February 2021 Roundup

A slight change to this month's roundup as we have decided to include unphotographed birds seen by only one of us. Where this is the case the observer will be indicated so that if they have made a mistake they can be publicly ridiculed and their reputation trashed by all 😁.  Also it's easier to write it as a chronological account, and hopefully this will give a bit more of a feel for the birding month too.  Peter used to do this sort of monthly report for the NOA and so we though it might be nice to include some of these old reports at the end as well.

February 2021 began with a nice Merlin chasing a sanderling out at sea, and one Iceland Gull remained on the north beach, and was seen intermittently throughout the month right up to the end. Merlin were also seen pretty regularly through the month, and one seemed to be doing something of a regular circuit as it was seen over Low Road at pretty much the same time on several different days.

Photo by Tim taken on 11th Feb

Also on the 1st, a Little Egret was seen by Tim (and intermittently by others through the rest of the month), and a Song Thrush was singing at Duffles Pond. 

The Pink-footed Goose flock at the north end varied in size through the month but was generally around 2000 or 3000 birds. The flock contained a single Barnacle Goose throughout the month. 

Maynard had the first Curlew of the year on 2nd of February, as well as the first Shelduck. 

There were not many Snow Buntings on the beach, though Pat saw 4 on 5th February and Maynard had 12 the next day. Purple Sandpiper was seen throughout the month, and Tim took this great photo on the 5th. 

Ringed Plovers started to reappear on the beach early in February and courtship displays were observed later in the month. As the weather started to turn distinctly colder on the 6th, numbers of Woodcock were seen in the north dunes, arriving on the easterly wind ahead of the big freeze which was about to start. Sean found a Caspian Gull on the north beach in very strong winds on the 6th too. 

Yellowhammers, which always seem to disappear in January, started to reappear in the dunes and surrounding farmland during the month. 

On the 6th, Mick saw three Berwick's Swans fly over the concrete track and a Peregrine at Commissioner's Dyke. One or more Peregrines was seen throughout the month, including on the church towards the end. It would be brilliant if they nested!

Gadwall and Teal were seen in small numbers on sea watches and in the farmland through the month. 

As the weather turned really cold and snowy Lapwings, Snipe, Woodcock and Dunlin started turning up in odd places along Low Road and elsewhere, and Sean had 2 Redshank at Commissioner's Dyke on the 7th. 

Patrick saw the first Grey Wagtail of the year from the concrete track on the 7th and Maynard had one at Duffles Pond the next day. Pat also found a bobbing Jack Snipe on the 7th, out in the open among the Snipe in the horse paddocks (Mick got this excellent photo of it a few days later). 

Sean flushed a Green Sandpiper from a ditch off the concrete track on the 9th, and a male Bullfinch took up residence for several days in and around Duffle's Pond. 

Walking a tightrope in this cold weather...

The cold weather also drew plenty of Golden Plover and Skylarks into the farmland alongside the Lapwing, Snipe and Woodcock, and Redwings and Fieldfares were increasingly visible as they looked for food in the snow. 

A male Blackcap put in several appearances at the Low Road feeders, and Great Spotted Woodpeckers started drumming in the woodland on the Burnley Hall estate. 

The cold continued on the 11th and 12th, and immature Kittiwakes were seen flying over the beach and three Grey Plovers on it. The first Lesser Black-backed Gulls began to reappear. around this time too. Where do they get to in January?

Barry had a Little Gull on the 14th. (Colin saw a small flock later in the month too.)

On the 15th Pat had a Great Crested Grebe on the sea and Maynard saw three Goosander flying over Duffle's Pond, presumably coming from the Broads. Pat had another Goosander fly past at sea later in the month. 

Sean saw another first winter Caspian Gull sitting on the sea offshore from the diamond sign on the 16th.

On the 18th Barry found a herd of 38 Bewick Swans on farmland north of the concrete track, which stayed for most of the day. 

Also on the 18th Maynard became this year's winner of the fabled Creme Egg Trophy, awarded annually to the first of us to reach 100 species (not including Barry, who would never stoop to such vulgarity).  

On the 20th Mick refound a Tundra Bean Goose in with the Pinks on the beet field from the Holmes Road, and Sean saw two later that day when the flock had flown over to the fields inland of Bramble Gap. Sean also found and photographed one back in the beet field the next day.  

 

In the last week of the month Pat reported exciting news that Tawny Owls were actively investigating his nest box, and on 21st we received news from Tim A up the coast (thanks Tim!) that a pair of Ravens were heading our way. Since most of us were out birding already quite a few of us connected with them as they came down through the north dunes and landed briefly before deciding to fly back up towards Horsey. 

The first queen bumble bee was out on the 21st, and Mick had a flypast Long-tailed Duck. 

On the 22nd Pete found two Black-tailed Godwits on a flooded field to the north of the concrete track.  This is a very rare species here which would be a life patch tick for some of us, and so caused an immediate scramble, but despite cycling as fast as our little legs would go, we arrived too late.  Later that day Colin saw a small flock of 6 or 7 Little Gulls flying south close in shore. 

On the 23rd the first Great White Egret was seen flying over farmland in the north of the patch, and it was seen a few more times over the next couple of days, with Pat seeing two together on the 27th.

On the 24th there was a big movement of Red-throated Divers and Gannets, and on the 25th Colin saw the first Red Kite of the year drift south through the north dunes and high over the village.

The male Hen Harrier, here last month, also put in a couple of appearances on the 25th, being seen by Mick near the cow barn and later by Pat in fields south of the village.  Mick also had a White-fronted Goose in with the pinks, and Tim saw a 2nd winter Caspian Gull on the beach at Bramble Gap.  

On the 26th Sean found his third Caspian Gull of the month, another first winter on the beach at Bramble Gap, a really nice long-legged, long-billed individual, and later that day saw the year's first Pintails, a pair which landed on the sea late in the afternoon in the moonlight of the snow moon - a beautiful sight. 

On the 27th Tim had a flyover Lapland Bunting and the Peregrine was seen whizzing around, and sitting on, the church tower again 🤞🤞🤞.

So that was February 2021. So far this year, we have collectively seen 126 species on the patch.  If you want to know who has seen what, you can check out the Year Lists section on the right if you are viewing on a computer or below the January roundup if not.

To finish, here are some of Pete's bird notes from Februarys gone by.  Happy patch birding everyone!