Thetford Otters & Kingfisher

Not sure about going to Thetford today after being out so long birding yesterday.
Robert really wanted to go to see the Otters as he has never seen any in the wild, my mind was made up when a text from Robert tells us his car has a flat battery & I offer to do the driving so we set out to get there at first light,
As we get the cameras out of the car & put our boots on, a fellow next to us tells us he has just heard that the Otters are not to far away on the river, so we follow him down the path at the side of the river, as we walk we see a man standing by the river & we ask him if he had seen the Otters, he says they are right in front of us on the bank on the other side of the river to us, we watch & sure enough 2  of them dive into the water & start playing, then one starts to swim down the river,we follow it all the way down under the bridge & back round the other side of the river till it gets to what looks like it's Holt, it jumps up into the leaves & seems to settle down for a long stay.

So we leave to go back up towards the car when we see the other one swim past us & we follow it down & it follows the same route as the other one till it gets to the Holt & jumps up with the other one.
We had also seen a nice Kingfisher sitting on a branch where the Otters had come out of.
Robert is over the moon at what he had just seen, it's nice to have him out with us, shame Brian is missing but maybe we might all make it next time, that would be great.

Off for Rob to get some photos of the Dipper, Jimmy & myself had already seen this last week, but we still take more photos of it. Met some more nice people to talk to & you don't see Otters every day, so a really good decision to come today.

4 Lifers, loads of miles, Cirl Bunting,+ Pied billed Grebe

Up at 4 o'clock for a long drive to Ham Wall RSPB to see the Pied-billed Grebe.
We get a clear run down & arrive there at 7.30 am We have been here before to see the Long-billed Dowitcher last year, so we know where to go to get the Grebe it's a short walk down to the 2nd viewing point, as we get there other birders already have the bird in view, so it's going to be a quick look at it through the scopes, it's at a distance so no chance of a photo.
As I said a quick tick as Brian has plans to get as many ticks as possible while we are this far from home, what I did not know was the plan to drive another 100 miles to Plymouth in Devon, but in for a penny in for a pound. A good start as this is a lifer for us all.
Being only 7 miles away I talk the boys into looking for the Temminck's Stint as I am the only one of us who needs it for a lifer, we find the right spot in Steart, but it is to big an area for the time we need to reach the other targets, so we don't waste time & give up & head on to the next target.
On to Darts farm Topsham another RSPB site for the American Wigeon.
On arrival I call in to the visitor centre for advice on where to find the bird, the chap in there was very helpful to me, & soon we are picking out the target that was in with many birds, so once again  a good spot by the boys. another lifer for Jimmy & myself, but once again the bird was to far away to get a photo.
 Now a 50 mile drive to Exminster for the reported Rose-coloured Starling, after a quick drive round the area of Milbury Lane, we have no luck so we park up & split up & walk around the roads looking, after a few minutes we get the call from Brian that he has located the bird behind the church, it's a bit of a puff job running up the hill in case we miss it, we get there just in time to see it for a couple of minutes before it drops out of sight, this is only a year tick, but only the second one I have seen.
No time to hang about as we have other birds still to see today.
Of now to Ernsettle Creek, the target this time is the Lesser Yellowleg, & once again Brian is the one to spot it for us, we see a lot of Redshanks,plus 3 Spotted Redshank, 2 Curlew, 1 Greenshank, but over the far side of the creek he picks it out, once again to far away for a picture.It's another lifer for us all.
One last place to go, Broadsands for the highlight of the day for all of us, the bird the boys have always wanted to see, it's the Cirl Bunting, we get lucky as another birder is already looking at them when we arrive, at least 20 keep popping down to feed on some seed that the local birders had put down for them.

We are not disappointed as it turns out to be a cracking little bird..
This was a long way to come, but it was a great day that we all found  it really enjoyable.
A big thanks to Brian as he takes us everywhere & does all the hard work to make sure we see as much as possible, Jimmy & I really appreciate
that.
4 lifers + 1 year tick so well worth the time spent in the car getting to them.

Where we saw the American Wigeon

Black-bellied Dipper.Goshawk tick.

After I missed the trip on Sunday with the boy's to Thetford, I thought it was time to go & see the Dipper, as I feel like the only birder not to have seen it.

So off to Thetford about 70 miles from home. When I arrive I am not alone as there must of been at least 30 people in & around the car park.
I cross the small bridge & see people with cameras snapping away, soon I am doing the same as the Dipper is just sitting on the rocks & didn't seem to care about us being there.
I meet a nice couple that I have seen over Fishers Green a number of times, they show me some nice photos of the Otters taken a little time before I got there, unfortunately they never showed while I was there.
Off now to find a Goshawk down the road from here.
When I get there 6 birders are already looking for the bird, I climb up on the logs with them, & within a minute we get a very quick view of the Goshawk, no more than 30 seconds or so. 3 hours later we never get another view, so a tick but that's all.
I do see 4 Bullfinches land on a bush not to far away from us, once again its a fly on, fly off job.
Had a look for any Crossbill, but none about today, I have given a good few hours looking for another year tick, but nothing doing, so off home, its been a really nice trip meeting some nice people & 3 year ticks.

 looking for Goshawk

.

Penduline Tit at Stodmarsh+ Slav Grebe at Littlebrook

Off to Stodmarsh for the Penduline Tit, only about one hour away, a fairly nice day weather wise.
When we arrive we walk down the boardwalk & see two other birders already there, they point to the tree in front of us & there is the target bird.
It drops down to the reedmace to feed & stays for a good few minutes, we all get some photos of it before it flies off over to another tree it takes an hour to return.

By this time a good many birders were here,so they all get good views of the bird.
We now set off to go on a quick visit to Oare Marsh, it is full of birds,but nothing new to add to our year list. So the next place to go is Cliffe Pools, plenty  on the pools like Pintail, Goldeneye, Pochard,plus many more usual stuff.
We move down to view Flamingo Pool, & pick up a nice Greenshank, thats 2 year ticks today.
On the way home we call in to try for the Slav Grebe.
When we get to Littlebrook lake we find it stright away, not to hard to do that as it is a very small pond.

None of us needed this for a tick, but it was nice to get some photos of a nice bird.



Penduline Tit



Slavonian Grebe













Rough-legged Buzzard+Whooper+Golden Pheasant

Brian missed out last week on a big trip because of work, so he phones us early to meet early in the morning.
We decide to head to Norfolk as the weather looks to be better in that area, also we will see much more there.
As we drive up the A10 at almost the same place as we saw our first bird of the year that was a Barn Owl,

The said Barn Owl

we see a nice Barn Owl sitting on a post at the side of the road, a quick spin round of the car to get a better look at it.
A good start to the day gets better when we see  loads of Swans in a field, at Hale Fen a quick scan reveals them to be Whooper Swans 30 or more are seen, that's another year tick for all of us.I must say  it is a big highlight for me to see these Swans.
Off now to the triangle & we get lucky straight away & see 2 male Golden Pheasant, what a nice looking & colourful bird, well worth the effort to see them.
At Holme now a walk along the beach looking for the Shore Larks, but we are out of luck today, a flock of twenty Linnets fly past us, a few of the birders think they are Twite,so a bit of a debate there.
Not to worry as we soon see 5 Twite on a small island in the pool in front of us, no debate this time.
There are Skylark all over the place, that's another 2 year ticks so going well today.
As I stand up on a high mound of sand a beautiful Peregrine flies very slow at eye level & gives a really good display.
As we head off to the car a Short-eared Owl is flushed up by some golfers, it circles round for a while then drops out of sight, it never came up again while we are looking.
Next up Tichwell, a nice cuppa & a sausage roll to warm us all up before we set off on the search for more birds.

At the feeders lots of Bramling flying on &off the feeders, also Greenfinch, Chaffinch,on the ground we see 2 Water rail heading back to the ditch.
Down the path towards the beach now, we just start to walk when a bittern flies up in front of us, I think this is the best view in flight that I have had.

On the beach  scanning the sea a pair of Eider Duck swim past, a pair of Red-breasted Merganser look good through the scope. the shore is full of Gulls.
Then the Long-tailed Duck shows.Brian then picks out a Black-throated Diver, another tick for the year.                                                                      

Spotted Redshank

                                                                                    On the walk back a quick scan over the water & we see Knot, Ruff, upto 5 Snipe, Avocet, a single Spotted Redshank ,very close in so photo taken.

Down to Salthouse beach for the Snow Bunting.
As soon as we get there they are on the grass hill in front of us, about 10 or more.
Starting to get really cold now, so a quick cup of tea from the small van on the beach, as we drink a group of Turnstone are feeding down by our feet.

 today's Snow Bunting

Turnstone                

                                 Last port of call Burnham Overy as we always look here for a Rough-legged Buzzard when we are up this way, some times we see one sometimes not, but today we get lucky as Brian calls out for us to see the best view of a Rough-legged that we have had up to now, it stays around for a good 10 minutes.A really good end to a very good day.
12 hours out in the open air watching birds with the boys, 7 year ticks for the day.  
                               

                                    

Sparrowhawk + Redpoll + L T Tit in my Garden

Redpoll

Sparrowhawk

Long-tailed Tit

Just watching the garden this morning, at least 10 Long-tailed Tits, 4 Robins, 5 Redpoll, loads of Great Tits, also loads of Blue tits, a single Goldcrest, 3 Goldfinch, 1 F/ Blackcap, Blackbirds & Starling  are plentiful.
I then notice a bird sitting in my fir tree, it's a Sparrowhawk, it sits for a good ten minutes looking at me, it then shoots off after a Blackbird, it swoops all over the gardens in pursuit of it's prey, I miss the outcome as it goes out of sight. Also a few Chaffinch, plus many Sparrows.

Great Grey Shrike at Therfield

With Brian not sure about getting out today, Jimmy gets itchy feet & asks if we should go & look for the Shrike at Therfield Heath.
A couple of texts to Brian just to make sure he's not going to make it, we get no answer, so as it's not to far to drive, only 30 odd miles I make my mind up to go.
We came a couple of weeks ago & missed it on a really windy day, so we try a different place to approach this time, we are at the bottom end of the valley this time & it's not a long walk before we are in the right area to start looking.
As we walk we meet a walker with his dog, he want's to know what we are after, we tell him the name,size, colour, of the bird, as we walk the fellow thinks he has just seen it in front of us, Jimmy & myself don't see anything, but we spend some time looking in that area, but nothing doing, so we think he was probably wrong, & we walk on a bit down the track.
A fellow birder who has come from Ipswich to look for it, ask's if we have seen anything of the bird yet, we tell him no,& we spend some time with him & scan  over the fields, no luck so far.
So we split up from each other to give us more chance of spotting the target.
Not to long after that the other birder calls to us that he has it in the scope, we get onto it right away.
The bird is a fair way off so we walk along behind the bushes to try for a better view of it.
This works well as we get really good views of it through the scope.

Along way off but a record shot of it.

As we head back we talk to a nice couple, they tell us they had just seen a Shrike in the bushes where the dog walker had told us he had seen it, so that must be a low for me,I get used to Brian & Jimmy spotting the birds for me, but now a non birder spots it before me.
A quick trip that gets us the Great Grey Shrike, that's another year tick so well good, shame that Brian was not with us today, but he will get to see it soon.Off home for a nice roast now.