Thirty Years Ago - October 1992

 3^rd October:

An afternoon jaunt with Paul W to Landguard Point for a 1^st winter male Rustic Bunting.  It initially proved difficult to see as it was in the compound and right up against the fence but before too long it came out an showed very well although it certainly did not appreciate it new bit of leg bling [Eds: to this day it is still the only bird I have ever seen trying to remove a ring]

 Rustic Bunting

Goldcrests were oozing out of every bush and Blackbirds and Song Thrushes were obvious too along with a few Blackcaps, Robins, two Brambling and seven Wheatear.  A male Black Redstart was on the Common and may have been a local.  After a good natter we headed for home.

4^th October:

A seriously jammed car saw us heading down to Cornwall overnight [Eds: Steve Bacon, Alan Bell, the late Ken Barrett and CE but I can’t remember who that was – sorry] in the hope that the Black-winged Pratincole would still be floating around Davidstow Airfield.  Paul W had correctly predicted during the week that this immature bird would turn out to be this species.

I am not sure what time we arrived but it was overcast and bloody cold and the glum expressions told us that the bird had not yet appeared. Nearly two hours in the cold were required before it drifted into view with the Lapwing flock along with a few Golden Plovers and three Ruff.  This was only my second Pratincole (after the October ’88 Elmley Oriental) and I had never seen one in flight so watching it careening across the skies was breath taking.

With nothing to target we came home via the Exminster Cirl Buntings.

5^th October:

Back from Cornwall and straight up to Norfolk with Paul W for what would be an epic seawatch from the shelter at Sheringham into the teeth of a north-easterly.

Red-throated Diver	22
Black-throated Diver	3	sum ads
Red-necked Grebe	3
Gannet	200
Fulmar	2
Manx Shearwater	17
Sooty Shearwater	2
Med Shearwater	1	Norfolk tick
Leach's Petrel	3
Storm Petrel	1	Norfolk tick
Cormorant	11
Shag	7
Brent Goose	300
Wigeon	46
Teal	2
Scaup	3
Eider	14
Common Scoter	47
Velvet Scoter	1
Shelduck	1
Red-breasted Merganser	1
Oystercatcher	4
Ringed Plover	1
Grey Plover	1
Knot	2
Sanderling	2
Dunlin	3
Redshank	1
Great Skua	25
Pomarine Skua	6	1st ever spooner
Arctic Skua	8
Long-tailed Skua	2
Little Gull	1
Black-headed Gull	70
Common Gull	15
Herring Gull	10
Lesser Black-backed Gull	2
Great Black-backed Gull	4
Kittiwake	80
Sandwich Tern	6
Arctic Tern	1
Guillemot	10
Razorbill	10
Auk sp	500
Puffin	5
Little Auk	1	earliest ever and my 300th species for 1992
Black Guillemot	1	3rd Norfolk sighting
Short-eared Owl	1
Skylark	3
Meadow Pipit	3
Rock Pipit	3
Wheatear	1

 

We had two sessions from 8am – 9.30am and then again from 11.20am to 1.30pm.   Our brief respite was to allow a dash down to Wells Wood where an Olive Backed Pipit obliged on arrival as it flew up at our feet calling before settling down and giving excellent views in the birches – my 3^rd Norfolk tick of the day.  Goldcrests were everywhere and we also saw a couple of late Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs, a Redstart and a vocal Yellow-browed Warbler.

After we had finished at Sheringham for the second time we headed to Norwich for a Big Mac before the pager bleeped and sent us off to Southwold after a Steppe Grey Shrike.  Robin Chittenden was the only other birder present and was busily snapping this stunning bird.  Subsequent talk strongly suggests that this should be a separate species from the northern and western races with just four accepted records prior to this bird making it a very rare bird indeed.  The sea was still very rough and foam was flying everywhere.

10^th October:

Another seawatch session at Sheringham, this one with Steve Bacon and Sam Shippey.  Once again it was pretty good with 16 Red-throated Divers, Black-throated Diver, Red-necked Grebe, eight Pom Skuas. two Puffins and a 1w Sabine’s Gull being the pick.

The afternoon was firstly spent at Stiffkey Wood where an Olive-backed Pipit had gone missing but a Pallas’s Warbler had been reported at Wells and as Sam needed it we moved on. It was amazingly quickly re-found and after some chasing around and patience it was seen bouncing around with a large passerine flock that included many Goldcrests, all six Tit species [Eds: neither Marsh or Willow have been there for countless years now], Treecreepers, two Brambling and amazingly a very flightly Olive-backed Pipit.  I think that there were two Pallas’s with one being brighter than the other.

Pallas’s Warbler 

The rest of the day was spent bumming around Stiffkey failing to find the OBP again but seeing  many Goldcrests, six Swallows, Wheatear and a brief chunky Barred Warbler.

18^th October:

It started well with the Sparrowhawk over home again before heading to Abberton with Pete G.  It was very quiet save for several House Martins and Swallow and two newly arrived Bewick’s Swans. Fingringhoe and Holland Haven were practically devoid of bird life.

19^th-23^rd October: Geomorphology field trip to North Devon.

As usual I kept my eyes open and came up with a few expected and unexpected finds.  The best bird came late on the journey down when our coach had to stop in the village of Stoke to let a van through just before our base at the Hartland Hotel.  I wiped the window and there on a telegraph wire was a superb Great Grey Shrike.  My friends thought I had gone mad as I gesticulated through the steamed up window.

Great Grey Shrike

There were Buzzards and Ravens galore, a fine pair of Peregrines around the hotel, a female Merlin, Stonechats, Rock Pipits, Chiffchaffs, Grey Wagtails, seven Dippers and some late Swallows along with a fly over Red-throated Pipit over Ilfracombe.

On getting back to Uni on Friday evening Mum came to pick me up and once on the move told me about an OBP at Connaught Water [Eds: can’t for the life of me remember how she knew but suspect Ken Barrett]. Naturally we deviated that way and I leapt out of the car in the rain, saw the bird very well in flight and calling and then got a lively lift home with Jim Larwence in his castrated Cosworth.

Olive-backed Pipit

26^th October:

I gave the OBP a miss at the weekend but headed back on the Monday morning.  People were patiently waiting for it to appear from its circular clump but it was happy on the inside so I went in and joined it from the other side and had point blank views as it fed in the leaf litter before hopping up onto low branches.  Two female Sparrowhawks circled overhead and the Mandarins were in fine plumage.