January 2022 Roundup

This post is guaranteed to contain no Short-eared Owl photos. Honestly, how many Short-eared Owl photos does the world need?  Due to the presence of our wonderful avian celebrity visitors, the dunes in January have been absolutely swamped with photographers throughout the month. Many were also birders, therefore aware of issues of disturbance and field craft, who kept to the footpaths and were careful not to flush the owls, but many more were members of the non-birding long-lens-no-bins brigade, and sadly a not insignificant proportion of these, who seemed to want to get their shot at any cost, consistently hounded the birds, chasing after them when they saw them land, trampling through the heather and marram and putting them up again for yet another action shot. Our birds here have enough problems with off-lead and often out of control dogs racing across every inch of what is supposed to be a National Nature Reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest, without humans who supposedly profess an interest in the natural world adding to their woes.  Rant over; I will now get on with what else we saw in January!

The month began with Pat out first and finding the ringtail Hen Harrier hunting for over an hour in the fields around the concrete track, and Mick confirming that the Tree Sparrow was still around - a crucial year tick for us all on day one!

The concrete track area also held 3 Cranes (two adults and a young bird who were to remain in the same general area for most of the rest of the month), a showy Great White Egret and seven Whooper Swans flying south east mid-afternoon.  A few Fieldfares were also around and two Mistle Thrushes in the field at the end of Low Road were a relief for Sean, who one year recently had to wait until December to get them on his patch year list!

On the morning of the 2nd Barry found a Shag on one of the groynes.  Several of us went up for it a bit later and relocated it a few groynes down, looking distinctly unwell.  It perked up a bit in the sun but later tucked itself further in to the crevices between the rocks, where it swayed unsteadily.  By the afternoon it could not be found.

On the 3rd Sean found a pair of Bullfinches in a hedge along Low Road, always a tricky bird for the yearlist, and Maynard a Siskin in the valley.  

On the 4th Mick had two Purple Sandpipers on one of the north beach groynes, and on the 5th he had 5 Fieldfares in off and 2 Ringed Plovers on the beach. They tend to disappear from the beach over the winter so it is always a pleasure to see them in January.

On the 6th Pat relocated one of Sean's Bullfinches in the same place, and snapped a record shot. 

A fishing Little Egret had replaced the Great White in Commissioner's Dyke, and the ringtail Hen Harrier, a Kingfisher and several Song Thrushes were about on the inland part of the patch. Colin had a Gadwall in the dyke, the only one of the month. 

On the 7th Colin noticed that both species of Egret had come to a truce and decided to share the Dyke, Tim had a male Merlin in the paddocks and Barry found two male Bullfinches in a different location along the concrete track. A bit later Barry also found this splendid Black Redstart which had taken up residence amongst the debris below the cliff at the bottom of Beach Road which had tumbled over during the recent high tides.  We often seem to get a Black Redstart on or near the beach in early January! There was also a female Eider off the south beach. 

Also on the 7th a visiting birder, Tim S, had a 20 second encounter with a Waxwing in the North Dunes, which flew west over him (presumably having just arrived off the sea), hovered once over the heather, and then shot off towards the woods.  Despite how brief the encounter was, Tim managed to capture this record shot. 

Another of our regular visitor Chris came up from Bedfordshire on the 8th and as well as the Black Redstart which had remained overnight he saw a Purple Sandpiper on the tank traps below the car park. Clearly the Sandpiper found a good source of food here as it could be seen there daily at the right tide time for the rest of the month. 

As the seals moved off the beach after their breeding season it became possible to walk north again, and the level of pup mortality seemed extremely high this year. Between the car park and Bullet Hill there must have been almost a hundred little white corpses. The awful storms had surely done considerable damage to the colony this year.  Looking on the bright side though, we had high hopes of attracting some nice white wingers to this veritable gull cafe.  

We also had high hopes of another white winger. In nearby Martham around this time several Cattle Egrets had turned up. This is a species we have never seen in Winterton but the pundits amongst us have widely predicted to be the next addition to our list. However we've recently lost our only cattle herd, and it wasn't to be, despite them hanging around just a couple of miles away for ages!

On the 12th Sean and Colin saw a Green Sandpiper flying around, presumably disturbed by the shoot.  We have heard that this is the last year of shooting on the Burnley Hall estate, and boy are they making the most of it!  On almost every day in January hoorays have been blasting birds from the sky.  It's certainly made seeing Woodcocks a doddle this month! After one particular volley of gunshots a Buzzard stumbled through the sky, emerging from of the woods with most of its primaries missing from one wing.  I'm not absolutely certain that it was toff damage but circumstantial evidence is strong...

On the 13th Sean and Tim saw the first Little Grebe on the patch for two years!  Pat saw the first Treecreeper of the year along the concrete track, as well as the Bullfinches that Barry had found a week earlier. He also heard a Water Rail along the Holmes Road - a very tricky year tick since we don't allow nocmig recordings (a rule that really ought to be reviewed I feel 😂). 

Several Barn Owls were being seen on the patch around this time too, often hunting in daylight and providing alternative owl photography options for some...

On the 16th Pat had a very large Peregrine from the concrete track, the only one of the month. Snipe and Green Woodpecker were also added by others to the collective yearlist.

On the 17th Sean found 5 Russian White-fronted Geese in with the Pink-footed Geese at Bramble Gap, which were seen again over the next few days.  

On the 19th Barry saw 15 Snow Buntings on north beach.  They had disappeared for a few weeks so it was good to see them back, including a few nice males.  Ted took this nice photo of one later in the month.

Later that day Sean saw a single female Common Scoter off the south beach, and was lucky enough to see this Iceland Gull as it cruised south, ignoring all the nice seal meat below it. Kittiwakes were also passing in small numbers.

On the morning of the 21st  there was a Treecreeper again near the old Poplar wood, an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull at the Commissioner's pool, and another Treecreeper along Holmes Road, accompanying the tit flock along with this Chiffchaff.

Much more surprisingly, Sean found an entirely out of season Lesser Whitethroat along the Holmes Road. 

On the 23rd Pat found two Dunlin on the Commisioner's pool, and a nice Green Sandpiper which unusually hung around out in the open for the rest of the month, rather than hide itself in a ditch.

On the 24th Tim found at least 15 Redwings in one of the paddocks, the largest group of the month, and Sean had the month's second Black Redstart on the northern edge of the village. 

On the afternoon of the 25th Mick saw a Merlin hunting along the edge of the East Somerton fields.

The next morning on the 26th Sean was lucky enough to complete the white-winger double with views of a Glaucous Gull flying north through the dunes. One had been reported the previous day at Waxham so it might possibly have been the same bird. Once more it seemed uninterested in the buffet on the beach.

On the 27th Tim had two Russian White-fronted Geese from the concrete track.

Over the next few days Dunlin numbers in the flooded field began to increase, and on the 29th Colin saw the Merlin in the same area that Mick had seen it in. That afternoon Pat was very lucky to flush a Jack Snipe up from right on a busy main path in the North Dunes. Meanwhile in a short seawatch Barry had a Mediterranean Gull, two Fulmars and 16 Lapwings in off. 

On the 30th Maynard reported a Tundra Bean Goose from the concrete track when he had returned from his morning cycle ride. Unfortunately it was not around when the rest of us went to look. Maynard also had a Grey Plover that day, the only one seen during January. 

The month ended with a strong northwesterly gale and we had hopes that the sea might be interesting, but a long seawatch produced only Kittiwakes, Gannets and three Wigeon for Sean.

At the end of January we have collectively seen 108 species on the patch. Sean is some way ahead in the year list race - he saw 94 species in January, which smashed his previous best, and clearly demonstrates the benefits of being retired (or a 'leach on society' as his youngest son put it) for building your local patch year list.  

Happy #localbigyear patch birding everyone. 

December 2021 Roundup

A very short roundup this time folks. The month started with a bit of a cold snap.  A short seawatch on the 1st produced a Velvet Scoter sitting on the sea, a couple of Eiders past and a Woodcock in off.  The rough weather and high tides eroded quite a lot of the dune ridge along the car park and off the sheds - it's getting more and more difficult to settle for a decent seawatch as our favoured places are disappearing...

On the 2nd Colin had a Short-eared Owl in the North Dunes and 3 Cranes from the Concrete Track, whilst a short afternoon seawatch for Sean produced 1 male Goldeneye north, 2 Bonxies south, a male Goosander in off heading presumably towards the Broads, 1 Brent Goose north, a Velvet Scoter, plus a few Eider and Common Scoter. 

On the 3rd Colin saw another, or the same Short-eared Owl in North Dunes, and on the 5th he had the three Cranes again in the same place, and a Woodcock heading fast inland through the North Dunes, presumably freshly arrived. 

On the 6th Sean saw a ringtail Hen Harrier hunting for quite a while near the inland end of Low Road, and on the 8th he had two juv Little Gulls close in along the surf off the north beach.  Colin continued his Short-eared Owl observations again on the the 9th.  

Probably the most exciting avian event of the month happened on the 15th when Barry found a Tree Sparrow in the valley, associating with the resident House Sparrow flock.  A full-on twitch ensued for those able to get there (ie the retired contingent since it was a weekday), including a dash back from Buckenham for Sean where he had been on a rare trip away from the patch looking for the Taiga Beans - fate was clearly telling him to avoid this sort of irresponsible frippery in the future! 

Luckily for those of us who are less of a burden to society and still paying National Insurance contributions, the dinky spadger hung around until the end of the month, allowing most of us to catch up with it in the end.  However it proved a tricky blighter to get a decent photo of; Pat probably managed the best ones a couple of weeks later:

Not much more birding got done over the festive period until the month's end. On the 21st Tim had a two Mistle Thrushes from Low Road, and on the 27th Pat had 3 Cranes, 25 Dunlin and several Snipe in the flooded field near Commissioner's Dyke, plus a very distant wader which he initially thought was a Redshank but could have been a Ruff. Graham paid a visit and saw 4 Short-eared Owls in the North Dunes. There seemed to be some movement on the sea too, and in the morning Pat had a fair few ducks moving: Pintails, Wigeon and Teal, plus some waders too: 4 Grey Plover, 4 Redshank, a Purple Sandpiper and a Dunlin.  The top waders of the day were in the afternoon though, when Sean had the amazing sight through his scope of 5 Avocets flying south just offshore (plus a Woodcock in off). 

Short-eared Owls and the occasional Woodcock continued to be seen occasionally as the year drew to a close, and on the last day Sean confirmed the continuing presence of the Tree Sparrow in the valley, in readiness for the new year lists the next day...

So that was 2021.  Mick saw the most species - 181 - which in the end was one more than Sean who decided to remove his heard-only Bearded Tit record since he didn't want to have it on his patch life-list without seeing it as well. 

In total we collectively saw 204 species in 2021. That's a good number, and we saw some great birds. We thought about doing a summary of all the best ones here, but you can read about them in the other posts, and it is a sad but true fact that for many of us 2021 will be, and probably should be, remembered more for the incredible lack of supposedly 'common' autumn migrants like Goldcrests and the hastening disappearance of previously regular birds like Marsh Tit (which only a lucky couple of us managed to connect with).  

Yes we had some wonderful scarce and rare birds over the year, as ever. But patch birding here, day in day out, is about much more than the rare species; it is about noticing the seasonal comings and goings and ups and downs and successes and failures of all the birds - and all the other species of life - that we are lucky enough to have around us.  And it wasn't all doom and gloom - the Little Terns did well for example, and Linnets seem to have had another good year, and Pete refound a rare liverwort...  We fervently hope that this time next year we can be writing some more good news: come on you Goldcrests! 

Happy New Year to all and happy patch birding in 2022 #LocalBigYear. 

November 2021 Roundup

November was generally an unexceptional month as the Autumn migration petered out.  On the 1st seawatching was slow, with the odd Arctic Skua and Great Skua, and several Kestrels in off, including one which was tracked arriving from about two miles out. The journey took about 20 minutes and the plucky little falcon was almost caught by several Great Black-backed Gulls before making it to land.  

Several Rock Pipits remained around on the north beach, and Short-eared Owls were much in evidence on the North Dunes.  A few Fieldfares were beginning to arrive, with 2 in the North Dunes on the 2nd, plus a Bullfinch calling along the Holmes Road. Snow Bunting numbers built up a little, with 26 counted on the beach on the same date.

On the 3rd a Barn Owl was hunting in the North Dunes well into late morning. Also around were a singing Chiffchaff in the Birdless Bushes, a couple of Goldcrests and Coal Tits, and a Treecreeper in the Holmes Road.  There was also a tern feeding off the sandbar, initially found by visiting birder Stephen H, which we eventually pinned down as a rather late Arctic Tern.

On the 4th seawatching produced big numbers of Eider - over 200 on the final count, plus several Bonxies, Goldeneye, 2 Velvet Scoter, a Goosander and a range of more common ducks. Little Gulls and Golden Plover were also seen.

On the 5th a Little Auk went north quite early on, and an eared owl, probably a Short-eared Owl, came in off rather distantly.  This was followed by several more definite Short-eared Owls coming in at various times and locations through the morning.  Despite plenty of Long-eareds being seen arriving in North Norfolk, ours were all Short-eareds.  There had also been a slight arrival of warblers, with a Chiffchaff in Pete's garden and another one later in Colin's, a Willow Warbler below the lighthouse, and a very brief Yellow-browed Warbler seen with a small tit flock by Barry in private gardens. It wasn't seen again, although Mick heard it calling later on.  There were also two Black Redstarts in the South Dunes/Hermanus area, and several Bramblings in the high trees at the Hermanus.

On the morning of the 6th,  a few Siskins were moving through the valley, and there was a Brambling below the lighthouse and another (or perhaps the same one) at the Oaks. At least four Short-eared Owls were in the North Dunes, plus a ring-tail Hen Harrier and a Red Kite.

On the 7th there were at least 5 Swallows in the valley, and this slightly interesting Chiffchaff, which had a call somewhere between a normal Chiffchaff and a tristis - a single syllable but rather more optimistic than a siberian chiffy! 

In the early part of the month Ted was honoured by several visits from this wonderful creature to his garden, which had presumably wandered down from its allotment cage.

A few Swallows remained in the valley on the 8th, and there was another interesting, completely brown Chiffchaff with the tit flock along the Holmes Road, plus a Treecreeper. The Chiffchaff didn't call.  At least 30 Siskins were flying around Duffles Pond in the afternoon, and the Short-eared Owl count went up to a possible seven in the North Dunes. 

On the 9th at least 200 Siskins went south through the valley before 9am. 

On the 11th a Great-crested Grebe was sitting close inshore off the South Dunes, and a Woodcock flushed from below the Hermanus in the morning, with another flying over the village in the late afternoon. 

On the 12th a Red Kite flew inland over the north wood, and a Peregrine was making the most of the huge influx of Starlings arriving in off, alongside Fieldfares and Chaffinches. Another Woodcock was flushed off the North Dunes. Another Black Redstart was hanging around on a roof on Old Chapel Road. 

A Purple Sandpiper took up residence on and around the tank traps below the old cafe, and could be seen there at the right tide time for several more weeks. 

Seawatching was slow still, with the odd Bonxie but not much else, although this in-off arrival on the 12th had us going for a while! 

On the 14th and 15th the wind finally blew from the east, coinciding exactly with the dates we had chosen to all do conservation work in the South Dunes, removing Russian vine, so we didn't actually do much birding in the best wind of the autumn, but we did manage a little.  There was another Black Redstart at the Hermanus on the 14th, and early on the 15th Barry had an excellent view of the White-billed Diver doing a close-in flyby (surely THIS will be the final view of this amazing bird).  Later he and Sean had another Little Auk and a Red-breasted Merganser.

On the morning of the 16th Barry had seven Shorelarks on the north beach, but they flew south and couldn't be relocated.  On the 17th Mick had a Merlin near the village and a Woodcock through the valley. 

There was not much more to report as the month moved on.  A ringed Herring Gull on the patch turned out to be at least 7 years old and fairly well-travelled.

This Casp-a-like Herring Gull (or maybe hybrid) was on the north beach for a couple of days too.  It got us looking but its dark underwing, tertial pattern, and lack of a shawl put it firmly in the mudblood camp at best for us - although the structure was promising and the scapular moult was pretty advanced - comments are obviously very welcome from more experienced larophiles!

On the 19th sunshine brought out late butterflies (Red Admiral)and dragonflies (Migrant Hawker and Common Darter), and the first 'Autumn' Blackcap was in Pete's garden. 

On the 20th Tim photographed this nice Sparrowhawk in his garden. 

On the same date Chris, up from Bedfordshire for the weekend, had a Little Auk north in the late morning, as well as several Short-eared Owls in the North Dunes still. Colin also had a Green Woodpecker yaffling away. 

The 22nd arrived with pretty good conditions for seawatching, and began well with a Long-tailed Duck north at 8.23am.   Three Little Auks also went north during the morning, and 2 Great Skuas hunted close in. In the early afternoon these six fantastic Pale-bellied Brent Geese went north - a real rarity here. They were also seen going past Lowestoft 43 minutes earlier. 

In the first hour of the afternoon more birds were moving north, including large flocks of Eider (such as this one with a passenger along for the ride).

Sean was lucky enough to see a brilliant, fairly close juvenile Sabine's Gull at 1.24pm. Interestingly, both Sean (the previous afternoon) and Barry (that morning) had seen what they thought must have been a juvenile Sabine's (seemingly brown upperwing coverts, dark outer primaries) but it had both times been too far out to clinch. This time the bird flew north well inside the Cockle Light, and showed the upperwing pattern very clearly, with the lightish brown coverts particularly obvious and extending forwards, making the bird appear dark-headed.  It seems a very late record. 

On the 23rd things had died down, although there was an immature Little Gull in the surf along the north beach. Pete had another (different) Blackcap in his garden and Sean found an extremely late Willow Warbler in the oak trees along the back of the Hermanus, where it was out of the wind. Getting a good photo was challenging!

The big storm Arwen arrived at the end of the month, producing an unprecedented arrival of Brunnich's Guillemots in the North Sea including one in Norfolk, so we all had high hopes of more decent seawatches but overall it didn't happen, although Barry did have a Puffin fly south on the 27th, along with a couple of Fulmars, Arctic Skuas and Great Skuas. On the 29th a Little Auk flew north in the morning, and there were a few Goldeneye, a Velvet Scoter and several Great Crested Grebes, plus an interesting Skua which two out of three observers thought might well be a Pomarine, but it was too far out to clinch. 

The month petered out on the 30th with a slow seawatch, although a nice male Goosander flew inland and a distant Guillemot sitting on the sea was in full summer plumage, allowing fantasies of it drifting closer and becoming much rarer.  Of course it didn't happen.  At the end of the month we have collectively seen 204 species on the patch.  Happy Christmas, and happy patch birding everyone!

October 2021 Roundup

October. The month of dreams. The month where anything is possible. The adrenaline rush of stepping out of your door and walking into the patch expectantly, knowing that you might find a brilliant rarity, or be treated to a fantastic migration spectacle.  The reason we live here and the reason we do what we do.

Not this October though. With the exception of one or two brighter moments, this October was basically a depressing continuation of the Great Birdless Autumn of 2021, with the added downer of a huge auk die-off happening on our very shorestep, with a supporting cast of dying divers forlornly shaking their heads in the surf. But it wasn't all completely depressing, so please do read on!

We watched the sea at the start of the month as the bushes contained literally no birds, and flyover passerine migration consisted of the odd Swallow, Meadow Pipit or Siskin.  Little Gulls were present in reasonable numbers on the 2nd, and there was a close-in Bonxie flypast.  On the 3rd on the south beach dozens of Swallows were sitting on the sand, flying short distances as dog-walkers pushed them on.  It was bizarre and a bit unsettling, and reminded Sean of seeing several Hobbies doing the same in the Spring, when he mused that they were having to resort to looking for insects on the beach.  The Swallows didn't seem to be feeding though.  Also that morning Mick had one of the star birds of the month - an immature Sabine's Gull going south at 9.30am.  We later found out that it (or another) had been seen going south at Sea Palling around 45 minutes earlier. Mick also saw a Pomarine Skua south on his seawatch that morning, and Colin, Peter and Sean noted several rather late Swifts on the patch. 

On the 4th Mick had a Goosander south and a Wheatear in the car park, and on the 5th after the rain had stopped Sean had Lesser Whitethroat,  House Martin and Willow Warbler, plus Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps in the valley - a notable increase in migrant passerine numbers, though still miniscule.  There was also a Red Kite in the north dunes, and a reasonable passage of Swallows through. 

On the 6th the wind was a fairly strong northwesterly, and there was a notable movement on the sea - lots of waders and wildfowl, plus Bonxies and Arctic Skuas, a Sooty Shearwater, Little Gulls and an excellent Great Northern Diver which landed close in off the car park. In the early afternoon, as seawatching continued, a bedraggled Redstart came in off and landed briefly at our feet! Lapwing also arrived in off.  Later in the afternoon, after the rest of us had gone home,  Barry arrived for another seawatch and a visiting birder told him he'd had a Red-necked Grebe. Scanning the sea for it Barry did indeed pick up a grebe, but it turned out to be a Black-necked Grebe! The visiting birder was a warden at Pagham Harbour so has had a lot of experience with grebes, and he was clear that this was not the bird he'd found earlier.  So that makes two rare grebes seen here on the 6th! Sean returned to look for either (unsuccessfully) and had a Manx Shearwater south in the later afternoon, and he and Pat also had an Arctic Tern, an Arctic Skua, Red-breasted Merganser and Pintail.  Meanwhile Maynard had a Red Kite over his garden. 

The early morning of the 7th saw an incredible spectacle of many hundreds of Little Gulls moving through close inshore. Barry and Sean believed the number involved was in total over a thousand, and yet by 8am it had completely stopped and there wasn't a single Little Gull remaining, but while it had lasted it was a truly extraordinary spectacle!  Later in the morning Mick had several Short-eared Owls, a Goldcrest and a Kestrel in off.  Incredibly, the Goldcrest was one of only a handful any of us had seen this Autumn.  Sean had another Kestrel out at sea, and also a Marsh Harrier heading south nearly a mile out!  Pete flushed a Jack Snipe in the North Dunes, and the Swift was still hanging around low over the village, quite often receiving a lot of hassle from the Jackdaws. Pat had Redwing in the valley and House Martins and a Swallow from his garden.  

The next morning (8th) Mick had a further 12 Little Gulls moving south, along with Kittiwakes, and a Great Crested Grebe going north, and in the valley Sean noted that there seemed to have been a small arrival of Song Thrushes alongside slightly improved visible passerine migration with Siskins, Reed Buntings and Meadow Pipits all in better numbers.  At the south end of the valley a single Redstart was a further slight surprise for Sean and when, on his way home, he also found a Lesser Whitethroat and a Pied Flycatcher in a garden abutting the dunes just north of Beach Road, it seemed certain that for whatever reason there had been a little fall of migrants in the rather foggy conditions, with a slight southerly breeze.

The next sequence of events shows how often the finding of a decent bird is down to a lucky combination of factors.  As Sean was watching the Pied Flycatcher he could see Colin's hat bobbing about in his garden a short distance away.  He thought of calling out that he had got a Pied Flycatcher but thought it might disturb the bird, so he WhatsApped the local group instead and then headed off.  A few steps later Murray called him on the phone. Murray was actually in Colin's garden with him, and it transpired that Colin still needed the flycatcher for his patch year list. Sean agreed to walk back and meet Murray and Colin where he had seen it to show it to them. The three met up at the spot and Colin got onto the flycatcher very quickly, but Murray was having a bit more trouble (must be those rubbish NL binoculars he has recently bought 😁). As Sean was giving him directions, a movement in the bramble tangle growing against the garden's cobblestone wall immediately in front of them both caught Murray's eye instead - a flash of a greyish warbler disappearing into the bramble and momentarily revealing what he thought might have been a hint of a barred under-tail.  "Wait! I just had something else - it looked like it might have been a Barred Warbler!" Murray announced, and all thoughts of the flycatcher were put on hold. We all waited and watched, and Murray began to wonder whether his briefest of glimpses might just have been the Lesser Whitethroat... But no!  After a few minutes, just a bit further along the brambly wall, out popped a fine immature Barred Warbler, giving great views for us all. So a combination of chance factors which led us all to be in the right place at the right time, plus an excellent display of split-second identification skills from Murray, had resulted in the discovery of what was definitely one of the star passerines of the autumn!  It remained for the rest of the day; a tricky bird to get on to at times but most (though sadly not all) of our little band eventually caught up with it. 

Pat was one of those who couldn't get out for the warbler on the day it was found, so the 9th saw him and Sean looking for it in the morning. Alas there was no sign, but the Pied Flycatcher remained, and this Grey Wagtail put in a couple of appearances, which provided year tick relief for Sean!

There was also a Short-eared Owl in the North Dunes on the afternoon of the 9th, and a tantalising, seemingly rather short winged Acro, clearly just arrived as it was hiding in the marrams on the dune ridge nearest to the sea, which Sean chased around but was unable to pin down. 

On the 10th there was a small arrival of thrushes, a Red Kite, and a few more Goldcrests.  Pink-footed Geese were arriving too, and Barry had a Manx Shearwater feeding close in shore in the afternoon, along with a few more Little Gulls. 

A further couple of Manx Shearwaters were seen on the 11th, plus several Arctic Skuas, a Velvet Scoter, and about 50 more Little Gulls. An unknown visiting birder also had a female Hen Harrier in the North Dunes, according to Birdguides. 

On the morning of the 12th it was seawatching time again and the first Woodcock of the Autumn came in off.

In the early afternoon Sean went back for another seawatch. Four Brent Geese and a Pintail came past immediately and it was clear that there was some movement on the sea.  The Little Gulls had also returned, and up the coast a little way north of the concrete blocks Mick had a Grey Phalarope right over the dune ridge.  At 1.30pm a Short-eared Owl came in off, and just a few minutes later, just as Barry was arriving, Sean picked up a large diver going north not too far out.  He got his scope on it as it came right past him straight out and in the good light the most obvious thing about it was its huge yellowy-white bill!  Pandemonium ensued as he screamed White-billed Diver! and shouted incoherent directions to Barry, who managed to get on to it but only as it passed inside the Cockle Light to the north of where they were standing, so was unable to see the bill. In the panic and in his attempt to get Barry onto it Sean had not really studied its plumage, so didn't note the neck colouration or anything much else which might be useful for a description submission!  Apart from the humungous bill, the other most noticeable things about it were how much 'lankier' and less compact it had seemed compared to typical views of flying Great Northern Divers, and just how large its trailing feet were. Overall it had also seemed rather pale in general rather than dark. Dave R from Lincolnshire, one of our regular visiting birders, had just arrived and had been walking across the car park during the sighting, and casually asked if we'd seen anything...  He was somewhat gutted to learn what he had just missed!  Coincidently, the last White-billed Diver occurred here four years ago, almost to the day, and with a similarly huge passage of Little Gulls.  Also of note sitting on the sea that afternoon were four Velvet Scoter, and yet another Short-eared Owl in off. 

Sightings of the diver continued intermittently over the next couple of weeks, and it seemed to be on something of a routine, seen mainly going south around mid-morning and north in the early afternoon. Eventually most of us, plus a few visitors, got on to it.  But despite seeing quite a few Great Northern Divers over the coming days, Sean wasn't to see it again until the 21st October, when he, Barry, Neil M and Dave R had excellent views of it flying south close in, in the warm afternoon sunlight. In addition to the completely obvious bill, the dark/light/dark pattern of the neck with its smudgy pale collar was noted, and Barry also noted the pale face. Once again it looked very lanky with those great trailing feet and long neck, somehow more like a huge Red-throated Diver than the rather more bullet-like shape of a typical Great Northern in flight. We didn't notice any neck wobbles or anything like that as it flew. Dave R had the presence of mind to capture a stunning image of the bird which he later shared on Twitter here 😁.  

So after the 12th a lot of seawatching was done by our members, and in addition to the star bird a good range of species was seen including several Great Northern Divers, quite a number of ducks including Red-breasted Mergansers, Tufted Ducks, Eider, Goldeneye, Pintail, Teal, Wigeon etc. Great and Arctic Skuas came by regularly in small numbers, plus a few Manx Shearwaters and an excellent Sooty Shearwater on the 15th which drifted north almost in the surf. At least three of the four Velvet Scoter remained offshore and gave lovely views from time to time. More Short-eared Owls came in off and solo Little Auks went north on the 14th and the 22nd. Snow Buntings also began to appear, often noted initially by call as we were seawatching, and Rock Pipits also began to be noted. On the 17th Barry and Maynard had a Red-necked Grebe. Brent Geese were also beginning to appear in good numbers as the month progressed, and a first year Arctic Tern hung around for most of the month.  

Despite the range of good seabirds, it was at times hard to bear the sheer numbers of Guillemots that were dying out at sea, in the surf and on the beach. Razorbills were present in record numbers which was also a worry - were they going to go the same way?  The reasons for this huge die-off are not currently completely understood, although disrupted ecosystems and food chains due to global heating is the number one suspect, according to the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.  

One ringed Guillemot found dead on Winterton beach didn't even make it through its first four months of life, poor thing:

Away from the sea, Mick had three Great White Egrets on the 17th. On the 19th there was a House Martin over the village, and small groups of Song Thrushes and Redwings were arriving in the valley. Redwings had been arriving in Norfolk for over a week but almost all of them had simply overflown us here and been noted inland. 

Sean took himself off to Scilly for half-term week so was away on the 24th when Mick found a first year Caspian Gull near Bramble Gap. On the same day a Ring Ouzel was reported in the South Dunes, though not seen by any of us.  

On his way home that day Mick heard a Yellow-browed Warbler call at the eastern end of the Holmes Road. It has been the worst year for a very long time for these autumn gems; apparently they are scarce right across Europe this autumn. 

On the 25th three Lapland Buntings were reported in the North Dunes, though again they were not seen by any of us, and on the 29th another visiting birder, Ed H, took this wonderful photo of a Long-eared Owl which came in off.  He also saw a Ring Ouzel and was probably the last observer of the White-billed Diver on the same date, as it has not been recorded since.

At the end of October we have collectively recorded 203 species on the patch and Mick is out ahead on the individual year lists with an excellent 180 species. It's been a truly terrible Autumn so far for passerine numbers, but perhaps November can give us some last gasp surprises?  We'll just have to wait and see.  Happy patch birding everyone!

September 2021 Roundup

September started with a bit of a bang. As most of us locals were pottering about seeing things like a Pied Flycatcher below the Hermanus, a Swift over the village, and brief views by Peter of a possible Wryneck near the Totem Pole Bushes, extraordinary news came out in the afternoon of a staggering haul by an unidentified birder:

Given that nobody seemed to know who the observer was, and the news was emerging over three hours after the observation, there was some degree of incredulity over these sightings, but nevertheless you never know unless you check, so several of us set off into the North Dunes to see for ourselves.  Despite the somewhat easterly winds there wasn't a lot of activity - a few Wheatears on the dunes, but the bushes largely empty, and so we began to conclude that whoever had claimed such a bounty had been either having a hallucination or a laugh. But just when we were all on the verge of giving up another visiting birder did indeed locate (or relocate) a Red-breasted Flycatcher in a clump of bushes south of the East Pool, and Sean, who was closest, was able to get there within a few minutes and send this record shot out:

After a bit of a scramble several more of us and other birders were able to reach the spot and enjoy fleeting views as the lovely little flycatcher moved around in the clump.  Tim came up with his big gun and got the best photo, as usual!

So one of the three species claimed by the mystery birder had proved to be true, but what of the other two? In the absence of more precise location details nobody was able to find a Barred Warbler, and a Pechora Pipit seemed just crazy!  It would have been considerably earlier than any previous British record, and, even more incredibly, not in Shetland!  It was just too much to believe.  And yet...

And yet it turned out that the observer was credible and experienced, just not someone who enjoys being 'on the scene', and he gave a convincing description of the bird to another birder who knows him well, which included the all-important feature of the primaries peeping out beyond the tertials, which rules out pretty much anything else! He watched the bird for 40 minutes in the late morning before he had to leave for work, and although he sent news to another birder immediately, a combination of factors meant it didn't reach the information services until three hours later.  We looked a lot that day and the next, but there was not a sign, and the solo observer didn't take any photos, and I'm not sure if the record will be submitted, but September had certainly started with a bang!

Alas the month did not continue in this vein.  Despite a decent easterly airstream in the following few days, it was such thin pickings. 

Mick found a Purple Sandpiper on the 2nd, and over the following days there were a few Whinchats, a few Redstarts, and double figures of Wheatears . Maynard did a seawatch on the 2nd and had Sooty Shearwater, Bonxie, Arctic Skua and Great Crested Grebe. A few Hobbies were around and a visiting birder had a Grey Partridge in the North Dunes, so presumably the estate had begun to release a few in readiness for the landed gentry to enjoy murdering them in the coming weeks. A few Swifts were still about too, but for the first week in September, with the wind in the east, it was, as one of our neighbouring birders just to the north of us put it, "desperate, desperate stuff".   

On the 5th Sean was tramping through long grass in the North Dunes looking for Pechora Pipits when he flushed up presumably the same Grey Partridge as a few days earlier. He brazenly claimed that it was "extremely wary and obviously wild", just so he could add it to his year list. There were public jibes from various quarters within the Collective, followed up by private messages asking for the exact location... 

Whinchat numbers in the North Dunes reached double figures on the 5th, and on the 6th there were around 200 Mediterranean Gulls over the village mid-morning. 

Into the second week commoner warblers passed through in small numbers, including a few Lesser Whitethroats and Garden Warblers, and one Sedge Warbler. On the 8th the resident Hybrid Hooded Crow was joined by another in the South Dunes, and, in a clear display of avian fascism, both were rounded upon viciously by a group of pure-bred Carrion Crows.  A Red Kite went south through the North Dunes.  

Mick had a Goldcrest at the Plantation on the 9th, and on the 10th Sean had a calling flyover Tree Pipit in the South Dunes, plus Siskin and Cuckoo. The regular Autumn movement of Great Spotted Woodpeckers also got underway, with two flyovers south.  On the 11th Pat had a flyover Grey Wagtail in the South Dunes, Sean a Spotted Flycatcher at the Oaks and Pete another flyover Red Kite circling low near the Totem Pole.  In the evening there were quite a few Sandwich Terns around, and a close Arctic Skua getting its supper from them.

Around this time in the month we began to notice Guillemots close to shore, like this one which was calling plaintively in the surf.

It quickly emerged that Guillemots were in trouble right up and down the east coast, and we saw increasing numbers along the shore, sadly including quite a few corpses on the beach. However lots of them seemed to be fishing successfully despite being so close in, so hopefully they’ll make it. 

On the evening of the 11th Sean flushed the Grey Partridge yet again and sent out highly detailed directions for the champing Collective yearlisters 😁.

As the middle of the month approach it was difficult to keep spirits up.  The patch was dead, despite some light easterly breezes. There was no vismig going on, and the Whinchats had departed.  Attention turned largely to the sea, where Sooty Shearwaters and Bonxies passed in tiny numbers. A fairly decent duck movement on the 15th included a few Pintails, and a Redstart and Cuckoo on the same date were new arrivals. 

On the 16th Sean went through the South Dunes in the morning and noticed a considerable increase in Phylloscs in the valley, which was encouraging. He messaged Barry and noted "Nothing rare but lots more birds". However, Barry was shortly going to tell him that he'd lied, because later in the morning Colin also took a walk through and found something he wasn't sure about... Mick arrived within a few minutes and was able to confirm that Colin had found himself a juvenile Common Rosefinch! For posterity, here is the first picture Mick sent out of it:

Luckily the bird stayed for everyone to catch up with it and more photos and even video were taken. Here is a selection:

A great find and a continuation of Colin's good year...

Hirundines started moving in numbers from around the middle of the month, with a very large flock of House Martins and some Swallows moving south on the 17th, and around this time the resident Tawny Owls on the western edge of the village were making themselves heard (and seen) more frequently.

Also around this time the first Autumn flocks of Meadow Pipits were beginning to appear, and more Siskins were moving too, albeit in very small numbers compared to this time last year.

On the 18th Tim had a Redstart at the Plantation, and 4 Hobbies were still around. On the 19th Barry had a Redstart and two Wheatears in the South Dunes. On the 20th Colin had a Great White Egret over his house, and double figures of Wheatears and a Whinchat remained in the North Dunes. 

On the 21st, after spending several preceding afternoons skywatching in the dunes in the hope of raptors, Sean had arranged to meet an old friend and do some birding at Rainham Marsh on the outskirts of London.  He had a worrying feeling about going away from the patch on such a good date for birding and his fears were confirmed when in the early afternoon Barry and Colin had an Osprey circling over the Hermanus. Oh well, Sean thought, there's always the next few days for another...  On the same date Mick had a Tufted Duck from Bramble Gap. 

The 22nd saw Sean return to skywatching and for a moment his heart nearly stopped when he thought last year's lightning had struck again! 

In other nature news, on the same date three Vagrant Emperor dragonflies were found by a visiting group near the car park, and this marked the beginning of an unprecedented influx of these rare beasts which are primarily found in Africa.  In the coming days there were over 10 seen and this is definitely a conservative estimate. Males were not as frequent as females but at least two copulating pairs were seen on the wing. 

The 24th saw the first sizeable arrival of Pink-footed Geese, with several large, high skeins coming in over the North Dunes.  

On the 25th there was a report of a Yellow-browed Warbler in the North Dunes but nobody who looked could find it and we are as yet unaware of the observer's identity. On the 26th Maynard messaged to say he had seen a Wryneck in the North Dunes, but sadly once again it proved very elusive to everyone else who looked for it, including Barry who was close by.  What a poor year it has been here for Wrynecks - apparently the weather conditions pushed the majority onto the south coast this year.  On the same date at about 11am Drew and his group of visiting birders, plus Tim and Ted had ANOTHER Osprey, this time over the North Dunes, just after Sean had returned home after several hours' birding. He immediately ran back out into the dunes, but missed it yet again. His skywatching plans had really paid off this year!

On the 26th the first Brent Geese of the Autumn were seen - Mick had 11 going north and later Sean had 9 going south, as well as the excellent sight of a flock of 6 Herons coming in off the sea (he was skywatching again but with a sea view this time). A bit later Mick had another 24 Brent Geese south. 

The next day Patrick had a close Manx Shearwater south (they've been extremely rare this year) and Sean had three Pintails going north.

The 28th saw a really substantial movement of Jays going south, with several flocks of above 20 and a total of around 75 birds in an hour. This must be related to the cold, wet spring which disrupted Oak tree flowering and has led to a really poor crop of acorns - there are hardly any on the trees in the valley.  There was also a Garden Warbler in the valley on the 28th, and 4 Great Spotted Woodpeckers moved through, including one which stopped over in Colin's garden. 

On the same date Mick saw a Balearic Shearwater and on the last day of the month Sean and Pat had a fairly close juvenile Pomarine Skua, to finish a basically disappointing month with a flourish. 

At the end of  September we have collectively recorded 197 bird species on the patch, compared to a total of 209 for the whole of last year.  Will we manage a higher score this year?  It seems unlikely but we'll continue to try.  

Happy patch birding everyone!