Co-operative Waxwing

Waxwings are smart little birds from from northern Europe, arriving in Britain in varying numbers, year on year. Their penchant for red berries mean that modern supermarkets (whose carparks are generally landscaped with Mountain Ash, Rowan and the like) are often a good, though unlikely, place to look for these birds. Over the past couple of days a Waxwing has taken up residence at Rainbow in Cromer, and after a second visit, I managed good veiws of the bird on a somewhat dull gray day

Waxwing









this bird gets its name from the wax-like drops on the end of the covert feathers, seen below.




Possey Blue Tit (a blog 'first'!)

WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW

Felbrigg Lake again this morning, and there seemed to be more birdwatchers than birds! I counted at least a dozen birders, and started to think I'd missed a rare bird or something but I think the majority were looking for the (still absent) Mandarin. A number of year ticks were secured, the best being Marsh Tit and a couple of Snipe

Tufted Duck 7
Gadwall 8
Teal 5
Shelduck 5
Mallard c30
Mute Swan 2
Grey-lag Goose 40


Snipe


Shelduck




Just after lunch I casually checked my pager and nearly dropped it as I read "White-crowned Sparrow Cley Village 1228"!!!!!!!!!! Now this little beauty from North America is a very very rare bird in Britain, what we term a mega! With additional news that viewing was difficult and the bird only shows occasionally my mind was cast back to the summer when I DIDN'T see the Dark-eyed Junco. I really was in two minds whether to go or not but caved in after ooh... ten seconds! The viewing was cramped to say the least, with the bird showing on an enclosed drive way facing the road. Its in these situations you realise how fat the human head is, especially the great big fat one that was directly in front of me! (Oi mate, you need to go on a head diet!) Another annoyance was that a sign clearly saying that the bird would not show if anyone stood infront of the gate was being blocked by a well known local photographer by standing infront of it! Amazingly, when he did finally move, the WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW showed well but briefly, proving the bloody point! Come on guys its not rocket science!

White-crowned Sparrow twitch




White-crowned Sparrow (or a bad scrawl of a great bird!)



On the way home I decided to check the cover crop, just in case there had been a fall of American sparrows! No such luck, but the Bramblings were still present, though sticking to the shady side of the hedge.

Brambling

...and they're off!

With the wife out on a well deserved day of retail therapy, after spending most of Christmas cooking and working, I had the opportunity to bird for a few hours, and I'm glad I stayed local and opted for Felbrigg Park. After already seeing Barn Owl and Bullfinch enroute to the lake, I was a little disappointed not to find any geese on or around the lake - typical - the Barney's looked to have gone! Scanning the boggy field south of the lake there was no sign of them there either, just a white plastic bag I didn't notice previously... hang on, thats not a bag... thats an egret! With my prediction fresh in my mind I briefly dared to hope but it was soon apparent that it was a Little Egret. It soon worked down the field and into the ditch, then 15 minutes later whilst I was around the other side of the lake it flew off west, over my head and no doubt over my house! Nevertheless, a good bird to get on only the second day of the year. The rest of my time here was notable more for absentees rather than birds present! Not a single Mandarin, Pochard or Water Rail, no Long -tailed Tits or Marsh tits.

Little Egret (honest!)

After lunch I took a walk west of the village, along the track to check some cover crops in thenow strengthening winds. More year ticks ensued, including at least 14 Brambling with c75 Chaffinch, and the welcome sight of three Grey Partridge flying into the Rape fields.

A great start to the year, and a link on the left side will remain throughout to keep tabs on that annual list.

Kestrel at Felbrigg

Bramblings

On your marks, get set.....

So here we go again, new day, new year. With a grey, drizzley start to the year I ventured out only to walk the dog, remembering to note every sound and sight to get things started. Trying to predict what may turn up in the coming year is usually birding suicide but I think around March- April we might have a chance of Great grey Shrike, a returning bird after a really good arrival last autumn and good numbers around the country this winter. With Little Egret and Spoonbill already secured, an early May morning with a Cattle or Great White Egret moving west over the fields is almost tangible in my eyes! Ofcourse everything will depend upon the weather, but some warm south easterlies in April will do wonders for raptor expectancy! Felbrigg will get better coverage this year, a Cetti's Warbler in the reed bed could be on the cards, Penduline Tit a complete long shot! But whatever it brings...Bring it on!

Moth Year list 2008

Moth species seen in Parish this year ('first' records in bold)

1. Pale-brindled Beauty
2. Spring Usher
3. March Moth
4. Dotted Border
5. Oak Beauty
6. Chestnut
7. Satellite
8. Early Grey
9.Common Quaker`
10. Clouded Drab
11. Double-striped Pug
12. Yellow Horned
13. Hebrew Character
14. Small Quaker
15. Engrailed
16. Early Thorn
17. Shoulderstripe

PARISH YEAR LIST 2008

The following list includes all the presumed wild occuring birds within the parish boundary of Aylmerton or seen in flight from within the parish boundary.

1 House Sparrow
2 Starling
3 Chaffinch
4 Great Tit
5 Blue Tit
6 Jay
7 Magpie
8 Wood Pigeon
9 Collared Dove
10 Mallard
11 Greenfinch
12 Moorhen
13 Rook
14 Jackdaw
15 Blackbird
16 Black-headed Gull
17 Common Gull
18 Pied Wagtail
19 Goldfinch
20 Great-spotted Woodpecker
21 Robin
22 Pheasant
23 Grey Heron
24 Barn Owl
25 Carrion Crow
26 Lapwing
27 Skylark
28 Bullfinch
29 Green Woodpecker
30 Egyptian Goose
31 Grey-lag Goose
32 Tufted Duck
33 Gadwall
34 Coot
35 Teal
36 Little Egret
37 Coal Tit
38 Goldcrest
39 Herring Gull
40 Lesser Black-backed Gull
41 Kestrel
42 Yellowhammer
43 Siskin
44 Brambling
45 Red-legged Partridge
46 Grey Partridge
47 Mistle Thrush
48 Mute Swan
49 Nuthatch
50 Pink-footed Goose
51 Sparrowhawk
52 Stock Dove
53 Shelduck
54 Wren
55 Snipe
56 Long-tailed Tit
57 Marsh Tit
58 Fieldfare
59 Common Buzzard
60 Meadow Pipit
61 Great Black-backed Gull
62 Mandarin
63 Water Rail
64 Cormorant
65 Stonechat
66 Peregrine
67 Canada Goose
68 Little Owl
69 Linnet
70 Mediterranean Gull
71 Lesser Redpoll
72 Oystercatcher
73 Shoveler
74 Chiffchaff
75 Sand Martin
76 Marsh Harrier
77 Red Kite
78 Swallow
79 Dabchick
80 Wheatear
81. House Martin
82. Willow Warbler
83. Blackcap
84. Whitethroat
85. Lesser Whitethroat
86. Common Crane
87. Common Swift
88. Hobby
89. Merlin
90. Whinchat
91. Yellow Wagtail
92. Garden Warbler
93. Grey Wagtail
94. Greenshank
95. Common Sandpiper
96. Green Sandpiper
97. Wood Sandpiper
98. Ruff
99. Honey Buzzard
100. Osprey
101. Little Gull
102. Black Redstart
103. Turtle Dove
104. Barnacle Goose

Goodbye 2007!

Well, there it goes, another year another year list. So as 2007 slowly dissolves over time in the memory and gets mixed up with all those that went before it, how was it for you?
In Aylmerton I ended up with a parish list of 113 species of bird - a bench mark for 2008. The garden list increased by two (Spoonbill and Little Gull) to a respectable inland total of 128. But its not all about lists and totals. Although not great for moths, Felbrigg Lake was great for Dragonflies, with the highlight being the second breeding record for Norfolk of Lesser Emperor. Birding highlights consisted of the two, yes two! Black Kites, four Red Kites, the gorgeous Spoonbills, Scaup and the latest of sightings, Barnacle Geese. The 'missed' opportunities included Ring Ouzel during the heaviest spring passage for years, Firecrest (inexplicably!) and a list of others which will make me sound like the glass is always half empty!!
But for all the good and not so good the saving grace is that come tomorrow, it can all start over again, with the beauty being, you just don't know what you're gonna see next!

So remember, life is short, break the rules! Forgive quickly, love truely, laugh uncontrollably, but never regret anything that you do!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!

Blankety Blank

Spent the morning on the Aylmerton side of Felbrigg Park, thoroughly grilling the woodland here, with three species in mind: Lesser-spotted Woodpecker, Firecrest and Hawfinch, but nothing, zilch, nada! I know they were all slim chances but I thought one of them may have materialized, in particular the woodpecker because this used to be a regular site for them here, but I must say I've not seen one here for yonks. The birding lowlites were Goldcrest, a bunker full of Coal Tits, and a flock of about fifty Siskin with not a Redpoll in sight.

Felbrigg Lake

Barnacle Geese still present this morning, at the first sight of me they skidaddled straight off the lake and onto the fields. Tufted Duck numbers back up to a respectable 17, along with single Pochard, half a dozen Gadwall, couple of Teal and some hide-away Mandarin

Barnacle Geese. Notice contrasting white edges to coverts on adult compared to the two presumed first years



Tufties

Parish Tick!

With the sun a little brighter this morning I thought I'ld try and see if I could get some piccies of yesterdays Water Rail. Scanning the Lake, it was obvious there was nothing 'new' in although a few of the Tufties and Gadwall seemed to have return. It was then that the Grey-lags decided to drop in from off the park fields, where something caught my eye, a Barnacle Goose! Mindful of the odd presumed escape that I've seen over here, I unhurriedly scoped 'the' bird, to see not one, but three Barnacle Geese! Looking nervous, they didn't remain on the lake long, and I assumed that when they took flight they'ld be away, but fortunately they'd noticed the perfect grazing field just south of the lake and settled there, remaining when I eventually left. No sign of the Rail, but once again it goes to prove that the more you go out ,the more you're gonna see, I love patch birding when its like this!

Barnacle geese with Grey-lags


presumed adult in fore ground, young'uns behind (latter showing brown fringed upperparts and less defined flanks)







At home, it was nice to see 3 Common Buzzaed in the air together from the bottom of the garden.



PYL 113 Barnacle Goose

Felbrigg Lake

Took a trip around the lake this afternoon as the sky brightened very slightly. Much reduced wildfowl numbers with just a pair of Gadwall, 3 Tufted Duck and the usual Mallards noted. This maybe linked with the amount of disturbance this place gets over the Christmas period, rather than some migrant/weather link. The pair of Mute Swan are still present with a particularly aggressive cob. During the summer I watched this bird drive a Canada Goose deep into the reedbed here, following it all the way. The racket the goose was making followed by an erie silence, I was sure it had been killed, but it skulked out about half hour after the swan! Today it was the Grey-lags turn, although curiously he had a distain resentment for individuals rather than the birds in general, males maybe?

"Oi! get orf my land"








The Water Rail is (are) still screaming from the undergrowth but this time I was right next to one of them. Too dark for pics but some video footage was an improvement on the last one postede of this species!
The pair of Stonechat are still in attendance, no doubt waiting to skit of New Years Eve!

Water Rail

Chrimble Eve

With a 'big cook' going on in the kitchen in preparation for the big day tomorrow, I was under no illusion that I would be more helpful OUT of the house than in it, so I decided on a walk around Felbrigg Park on the off chance for anything new for the year list. Another blank on this front, but the walk did me good ahead of no doubt a prolonged period of eating and drinking!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

"Sunrise Sunrise"

Managed to get over to Felbrigg Lake pre-dawn, and therefore pre-doggywalkers! (The dogs are OK, its the racket their owners make which is the problem!) I was really hopnig to squeeze in maybe a Goosander or Goldeneye before the years end but another blank on that front. Wildfowl were in attendance, and in particular good numbers of Gadwall.

Mallard 40

Tufted Duck 18

Gadwall 16

Teal 4

Shelduck 2

Mandarin 10 (6 males)

Mute Swan 2

Coot 2

Greylag Goose 30

Canada Goose 12

Egyptian Goose 2

Grey Heron 5 (off roost)

A combination of murky conditions and the early(er) start rendered digiscoping useless, so for a change I just enjoyed the birds and the views (oh and a little bit of video!)

Overlooking Felbrigg

Egyptian Goose, lord of all he surveys?

Sunrise over Felbrigg

"Jack Frost nipping at your nose..."

Mandrins

Monday

A later than usual start this morning saw not one, but two Barn Owls huning around the vacinity of our house. The newer addition was distinctively grey backed, and seemingly hit the jackpot just beyond the kitchen window as it caught something (rat?) that was not a one gulp wonder, more of a butcher job!

These are not just gulls...these are the finest adult, and first winter, Mediterranean Gulls!

An enforced visit to 'Wonderful' Great Yarmouth wasn't all bad news as I chucked my digiscoping gear in the car and wangled a photo shoot on a cold, breezy beach with up to twenty class models, in the form of Mediterranean Gulls.

Adult

1st winter

Darvic type ring

Felbrigg Lake

A damp, grey day here, so typical of the British winter in recent years. Managed to get over to a gloomy Felbrigg lake this afternoon:
Mallard 40
Coot 3
Tufted Duck 17
Pochard 4
Wigeon 1
Teal 1
Mute Swan 2
Moorhen 15
Grey-lag Goose 1
Egyptian Goose 2
Water Rail 1 (my first sight, rather than sound of these here!)

Stonechat (from last weekend)


Mute Swan


Herring Gull


Water Rail (it was too dark for piccies so I managed a dodgey grab!)

My birding becomes pretty benign this time of year, what with the onset of the festive season and being the busiest time of year workwise. I tend to look back up til Christmas, then start looking forward between Christmas and the new year. As for looking back recently, I have finally started putting together a trip report of sorts for last years holiday Down Under! The start of which can be found here http://wildlifeaylmerton-australia.blogspot.com/