Black-necked Grebe!!!

A super find by Andy during WeBS and one which I managed to watch with Gary for almost an hour off the Firs 30 minutes or so later drifting out with the tide.  My 227th Holme bird and my second patch lifer this year following Water Pipit.  In the NOA Sophie had caught an Oak Beauty in last nights trap.  The Sallows in the forestry were buzzing with life with Buff-tailed, Red-tailed, Common Carder and Tree Bumblebee all noted as well as three species of Hoverfly - Criorchina berberina, Eristalis pertinax, Platycheirus albimanus and the latest patch addition along with Tree Bumblebee the Early Longhorn moths.  A colour ringed Redshank was on North field along with 11 Snipe, the Short-eared Owl showed cripplingly well along the entrance track late afternoon, 5 Wheatears on Thornham Bank with two Sand Martins north and a drake Pintail was on Redwell.

Diurnea fagella

Oak Beauty

Early Longhorn moths

Tree Bumblebee

Criorchina berberina - a fantastic Bumblebee mimic!

drake Pintail

Ichneumon wasp species

Short-eared Owl

Black-N-Grebe & Thanks Andy!

I was meant to be heading to Cley with my group, but a call just after 8am from Andy Brown advised us of a summer plumaged Black-necked Grebe drifting east offshore at Holme, so we headed straight to Gore Point. We noted  2 Velvet Scoter east, 100+ Common Scoter east, also Red-breasted Merganser and 6 Eider. A Great Crested Grebe drifted into view, I was just calling Andy to say we couldn't relocate the BN Grebe, when Ronnie one of my clients, suddenly felt sure he had it and sure enough it was the Black-necked Grebe, in full summer plumage complete with gold "sashes"!! We watched it for a while, before heading down on to the shore to try and get closer views, but we then couldn't relocate it. However, another 200+ Common Scoter passed east and 16 Eider also passed by. Also nice ad male Wheatear in dunes before plantation, 2 Greenshank Lavendar marsh.

A warm Sunday

The day started well with an Early Grey, Clouded Drab and Hebrew Character in the moth trap. Today was WeBS day so I made for the west end roosts shortly after dawn to catch the high tide. Almost as soon as I began to count a long line of Oystercatchers, I caught sight of a small bird bobbing about offshore, barely discernible in the weak, hazy light. Could it be a Red-breated Merganser - it didn't look right though - too small. And it was no Great Crested Grebe. Perhaps it was a Red-necked Grebe ? But really, it was too far out and too far to my west to make much of it at all. But it did kook interesting. Just then Phil appeared to the west and scampered eastwards to tell me he had been watching what he thought could be a Slavonian Grebe. He indicated an angle to seawards roughly to where I'd been watching 'my' bird and as there was nothing else on the sea, this had to be the same bird.  Excellent ! Once we re-located the bird, it  had travelled a considerable distance eastwards and come closer inshore, and we realised it was actually a stunning Black-necked Grebe in summer plumage. The golden ear tufts were just discernible as were the dark orange lower flanks. The bird's peaked-cap and steep-headed profile really gave it away though. I managed some dismal shots through my scope and made a couple of calls and over the next hour or so, several others were able to see either their first Black-necked Grebe for the patch or the first in many, many years.

The NOA moth trap held a stunning Oak Beauty as well as 2 March Moths, a Common Quaker, Clouded Drab and several Hebrew Characters. Robert and I went to try and get better views of the Early Longhorns in the forestry - hoping for some decent photographs. Robert's 50X came in handy and he managed to get shots which clinched the identification - new for the reserve, patch and area. By late afternoon, there were 12 dancing above the Sallows. We searched flowing Sallows for various invertebrates and found another first for the reserve - Tree Bumblebee, as swell as its highly conniving mimic, the hoverfly Criorhina berberina and the much less attractive small overfly Platycheirus albimanus. A rather confiding Water Vole by the Hun Bridge and a hunting Short-Eared Owl in the dunes finished the late afternoon off nicely.

The west end roosts, sea and saltings held:

Black-necked Grebe 1
Great Crested Grebe 1
Curlew 3
Turnstone 13
Oystercatcher 492
Dunline 16
Grey Plover 111
Teal 4
Redshank 58
Sanderling 36
Cormorant 7
Bar-ailed Godwit 97
Ringed Plover 6
Common Gull 48
Herring Gull 420
Great Black-backed Gull 6
Knot 30
Brent Goose 19
Black-headed Gull 49
Avocet 12
Little Egret 1
Greenshank 2
Snipe 9
Jack Snipe 1
Shoveler 1
Shelduck 7

About 400 Common Scoter flew east as well as a party of 15 Eider, including about 6 smart adult drakes. Single Wheaters were in the forestry and on the beach, 5 were on the golf course and 4 on the east bank.

Black-necked Grebe, Holme NWT, 30th March 2014

Oak Beauty, Holme NOA, 30th March 2014

Platycheirus albimanus, Holme NWT, 30th March 2014

Early Grey, Hunstanton, 30th March 2014

A day of firsts for the year...........

I emptied my moth trap shortly after dawn and was disappointed to find just a single Hebrew Character inside and a Beautiful Plume on the nearby fence. The NOA trap had about 8 of the  former, plus a Small Quaker, 2 Red Chestnuts and a fine-looking Grey Shoulkder-knot. Moths were in evidence during the day, with seething masses of Browntail caterpillars newly active in their webs on the sea buckthorn and a small group of displaying Early Longhorns above the Sallows in the dunes. There was much birdsong today and amongst the usual species were Greenshank, Cetti's Warbler (at least 4), double-figures of Chiffchaffs, a fine male Bullfinch in the paddocks, 17 Brent Geese still on Lavender Marsh, several Siskins and Redpolls overhead, but unseen in the light mist and best of all, a superb Short-eared Owl which landed near me in the dunes. A male Blackcap in Holme Marsh is the first I've seen all year (and all winter come to that) so may well be newly-arrived. Plants newly in flower included Storksbill, Blackthorn and Hawthorn. The damp coast path held an large black Arion ater slug as well as a fine Helix aspersa snail. Seaweed highlight of the day was some Bladder Wrack Fucus vesiculosus on the strandline. In my garden and in Holme Marsh were hordes of a Scathphaga stercoraria,  a medium-sized ginger fly amongst which I found the hoverfly Eristalis pertinax (also seen in the dunes), another hover I've yet to identify, a smart black and grey Cranefly Tipula lateralis, several wasps and my first Dark-edged Bee-fly of the year in  my garden.  Queen Buff-tailed Bumblebees thronged the Sallow flowers whilst a Red-tailed Queens were evident as they explored the dead grass in the meadows. A lone Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum was on Alexanders on Holme Marsh. Butterflies were thin on the ground, with 3 Small Tortoiseshells and 2 Peacock all that was seen during the day. Maybe more tomorrow.......

Snowflake, entrance track Holme NWT, 29th March 2014

Storksbill, Holme NWT, 29th March 2014

Spring Beauty, Holme NWT, 29th March 2014

Arion ater, Holme NWT, 29th March 2014

Browntail moth caterpillars on Sea Buckthorn, Holme NWT, 29th March 2014

Helix aspersa, Holme NWT, 29th March 2014

Bladder Wrack, Fucus vesiculosus, Holme NWT, 29th March 2014

Sallow flower, Holme NWT, 29th March 2014

Picture-winged Fly, Chaetostoma curvinerve, Holme NWT, 29th March 2014

Red Chestnut, Holme NOA, 29th March 2014

Small Quaker, Holme NOA, 29th March 2014

Grey Shoulder-knot, Holme NOA, 29th March 2014

Dark-edged Bee-fly, Hunstanton, 29th March 2014

Scathphaga stercoraria, Holme Marsh, 29th March 2014

Tipula lateralis, Holme Marsh 29th March 2014

End of the (Fri) day

A late afternoon foray revealed a male Wheatear on the NOA reserve (thanks Sophie), 19 Avocets, 3 drake Pochard, 2 drake and a duck Pintail, 6 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Mute Swan, 2 Snipe, a food-pass between a pair of Marsh Harriers and a hunting female Sparrowhawk from the pool hides, a Red-breasted Merganser and 11 Grey Plover east on the sea and plenty of flowering Early Forget-me-not,  Lesser Chickweed, Little Mouse-ear and the first flowering Spring Beauty of the year. Cold !

Spring is coming.....slowly!

A visit today with a group, plenty of singing Chiff-chaff now!

On the sea a pair of Red-breasted Merganser & 2 Eider sat on the shore. 2 Greenshank off Gore Pt

Lots of Meadow Pipit and Linnet in the dunes and on the wet "conic" area. Near the entrance gate 2 Grey Partridge, plus a  White Wagtail. Up at the Observatory a male Wheatear was lovely to watch. 

Spring Nuthatch Surprise

Arrived along the coast path at Holme this morning to hear Brambling in the pines and then on the Observatory reserve a Nuthatch was calling loudly just near the dell boundary fence about 8.30, and again at the very east end of the pines about 10 minutes later. Sadly not caught, unlike yesterday's Wheatear which was still feeding on the east bank among the crooked posts all day today. Lovely bird.

Sunday 23rd March: Visible Migration

Hunstanton Cliffs (Norfolk, England) Sunday 23 March 2014

Counting period: 6:14-7:14 Weather: wind SSW2, cloud-cover 0/8 Observers: Gary Hibberd

S N S N Dark-bellied Brent Goose - 12 Chaffinch 7 - Shelduck 2 - Goldfinch 17 - Woodpigeon 397 - Siskin 6 - Meadow Pipit 97 - Linnet 32 - alba wagtail sp. 13 - Yellowhammer 1 - Rook 7 - Reed Bunting 2 - Totals: 593 individuals, 12 species, 1:00 hours Bold = Remarkable observation (scarce or rare species or large number)