Lawrence's Warbler - New Header Photo.

As some of my regular readers (if there are any?!) may notice I have a new photo at the top of my blog. The bird in the photo is a stunning Lawerence's Warbler (hybrid Golden-Winged x Blue-Winged Warbler) that I was fortunate enough to see in Central Park, New York back in August. As you may also be able to tell it's far too good a photo to have been taken by myself! It was in fact taken by Deborah Allen who was leading the guided birding tours I went on while I was there. If you like the look of this photo you can see more of Deborah's wonderful photos at agpix.com and type in Deborah Allen. Alternatively if you type Birding Bob into Google you will find out more about the enjoyable guided walks i.e. where to meet and when. Thanks again Debbie for use of your photo. It looks good!

WInterton Dunes - 27.10.13

 

The "Nice" Shorelark!

 

After breakfast we again said our goodbyes as I wanted to make sure I was home before the storm hit. But not before we visited my Norfolk local patch. After paying to park in the beach car park we walked into the south dunes to the trees below Hermanus holiday park. After a short wait I heard the bird I was hoping for call so I called the other birders over and shortly after out it popped at the lower limbs of a Sycamore. There giving better views than the Lowestoft bird was my 2nd Pallas's Warbler in just over a week! I managed to get Tom on it but I knew his heart lay down at the beach and throwing stones into the sea!! I picked it up another twice before we left which impressed Tom into saying "You're a very good birdwatcher dad"! We went  down to the beach and he was happy lobbing his stones into the sea as I looked for the Shorelark that was around. Eventually another birder found it and after a couple of photos I let Tom have a look through my scope. "Nice" he said! A quick scan of the sea saw a Red-Throated Diver flying south and last weeks scoter flock were still present minus the Velevet's. I wasn't done there though as I headed north towards Trimingham. I stopped in Horsey for a quick take away sarnie and then in Walcott for an ice cream for Tom and 29 Pink-Footed Goose that were in the field opposite! These stops though cost me in the end as by the time we reached Trimingham and walked to the cliff top the Pallid Swift had flown out to sea 5 minutes earlier never to be seen again! Even worse news broke by the time I had reach the traffic jam in Thetford that a Black-Browed Albatross had flown north just a mile or two along the coast albeit 3 hours after we'd left!

Norfolk Again! - 26.10.13

As it was my weekend to have my son I decided to drive back up to my dads so he could spend some time with him. I was tmpted to head out for a Pallid Swift up the coast but thought better of it so instead we walked along the beach at Gorleston-on-Sea so Tom could visit the arcades. On the way 2 Wheatear and an adult winter Mediterranean Gull were seen and Tom won enough tickets to swap for  lots of sweets!

Cassiobury Park - 25.10.13

9 Redwing flew over the toilet block before a tit flock flew through which included a Treecreeper and a male Blackcap. 3 Meadow Pipit then flew south and along the canal path near the hide 30 Siskin had already arrived for the winter.

Cassiobury Park - 24.10.13

The morning started with 70+ Woodpigeon overhead followed by a Siskin. Up at the bowling green in Oxhey a Skylark flew over minutes before 7 Lesser Redpoll. 3 more Lesser Redpoll flew over the yard after lunch.

Cassiobury Park - 22.10.13

I received a message via Twitter informing me of a pair of Mandarin on the canal from the 13th Oct. From today the yard Grey Wagtail was still present and a Red Kite flew over in the afternoon.

Cassiobury Park - 21.10.13

After an excellent two weeks it was back to work. A Grey Wagtail was in the yard. A Bullfinch was heard near the meadow and a Lesser Redpoll flew over the pools.

Hayling Island Mega - 19.10.13

 

The Semipalmated Plover + Great Grey Shrike

 

So far in 2013 there have been a huge number of potential new birds for me but pretty much all of them have been in Ireland or on far flung Scottish islands and so have been out of my reach due to time and money. So just as my luck would have it while waiting for the Lowestoft warblers the mega alert went off telling us about a mega American wader on Hayling Island. As I couldn't face a 5-6 hour drive straight from Norfolk and the fact that my car was booked in for its annual service I made enquiries about getting a lift down on Saturday morning and as luck would have it Chris Sharp had a space and said I could come along. After initial discussions about a 6am start had been put back to an 8am meet due to tide times I left the house and drove down the road to pick up young Ephraim Perfect and then joined Chris at the place I dropped my car off. We then headed to Maple Cross to pick up Paul Frost and the Sh4rpy birding collective (see Chris's blog in my blog list) were on the way!! A nice clear drive meant we were on site nice and early and after getting the waterproofs on we joined the expectant crowd for the bird to show up. A few Ringed Plover were already present and at one point the shout went up that the mega was amongst them but it wasn't to be. Not long after another shout went up and this time it was there! In amongst the Ringed Plover and Sanderling stood slightly smaller with a shorter stubby bill the 4th UK record and my 1st ever 1st winter SEMIPALMATED PLOVER! I quickly rattled off a few photos and took in the subtle differences of it before the rising tide and noisy wind surfers flushed the whole flock off towards the main seafront. We all stood around waiting for it to come back but then the rain started so we headed back towards the car park. As we did though news spread that it had been found on the beach so we followed the others there found somewhere to park and walked up to join the crowd. Unfortunately viewing was restricted due to where the bird was on the shingle but a few birders allowed views through their scopes. After chatting to a couple of Tring regulars we headed for the Oyster beds on the west side of the island. The first bird in view was an adult Arctic Tern which was a nice surprise. Hundreds more waders were present along with 10 Little Egret and a Rock Pipit. It was then a choice of where to go next. The answer was Thursley Common as time was running away. Over 150 Fieldfare and 50+ Redwing were flying around but the main prize soon gave itself up when the Great Grey Shrike was seen chasing Meadow Pipits. A few distant photos were taken before the heavens opened. On the walk back to the car I bumped into Kit Britten who I hadn't seen for many years (good to see you again if your reading this!) and just as we reached the car park a Crossbill flew over calling.

Norfolk - 18.10.13

 

Snow Buntings

 

After a morning cuppa I said my goodbyes and headed up the A12. As I drove over the bridge next to Breydon Water I counted 13 Little Egret! Shortly after I arrived at Hemsby where a Yellow-Browed Warbler, Ring Ouzel and Brambling had been reported on Twitter. After a 20 minute wander I had only seen a fly over Lesser Redpoll for my troubles. I checked the pager and noticed 4 Glossy Ibis were flying along the north Norfolk coast and heading south along the east coast. I drove up to Winterton Dunes and positioned myself with 3 others who had had the same idea. Messages from Overstrand and then Waxham had us on alert but then the news came that they had headed inland near Waxham and disappeared! How frustrating! A female Marsh Harrier and 3 Buzzard were at the far north end of the dunes and a quick look at the sea produced 8 Brent Geese flying north. I went down onto the beach after being told of a group of Snow Bunting so I carefully walked along the beach when suddenly they flew in and landed 20 feet away. I counted 24 birds and took some photos of them too. On the way back to the car I had a scan over the sea and picked out a group of scoters. There were at least 25 female type Common Scoter but in  with them I was surprised to see 5 male Velvet Scoter! After this I headed home via a quick stop at Sandon to try for Grey Partridge and Yellowhammer but only succeeded in seeing 130 Lapwing and a 300 strong flock of Linnet!

Suffolk Sibefest - 17.10.13

The sleeping Mediterranean Gull.

 

As it was my dads birthday I decided to head up to Norfolk to see him. Luckily for me there were a couple of interesting birds to see on the way up so I chose to go up via the A12 and eventually I reached Sizewell where I parked up just beyond Sizewell House and walked a few yards to join a small group of birders. They were busy staring up into the canopy where with patience I finally got onto my 4th UK Red-Flanked Bluetail. It's hard to believe that just over 20 years ago a bird in Dorset attracted thousands of birders as it was still an ultra rare bird. We have been spoilt lately as they have turned up regularly. Spookily this bird becomes my 3rd in Suffolk and all of them have been seen on 17th Oct. I guess my grandparents timed his birthday well!! A Great Grey Shrike was a short walk away but I had just missed it kill a Dunnock which it had disappeared into a bush to eat. I had a few more views of the bluetail before I headed off to Lowestoft. I parked up just a few hundred yards away from where I had seen my last bluetail and walked onto the north denes. I saw 3 birders staring at some bushes on the embankment so I went over and joined them to be told somewhere in a large bush were a Pallas's and Yellow-Browed Warbler but neither had been seen for an hour. I waited and waited but decided to walk along the bank a bit to try and find them. 3 Chiffchaff and a few Robin were seen until I reached the car park. I scanned a few gulls in the car park and found a nice adult winter Mediterranean Gull asleep. I was going to walk along the beach and back to the car but upon checking my pager I saw that the Pallas's had been seen again! I walked back over trying to avoid the dog mess and after another 10 minute wait a small green and yellow bird popped out the front of the bush. It was the Pallas's Warbler. It showed well briefly but remained elusive. Just as I was about to pack up and head to my dads a bird flicked up in the top right of the bush. It was the Yellow-Browed Warbler! So a hat-trick of sibes were seen and a nice pizza at my dads rounded off a good day.