Gulls, gulls & more gulls!

Just back from the "Thornham channel" pre-roost, boy oh boy - there was some gulls tonight. Never seen so many Common Gulls, in fact after 2-3 estimates around 4500 of them! Also 400 Herring Gulls, 70 Great black-backed Gulls & 1 Lesser black-backed Gull. I did see a good candidate on mantle colour for Yellow-legged but couldn't get the primary pattern or legs, so that one escaped. 60 Golden Plover again here.

More of the same as those guys!

Ditto the rest of the guys -  Hen Harrier, Short-eared Owl & Barn owl. Although have to say best views yet of this ringtail, she is an adult female, with noticeably paler than usual upper secondary wing coverts, she is also being seen regularly at Titchwell. The "massive" female Peregrine was perched out on Thornham marsh & lots of Marsh Harrier activity, including one from the back garden over Ringstead Downs, 5+ Buzzard here as well.

I raced back here after having 10 Bewicks flying west over Burnham overt just after 4pm, but never got them from "the patch".

The sea seems to be getting quieter, but still plenty of GCGrebe, c10 Red B Mergs & c3000 Common Scoter.

The same but somewhat different

Extraordinary how the same location at different times can give some quite different records( birds ). Yesterday Andy recorded from the sea at Holme and the grazing marsh, locations that I covered between 2.30 and 4.00, the same day. The sea provided a Bonxie over the shore which then retreated out of the Wash and apart from the now omni-present Barn Owls and Short-eared Owl a ring tail Hen Harrier appeared over Lavender Marsh and moved rapidly east. The north fields of the gazing marsh held a terrific range and number of birds, as Andy had noted, but my count of Lapwing was 275 with only 4 Ruff. Meanwhile a group of at least 20 Dunlin had joined the crowd. All really confirming the dynamic nature of the bird populations in this area.

Monday 27th January

The sea was very quiet today - 3 Great Crested Grebes was all I could muster and little appeared to be moving save for a party of 62 Snow Buntings which made their way west along the beach. The now very wet North Fields held 11 Ruff, 50 Lapwing, 30 Golden Plover, 40 Curlew, 48 Dunlin and a lone Bar-tailed Godwit. The Kingfisher was, as usual, very confiding in front of the hides on Holme Marsh but three Water Rails feeding in very close proximity to each other, out in the open, was an unusual sight. A bank of Winter Aconites in the village was a sign that the longest nights are behind us. A few more mosses grabbed my attention today - photos, with tentative identifications, appear below.

Winter Aconites, Holme Village 27th January 2014

Capillary Thread-moss Bryum capillare, Holme Village, 27th January 2014

Endive Pellia Pellia endiviifolia, in dune slack, Holme Dunes NWT, 27th January 2014

Great Plait-moss Hypnum lacunosum, Holme Dunes NWT, 27th January 2014

Whitish Feather-moss Brachythecium albicans, Holme Dunes NWT, 27th January 2014

Sunday 26th January

A short session on the cliffs this morning, ahead of the rain, produced a small group of foraging Black-headed Gulls, a Great Crested Grebe, a single Red-breasted Merganser, 2 Cormorants, a Shag and best of all, an extremely smart, adult Lesser Black-backed Gull which beat its way into the Wash after a spell sat amongst Black-headed Gulls on the sea below the cliffs. A herald of the spring to come perhaps, these are uncommon birds on the coast in winter and this is the first I've seen on the patch since at least October.

Yesterday's mosses were Wall Screw-moss Tortula muralis (abundant on walls virtually everywhere) and Sand-hill Screw-moss Syntrichia ruraliformis subs. ruraliformis, which is abundant all along the dunes, forming extensive patches of several square meters or more.

Wall Screw-moss Tortula muralis, Holme village 26th January 2014

Sand-hill Screw-moss Syntrichia ruraliformis subs. ruraliformis, Holme Dunes NWT 27th January 2014

An hour on the Prom

Me & Nick had an hour along the Prom, mainly scanning the sea before the weather set in!

Nothing of real note c160 Brents, still Red-B-Merg moving west, 1-2 Red-throated Diver few Common Scoter & 2 Eider offshore. Plus a call from Gary Elton Black Brant off Gore Pt

Saturday 25th January

Eager to get out and about today, I was disappointed that the dawn was greeted by thick fog. I dawdled for a few minutes as a result  - but a call from Robert alerting me to a lone Waxwing in Old Hunstanton had me on the move in a short space of time.  Though it was gone as soon as the call had been made, a great hour near the pond produced Marsh and two Coal Tits, at least two Nuthatches,  a distant calling Green Woodpecker and a good deal of bird song. Muntjac and Grey Squirrel were new to me for the patch this year. Christopher's Stonechats were nowhere to be found on the beach but the Short-eared Owl made a fine sight as it hunted the dunes beyond Lavender Marsh in the bright noon-day sun. Whilst photographing some glowing-orange lichen, a Water Pipit called overhead as it headed out onto Redwell Marsh - my first on the reserve for a year or more.  A dead common toad in the dunes wasn't entirely without interest and, fearing the advent of some miserable weather, I collected a couple of scraps of moss to keep me busy with an identification challenge during the day ahead.  A small number of Lapwing moved west during the day - perhaps 150 in total  - maybe a sign of cold weather to the east. The male Marsh Harrier put on a fine high altitude sky-diving display over the grazing marshes in the early afternoon.

A day of dipping & sniping!

I woke early & the day dawned with a heavy mist & dampness! I thought I was safe to head out for a bike ride, but this was proven the wrong decision & brought to an abrupt end after a call from Robert, he had just found a Waxwing at Old Hunstanton! I was at Heacham so I raced back, Andy had already joined him. But despite there being lots of activity - Marsh & Coal Tit, Nuthatch, Great Spotted & Green Woodpecker,  there was sadly (from mine & Andy's point of view!) no sign of the Waxwing! 

I then had to head for Kings Lynn to pick up birding mate for the day - Nick Moran, his train was suddenly cancelled for no apparent reason & without warning, thanks East Midlands Trains! Sat around waiting for an hours & in the meantime I received a message from Andy & Robert who had clinched a Water Pipit on call overhead at Redwell, despite my sniping about the difficulties of the Water/Scandi Rock call id they were adamant & I was left gripped & still sat waiting for Nick & EMT!

We eventually made it out & re-checked the afforementioned Waxwing location, no sign!

At Holme a visit to Redwell revealed no pipits at all, let alone anything remotely spinoletta or  littorals. Although 1-2 Snipe flew over & at last a decent new year bird was added!

At Gore Pt we scanned the sea for a couple of hours, the 1st summer Black-throated Diver  was again present, several Red-throats, Red B- Mergansers  mainly west & Great crested Grebes on sea. Plus a Common Porpoise briefly

Although already added to the YL today, it was really interesting picking a Snipe up around 2 miles out to sea & watching it arrive over land high in the sky.

GSWP & Stonechat at last

Guiding today but again Holme was a great place to start! Gore Point started well, with cracking views of Short-eared Owl hunting, also a rocket-fuelled female Peregrine tearing through the Wigeon, this massive female appeared as big as the Wigeon! We also witnessed the biggest arrival on the grazing marsh of Pink-fett this winter with around c10,000 Pink-feet on the marsh by 10am!!  Out on the sea 5-6 Red-throated Diver, Common Scoter & 10 Red-breasted Merganser.

There was a few Fieldfare again in the horse paddocks along with 6 Mistle thrush & c100 Curlew around the reserve. The Kingfisher was yet again showing very well (pic today below!), along with an obliging Cettis Warbler in front of the hide. Also here 6 Marsh Harriers & Bullfinch.

As we wandered back I at last could here the distinctive "chip, chip" of a Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Also after a tip off from a couple of visiting birders, a short walk out to the beach also added a pair of Stonechat, yee-haa , 2nd patch year tick of the day. Takes me to 119, sadly both not on my NMYL!

Wet & cold!

I managed again to weave a few hours in at Holme whilst guiding today! Although the very cold SE wind, soon gave way to a couple of hours of heavy rain, it wasn't a great start to the day! Birds were few along the shoreline, but 1-2 Red-throated Diver, Common Scoter & 3 Red-breasted Merganser on the sea close inshore. A flock of 80 Linnet on the saltings but no sign of any Snow Bunts. 

A nice surprise was c25 Fieldfare in the horse paddocks, the first decent flock of the winter! Also 4 Song Thrush, 6 Mistle thrush & 40 Curlew between here & Redwell.

As the ran set in we headed to the village hides, the Kingfisher was faithfully perched & added a great splash of colour to a grey morning! Then the rain abated, brightness prevailed & 6 Marsh Harriers took to the skies, with some display & calling. Further colour & brightness arrived in the form of 3 male Bullfinch & 2 females. Still no Great Spotted Woodpecker for me!