October is without doubt one of the finest months for birds in Britain, so why, with three weeks of the month already handed, was my month’s record caught on a mere 40 species? Easy reply: I had spent the primary a part of the month in Greece (see my final two posts), adopted by per week volunteering at a tennis match (an ITF W100 occasion in case you’re ) in Shrewsbury. Now Shrewsbury is in the midst of England, and although the city itself is charming, it’s not an ideal space for birds, so my days there did little to spice up my month’s tally. Drastic motion was required, so on the second to final Tuesday of the month I spent a day in Norfolk with my birding pal Andrew.
The climate forecast was good, the stress excessive: we set off from house at 7.30 on a misty autumnal morning. Our first cease, at Lynford Arboretum, was a bit of disappointing because it failed to supply any of the hoped-for autumn migrants, comparable to Brambling, Siskin, Redwing and Fieldfare. Nevertheless, we did see a helpful 25 species, together with a number of birds we weren’t to see later within the day, together with Marsh Tit and Tufted Duck.
As we approached the Norfolk coast the mist grew to become thicker, the air damper, prompting the automobile’s wipers to brush the display. It didn’t look promising, however luckily the October solar nonetheless had ample heat to burn the mist away, so by the point we had walked right down to Titchwell seashore the solar had damaged via. Sea watching in Britain is usually a cold and moist affair: this was something however, whereas a tide-beached log offered a good seat. The excessive tide offered best viewing circumstances.
Scoping the ocean at Titchwell in good circumstances. The beached log made a welcome seat
I used to be quickly placing the little Swarovski scope to good use, discovering quite a few Nice Crested Grebes on the ocean, together with respectable, if distant, views of a Crimson-throated Diver, all the time a satisfying chicken to seek out. There have been a couple of Frequent Scoters to be seen, too, whereas a good flock of six Crimson-breasted Mergansers (all geese, no drakes) flying previous was a very good discover. Even higher was a single Eider duck that additionally flew previous, the primary Eider of the yr for each Andrew and me.
Pinkfeet over the ocean
There was a powerful motion of a whole lot of Pink-footed Geese, initially sighted far out to sea. At first we thought that they have been Brent Geese – they have been a really good distance away – however as they got here nearer it was obvious that they have been gray geese, not black. There have been far to lots of them to be Whitefronts, in order that they needed to be Pinkfeet, with their id confirmed finally by their distinctive calls and their darkish heads and necks. Many 1000’s of Pinks winter in North Norfolk, so seeing these geese wasn’t a shock, but it surely was a pleasure.
Sanderling on the shore line
Add in a few horizon-skimming Gannets, and Sanderlings and Oystercatchers transferring alongside the shore line, and it proved to be as productive an hour’s birding as one may hope for. We walked again, now in heat sunshine, previous the RSPB’s nice Titchwell reserve. That is probably the most visited of all of the RSPB’s 200 reserves, so we handed quite a few different birdwatchers. We noticed a number of birds, too: half a dozen Spoonbills, large flocks of Golden Plovers and Lapwings, quite a lot of wildfowl starting from Darkish-bellied Brent Geese to Gadwall and Shoveler, plus a satisfying variety of small birds. These included Linnets and Skylarks, Reed Buntings and a single Stonechat, whereas we heard Cetti’s warblers, Bearded Tits and Water Rails. Our species whole for Titchwell topped 60 fairly comfortably
.A fishing Black-headed Gull at RSPB Titchwell
Darkish-bellied Brent Geese at Titchwell
Lapwing
We ate our lunch within the automobile at Brancaster Staithe, a pretty small-boat harbour the place birds are used to individuals, so usually simple to {photograph}. Turnstone and Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit and Brent Goose, all got here with vary of my digicam, as did Herring and Black-headed gulls. At websites like this, a automobile makes an ideal cellular disguise, although it’s important to watch out to not get caught within the mud.
Darkish-bellied Brent Goose
Black-tailed godwit, a migrant from Iceland
Redshank – its shanks (legs) actually are shiny orange, not pink
The evil eye – Herring gull
Curlew on the shore at Brancaster Staithe
From Brancaster we drove east alongside the coast, pausing at Woman Anne’s Drive at Holkham. Right here there’s a massive and well-managed Nationwide Nature Reserve, and it’s all the time an ideal place to see birds, usually at shut vary, although it will get progressively higher for birds because the autumn offers technique to winter. We didn’t cease lengthy, however have been happy to see a trio of Cattle Egrets feeding with cattle – these egrets are latest colonists. A number of Curlews have been feeding right here on the freshmarsh. I all the time take pleasure in seeing these large, good-looking waders, and even managed a shot or two as people flew overhead. I additionally grabbed a shot of a passing Jay. Was it a contemporary migrant from the Continent? Each autumn the east coast of England sees Jays arriving from throughout the North Sea, so this chicken had more than likely simply arrived from Holland or Denmark.
A passing Jay at Holkham – a brand new arrival from the Continent?
Curlew at Holkham
There are nice grazing meadows on both aspect of Woman Anne’s Drive, and right here Egyptian and Canada Geese have been grazing among the many Greylags, with small events of Pinkfeet quite extra distant. The latter are cautious birds, however they quickly get used to individuals, so by December they usually graze near the highway, unconcerned by the crowds of human guests interested in this standard vacation website.
Cattle Egrets are new colonists of North Norfolk
By now the solar was dropping, the shadows lengthening, so to benefit from the final of the afternoon’s mild we drove east once more to Cley Marshes, one of many oldest chicken reserves in Britain, and one owned and managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Belief. We had a goal chicken right here, a Lengthy-billed Dowitcher. Now dowitchers could also be frequent in North America, however in Britain they’re rarities. Hearsay had it that the chicken was seen from Bishops’ Cover, in order that’s the place we went. With the solar behind us the sunshine was good, and it didn’t take lengthy to seek out our quarry, although it was quick asleep on a muddy island and id may solely be made by evaluating its dimension to its companions – Black-tailed Godwits and Ruffs.
Ultimately, nonetheless, our endurance was rewarded and the chicken awakened and began to feed in attribute dowitcher method, giving nice views via the scope, although it was too distant to {photograph}. By the way, this particular person is a returning rarity, for what is nearly definitely the identical chicken was first recorded at Cley three years in the past. It spends a lot of the yr on the reserve, however disappears within the spring and summer time, when presumably it migrates north in a lonely and more than likely unsuccessful bid to seek out one other of its personal species. It’s a tragic story, actually, however this chicken has given many birders an excessive amount of pleasure. It was the third time I’d seen it – the final event had been in July 2023, when it was nonetheless sporting its summer time finery.
The dowitcher wasn’t fairly the final chicken of the day – that honour went to a pair of Inventory Doves, feeding in a subject which had just lately held Stone Curlews. The doves have been our 87th species, whereas for each Andrew and I the dowitcher was our 196th British species of the yr. Simply 4 to go for the double century. Watch this house.
