Wales coastline over the past few weeks, with up to 5 spotted at Conwy RSPB near the pond bridge and further individuals scattered across the coastline and up to the Great Orme, particularly around Llys Helig Drive.

The female/immature Scaup at Eirias Park boating lake also provided excellent views when I visited, and having been associating with a group of Mallards for several weeks now, is still present. Whilst occasionally flushed by dogs (such as on one occasion while I was present) the Scaup seems to have taken this small patch of water to its liking, showing fantastically well and being easy to spot on such a small water body. With the lake slowly being drained for the winter however, it will more than likely soon move on, perhaps to the coast or to one of the other pools or lakes nearby.

Burton Mere Wetlands is also playing host to two Jack Snipe at present, most often seen from the first boardwalk screen hidden amongst the stubble of cut reeds. Cryptically camouflaged and usually asleep amongst the Common Snipe with its beak concealed, the distinctive facial markings give the ID away along with the darker and bolder patterns on the back. Luckily, we managed to get great views of one individual doing its characteristic bobbing motion as it moved through the reeds before settling back down and remaining hidden behind the vegetation.

Two Cetti’s Warblers have also taken up residence in the patch of reeds between the reedbed screen and the second hide. Usually remaining hidden deep within the depths of the reeds, with just the distinctive explosive call giving their location away, we were lucky to get amazing views as they became incredibly active late in the afternoon before heading off to roost, showing unbelievably well and performing right in front of the screen out in the open. These were by far my longest ever views of Cetti’s Warblers, having previously only ever got glimpses at various reserves before the bird dashed back in to the safety of the reeds. A pair of Brambling on the feeders were also lovely to see, completing what has been a fantastic few weeks for classic autumnal/winter birds.