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28th June - With things a little on the quiet side generally, Mark and I decided to spend the day in Norfolk mopping up a few bits and pieces. Starting at Cley, we had good views of the fine summer-plumaged Lesser Yellowlegs as it fed on Pat's Pool alongside an equally smart sum-plum Spotted Redshank, 58 Black-tailed Godwits and a Dunlin.
Moving round to the East Bank, we first had to look in amazement at the 'improvements' to the East Bank car-park - providing room for eight cars, of which four spaces were for the copious number of disabled individuals who take regular relaxing strolls up the East Bank. Madness! Better things on Arnold's Marsh where a large flock of bathing and loafing terns provided excellent value. Amongst the large number of Sandwich and Common Terns present, were at least three adult Roseate Terns and three Arctic Terns. A quick look at the sea provided little other than a few Razorbills, and several parties of Curlews and Common Gulls moving west. Viewing from the sea bank produced distant views of two adult and a first-summer Spoonbill on the reserve, whilst a lone Barnacle Goose, a Greenshank, singing Cetti's Warbler and several Bearded Tits were noted. Heading inland a few miles, we checked out a site which had held a territorial Wood Warbler for a few week's, but which not evidently didn't! Nearby, the pair of Dartford Warblers gave some tantalising views on Kelling Heath, though a number of Silver-studded Blues were more obliging. Thinking it might be a good raptor day, we headed back to Ryburgh where six Common Buzzards, a female Marsh Harrier and several Hobbys were on show. No Honey Buzzards were seen, although given the calls being made by other observers on site, i'm sure a few people present would be going home with that species on their list for the day! Having enough of the stringing masses, we ventured to the 'not-so-secret' Montagu's Harrier site, where a couple had a pair in the scope. Great! Except for the fact that they were actually watching a male Marsh Harrier and a Kestrel!!!! Mark soon found a male Monty's, and as it passed into the distance, a female returned the other way and showed well. With things hard work, we decided to head for home, via a couple of stops at Lynford and Santon Downham which produced so little that it is not worth writing about. Though the new hide at Lynford is pretty impressive, especially for anyone wanting to see a Canada Goose... 
22nd June - Having been out of action somewhat recently, I was finally tempted away from the joys of Essex to go to East Norfolk for the afternoon to see the female Lesser Grey Shrike at Hickling. The bird was nowhere near as smart or confiding as the only previous one I had seen at Shingle Street a couple of year's back, although it did show relatively well in some small sheep paddocks at the edge of Brayden Marshes. Full credit goes to the East Norfolk birders on this one, for making what could have been a very easily suppressable bird accessible. Also in the area were several Cranes, at least three pairs of Marsh Harriers, a day-hunting Barn Owl and several Cuckoos.
Having had my fill of the LGS, I decided to travel the very short distance up to the coast to Sea Palling where an exceptionally smart male Red-backed Shrike was frequenting the paddocks and gardens along Clink Road. A delightful, and at times, very confiding bird. Also of note here were a number of Dark Green Fritillaries in the dunes, and a first-summer Mediterranean Gull on the reefs offshore.
Despite it being nearly 9pm before I left Dunwich, and practically dark, I decided to take the 'scenic' route home, and ended up at Aldeburgh overlooking the South Marsh of North Warren, where the adult Great White Egret was fortuitously viewable (and quite well!) in the murk. A hunting Barn Owl near Eastbridge, a Little Owl and a small herd of Red Deer at very close (too close!) proximity to the car off Dunwich Heath rounded a good evening!
05th June - Another post-work jaunt and another straggler from the east, as news of a singing Sprosser at Dunwich galvanized me into action for an evening on the Suffolk coast. Arriving early evening, I joined Joan T and a small number of other observers on the footpath below the NT car-park and it was not long before I had the ethical decision as to whether a 'singing bush' was tickable! A pretty impressive singing bush nonetheless. Thrush Nightingale is often compared less favourably in terms of song with 'our' Nightingale - though the song is every bit, perhaps even more (due to volume!) impressive. Seeing the bird was of course a different matter, and despite a couple of UTVs of it between cover, it appeared that I was going to be going home disappointed! Fortuitously, a phone call at about half eight saw me wandering away from the mob of gathered birders, and walking round the back of the bushes, found a couple of Suffolk birders with the bird sat motionless in full 'scope view!!! The slightly mottled breast, greyer overall plumage of the bird and the hint of a malar stripe were all quickly noted. News was quickly spread to the forty or so birders on the otherside of the scrub, allowing a few more to connect, but unfortunately the bird disappeared a few seconds later, tantalising many. An excellent bird, and well worth the journey up! A few other bits and pieces noted during the 'stake-out' included Barnacle Goose, several Water Rails, at least three Med Gulls, calling Cuckoo, singing Dartford & Cetti's Warblers, Stonechat and Bearded Tit.
30th May - An early Friday finish from work and I am once again stood on Coploe counting Swifts when my phone kicks into life about another mega! Singing River Warbler at Beachy Head. I clocked the time, thought about the hellish journey ahead and more importantly about the fact that the bird would be gone tomorrow...there was only one thing for it... Three and a half hours later (ten miles solid traffic on southward stretch to the Dartford Crossing was not comfortable!), I skidded the car into the car-park on the Beachy Head access road. A quick stumble towards Whitbread Hollow, flushing a small lark in the process, which frustratingly disappeared over the cliffs before I could confirm my suspicions...one that got away! Down in the Hollow, a surprisingly small crowd had gathered. The bird had not been behaving and the birders around me were not very optimistic about it. Still I was here now, and Mike's optimistic text seemed to do the trick, as a heavy passerine flicked from the scrub into some trees nearby. Score as the unmistakeable buzzing song of a singing River Warbler resonated from within it's depths. Still not easy though, and the bird quickly dropped into ground-cover again. A few brief views, lots more flight views and constant singing was good though not really what we all wanted! Then the bird suddenly jumped up on a bare twig in full view for a few seconds... brief but good enough! A couple of very good fly-past views later, and that was it. Back north for more fun on the M25, and home by Midnight....
21st May - An after-work jaunt down to Amwell, where a couple of hours staring at the reed-bed was 'rewarded' with a couple of split-second views of the singing male Great Reed Warbler as it readjusted it's position in the reeds. Least memorable bird of the year, though refamiliarising myself with the crunching song was worth the journey at least!
18th May - You can never have too much of a good thing, so after an hour getting bored of counting Swifts (and failing to pull out any with white rears) on Coploe, I took the short drive up to Fen Drayton where a smart adult female Red-footed Falcon was showing nicely as it hawked for insects over the road adjacent to Elney Lake. My fifth of the week, slightly excessive maybe, but each one of them has been a cracker...much better value than Eastern Ollies, Sprossers etc!!! Also of interest at FD was a flyover Bittern, a couple of Arctic Terns over Drayton Lagoon and a mini-selection of waders comprising a Grey Plover, Greenshank and a couple of Turnstones.
15th May - Despite the fact that it is turning into 'species of the spring', I just had to go and have a look at the first-summer female Red-footed Falcon at Seventy Acres Lake. My fourth this week, it performed superbly as it hawked low over the lake and reed-beds with up to 12 Hobbys. Unlike the Lakenheath bird from earlier in the week, this was an unambiguous first-summer female, being noticeably creamy around the head and underparts (lacking the orange capped effect), with nicely barred underwing coverts and with distinct boldish markings on the under-tail. A smart bird. Also noted in a couple of pleasant hours were a single Black Tern, several Cuckoos (including a 'bubbling' bird), three singing Nightingales and a couple of singing Cetti's Warblers.
14th May - Local birding produced very little, although I couldn't resist going to have a quick look at the stunning summer-plumaged Black Tern found by Dave S on Matham's Pit early afternoon.
13th May - You can never say no to visiting a local Phalarope, and so it was that a female Red-necked Phalarope at The Hythe lagoons in Colchester was too tempting on a sunny morning! A quick run down there with Dave S bagged excellent views of the bird as it spun around a group of Shelduck on the main lagoon. It was a stunning bird in full breeding plumage, and it performed admirably, only concerned when a pair of territorial Avocets took exception to it moving too close to them. Though I have seen a total of seven English Red-necked Phalaropes, this was only my second breeding-plumaged Red-necked Phal in the UK, following a female at Stiffkey Fen in May 2002, so was much appreciated!
12th May - A surprisingly good morning! I set the alarm for a predawn hour, and was therefore the first birder in the car-park at Lakenheath, at some time before 5am. My early start was in vain as there was no sight nor sound of the Great Reed Warbler for the previous day. I decided to wander down along the bank and look for Cranes, and after walking for some way, I eventually bumped into another birder who instantly beckoned me over believing that he had just found a Red-footed Falcon! And indeed he had, with a female bird (possibly first-summer) perched up in dead trees at the back of the reed-bed. Putting the scope up, we both watched the bird, and then looked in complete disbelief as a crippling adult male Red-foot landed next to it! Both birds showed admirably for a while, before they both got up and started hunting overhead for the rest of the morning - making it difficult for arriving birders to connect, though with patience both birds could be picked out from the ranks of Hobbys feeding high overhead. Very poor record shots of both birds on their initial discovery are below:
Spending longer than usual at the southern end of the reserve with the Red-foots paid dividens, with three excellent views of a single Crane. One lady birder turned up at the viewpoint and immediately enquired whether any Bitterns had been seen, to which a single bird literally jumped out of the reeds in front of the viewpoint and performed an excellent flypast! Timing! Two male Golden Orioles were singing from the plantations, whilst an excellent party of migrant waders containing a single summer-plumaged Bar-tailed Godwit and 13 Greenshanks flew overhead. More typical fare, though still appreciated included a stunning drake Garganey, c.20 Hobby, two Turtle Doves and crippling views of a singing male Grasshopper Warbler. All in all, a pretty good morning!
11th May - A quiet day courtesy of being up for 23hours the previous, I did Coploe early morning but nothing much was happening. Thinking that trying to see the first-summer male Red-footed Falcon at Coronation Pit on a scorching hot day might not be the best of ideas, so I gave it until early evening before I wandered over there. The bird showed well feeding overhead, and eventually settled into a routine of hunting from the top of a small bush, typical behaviour for the species. At least six Hobby were also noted, and a couple of Turtle Doves flashed through.
10th May - An amazing day that requires no real write-up, mostly as it has been done here!: . Cracking the 150 barrier for a day has been a long-held ambition of mine, so to finally do it is certainly one of the highlights of the year so far...and even removes the pain of missing the short-staying Speccy at Westleton! Highlights of the day are too many to mention, though some decent passage stuff, i.e. five Temminck's Stints, four Wood Sandpipers, several Black Terns etc were good to see, though special mention must be made of the seven superb Dotterel in the fields at Choseley - absolutely awesome birds, viewed in amazing light - very nice!
6th May - A long day out in Norfolk for my Bird Race Recce which surprisingly came up (without trying) with 139 species - a good omen for Saturday! Typical Breckland bashing produced the usual suspects with Stone Curlew, Woodlark, Tree Pipit and Firecrest. More surprising were Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers at two sites, whilst magic moment of the morning was at 4am as the songs of three male Redstarts resonated around a clearing at East Wretham Heath. Hitting the coast, I headed to Kelling Heath, where after lots of effort, I eventually heard a single Dartford Warbler. A pair of Woodlarks near the Railway Line were more obliging, as were a cracking female Ring Ouzel and a Wheatear in the paddock west of the car-park. A search for migrants along the coast was hard going, Kelling Water Meadows producing nothing more than a single Yellow Wagtail and Salthouse, just an adult Little Gull. Viewing the pools by the Iron Road produced the adult drake Green-winged Teal with a small party of Teal. Cley was quiet, so I headed to Stiffkey Fen, where I made several birders days by refinding the two Temminck's Stints which I had been assured had disappeared! A pair of Black Terns hawking over the fen were very nice to see, whilst a fresh wader bonanza included a smart male Ruff, Whimbrel, five Greenshanks, a Green Sandpiper and four Common Sandpipers - most of these being flushed as the escaped Sacred Ibis appeared and landed in the middle of them all! Moving on still, I made for Titchwell where the freshwater pools came up with a few bits and pieces, notably a pair of Red-crested Pochard, three superb summer-plumaged Spotted Redshanks, 11 Little Gulls and a Black Tern, whilst offshore there were three Velvet Scoters amongst c.1000 Scoter. A couple more stops, and it was home via Flitcham Abbey Farm where both pairs of Little Owl and Kingfisher showed admirably.
5th May - Having missed local birding, I was out early, though there was little to be had for my efforts! Three different sessions from Coploe during the day eventually came up with the goods in the guise of a male Marsh Harrier along the ridge. Predictable but rather nice all the same. At least six Hobby were also noted locally during the day, and a Little Egret flew off from Debden Park Lake first thing. With local birding a struggle, I wandered over to Litlington, near Royston late afternoon where the pair of Dotterel gave reasonable views in the pea fields near the A505. Having struggled looking for Dotties over the past few weeks, it was nice to have finally connected with a couple, even if I didn't find my own!
4th May - A post-apocalyptic (or so it felt after a long weekend in London!) produced 15 Ring-necked Parakeets, whilst two Common Sandpipers were at the edge of the lake.
2nd May - A disastrous post-work twitch to Abberton to try for the two Black-winged Stilts could not have worked out worse! Leaving work at 14:30, I found out 45minutes later that the birds had flown at that time! Still, I was close enough to the reservoir so carried on. Unfortunately due to prior commitments elsewhere, I only had about 45minutes to spare, so had a quick nose around, noting the two summer-plumaged Black-necked Grebes, a female Red-crested Pochard and a singing Nightingale, but little all else. A quick chat with John Bartlett and Colin Wills, before I headed for home. Fifteen minutes later, as I sped back up the A120, a phone call from Colin telling me the birds had flown back-in was not what I wanted to hear! Unfortunately due to the jam-packed A120 eastbound, and my limited time to get home, I had to decline the return journey...ah well, there will be better days!
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