30th October 2010

A Chiffchaff in the trees beneath the Hermanus was not entirely unexpected but six Bearded Tits feeding deep down in a patch of dead Bracken further down the Valley certainly was. After a couple of minutes they gradually moved to the top of the Bracken before taking off and pinging merrily out of site high to the west.

28th October 2010.

Shore Larks 6 north dunes,Lapland Buntings 3 south dunes,Snow Buntings 5,

Rock pipit.

Snow Buntings 2 south dunes,Lapland Bunting north dunes,Rock pipit.

26th October 2010.

Lapland Bunting 2 south dunes,Snow Buntings 13,

25th October 2010.

Little Auk 2 north,Jack Snipe north dunes on north pool,Snow Buntings 12 south dunes,

Great Skua,Hen Harrier low road.

24th October 2010.

Snow Buntings 4 south dunes,Little Gulls 6,Rock pipits 2.

23 October 2010.

Snow Bunting 4 South dunes,Lesser Redpoll,Brambling.

22 October 2010.

Shore lark 1 north dunes,Brambling.

21st October 2010.

Woodcock 2,Bean Geese 6,Lapland Bunting 1 south dunes,Snow Buntings 5 north dunes.

20th October 2010.

G.N.Diver south,Brambling,Snow Bunting 2,Great Skua,Bean Geese 5.

19th October 2010.

Pallas's Warbler still below restaurant south dunes.

18th October 2010

With non-stop reports of Eastern goodies (not least from Terry, our Chitter Runner in Beijing http://birdingbeijing.wordpress.com/) it was satisfying to be able to join in at last as we appreciated a very obliging Pallas's Warbler in the trees in front of the Hermanus. It might be tricky to pin down in future though as it had already ranged widely from the south end of the Valley where Guy had found it on Sunday.

Other than that a quiet day with a Blackcap and Redwing in the garden and a Buzzard sp (almost certainly Common) over the North Dunes.

17th October 2010

The day started well with a couple of Fieldfares in the garden. However, the Valley proved fairly mundane (just one Brambling) until a shock encounter - a squealing Water Rail bursting out of the top half of a Holly tree on the bank. We were both equally surprised to see each other and it promtly did a U turn and plunged back into the Brambles!

16th October 2010

A couple of hours seawatching this morning produced lots of birds, the majority of which were well out and heading south very fast. For me the highlight was a relatively close in Manx Shearwater.

The only "little bird" of note was a Brambling in the village.

15th October 2010

A trip down the Valley this morning produced about 10 Chiffchaffs, a few Goldcrests and fantastic views of a roosting Tawny Owl. The other major feature was the northward passage of Chaffinches with well over 100 being seen in an hour. They were accompanied by a few Siskins and also 12 Lapland Buntings.

Duty done, and with a day off ahead of me, it was now time to set off for Waxham to finally see the Bluetail...

14th October 2010

My reward today for once more abstaining from the local Bluetail was about ten Reed Buntings on the North Dunes and two Blackcaps in the garden.

13th October 2010

Having briefly considered the shameful prospect of visiting Waxham to see the latest Bluetail a stern talking to from Parish Listing Purist Sean led to me going up the North Dunes again this morning. There was also Sean's news that he had met a birder on Tuesday evening who had seen a Red-breasted Flycatcher "somewhere on the dunes". Needless to say it could not be found this morning which wasn't surprising as nearly all the migrants from the last two or three days had moved on. However, there was some consolation in the form of a flyover Woodlark, a Jack Snipe and three Cranes landed about half a mile inland.

Finally, there was a female Blackcap in the garden.

9 October 2010

A long morning's birding in the North Dunes produced a nice selection of migrants.  Highlights were a Great Grey Shrike, a flyover Woodlark, definitely two but probably three ringtail Hen Harriers, lots of Bramblings, a very tame Common Redpoll, a male Ring Ouzel, a Bullfinch, hundreds of Meadow Pipits, dozens of Reed Buntings, a Grey Wagtail and a Yellow Wagtail, several Redstarts, several Blackcaps, lots of Chiffchaffs and one Wheatear.  Here is a highly detailed and intimate portrait of the Shrike.

8 October 2010

A quick trip to the N Dunes after work demonstrated that the east wind is already working.  There were LOTS of birds about - at least one in every bush.  First up was a fine female Brambling sitting, appropriately, in the brambles, at the end of North Market Road.  Goldcrests were calling and flitting everywhere and it was obvious Song Thrushes and Redwings had arrived - and seemed to be still arriving - in numbers.  A nice male Ring Ouzel was near the totem pole bushes, which themselves held several Redstarts, one Willow Warbler, a load of Chiffchaffs and a male Blackcap.  There also seems to have been a fall of Reed Buntings, and lots of Meadow Pipits and Siskins were in the air as dusk fell into darkness.  Looks promising for tomorrow...

6 October 2010

The wind is looking good for the weekend:
http://magicseaweed.com/Holland-Germany-Denmark-MSW-Surf-Charts/10/wind/in/
There could be LOADS of good birds for us to miss...

3 October 2010

Tim's sightings - South Dunes

Hobby, Sooty Shearwater, 3 Wheatear

2 October 2010

Tim's sightings - North Dunes

Jack Snipe, Hen Harrier, Redstart