To finish off the year I thought I would catch up with a few birds to grow my year list.
23rd December 2021
Cuckmere Haven
The weather was very wet so I decided to cut my losses and head for the gull roost at Cuckmere Haven. Thankfully the weather on the coast was much better with no rain.
There were hundreds of gulls in the roost, mainly Great Black-backed Gulls with some Lesser Black-backed Gulls and Herring Gulls.
There were 2 obvious Caspian Gulls that I could pick out. There were several other candidates but I could not be sure of these - I was hoping to bump into Matt Eade to get some help with the less obvious ID's.
I also saw 1 adult Yellow-legged Gull but again there were probably more.
On the east side of the river, just north of the scrape, I was delighted to see a Short-eared Owl foraging along the small grassy area adjacent to the path. Every now and then it went down to avoid the walkers who were heading to and from the estuary but it soon re-appeared.
I returned to the same place on 29th December with much the same weather pattern. This time however the roost held only 100 gulls or so with no obvious Caspian or Yellow-legged Gulls. The other gulls were much further north and east and too far away to get a decent view even with the telescope.
30th December 2021
Burpham, near Aundel, West Sussex
I was so sure of twitching the 3 Bewick Swans that were wintering in the Arundel area and I was flabbergasted to "dip" on this my final trip out this year. The birds were actually further upstream just north of Amberley but the news didn't come through until after I had returned home.
Yesterday they were at Burpham and on New Year's Eve they were at Burpham - that's the way it goes.
New Year's Eve
I decided to stay at home today and still managed to end my birding year on a high. As I was walking the dogs in the dark around our estate I was delighted to hear the "twit twoo" calls of the Tawny Owls from the high trees in the neighbourhood.
Martin wanted to go to Bedgebury to check out the site for hawfinches. He has fond memories from a visit he made years ago. Recent advice form the Kent Ornithological Society indicated that the situation has radically changed and numbers have since plummeted. However we did get a reported sighting yesterday so off we went. David, also a great fan of Bedgebury, gave us a map showing his last hawfinch sighting a few years ago.
For a long time we saw absolutely nothing . Then, just on 15.00 hr as we were about to give up, Martin spotted one in a nearby conifer. It was showing really well on an exposed branch. We enjoyed lovely views for around 10 minutes before it flew away. The image shown is an actual photograph and not a digiscoped image as in my previous posts, illustrating just how close we got to this magnificent bird.
courtesy of Martin Jeffree
The closest I have ever been to this bird was at Sizergh Castle in Cumbria with Brian in March 2015 when the birds were feeding on the ground a few metres from us. Unfortunately we didn't have a camera with us that day.
Only a single bird today but what a view!
Wednesday 22 December 2021
Heathfield with David
I joined David at the Heathfield site after lunch today, arriving just before 14.00. He was watching 6 hawfinches as I arrived but by the time I had set up my scope they had all gone!
We waited and waited but it was beginning to look like they would not return. Then just around 15.50 I spotted 3 of them in the tall deciduous tree straight out from us. Five minutes later they were joined by another 3, all 6 showing really well in the canopy. Then we settled back to enjoy 30 minutes of uninterrupted viewing until 4 of them dropped down to the thicker foliage, presumably to go to roost. The other 2 took flight, one flying right and the last one going to the right.
This is turning out to be my best ever year for sightings of Hawfinches!
My last trip of 2021 was supposed to be a showpiece event. I booked for "Swans awake", organised by the WWT at Welney in Norfolk, to observe the swans as they took flight from their their overnight roosting sites. Here's the advert I responded to.
"Join our warden before dawn to watch the stunning sight of thousands of swans waking up on the wetlands.
Time: 6.30am - 9am
Cost: adults £12, children £5 Pre-order a breakfast muffin for £4.95 to enjoy at the end of the morning. We have either mushroom & emental os sausage and bacon to choose from.
Each winter thousands of Bewick's and whooper swans make their winter migration to the UK, to escape colder countries. Bewick's are the smallest and rarest of the three swan species in the UK. Being much more timid than the larger whooper swans they tend to stay away from the swan feeds, so venturing out early gives you the best chance to see them.
The haunting landscape of the Fens fills with the sound of swans calling to one another, their large feet slapping the water as they take off and their wing beats as they pass over head.
During the event we will use the best locations available to view the roosting flocks flying out, towards the end of the event the birds on the main lagoon are given their breakfast before returning to the visitor centre.
However the weather soon changed these grand plans and very little went according to schedule.
I was on the road at 02.30 in order to make the 06.30 start. The weather was awful - damp with mist and fog all the way up, making driving very difficult even on the deserted roads.
Worse was to follow. The fog proved to be a game changer for the main event too.
We waited for sunrise to see the swans - I joined the group in the Lyle Hide which overlooks the area where the Bewick swans would normally roost. Not today though, ominously it was devoid of swan sounds between 06.30 and sunrise and when daylight arrived there were no Bewick swans at all and there were precious few birds at all. The theory has it that the dense fog and wet conditions were conducive to the swans staying out in the fields with very little danger.
When we returned to the main hide there were only about 20 whooper swans on the water but as the 08.30 feeding time approached the numbers grew but never at any significant rate. There were no Bewick's at the feed at all!
It wasn't all doom and gloom though. I did manage to see my first tree sparrows in over 2 years as well as a couple of barn owls, lots of ducks with pintail the pick of these.
What a shame for the organisers of the event and what an anti-climax for we punters.
I even went looking for the Bewick's in the surrounding areas but the visibility rendered the exercise futile.
Up to 5 smew had been reported at Fen Drayton in the last few days so I called in there on the way home. The visibility was again awful and the conditions underfoot very unpleasant and after a while I gave up and headed home.
The weather was the clear winner today - thank heavens for the owls, tree sparrows and ducks.
Following last weekends successful Hawfinch sightings at West Dean Woods I was delighted to have the opportunity to look for them nearer home. David Williams had agreed with Sussex supremo Mark Mallalieu to monitor a site at Heathfield - just 15 minutes away by car. As instructed we arrived at the site early - around 12.30.
The first Hawfinch arrived about 13.50 and was quickly joined by others until we had a total of 10 happily occupying the upper branches of the hornbeam trees.
courtesy of David Williams
Around 14.30 they departed, so quickly that we both missed it.
Shortly afterwards I saw a single Hawfinch fly in and land on the top of an adjacent tree and it stayed there until 14.55 before dropping down into the lower branches and thicker foliage.
The supporting cast included a lovely Grey Wagtail enjoying the recently created pool in the field a few metres away from us, Siskins and lots of Redwings.
Exciting times on my doorstep!
Next day David and I returned just before 14.00 but this time too late to see the Hawfinches arrive. They were in place and more were joining. Again the final total was 10 birds.
The birds were spooked by something and flew off around 14.25. Incredibly, a lone bird flew in like yesterday, stayed on the upper branches until 14.55 before dropping down the tree again at 14.55.
12 of us met up (eventually) at Fishbourne Creek to enjoy a really spectacular morning's birding with 9 staying on to make the trip north to West Dean Woods and go one better and see a couple of real winter Sussex specialities in the afternoon.
All in all there were over 70 species seen. Thankfully Alan P kept a list and was there from the start, unlike me who didn't read Paul's email and arrived 30 minutes late. Alan's list is shown below.
Fishbourne Creek
I missed out on the Red-breasted Mergansers and Goldeneye at the start and they wern't there at the end when we returned to the car parking area.
Many of the birds were the same as when I last visited with the East Grinstead RSPB Group on 21st November 2021 but there were a few notable additions this time and I have listed them below:-
We had a couple of Yellowhammer sightings that we didn't get last time, presumably because of the strong winds then.
A Rock Pipit, a Kingfisher and a Yellow Wagtail were seen at the far end of the creek.
At least 4 Greenshanks were present as well as a similar number of Spotted Redshanks.
A surprising number of birds were seen, especially when you take account of the fact that the visit was at low-tide.
West Dean Woods
There was only one thing on our minds when we relocated to West Dean Woods for the pm session - HAWFINCHES! We were not disappointed,
Andrew and I arrived first at Staple Ash Farm and within minutes Andrew spotted one in the treetops nearby. Unfortunately it flew off before we could assemble our scopes.
Shortly afterwards, when the other 7 group members turned up, we got our scope view of one in a different tree.
We had superb views of at least 6 more Hawfinches from the slopes near Monkton Farm.
courtesy of Paul James
As a bonus we saw at least 3 Bramblings which were in with the chaffinches.
I went down to the Cuckmere this afternoon hoping to find a Caspian Gull or a Yellow-legged Gull in the roost.
There were lots of Great Black-backed Gulls and several Herring Gulls but there was no sign of the target species.
What I did find however was a Short-eared Owl on the eastern side of the river just below the start of the Seven Sisters walk. It was flying low over the grassy areas, landed on a post for a while until it was disturbed by a nearby walker and then it disappeared for a while. Thankfully it reappeared and all in all I managed 4 decent sightings - all of the same bird presumably.
A lovely late afternoon session at my favourite beauty spot on the south coast.
Twelve of us turned up at RSPB Pulborough Brooks where we spent the morning, spotting over 50 species. 9 of us then relocated to the Burgh for the afternoon session where we pushed our list count past the 60 mark. The weather was dry but overcast and quite windy.
RSPB Pulborough Brooks
The highlights from the Pulborough session are shown below:-
At least 14 drake Pintails were seen and the views from West Mead Hide were particularly impressive
A Peregrine Falcon drew our attention as it perched on top of a mound with its back to us. Occasionally it took flight but soon returned to the same position.
The waders included Wigeon, Teal, and Black-tailed Godwit
A Lesser-spotted Woodpecker was seen on the reserve but alas not when we were looking.
The Burgh
Thankfully the wind had eased by the time we got to the Burgh. The highlights were:-
14 Grey Partridges were seen in the field adjacent to the track we were on.
There was lots of activity in the skies above with scores of Starlings on the move. Common Gulls were lively too with 26 counted at one time. At least 7 Red Kites were on show. At least 3 Buzzards were seen.
There were lots of chaffinches moving along the hedgerows and among them was a single Brambling - my first of the year.
The unusual occurrence of 3 divers in a small local harbour took me down to Sovereign Harbour in Eastbourne . It was a glorious afternoon with bright sunshine and clear skies but very cold.
It didn't take long to locate the birds - the Great Northern Diver and the Black-throated Diver first then, after a little walk the Red-throated Diver was spotted. All were in the outer harbour at low tide and the views were second to none.
courtesy of Ian Barnard and Twitter
courtesy of Ian Barnard and Twitter
courtesy of Ian Barnard and Twitter
There was a strong supporting cast too with a Guillemot and several Great-crested Grebes.
Look out for an unfortunate Puffin, a very special Little Auk and how I purchased my large print Collins Guide on the beach at Cley in Marcus's report below.
28th Nov 2021 – Early Winter Tour, Day 3
Day 3 of a three day Early Winter Tour, our last day. It was another cold and windy day but thankfully the wintry showers first thing dried up quite quickly, and after that they were much fewer and further between for the rest of the day.
When we got down to Wells beach car park it was sleeting quite steadily, so we stopped in the minibus for a couple of minutes while we waited for it to pass over. Once it had stopped, we walked up to the lifeboat station.
The tide was just coming in, and we scanned the mud on the far side, where there were lots of waders. Large areas were covered with Oystercatchers and Knot, and there were several Grey Plover and Ringed Plover scattered around too, along with groups of Sanderling and Dunlin. A few Turnstones were picking around the patches of shingle. Five or six Bar-tailed Godwits were working their way along the near edge of the sandbar opposite us.
Waders – out in Wells Harbour
We had a quick look in the outer harbour, to see if anything had been blown in but we couldn’t see anything out on the water. A Red Kite was hanging in the air over the beach opposite.
Back to the car park, we crossed over to the other side and continued on into the woods. We stopped to scan the boating lake. There were several Tufted Ducks diving in the middle and a few Little Grebes around the edges, plus three Coot and a single Moorhen. A Kingfisher was perched on a briar stem over the edge of the water by the channel opposite. It looked stunning in a brief moment of sunshine, before it shot off low over the water.
Kingfisher – perched by the boating lake
We carried on along the track towards the trees, but hadn’t got much further when we noticed a stunning pink male Bullfinch perched in a bramble-draped hawthorn ahead of us. Looking more closely, we could see a browner female feeding on the brambles, just below. A couple of dogwalkers came past us and unsurprisingly the Bullfinches flew off as they approached.
Making our way into the birches, a Jay flew up from the grass under the trees. We flushed a couple of Blackbirds, but otherwise there was no obvious sign of any new arrivals having come in from the continent, despite the favourable winds.
When we got to the corner of The Dell, we came across a tit flock. We looked up to see several Long-tailed Tits flick up into the birches. We climbed up the slope onto the top of the dune ridge on the north side, where we were on eye level with the birds. They were moving through the branches very quickly, but in among the mix of tits, we picked up a couple of Goldcrests, Treecreepers, and at least one Chiffchaff too.
We followed the tit flock round the east side of the Dell, where the same or another Chiffchaff flicked through the birches ahead of us, and out onto the main track again. We flushed a Reed Bunting from under the brambles by the path, which perched deep in cover for a few seconds flicking its tail before flying back into the trees. A little further along, we found three Chiffchaffs together now. Unfortunately they didn’t stop long enough for us to see whether any of them might have been more interesting, before they disappeared deeper into the trees.
We crossed over into the open area south of the main track, and stopped by the gap in the bushes to scan the grazing marshes. There were no geese on here today, but we did see a Red Kite over Holkham Park in the distance and a Common Buzzard circled over the edge of the caravan park.
There were a few more Blackbirds in the bushes here and we came across a single Redwing in the far corner, but it flew off ‘teezing’ as we approached. A juvenile Peregrine drifted over the pines. As we started to cut back through the birches towards the main track, a Woodcock flew up from the grass and shot off into the trees.
One of the group was interested in fungi, and we stopped to look at some growing by the path now. A large Brown Birch Bolete looked like it was easy enough to identify, but some of the others would require a bit more study. We took a few photographs as we made our way back towards the car park.
Brown Birch Bolete – growing under a birch tree
We were just heading over to the beach cafe when we got a message to say that a Little Auk was to be released at the lifeboat station at midday. Perfect – time for a coffee in the cafe first!
Coffees duly drunk, we were just getting ready to go up to the lifeboat station when we got another message to say there was a Puffin now in the harbour channel. Sure enough, there it was bobbing around on the water off the lifeboat station. It was an adult too, with a very bright bill still. Everybody had a look through the scope and we had then taken our eyes off it, when someone else announced that a Great Black-backed Gull had dropped onto the water out where the Puffin was. Horrified, we looked back to see the gull with the Puffin in its bill. Even worse, after drowning it, the gull seemed to lose interest and flew off, leaving it behind. All a bit gruesome – but nature red in tooth and claw. It also highlights why these auks generally live far out to sea, and something is normally already wrong if they are brought inshore.
Puffin – in the harbour channel
Two people arrived carrying a large plastic box, with an entourage of curious onlookers following. The Little Auk had arrived! It had been found in Reepham, about 15 miles inland, last night, presumably disoriented and blown there by the gale force winds. Mostly these birds do not survive overnight, but it was apparently livelier now than it had been when it was found, which was an encouraging sign. It wriggled and squirmed as it was picked up to be released.
Little Auk – being released
The Little Auk flapped out onto the water and looked back at the people gathered on the shore watching it. It swam slowly further out into the channel and then started diving – another encouraging sign. Fingers crossed for it.
Little Auk – swam actively out into the harbour
Back to the minibus, it was still a little early for lunch, so we drove round to Holkham and stopped to scan the grazing marshes. We could see three Great White Egrets out with the Belted Galloway cattle immediately and it was not long before the two Cattle Egrets appeared too, from where they were hidden behind the cows. They flew round and landed again out of view.
There were lots of geese out on the grazing marshes but looking through them most were Greylags, plus a pair of Egyptian Geese. Scanning round, we eventually found the White-fronted Geese we were looking for, tucked down in the corner, keeping their own company. Noticeably smaller and darker than the Greylags, through the scope, we could see the white surround to their bills from where White-fronted Geese get their name. Numbers are starting to increase slowly now, as we get into winter, and we counted twenty four here today.
White-fronted Geese – out on the grazing marshes
There were several Marsh Harriers and Common Buzzards around the grazing marshes too. A juvenile Peregrine circled overhead, before disappearing over the Park behind us. Then another Peregrine, this time an adult, appeared distantly over pines. As we watched, it accelerated and stooped towards something over by Lady Anne’s Drive.
We headed round to Lady Anne’s Drive ourselves, for a late lunch in The Lookout. There were just a few Greylags on the marshes here again today, but a small skein of Pinkfeet did come over calling while we were eating.
We didn’t have much time left now, but with a couple of requests to see if we could get better views of Glaucous Gull, we headed back to Cley where one had been reported again earlier this morning. When we got to the beach car park, we asked some of the locals seawatching but unlike yesterday, there had apparently been no further sign of it since early morning. The lingering Black Guillemot had been seen earlier too, but there was no sign of that either now. A Grey Seal pup had come up over the beach and proceeded to go straight past everyone into the car park.
The seawatchers had thinned out now and we managed to get into the front of the shelter, to scan the sea. There were still a few things moving – a steady movement of Common Guillemots past, a few Red-throated Divers and several Eider – a couple of small groups past close in, and a much larger flock of around thirty a long way out.
Eider – there were still a few moving this afternoon
There were lots of gulls offshore, feeding in the surf. Gradually they started moving back west along the coast, heading back towards the harbour to roost. We figured there had to be an outside chance we might catch a Glaucous Gull heading in with them, as the two had done yesterday. Scanning through, we did manage to pick out a 1st winter Mediterranean Gull on the sea, and another, this time an adult, flew past, but no sign of anything rarer. We had probably exhausted our luck for this weekend!
The light was starting to go now. Somewhat bizarrely, we had managed to arrange a book delivery for one of the group, which was very kindly dropped down by WildSounds to where we were seawatching! Personal service! Once it arrived, it was time to head for home.
This time the limelight is shared by the Snow Buntings and the fantastic seawatch. Marcus's report is shown below in full.
27th Nov 2021 – Early Winter Tour, Day 2
Day 2 of a three day Early Winter Tour. With a Met Office ‘yellow warning’ in place for high winds, the original weather forecast for today was looking very rough, but by the day the worst prognostications had been revised and even then the outcome was nowhere near as bad as it could have been. Again!
It was drizzling on and off as we drove east to Cley, but once we arrived and parked at Walsey Hills, it had stopped. A dead Water Vole in the layby looked like it had unfortunately been run over. A quick scan revealed a pair of Gadwall with the Mallard on Snipes Marsh, a Canada Goose on the grazing marsh opposite and a pair of Mute Swans in the channel, all new birds for the trip list.
While it was dry, we decided to walk up East Bank first. There was not much on Don’s Pool, just a couple of Shelduck, and a Marsh Harrier was quartering the reedbed beyond. We could see dark clouds away to the west, and a rainbow over the hides.
Rainbow – looking out over the reedbed
We stopped to scan Pope’s Pool there were lots of ducks and a few Cormorants on the islands. We could make out several Dunlin with a couple of Redshank along the near edge. There were more ducks on the Serpentine, mainly Wigeon and Teal. Another flock of Dunlin flew in and dropped down on the mud.
We could see another rainbow ahead of us now, and more dark clouds coming in off the sea straight towards us. So we hurried on to the shelter overlooking Arnold’s Marsh.
Out of the squally wintry shower, we could scan the pool at our leisure. There were a few more waders on here, more Redshank and a couple of Curlews. Lots of Dunlin were trying to find shelter behind the vegetation on the shingle islands, along with a single Grey Plover and one Turnstone. Four more Turnstone dropped in, as did a couple of Ringed Plovers.
Redshank – one of several on Arnold’s
There were more Cormorants on here too, presumably taking a break from the raging sea beyond, and a few Great Black-backed Gulls. We talked about the identification of large gulls and took a closer look as we waited for the squall to pass.
Scanning the brackish pool behind, ten Little Grebes were swimming together and diving out on the water. There was a good selection of ducks – lots of Shoveler, and more Gadwall, but we couldn’t see any sign the Pintail on here today.
A dog walker had passed us on our way out, carrying a pair of binoculars, and we could now see him watching the Snow Buntings out on the shingle ridge, the birds occasionally flying up and whirling round. As he made his way back, he popped into the shelter to tell us they were there, so when the weather cleared, we headed out to see if we could see them a bit closer.
A Little Egret was huddled behind the reeds on the pool down below the path, but flew off as we approached. We had a quick look at the sea when we got to the shingle, but it looked quite quiet – bird-wise at least it was quiet, the sea was predictably very rough. A Gannet flew past just offshore. We turned east and dropped down out of the wind into the lee of shingle ridge.
The Snow Buntings were very mobile at first. They were in a large flock, about 60 of them, and we could see them whirl round as we walked out and then land on the beach side of the ridge. We looked over the ridge where we thought they had dropped but spooked them again as we stuck our heads over. They flew and landed on the shingle again a little further along. We approached carefully, but then noticed another dogwalker coming the other way and sure enough they flew off again as he approached. This time they went much further, landing some way out in the fenced off area north of Sea Pool.
We walked over to the far side of their favourite feeding area, to position ourselves for when they flew back in. As one of the group walked up, he almost trod on one Snow Bunting which hadn’t flown off with the others. It didn’t seem in the least worried and continued feeding just a couple of metres from us, totally unfazed. Amazing views!
Snow Bunting – amazingly tame
While we were admiring the lone Snow Bunting, the rest of the flock flew back in and landed very close to us too. The single bird then picked its way round past us to join them, and we watched the whole group feeding now at close range. It was interesting to see the mixture of dark and paler birds – as well as variation due to age and sex, there are two races of Snow Bunting which mix together in winter here on the coast, paler Scandinavian nivalis and darker Icelandic insulae.
Snow Buntings – the rest of the flock flew back in
We kept one eye on the sea, but there didn’t appear to be much moving offshore, a steady passage of gulls, and a few divers past. We could see very dark grey clouds and rain away to the east – we had been lucky with the window of weather out here watching the Snow Buntings, but we knew it wouldn’t last so decided to head back before weather turned again.
As we made our way back along the East Bank, there were some Black-tailed Godwits now on the Serpentine, and lots more Dunlin feeding on the muddy edges. A small flock of Linnets dropped in too. As we approached Don’s Pool, a Kingfisher shot past high over the grazing marshes and across the bank back towards the road. We thought it dropped down into the main catchwater drain, but there was no sign of it there when we got back. A Kestrel was hovering over the front of Walsey Hills.
Back to Walsey Hills, we continued on past Snipe’s Marsh and down footpath into bushes, out of the wind. There was a nice selection of tits and finches coming and going from the feeders, but the rest of the bushes were quiet. The willows at the back were still catching the wind. Out at the back, we scanned the fields beyond. A mixed flock of Lapwings and Golden Plover were feeding on the winter wheat. On the hillside behind North Foreland Woods, a Woodpigeon and a Stock Dove were both on the wires, the latter noticeably smaller. A Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over.
Back to the minibus, we drove round to the Visitors Centre at Cley for a coffee break and a chance to warm up. Afterwards, we still had some time before lunch, so we drove back east and on towards Salthouse. We had seen some Brent Geese in the distance from the shelter out at Arnold’s Marsh earlier. They were still in the field next to the road, but we couldn’t see them well from this angle and another car was already in the layby further up.
We drove on further. There was no sign of any Pinkfeet on the marshes at Salthouse today, they were probably feeding inland, so we went to see if there were any gulls loafing in the fields by Beach Road. There were, but unfortunately there were no white-winged gulls with them. We did pick out a rather dark grey-backed adult Herring Gull, a bird of the northern argentatus race.
We turned round and went back to look at the Brent Geese from a different angle. They had moved, but we found we could get a better view from the road opposite Babcock Hide now. One bird on the front edge of the flock stood out, noticeably darker-bodied, the Black Brant. We managed to park and got out very carefully, without flushing the flock.
Black Brant – with the Dark-bellied Brents
Once the geese settled again, we were able to get the scope on the Black Brant and compare it with the rest of the flock, most of which were the regular Dark-bellied Brents. Scanning through, we found a single Pale-bellied Brent too. A three Brent subspecies flock!
Back to Cley and we drove out to the beach car park now. We stopped for lunch in the lee of the beach shelter. A Grey Seal had hauled itself out on the top of the shingle ridge, and looked back occasionally at the raging surf where several large bulls were lingering in the breakers.
Grey Seal – pulled out on the beach
Speaking to the people who had been seawatching here all day, there had been a couple of Glaucous Gulls patrolling up and down the shore earlier, so we kept one eye open while we were eating. After lunch, we found some space in the east side of the shelter, out of the wind, and scanned more thoroughly.
One of the group picked up a distant skua offshore, just as a heavy squall came in over the sea, and a quick view through the scope before it was engulfed by the rain confirmed it was a juvenile Pomarine Skua. That was hard to get onto, but a group of three Great Skuas was much more obliging, as they came through west really close inshore, a great view.
Great Skua – one of a group of three
There were several Red-throated Divers and Guillemots moving, and a steady passage of ducks passing. A female Eider flew in and landed on the sea just offshore. There were several flocks of Common Scoter, one group being led by a single drake Goosander. Also quite a few Wigeon, and a female Pintail at the head of one group of those.
There was a steady trickle of waders past too – mostly Dunlin, but also a group of four Knot, several Grey Plovers, and a Ringed Plover. About thirty Snow Buntings flew west along the beach, possibly some of the birds we had been watching at close quarters earlier.
There were lots of gulls just offshore, but no sign of either Glaucous Gull at first. Quite a few Kittiwakes were moving, some nice and close, a mixture of adults and juveniles. A distant Little Gull was quickly lost in the troughs, but then a shout from someone in the car park alerted us to two juveniles coming in behind us which flew right past.
Eventually one of the Glaucous Gulls put in an appearance, coming in along the beach behind the pill box. A biscuit coloured juvenile, it immediately stood out with its very pale wingtips. It arced up into the air several times, dropping back down to the breakers again, and we thought it might carry on straight past us, but disappeared back east.
It was a really productive seawatch for an hour or so, but the light was already just starting to go when some much darker, thicker clouds started to roll in. The skies looked quite apocaplyptic away towards Salthouse and as the bad weather approached us too, we decided to get into the minibus to warm up, and start to make our way slowly back.
We called in briefly at Morston, but there was still too much water in the channel for there to be much feeding here, the tide held up by the wind today. All we could see from the warmth of the bus were a couple of Redshank and Curlew, a single Black-tailed Godwit and a Little Egret.
We thought we might try to catch some geese to end the day at Holkham, but the light had gone by the time got there, and the driving rain was sweeping across the marshes on the 50mph wind gusts. We had done very well all things considered. It was time to call it a day and try again tomorrow.
