Snowdrops & Starlings

 Feb 5th Walsingham Abbey

The snowdrops at Walsingham Abbey were finally out and at their best. As seeing them was part of my displays and spectacles challenge, my parents and I were really looking forward to ticking this floral display off my list.

Snowdrops,
Hellebore & Mistletoe (Feb 5th),
Misty Morning & Reed Bunting (Feb 6th)

Snowdrops are one of the earliest flowers to bloom and though they had been popping up as early as mid-January. However, we decided to wait a little longer for the display to develop into something we expected to be something amazing before setting off to see them. So, when we finally visited on a beautiful sunny Sunday, the wait was completely worth it. The woodland trails around the abbey grounds were just breathtaking! It was like the place was covered in actual snow.

As well as the snowdrops, there were also the yellow flowers of winter aconites, some hellebores, clumps of mistletoe, the odd primrose and even one of the first daffodils of the year poking through.

Feb 6th Strumpshaw Fen

There was a chill in the air, but it was feeling rather spring-like as there was a pleasant warmth from the sun. The paths were actually drying out and I managed to get to Tower Hide without getting too muddy. While at the hide, I counted 130 greylags, 25 shelducks and smaller numbers of gadwall and shoveler.

Back at Reception Hide, there was to be a wildfowl bonanza here too with 60+ greylags, 25+ gadwall, a few mallards, 2-3 mute swans, 2 Canada geese, and the odd shoveler. Marsh harriers were also around (as was a sparrowhawk) and seemed to be sky dancing at times. 

Around the woods, the place was alive with hundreds of siskins and redpolls as well as the sound of drumming great spotted woodpeckers, trilling treecreepers and, for the first time I've seen at Strumpshaw for some time, a nuthatch! Scarlet elfcap fungi were looking vibrant on the woodland floor and snowdrops were now everywhere (though not as spectacular as the display at Walsingham), including in front of Reception Hide.

Feb 13th Strumpshaw Fen

An overcast morning, grey and rather quiet. I had to catch a later train than usual due to my bus having a alarm to go off and had to stop for a while for the engine to cool down. I couldn't wait, so I had to walk some way through the city to get to the station, bought a ticket, got on the platform just in time to see the usual timed train leave. I was so close! 

When I eventually arrived at the reserve, I still had time for a short visit to Fen Hide, seeing a Chinese water deer, 2 swans, a heron, 2 greylags and a marsh harrier. I then managed to squeeze in a quick walk in the woods where siskins continued to make a noise along with treecreepers, nuthatches and woodpeckers. 

The sun tried to come out during my shift at Reception Hide and the broad had a large number of greylags again as well as 2 shelducks, a few coots, and the odd gadwall and mallard. The marsh harriers were at their best and seems to be in full sky dancing mode.

Feb 15th Cley & Norwich

With Valentine's week off from work, Mum and I went out to Cley. It was a really good day for it and there was plenty of birds out on Pat's Pool. This included a whooper swan that sat in the middle of an island full of many lapwing before going on a tour around the pool.

Nuthatch & Scarlet Elfcaps (Feb 6th)
Siskin (Feb 13th), Whooper Swan,
Long-billed Dowitcher & Snow Buntings (Feb 15th)

Also at Pat's Pool were avocets, pintails, wigeon, teal, shelducks, black-tailed godwits and a marsh harrier. On the walk back to the visitor centre, a red kite flew over us and we had a stonechat perching on a bramble branch.

We then moved on to the East Bank. The long-staying long-billed dowitcher was here again and it was showing well. It was the closest I've ever gotten to this American wader and I finally got some decent photos of it. Many others crowded that one section of the bank to enjoy this  small godwit-like bird, though Mum lost interest fairly quickly and didn't know what all the hype was about.

We then made our way to the beach and joined another crowd. This time to see 20-30 snow buntings on the shingle mound. Unlike the dowitcher, Mum was showing a lot more interest this time. Who wouldn't? They are always a charm to watch.

After returning home, we spent some time at my flat before heading out again. While at Cley, we were given a tip-off that a mini murmuration of starlings has been occurring in the city. So this evening, Mum took me to an Asda store car park at Hall Road in Norwich to try and see it for ourselves so I could tick it off of my list.

It took a while until I saw the first 3 starlings arriving at around 5pm. Three became 20, which became 50 and so on until a ball of roughly a few thousand were swirling over us. It wasn't the biggest or the most impressive murmuration I've ever seen, but it was still quite an experience to have them whoosh over my head all the same. As a ball, they mainly went round and round the car park in the sky over and over. Sometimes a few would break off and rejoin, while other large groups would arrive from nowhere to join the main group to bolster the numbers. 

The sight of them circling many times did make me feel a little dizzy. Eventually, at about 5:50pm it was time to roost and they all suddenly poured into two tall larch trees near the supermarket's petrol station. And then it was all over. The trees was just filled with chattering starling noises. It was at this point that I noticed. They got me! Not only me, but also my mum and the car. There was a price to enjoying this marvel it seemed.

Feb 17th Minsmere

On my final day off that week, my parents (who both also had the day off) and I visited Minsmere. We began our walk to Island Mere Hide. From the packed hide, there were 3 snipe feeding in the stubble just by the front, several tufted ducks, a couple of mute swans, a few flying marsh harriers and curlews and a pair of goosanders (a male and a female). I don't see many male goosanders, so I was fairly happy.

Pintail & Starling Murmuration (Feb 15th),
Goosanders (Feb 17th) & Blossom (Feb 20th)

A walk in the woods produced marsh tits and the sounds of siskins and treecreepers. The Bittern Hide wasn't very interesting other than a couple more marsh harriers.

After lunch, we visited North Hide, seeing many, many curlew, wigeon, shovelers, a flock of goldfinches, lapwing and a little egret.

We then checked out the brand new boardwalk that bypasses the beach and takes you to East Hide. The walk seemed to be longer than it actually was as the path felt very open and exposed. It appeared to stretch on and on without much growing beside it to obscure the length of it. There was even a new elevated section that went round the old track that used to lead you up to the hide from the beach.

From the hide itself, there was a lot to see. I don't recall seeing so many pintail in one place in my life! Also seen here were; 3 avocets, a flock of dunlin, the odd turnstone, a pochard, gadwall, shovelers, teal, shelducks, herring gulls, lesser and great black-backed gulls and some distant marsh harriers.

Feb 20th Strumpshaw Fen

A beautiful sunny morning. I did a walk in the woods, to the pumphouse and to the sluice gates before heading back for my shift. I heard more than I saw with drumming woodpeckers, siskins, meadow pipits, a bullfinch, 5 buzzards soaring above my head, scarlet elfcaps, snowdrops and a single primrose that was in flower.

There was some excitement over the weekend it seems, as I read the sightings board for Sunday 19th. It stood out from the rest. Written there was; WHITE-TAILED EAGLE!!! Apparently, a tagged bird from the Isle of Wight reintroduction project had flown by the front of Reception Hide! I looked and looked and looked, but sadly I could not find it anywhere. The best I could muster was an otter, several displaying marsh harriers and buzzards, some fighting coot, around 60-70 greylags, 2 shelducks and a small tortoiseshell butterfly in which I rescued from inside the Reception Hide as it tried to escape but the window was closed.

Feb 27th Strumpshaw Fen

I woke up, boarded the bus and there was no rain. I got off the bus in the city and it was raining. Then it was sunny by the time I got off the train at Brundall. A very strange start to the morning. 

After a short visit to Fen Hide, seeing only a Chinese water deer, I decided to go to Tower Hide. Big mistake! The rain earlier must have dampened the way to the hide as it was very slippery and very muddy in places. It was awful. When I got to the Tower Hide, there wasn't anything too exciting other than 13 teal, 6 mallards, some greylags and a marsh harrier. Nothing worth treading through slippery mud there and back for.

On the way back to Reception Hide, I came across some siskins and heard bullfinches and drumming woodpeckers. During my shift, the broad was full of greylags, gadwall, coot, mallards, 2 shelducks, 2 mute swans and 2 Canada geese, while marsh harriers and buzzards were busy displaying. I watched one male harrier go up and down like a yo-yo. Other than that, it was fairly unexciting to end my final shift of the month.

A Brand New Challenge

Before I get started with my sightings from this month, I'd like to announce my brand new challenge. No, it isn't a bird list. This time it is something completely different. So for 2023, I want to see as many displays, spectacles and events as I can. That's as many flower displays, murmurations, roosts and other things I can think of that I can probably see in Norfolk. I may need some help on a few I'm not sure about, such as the Natterjack toad one, or maybe even give me a new idea to add for the checklist that I haven't thought of yet. Here's my checklist that I've made for this challenge. What do you think?

Jan 7th Cley

The first trip of the year 2023.After taking the rest of December off due to work and Christmas, I was itching to get back to birdwatching. Unfortunately, it was a very windy day at the coast with some rain. It was to be a rather rubbish visit to Cley, though Mum and I did see a buzzard, a hare and a red kite on the drive up.

Stonechat (Jan 7th), Otter (Jan 9th),
Rook Roost (Jan 14th) & Mallard x Shoveler Hybrid (Jan 16th)

There were skeins of pink-footed geese, golden plovers, many lapwing, a couple of marsh harriers, a curlew, shelducks, but no sign of the long-billed dowitcher that was still about from the last time I saw it, though it was distant and so well hidden that I couldn't find it while I was looking for it along the East Bank. I also had a nice encounter with a stonechat, but nothing really to make this outing that memorable other than cake and pasties at the café.

Jan 9th Strumpshaw Fen

My first shift at Strumpshaw. It started with siskins in the alders next to Reception Hide, which may have had a redpoll amongst them. I didn't really had the best light and they flew off before I could study the noisy large flock to verify. 

In the woods, I spooked a muntjac deer, while at Fen Hide, it was pretty empty other than 2 greylags and pink-footed geese. During my first shift of 2023, the main highlight was an otter right in front of the Reception Hide. It came as close as the measuring post. A great white egret arrived as soon as the otter left. There were also 32 greylags, 3 mute swans and a couple of marsh harriers along with many visitors at the reserve, the most I've seen in recent months.

Jan 14th Buckenham

I began my new challenge to see as many displays and spectacles during this year by visiting Buckenham to see the largest rook roost in the UK. Around 50,000 - 60,000+ rooks and jackdaws congregate to a set of trees near the church and have been recorded doing so since the Doomsday Book in 1086. I've seen it a few times before and it never ceases to amaze me.

Dad and I waited for dusk in the wind and the odd rainy spell by the edge of the field they normally gather at before heading for the trees to roost. However, they never arrived to the field. I guess the windy weather had put them off. We didn't get to see them perch along the wires either, in which their weight causes them to bend slightly.

They arrived at 4:20pm, at this point a large birding group joined us to watch them fly as the sun was setting. They swirled around the sky like a snow globe in the dark with black snowflakes. Thousands and thousands of them! Like a scene from Hitchcock's 'The Birds'! It was an incredible sight with an unbelievable sound as they cawed in unison. And then, before 5pm, they all slowly and gradually landed into the trees for the night. You couldn't have asked for a better way to start the new challenge off.

Jan 15th Norwich

The rook roost made me want to see another roost that's on my list. And the best thing was, I didn't have to travel miles to go see it either. All I had to do was walk into Norwich and wait at the bus station for dusk. You're probably wondering what I could possibly see at a bus station in the middle of a city. Well, I heard that hundreds of pied wagtails have been arriving here to roost most nights. Though not as large in number as the rooks at Buckenham, it will still be quite an interesting experience.

While everyone were more interested in catching a bus, I watched these small birds fly up onto the station's roof and up onto the surrounding buildings one by one, then in smaller groups. I was expecting the bus station roof was to be the final destination, but it wasn't.

They eventually moved away from the roof and I followed them down an alley behind the YMCA building and into a buddleia bush. They continued to arrive, decorating the bush like black and white baubles, possibly a few hundred of them. At first, there was a chorus of 'chessick' calls, but then as they settled down in the bush, I could hear strange click-y chattering noise. Was this their way of talking to each other? Just like the rooks, it was all over by 5pm.

Jan 16th Strumpshaw Fen

It was starting to spit with rain as I got to Strumpshaw this morning. By the time I got to Fen Hide, it was tipping it down! There was nothing but a soggy marsh harrier for quite some time. Then the rain temporarily stopped and a buzzard and a Chinese water deer appeared just before I made a dash for it between showers.

At Reception Hide, the weather was temperamental as it changed from rain to sunshine to rain accompanied strong winds. The wildlife was also very changeable. There was a great white egret one moment, then 32 mallards, 7 gadwall, 6 teal and 23 greylags the next and then an otter to spook them all off. Amongst the mallards was a mallard x shoveler hybrid, which had the head of a mallard and the body of a shoveler. I also saw a little egret and a great spotted woodpecker.

Jan 18th Sculthorpe Moor

I had 3 days off from work and what better way to spend the first day than with a trip out to Sculthorpe. Mum also had the day off, so it was like old times. Though, it was rather cold and icy as the reserve was still covered in frost and sheets of ice. It was like the Arctic!

We had a great haul with bullfinches, greenfinches, chaffinches, blue, great, coal, marsh and long-tailed tits, siskins, nuthatches, pheasants, a brambling, redwings, several muntjacs and a tawny owl that was snoozing at the front of an owl nest box in the woods (my 2nd ever in broad daylight!).

However, the real highlight was to be something I've always wanted to photograph and my first time seeing one in the day. We were making our way to the new lake hide, but a lady in a Hawk & Owl Trust uniform stopped us. 

"We've got a woodcock out at the moment. Do you want to see?" 

My heart skipped a beat! Of course I wanted to see it! So, she took us round the corner, walked up the ramp of the tower hide a little way, stopped a bench on a bend in the ramp, peered over the side and pointed down at the woodland floor below. And there, like some magical beast from mythology was the woodcock staring right back at me with one large black marble of an eye. It was very active, probing the ground for worms. I couldn't believe what an amazing view I was getting, seeing all its beautiful camouflage in great detail. I was blown away! Just wow! Eventually, the woodcock wandered back into the woods away from the ramp. 

Brambling, Tawny Owl,
Woodcock (Jan 18th), Fox,
Barn Owl & Sunset (Jan 19th)

After a slightly uneventful visit to the tower hide itself (other than goldfinches), we went to the lake hide (where beavers were introduced a year ago as part of a re-introduction project). It was so cold! The lake was frozen over. A great white egret stopped by, standing on the ice was the only thing to be seen. We had lunch, before feeling so cold that we decided to end the visit and head for the warmth of home.

Jan 19th St Benet's Abbey & Hickling Broad

For my 2nd day off and my 3rd tick for my challenge, I took my scope and a train and met up with former Reception Hide colleague, Tricia, at Brundall station to eventually see the harrier roost at Hickling. First though, she and her friend, Christine, took me to St Benet's Abbey near Ludham to kill some time. We were hoping to see the short-eared owls that had been visiting this place that I've never been to on a daily basis. Sadly, there were no short-eared owls in sight. However, we did see barn owls. Two of them. Not only that, but also 2 foxes hunting in the frosty long grass, a crane on the other side of the river, 2-3 kestrels, a buzzard, a pair of stonechats and some distant Bewick's swans in a distant field in the horizon.

It was getting towards sunset, so we made our way to Hickling. We navigated down a long, ice-covered path to Stubb's Mill. The platform there was already attracting an audience and the show was already unfolding in the field in front of us with a barn owl and a hen harrier (which I missed). The raptor roost was good but not as good as when I last here last year. However, we did roughly count around 25+ marsh harriers, 2-3 hen harriers (one being a male, which was the one out of three I did actually see myself swooping around like a pale ghost with black wingtips alongside the marsh harriers) and roughly 15+ cranes coming in for the night. Everything was very far away. Good job I brought my scope!

We also had a kingfisher perched above the ditch behind us and heard a bullfinch. It was all rounded off with a fantastic red sunset. The perfect way to end the night, even if we did have to navigate the same icy path again, this time in the dark!

Jan 23rd Strumpshaw Fen

The temperature dropped to -4°C and was absolutely freezing! However, it lead to the perfect conditions for my next challenge objective; hoar frost. Strumpshaw was transformed into a winter wonderland with every vegetation decorated in spikes of ice. Every leaf, branch, berry, reed head and even moss became crystallised, beautiful, temporary jewels. I marvelled at them all. Absolutely breathtaking!

Frosty Scenes,
Redpoll (Jan 23rd) & Fieldfare (Jan 30th)

All though the frost only lasted for a short while, there was another captivating sight (and also sound in this case) that lasted far longer. A flock of siskins were making a racket in the alders, hundreds of them! And within their flock, I managed to spot some redpoll. They almost blended in so well that I could have dismissed them as siskins as they appear very similar. Thankfully, the red patch on their foreheads gave them away. I enjoyed this flock so much, I revisited them a couple more times throughout the morning.

Also seen were; bullfinches, marsh harriers, fieldfares, water rail, Chinese water deer, scarlet elfcap fungi and lots of ice as all the broads, ponds and ditches were all frozen solid.

Jan 29th Norwich

It was the RSPB's Big Garden Bird Watch weekend and I went to my parent's house yet again to do it. Last year, my parents were out and I had to do the one hour survey alone. This time, Dad and my niece, Ava, was here to watch the birds with me. 

There was quite a good turnout this year as we even had a flock of gulls circling for the bread that Dad put out on the lawn. Only one black-headed gull was brave enough for me to count it in the garden. We started at 9:06am and during the hour we counted; 1 magpie, 2 blackbirds, 2 woodpigeons, 1 blue tit, 2 greenfinches, 2 robins and 1 dunnock. Our best haul in quite some time!

Jan 30th Strumpshaw Fen

A fairly quiet morning, except in the woods, where the many siskins and redpolls were making a lot of twittering. I also encountered a fieldfare and a muntjac deer, while at the Reception Hide were 3 swans, 6 greylags, several mallards and marsh harriers and buzzards very briefly before all of them disappeared and left me with a very empty scene for most of the morning. It was a bit windy out on the broad and 3-4 bearded tits braving the strong gusts to feed on the reed heads from the reedy islands, riding them like a rodeo horse, was the last thing I expected to see.