4th February:
Suzy and Mel finished their nursing degree yesterday but as
I was making coat hangers [Eds: a week long agency post in a Beckton factory
where everyone was high from the smell of melting plastic and they managed to
set fire to stacks of carboard twice – I declined my second week] I was unable
to attend their evening do so I visited the next day for farewells and lunch at
the Coach House Inn. Whilst looking out
of the flat window where the almost spring-like weather tempted a male Lesser
Spotted Woodpecker to start singing and drumming while a male Sparrowhawk
zipped through.
5th February:
In contrast to yesterday it was a totally miserable day but
was enlivened by a dash to Rainham Marshes where two Long-eared Owls performed very
well in a clump of Elders in the inland side of the landfill. This bit also hosts the main scramble bike
routes. [Eds: I also seem to recall that the directions to the clump said to ‘
go past the bubbling blue pits’. I can
remember them too as well as the smell.
Who knows quite what went into
the tip in those days.] A Water Pipit flew over calling but there was no sign of
the Iceland Gull.
7th February:
Despite my initial misgivings it was a good call to take
Pete G up to coastal East Anglia for the day and not only did it stay dry but
we were treated to blue skies and sunshine for most of the day. We started at Great Yarmouth Cemetery where
the Hume’s Yellow-browed Warbler had reappeared after an absence of five
weeks.
It did not take long to find in the Holm Oaks and performed very
well for us. The bird called frequently
and varidly. Most of the time it was a high disyllabic call unlike a Greenish
Warbler while at other times it uttered a louder mono call that was almost
sparrow-like. Like the majority of
birders I believe that this form is long overdue splitting.
Pleased with our early success we headed to the seafront
where we had been told there were one or two Med Gulls and we quickly found
five 1st year and two each of adult and 2nd year in view
on the green sward at Gorleston! Amazing!
After taking loads of pics [Eds: film remember!] we headed south towards
Lowestoft but ongoing sea defence work precluded any chance of Purple
Sandpipers and we saw little other than Kittiwakes.
On again and south to Westleton Heath for the elusive Great
Grey Shrike. I found it in seconds and
had not even got out of the car! Quite a poser actually and eventually came
quite close. An expert hoverer although
I did not see it catch anything.
Sizewell next for Skuas and Shorelarks. The brand new Sizewell B nuclear power
station has an outfall like Dungeness and was attracting more birds than usual
which had then attracted some out of season Skuas too and we found one dark
phase Arctic amongst the gulls.
We found the Shorelarks in a fenced dune system in front of
the station. Thirteen were counted and
was my highest ever count and somewhere in pristine plumage with clean black
and yellow faces and little black horns.
A small charm of Goldfinches and two Red-legged Partridges
were also in the fenced area. Back at
the car park we had lunch and found a couple of Chiffchaffs in the Dogwoods
before continuing south to Alton Water.
The weather was starting to close in but at least it was not raining. We got lucky with our first stop and the male
Red-crested Pochard was soon found amongst the other duck. We drove around to the other car park and I
immediately popped my scope onto a duo of Divers and over the next ten minutes
I battled with whether there were one each of Great Northern and Black-throated
or just two Black-throats before the problem resolved itself with three Divers
actually being on the surface at the same time!
The last stop was Abberton where the White-headed Duck was
found snoozing with 70 Ruddy Duck [Eds: I miss them…]. Several male Goldeneye were displaying and
nicely rounded up a jam packed day in the field.
8th February:
A nice if somewhat brief Long-tailed Tit in the Ilford
garden was only my third record.
18th February:
A nice day in the Brecks was what was needed and that was
exactly what we got. Mayday Farm was our
first stop on this calm and cold day. The morning gradually warmed up as Pete
and I walked down with Chaffinches and Tits singing everywhere and Woodlarks
were singing in the second clearing. The
usual clearing was now just too grown up for them.
Eventually we saw a male singing on a stump very well but
they are always tricky to find. Skylarks were not so cautious and were up and
about and the odd Crossbill gypped over invisibly.
The walk back was enlivened by a male Goshawk that cruised
out of the woods and spent the next ten minutes soaring in the glorious
sunlight. Even the orange eyes could be
seen. Whilst watching him two more
Woodlarks flew over and we at last saw two Crossbills and a female Great
Spotted Woodpecker sunbathed on a stump.
On to Brandon CP where Willow Tits were seen without even
leaving the car so it was off to Lynford Arboretum where Hawfinches were seen
poorly but we did managed more Crossbills, Siskins and some ground feeding
Bullfinches. The bonus here was a pair
of Firecrest with the obliging male belting out his scratchy song with gusto. Apparently they have been here for months but
have been supressed. There were
Nuthatches, drumming Great Spots and both Marsh and Willow Tits.
Lunch at Lackford was quiet bar a nice Siskin flock and so
we headed to a Golden Pheasant site near West Stow but there were too many people
about and we only found Red-legged Partridges and a singing Woodlark. A look for a Rough-legged Buzzard near Stowmarket
produced nothing so we headed for home cross country.
