Dead Ends & Distractions

 Nov 14th Strumpshaw Fen

On November 7th, it was just another Monday at first. I woke up early, caught my early bus into the city and boarded the train to Brundall and was making my way to Strumpshaw. But I never got there. I got as far as the railway bridge at Brundall only to discover that the road underneath it was flooded. I could not go any further. All I could do was watch a man wade through the water up to his upper thighs with his electric scooter held above his head. Yeah, there was no way I wanted to do the same thing, so I walked back to Brundall station and ended up catching the same train that brought me here back into Norwich.

A week later and the flood had gone and I was able to get to Strumpshaw just fine. So to make up for lost time, I decided to stay on until dusk . It was a very misty start that I couldn't see much out of Reception and Fen hides, but at Tower Hide, there were many wildfowl here than any other part of the reserve. Mallards, gadwall, shovelers, teal, a couple of shelducks, a few wigeon and many greylags all just barley visible in the mist. On the way back, there were many tits, finches and thrushes feeding on fallen fruit, including several fieldfares and redwings.

At Reception Hide, it was another fairly quiet shift with hardly much to see. Though there was a brief bittern and a kingfisher as well as marsh harriers, buzzards, a heron, a great white egret and 3 swans, but other than that it was just a lot of staring at a near empty broad.

After my shift, I went for a walk around the woods before entering Fen Hide to wait for the sun to set. As I waited with some visitors with their cameras snapping like machine guns at everything that moved, we watched the marsh harriers, stonechats, fieldfares, a little egret and a Chinese water deer.

Little Egret, Sun Set,
Starling Murmuration
& Common Darter (Nov 14th)

The sun was setting by 3:30pm and starlings were starting to arrive in small flocks. Minute by minute, more flocks of starlings were turning up. Small balls of these birds were merging into a larger group of at least a couple thousand strong and was growing. A mini murmuration swirled across the sky that was partly glowing and partly dimming as the sun slowly sank behind a tree. Eventually, the main bulk of starlings poured into the reeds somewhere near towards the Tower Hide by the riverside to my left. Smaller flocks continued to appear after they went down, but I estimated that the main total was still roughly around 4-6 thousand starlings. 

Before leaving, a kingfisher made an appearance in the near darkness and, at Reception Hide, Dorbenton's bats were skimming over the broad and the wildfowl had arrived for the night.

Nov 19th Whitlingham Broad

Mum and I went for a walk around Whitlingham Broad this morning. There had been a few interesting birds here recently. This included a Slavonian grebe, which sadly wasn't any where to be seen during our outing. However, there were a selection of ducks that were new to my list.

First, there were two goosanders near the boat house before flying off. Then, at the other end of the broad, 2 scaup and a common scoter, the latter being a fairly unusual find as it is normally found on the sea. Also around were many tufted ducks and coots, Egyptian geese, great crested grebes and a buzzard. I also encountered the goosanders again flying by me along the river.

Goosanders
Common Scoter & Scaup (Nov 19th),
Turnstone & Purple Sandpiper (Nov 26th)

Nov 21st Strumpshaw Fen

A bit of a strange day as it seemed empty and quiet, but in the end had some good highlights. There was nothing at Fen Hide (except one marsh harrier) and it was empty at Tower Hide, but between hides, along the muddy path by the river were many fieldfares, redwings and other common woodland tit and finch species, including bullfinches which I only heard calling. I also saw a sparrowhawk on the walk back.

An otter was around on and off at Reception all morning and was close to the hide as far as the measuring post at one point. I also had a large flock of bearded tits in the reeds at the front of the hide, 2-4 marsh harriers, a buzzard, a water rail, but I missed the 3 bitterns fly over, with one landing close by.

It was an ok morning, but my mind was distracted as the World Cup had started and England were about to play Iran while I was waiting for the train home. By the time I got home, they were already 3-0 up. It finished 6-2!

Nov 26th Sheringham

I managed to stray myself away from the football to spend a morning out at Sheringham to sea watch. Could I find anything new over the waves? Well, the sea was actually calm and flat. It wasn't looking like there was going to be anything about.

However, there were some bits and bobs. Mostly red-throated divers, but there were also a flock of 10-20 scoter (where they belong), cormorants, a gannet or two, the usual gull species and a seal. But there was one highlight floating on the sea in the distance that had me puzzling over. It was definitely a diver, but seemed bigger than a red-throated diver and was very dark. The head appeared to be mostly black, the bill seemed to be thicker and every now and then it would lift to flap relatively large wings to reveal a bright white underside. I was more than convinced that this was a great northern diver! Not just new to my list, but new to me as well! Unfortunately, it was too far to photograph.

Mum eventually met up with me after she went into town to kill some time and we had a short stroll along the front hoping to find a purple sandpiper. There were plenty of turnstones and gulls, but it took some searching on the rocks until we finally found one. Unlike the great northern diver, it was more than obliging to pose for a few photos. With this beautiful bird, it takes my 2022 British species total to 176 and 217 overall.

A day later, I heard news of a flock of waxwings was discovered in Sheringham. I was a day early and so I didn't get to see them. What a shame. Just my luck.

Nov 28th Strumpshaw Fen

A very murky, dull day with a lot of mist. I visited Fen Hide, seeing a bittern, 5 marsh harriers, a Chinese water deer and a water rail. Then, as I couldn't make my way to Tower Hide as the path was closed, I made my way along the river to the pumphouse (which was equally muddy in my opinion) and into the woods instead. During the walk, I encountered fieldfares, 2 muntjac deer and at least a hundred siskins spooked out of the trees by a passing train.

It continued to be murky for the rest of the day. The Reception Hide provided distant views of an otter on the far side of the broad in the thick mist and a glimpse of a wing of a bittern as I caught the bird plunging into the reedy islands just a little bit late. Other than that, there reserve seemed very empty and very quiet. 

Strumpshaw has been like that for some time just lately. For a good majority of my visits, there's not even a single duck on the broad. Usually, the broad is full of them by now. It is kind of concerning and a trend that was the same as last year. It feels as if the magic of this place isn't here as much anymore, at least not during the winter and during my shifts especially. It has been a rather forgettable November despite the bitterns, otters and the other things I've seen here throughout this month. At least the World Cup has been exciting.