The Annual Birding Visit to Norfolk - Part 1

The weekend of Storm Ciara we were booked to go to Norfolk, we drove down on the Saturday in glorious weather calling in at Salthouse before going to our digs to find the Waxwing that had been showing well there. We got there about 3pm and had a good a good wander along with a few other birders, but there was no sign, although looking at twitter etc. there were some nice photos of it from earlier in the day! It must have settled down somewhere to get out of the impending storm, which in retrospect we should have done the following day!

On the Sunday all the reserves were shut. So we ended up mooching along the coast and as a result, and a long story I got covered in mud and we nearly had the door of the car blown off, so we will consign that day to the rubbish heap as far as birding is concerned.

Monday was different story, we checked with the RSPB at Titchwell and headed there, it was still windy but nothing like Sunday. The birds didn't seem to agree though and the lagoons were very sparsely populated, with most birds staying in or near the reeds. So not many photos for what was mostly a dull day:
Blue Tit,

 Little Grebe,

 Avocet,

 Teal

 and Knot

We only clocked up 32 species for the day there. We did pop to Holkam in the off chance that some remaining Pink-footed Geese would turn up to roost, but again with the high winds and snow! The only geese seen were Brents and Greylag. Although a Barn Owl and the Marsh Harriers did brighten the evening up for us.

Tuesday saw us go to Snettisham for the day, again it was very windy, but a lot brighter. Cutting across country from Wells where we were staying, we saw plenty of Hare, which was very nice;

and Red-Legged partridge in good numbers;

At Snettisham it was very windy to say the least, so the hide windows facing the sea remain firmly shut! The pools on the other side of the hides were quite busy though. With plenty of Goldeneye;

Wigeon,

 Lapwing,

Greylag,

 Great Crested Grebe,

 Turnstone,

 Little Grebe,

 Cormorant,  Mute Swan, Tufted Duck and Shoveler. Two Peregrines put in an appearance that got the smaller Wildfowl excited;

There were brief visits by a pair of Egyptian Geese and a Little Egret that helped the day along nicely.

On the Seaward side on the mud were plenty of Shelduck, Knot, Dunlin, Golden Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit, Ringed Plover.
Grey Plover

and Redshank.

Most were much too distant to photograph. The sunset though was worth photographing:

This post is I think long enough for starters I will do the rest tomorrow!

South Stacks, Angelsey

So last Sunday we set out from Jo's and headed abroad into Wales and overseas to Anglesey and even further overseas to Holy Island and South Stacks RSPB. The weather though was very dull and windy, which was a shame but at least it wasn't raining. We went to the RSPB tower first and had a chat with the volunteers only to learn that the thousands of Guillemots and Razorbills that had been there the day before had all gone out to sea! Leaving just the Kittiwakes and Fulmars behind, mind you both of those were firsts for the year. The screen in the visitor centre was showing a Chough nest hidden in the cliffs so hopes were high of seeing some around and we weren't disappointed, though the dull weather didn't help with any photos , but for the record:

The next good find was a peregrine, one of pair also nesting on the cliffs:

The Greater Black-backed Gulls were displaying well:

We wandered around a while and came across Swallow, Skylark, Wheatear and Stonechat all adding to our tally for the year:

So we will have to wait until one of our other trips for our Auk fix for the year. We left South Stacks and decided to call in to another RSPB reserve on the island, Valley Wetlands right next to RAF Valley, by now the weather was glorious, all be it, still a tad windy. This was our first visit and what a lovely place, although of course the majority of the winter waterfowl had long departed.

There were plenty of House Martin about, another year first, plus some Pochard:

 Tufted Duck:

 Great Crested Grebes:

 and Greylag

All in all a great day ended by a lovely walk plus a some aircraft too!

Croome Park NT

Well Saturday was scheduled for a nice walk whilst the weather was decent. We elected to head for Croome Park as it has a large estate with river and small lakes, so who knows what you might see along the way!  We arrived about 1ish, we knew that there was a lot going on there this weekend as part of the grounds encompasses the old RAF Defford site, that was used for the testing of that new fangled Radio Detection and Ranging system developed prior to our altercation with our European neighbours, I believe the youth of today call it Radar! Anyway lots of vintage vehicles, people dressed up in uniforms etc. There were a couple of flypasts scheduled for the morning we knew we'd miss them as we wanted a lie in!

So we set off for a nice walk, plenty of House Martins (watched them on our first coffee stop) about fattening themselves up over the fields, Mute Swans and Mallards were about on the ponds, but not much else:

We left the formal grounds and immeadiatley had a Kestrel fly past our noses landing some way away on an electricity pole:

We continued our walk through the fields and along the river, lots of crows and woodpigeons were in evidence. The after a while we came to another pool with a pond at the end and a bench. So coffee stop number two. We were rewarded here with 2 Peregrines circling over us quite high, plus it had clouded over, so apologies for the poor shots:

The whilst drinking thye well earned coffee a Kingfisher flashed past, sadly Tina didn't really see it.

So onwards and heading back along the river towards the house adding a Pied Wagtail.

Then came the star of the show:

Upton Warren (for a change!)

Although time was limited the weekend, we were keen to get a couple of hours at Upton on Sunday, mainly to see how the chicks are progressing. The last time we visited was on the 20th May and the first few fluffy Avocet and Black Headed Gull chicks were about, what a difference those weeks have made.

The hundreds of BHG chicks are getting nearer adult size bit still look like youngsters and the Avocets are have only a trace now of the brown plumage:

In addition it was nice to see a a pair of Oystercatchers with 2 chicks:

Having spoken to John (one of the Volunteer Wardens) he told us that the Little Ringed Plovers are due to hatch at anytime, so it will be well worth going back soon to have a look.

We spent a short while at the Flashes for this, picking up a Green Sandpiper whilst there (our first of 2013)

So after finishing our Coffee and watching the antics of all the youngsters, we headed over to the Moors and the Lapwing hide for another briefish stay. As we settled in, we were told we had just missed a Peregrine but luckily he cam back to frighten the Black Headed Gulls and give us a distant view as he headed back over towards the flashes.

We then spotted the Kingfisher performing in front of the Concrete Hide over the other side of the pools, which was nice although much to far for a photo. The Swifts, Sand Martins and House Martins were putting on a good show, but we didn't see any Swallows which was surprising.

The Coot chicks were being cute and entertaining as they were being fed by their parents, Tina then spotted a Lapwing chick on its own in the reeds to the left of the hide. She always finds things before me! Best spotter in the business!

So having had a pleasant half hour we had to head back home. As we were walking down the lane back to the car park, the Peregrine flew right over us scaring a Jay as he went, this time I managed to get some grainy photos (it was very dull at this time), but this one is probably the best:

So for a brief visit:
The Flashes:
Avocet (60), Little Ringed Plover (2), Green Sandpiper, Goldfinch (3), Reed Bunting (2), Shelduck (4),
Tufted Duck, Mallard, Canada Geese, Black Headed Gulls (100s), Oystercatcher (2+2), Coot, Sand Martin, House Martin. Heard a Sedge Warbler & Chiffchaff on the paths.

The Moors:
Black Headed Gulls, Tufted Duck, Shelduck(2), Coot, Moorhen, Lapwing, Teal, Great Crested Grebe, Mute Swan, Cormorant(1), Grey Heron(2), Oystercatcher, Mallard, Canada Geese, Lesser Black Backed Gull(1), Kingfisher(1), Peregrine(1), Robin, Blackbird, House Martin, Sand Martin, Swift, Jay, Woodpigeon