Butcher Bird

 Sep 24th  Wells Woods

A brown shrike had been hanging around for around a week in North Norfolk and I couldn't organize a trip sooner due to no way of getting to it. Yesterday was my only opportunity as Dad was free to take me. However, it had not been seen since Tuesday. The weather was bad that day and I thought it may reappear again. It wasn't to be, sadly. I had missed my chance. If only I was there a couple of days ago. When we got to Warham Greens, where the bird had been reported, all we found were hundreds of greylags, the first skeins of pink-footed geese, a great white egret and a friendly birdwatcher who ended up tagging along with us to our next destination.

Wells Woods has been a bit of a migrant hotspot recently. In the last few days there was a red-breasted flycatcher, a red-backed shrike and a yellow-browed warbler and to my amazement, they were still around during our visit. The only thing is I didn't know where about on the site they were. We had vague landmarks and directions by passers by, but nothing from stopping us from accidently straying away from their whereabouts. The spot for the flycatcher was the only obvious location marked by a few birdwatchers, but the bird itself was nowhere to be seen. We were told it was last seen an hour and a half ago, so we decided to check out the shrike first. However, we missed the turning and ended up walking down towards Holkham Pines by mistake. 

Red Kite

Realising our mistake, we retraced our steps, had lunch at a bench and returned to the flycatcher spot. Still no flycatcher in sight, though it did apparently reappeared 30 minutes before I showed up again. I waited for a short while, but the only notable thing to be seen was a red kite. We decided to move on to the shrike, following the correct path this time, passing a field of pink-footed geese. A group of people standing along a barbed wired fence and leaning on some hay bales pointing their cameras in the same direction gave us hope and we were instantly directed to the bird sitting on another section of wire.

Red-backed Shrike and those watching it!

Believe it or not, this was my first red-backed shrike in the UK. I did see a couple while in France in 2016, but never in this country. They had been another one of those birds that have eluded me for so long, until now that is. This bird is a juvenile, lacking the colours and bold black masks of the adults. We watched as it jumped between the fence, the ground and a low hanging bramble branch, hoping to see if it catches something to do what most shrikes are known for; stashing its prey on thorns or barbs on a wire. This is why they are also called butcher birds. I was slightly disappointed not to witness such behaviour, though kind of relieved at the same time. This may not have been the brown shrike that I was intended in seeing, but I'm still satisfied in adding this particular shrike to my British list.

After spending some time with this wonderful bird, it was time to try our luck with the flycatcher one more time. On the way, 3-4 red kites circled around above our heads, one was even low enough to see every detail of it. They were joined by two buzzards circling even higher than they were. It made up for the lack of flycatcher as it yet again never showed itself while I was around. While waiting for it, a sudden short downpour caught us by surprise, though it was at this point someone managed to spot a possible tree pipit while it was raining. No red-breasted flycatcher or yellow-browed warbler, but at least I was lucky with the shrike. One out of three is a success in my book.

Back To Normal?

Sep 4th  Cley

It is September and migrant season has well and truly been happening while I have been stuck in Norwich. As I haven't been able to travel to the coast, I have been missing everything that has passed through so far. Red-backed shrikes, greenish warblers, pied flycatchers, wrynecks, I have missed them all. I want to at least see something before it disappears for warmer climes further south. So on Friday 4th, Dad took me out to Cley to see what we can find.

Since my last visit, two hides are now reopen to visitors, Bishop's and Babcock. The three central hides are still closed, but for the other two you need to wear a mask. From Bishop's Hide, there were avocets, ruff, wigeon, godwits, a green sandpiper, a kestrel and a marsh harrier. A good mix of migrants and the usual suspects, but nothing completely out of the unusual. From the shelter at the top of the East Bank, I watched a curlew sandpiper mingling with a flock of dunlin out on Arnold's Marsh, while behind them were large gathering of sandwich and common terns and then a hobby flew over and spooked them all up. There were migrants a plenty here.

A spot of sea watching didn't produce much other than gannets, the same tern species again, the usual gull species and a seal. Seeing a wheatear whilst walking along the beach was as good as it got when it came to migrants of interest. I also came across 3 devil's coach horse beetles, a rather ferocious beetle that raises its abdomen when threatened.  

Wheatear and Devil's Coach Horse Beetle

Sep 8th  Strumpshaw Fen

A second visit to Strumpshaw with Dad since lockdown. With Covid-19 spiking again, it has meant that my return as a volunteer is uncertain right now. However, the reserve feels like it is almost back to the way it was. Apart from a makeshift booth at the entrance of Reception Hide for one volunteer to man, the other two hides are reopen but with limited benches and you need to wear a mask and the one-way route system is abandoned for most of the reserve's paths. Only the Lackford Run was one-way only.

Otter, Grass Snake, Garganey and Great White Egret

 When we arrived, we were greeted by an otter and a passing kingfisher from Reception Hide's blind. We found a willow emerald damselfly at the new pond, we walked by at least 20 or so lizards and a few interesting solitary wasp species along Sandy Wall, bearded tits and Cetti's warblers were calling here and there, dark bush crickets were sitting atop of bramble leaves and signs of autumn were abundant throughout the reserve from fruit and seeds to fungi. The best place to be, however, was Tower Hide. There seemed to be more things here than anywhere else at Strumpshaw. Below the hide, a grass snake basks in the sun coiled atop of a patch of flattened dried reed. Many ducks in eclipse phased plumage were out on the pool in front of the hide, including a garganey, which you could ID with the white stripes sandwiching the eye. A couple of kingfishers flit by back and forth in a heated territorial dispute, a marsh harrier and a kestrel were busy hunting over the reserve's reed beds and a great white egret appeared after a while to sit atop of a shrub. 

Sep 15th Cley

Yesterday, I returned to Cley. This time I was with Mum, who celebrated a big birthday recently. I started the visit with a spot of sea watching near the beach car park, not that there was much to see as it was rather misty. A few gannets, cormorants, gulls and a seal were all I could work out through the strange grey murk on this hot sunny day. There were more beach goers on the beach than there were seabirds it seemed. From Bishop's Hide, there appeared to be fewer birds than there were earlier in the month. Avocets, wigeons and many of the other things I saw from last time were nowhere to be found on the pools and scrapes, though lapwings,a few godwits and a green sandpiper still remain and were now joined by a large gaggle of  Canada geese and there was a kestrel using the thatched roofs of the three central hides that still are unused as its vantage point.

Curlew Sandpiper

As we walked along the East Bank, I noticed that the curlew sandpiper was closer to the path this time, feeding along the edge of a meandering pool with some dunlin and redshanks. On the way back, someone pointed out a peregrine that was sitting on a bank on the far side of the marsh. Mum was hoping to see a marsh harrier, but she was bamboozled when she mistook a buzzard flying into the blinding sun as one. She was fairly disappointed when I corrected her.