Week in Norfolk

At the beginning of November I had my regular annual visit to Norfolk with my friends John & Janet. We had to move the dates a bit which meant travelling up by train on Sunday. Typically they chose that weekend to do some engineering works so we were already destined for the dreaded rail replacement bus. However, our plans to take an early train were scuppered when they cancelled it at the last minute due to a faulty train.

An hour later we were on our way and it went fairly smoothly from then on, getting on a coach at Cambridge North which took us all the way to Kings Lynn where we got the local bus up to Hunstanton. We had a few Red Kites and Buzzards en route but not the hoped for Whooper Swans which are normally in fields along the railway.

After checking in at the guest house we strolled along the seafront, seeing a few Oystercatchers and Turnstones.

Sunset over The Wash

On Monday morning we had a quick vismig session from the seafront. There was a strong southerly blowing so the conditions weren't great but we logged around 24,000 Starlings.

Migrating Starlings

After breakfast we took the bus to Titchwell and spent the whole day there. It was quite breezy but the original forecast of 40mph winds had luckily changed so it wasn't too bad. We started off going around the woodlands and were shown a tree containing a roosting Tawny Owl. It was very difficult to see but eventually we managed to piece enough of it together, while behind us a Yellow-browed Warbler called a couple of times.

As it was low tide there was no point hurrying to the beach so we took our time checking the lagoons and doing the hides. Amongst the waders was a single Curlew Sandpiper, an unusual sighting in November as they should all be wintering in Africa by now.

Curlew Sandpiper

Pink-footed Geese were constantly flying over in large skeins while smaller groups of Brent Geese dropped in and landed on the lagoons.

Brent Geese

Pink-footed Geese

Great Egret

When we did get down to the beach, the sea was fairly quiet with just single Common Scoter and Red-throated Diver. After a hot drink at the cafe we went back onto the main path and waited for the evening roost where the highlight was at least 35 Marsh Harriers.

On Tuesday we did another pre-breakfast vismig, seeing far fewer Starlings (4000) but a big increase in Chaffinch with almost 300 coasting. A surprise was a Goldeneye which flew out of The Wash and headed straight inland.

We spent the rest of the day at Holkham, starting off with a slow amble down Lady Anne's Drive. 

Shaggy Inkcap

There were quite a lot of Pink-feet on the marsh and a solitary White-fronted Goose. As no Shorelarks have been regularly reported we skipped the usual spot and walked west along the pines and checked out both hides. 

Pinkfeet

The usual assortment of woodland birds were picked up along the way including a vocal Treecreeper. At the Joe Jordan hide a single Cattle Egret wandered around the resting cows trying to get them to move without joy.

Cattle Egret and resting bovine

Red Kites, Buzzards and Marsh Harriers were regularly on view.

Common Buzzard

Several late Common Darters were making the most of the mild conditions but we didn't see any butterflies.

Common Darter

In the afternoon we cut through the woods to the beach and had a look at the sea where a single Red-throated Diver and a small flock of Common Scoter were present. We left mid-afternoon, checking the fields for Grey Partridge but didn't find any.

The pre-breakfast session on Wednesday gave us 14,000 Knot heading down towards Snettisham and another 11,800 Starlings and 650 Chaffinch with a few wheezing Bramblings amongst them. Most unusual though were two Yellowhammers which followed the coasting finches.

We elected to revisit Titchwell rather than go anywhere new as the wind had died down and the forecast was now suggesting a dry and bright day. It ended up being a good choice as we saw even more birds (79 species compared to 76 on Monday) and several good birds. We tried for the Tawny Owl again but couldn't find it in the same tree. The Yellow-browed Warbler had a two minute burst of calling then broke cover and flew past us before totally disappearing.

A bit further along the trail we finally managed to track down one of the Firecrests, although there were meant to be five in the area. We spent some time trying to find a Bittern but none were on show, just the usual Great Egrets.

Great Egret

At the beach, the sea was again just about devoid of birds but a couple of Snow Buntings had been found on the dunes so we walked along to see them. As we went back to the lagoons and entered the hide, someone excitedly waved us over and said American Golden Plover. I took a look in his scope and sure enough there was one.

I got my scope on it, it was just behind the main Golden Plover flock and kept being chased off by Lapwings but showed well, albeit distantly before  disappearing behind an island. 

Checking on my records later on, it was my 6th AGP in the UK, four of which were on the Scillies.

Record shot of American Golden Plover

Muntjac

A Muntjac feeding at the back of another lagoon went onto the deer list with Chinese Water, Fallow and Roe Deer all seen earlier. We didn't stay right to dusk but the Marsh Harriers were beginning to drift into roost as we left.

On our last morning we only had time for one pre-breakfast session before going back home. It ended up being the best of the week with a whopping 61,000 Starlings flying past. At one point we were engulfed in an enormous flock and we couldn't hear anything except for their wingbeats.

Chaffinches drifted over in decent numbers again with 380 counted and at least 13 Bramblings went over. A Stonechat-like call coming from the nearby railings was tracked down as the bird revealed itself as a Black Redstart.

All too soon we were travelling back on the train from Kings Lynn, but at least on this journey we added one final species as we saw several large flocks of Whooper Swans in the fens. We finished with 107 species, another successful late autumn trip to Norfolk.

October birding & moths

October has the potential to be the best month of autumn but this year it was pretty quiet in London. Visible migration (vismig) - counting birds flying over on their way to their wintering grounds - is typically at its peak and there were a few decent days but the weather conditions weren't that good locally, although some sites in London seemed to be better placed.

Rainham Marshes

I managed eight visits this month and added one new year bird - Merlin. Although I missed what was presumably the same tame juvenile that hung around Ken Barrett hide earlier in the month, I did see it zoom past Butts hide a bit later. One day I'll get a photo of one.

Water and Rock Pipits returned this month and one of the former was reasonably obliging in front of Butts hide but a bit distant for a decent photo.

Water Pipit

Black-tailed Godwits increased in number during the month and often showed well over high tide when they fed on the reserve. They've all now moulted into their drabber winter colours.

Black-tailed Godwits

In the second half of the month a female Garganey was found which stayed around a while but could be tricky to track down.

Sleeping Garganey with Shoveler, Gadwall and Teal

I didn't manage to connect with the two Glossy Ibis that briefly dropped in but there's still a lot in the country so plenty of time left. On Halloween a probable Richard's Pipit was seen on the tip but had long disappeared by the time I arrived.

The final thing of note at Rainham (apart from the welcome re-opening of the Shooting Butts hide) was a Feathered Thorn moth which was roosting on the outside of the visitors centre on 31st.

Feathered Thorn

Beam Parklands

I visited a dozen times this month and the increased coverage paid off on the 26th. I was over at dawn for some vismigging when I heard a distant call in the trees. It sounded like a Yellow-browed Warbler but was just too far away to confirm so I hurried over. Eventually it called again and I was close enough to sound record it. I heard it a few more times but never managed to see it as it remained deep in a dense patch of sallows. They're still a fairly rare bird in London with typically no more than a handful of records each year so it was a nice addition to the site list.

I've had the usual finches on vismig here: Chaffinch, Linnet, Siskin & Redpoll but no Brambling yet.

Dagenham Chase

Nine visits in October, most of which were early morning for vismig. The best bird was a flyover Rock Pipit, the same day that several other sites in London recorded them. They're pretty scarce here with just six previous records, the last being in 2016.

Other sites

I visited a number of other local sites: Parsloes Park, Mardyke OS, Central Park, Goresbrook Park, Barking Riverside, Beam Valley CP and Bretons Park.

Moth trapping

With the nights getting colder, the number of moths flying has drastically reduced and a spell of rainy weather prevented me from running the trap. However, I still managed to add some new species this month.

Blair's Shoulder-knot

Meal Moth

Double-striped Pug

Feathered Ranunculus

Red-green Carpet

September birds and moths

In the birding calendar September is in the middle of autumn, most Swifts have left before the month begins and by the end of the month winter birds such as geese begin arriving. The weather has much more of an influence as storms bring in seabirds and easterlies bring in migrants from the continent. This year all that happened in September, and more.

Rainham Marshes

I made ten visits this month including a couple of river-watches when the winds were blowing from the east. They weren't quite strong enough to bring lots of seabirds up the Thames but the 24th was the best. I'd already seen a couple of Sandwich Terns and while I was having lunch and scanning the river I got a phone call to tell me there was a skua on the river. I soon picked it up in flight by the Amazon depot and then it flew across the river and back. I could see it was an Arctic Skua and Dave and Andy also confirmed the ID.

It landed in the middle and spent the next 20 minutes drifting upriver past us and then got up to harass some Herring Gulls before landing again and drifting out of view towards Erith.

Arctic Skua at Rainham

This was my first skua species at Rainham and we'd been talking about skuas earlier so it was a good reward for my efforts. The skua and the tern were both London year ticks.

Waders were still fairly thin on the ground at Rainham apart from Black-tailed Godwits which had increased to a decent sized flock of a couple of hundred but there was no hoped-for Little Stint this month.

Red Kites were regularly seen on the tip and Hobby was present throughout but down to just a singleton in the last week of the month.

Insects have been flying all month with several Clouded Yellows, plenty of Wall Browns and the odd Brown Argus being the most notable.

Clouded Yellow

Dagenham Chase & Beam Valley

I also visited The Chase ten times, mostly trying to catch up with chats/flycatchers. I eventually managed to see an elusive Common Redstart that spent several days hanging around the burnt patch on Fels Field. It was another new bird for the year although I did later hear one at Rainham.

I missed the Whinchats but just about caught up with one of the Stonechats in Fels Field. Otherwise, it's been a quiet autumn at The Chase, not being helped by The Slack being out of action as it dried up in the summer. A few Siskins and Redpolls have flown over, hopefully the vis-mig should pick up in October.

A further eight visits were made to Beam Parklands/Beam Valley CP, some of which were on the way to The Chase. Beam Parklands is still recovering from the large fire in the summer. As yet, I've not found anything of interest at either site this autumn but there's still time.

Brent Reservoir

I've been waiting over two years for a good bird to be found at Brent since I moved and when Ben found a Glossy Ibis - it was Sod's Law that it was during a week long tube strike so I didn't attempt to go on the first day. I did hatch a plan for an alternative route if it stayed another day and with positive news I went the following day.

I took the train from Dagenham Dock to Barking, changed onto the Goblin Line to Gospel Oak and then the North London line to Brondesbury (I really cannot be bothered to learn the new names of the six splits of the Overground). I then got the 32 bus to Staples Corner and cut through East Marsh to the hide, two hours and 20 minutes after leaving home.

After a few minutes searching the ibis suddenly appeared, feeding around Willow Island. I watched it for a while and managed a few distant record shots before leaving for the return journey. As it was a first record for the site, it was also new for my Brent list #211 but I'm going to have to wait a long time at this rate before I can catch up to Leo who's seen the most birds at Brent.

Glossy Ibis, Brent Reservoir

I decided to try a different way home and walked up to Hendon station and luckily just made the Thameslink train which had just arrived. I changed at Farringdon onto the Lizzy line all the way east to Romford where I got a bus home; it ended up being quicker by half an hour. The ibis wasn't seen in the afternoon and presumably went back to the London Wetland Centre where it spent the rest of the month.

Beddington Farmlands

With news of a Grey Phalarope at Beddington, I resorted to TFL's journey planner to plot a route to go on positive news the following morning. So on the 18th I took the tube to Balham via Bank and got a train down to Hackbridge. It was a fairly simple journey considering I was travelling across London. It's just a five minute walk from the station onto the public footpath that runs up the west side of Beddington and a few minutes later I'd reached North Hide.

A couple put me on the Grey Phalarope, it was walking around on the muddy island and was a bit distant but over the course of an hour it eventually came a bit closer.

Grey Phalarope, Beddington Farmlands

It's been a very long time since I've seen any phalarope in London so it was good to catch up with this bird. It had been blown inland by a storm and two more were on Staines Reservoir. I finished the month on 171 species in London on eBird, higher than any of my previous annual totals and with a quarter of the year left, there's still plenty of opportunity to add to this total.

Southend

I made one trip outside of London this month, into deepest, darkest Essex. I met John and Janet at Upminster and we took the train to Southend. After a look around the seafront where I counted 60 Little Egret, probably the most I've seen in the UK. 

We went onto the pier (it opens at 10.15) and walked down to the end. The wind was NE but too light to bring in much in the way of seabirds but we did see a few Gannets and some early Brent Geese flew past, my first of the autumn and probably the earliest I've ever seen them. 

Southend Pier

A couple of Sandwich Terns flew past and several Med Gulls were around the pier. Turnstones lurked around the picnic tables looking for scraps.

Mediterranean Gull

A marauding Turnstone

Mothing

I managed to run the trap on most nights during the month, the number of species declined as the temperature went down. As the month progressed, autumn fliers started to emerge.

Beaded Chestnut

Black Rustic, AKA Goth

Canary-shouldered Thorn

Cypress Pug

Deep-brown Dart

Double-striped Pug

Lesser Yellow Underwing

Lunar Underwing, this was really common in the second half of September

Marbled Fern

A very tatty Old Lady

Olive-tree Pearl, an immigrant

Rose Tabby

Treble Brown Spot

August Birding

This month typically sees the first 'proper' autumn migration with many warblers on the move along with flycatchers, wagtails & pipits and an increase in waders.

Rainham Marshes

I managed only seven visits this month, fewer than I had expected but a couple of heatwaves put paid to more visits. I'd missed Wood Sandpiper a couple of times already this year and this is the best month to see one so I was pleased to find three on Aug 19th on the newly-named Small Aveley Pool. They hung around for the rest of the month with up to five birds seen.

Wood Sandpiper

2 Wood Sands & a Black-tailed Godwit

This pool proved to be a magnet for waders during the second half of August with two Ruff, Green Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover and a flock of Black-tailed Godwits all present.

Two more year birds were seen, a Whinchat on the tip and a family party of five Spotted Flycatchers at the end of the woodland.

Spotted Flycatcher

The 19th ended up being a really good day as not longer after finding the Wood Sands I saw a White Stork circling low over the reserve. It had been seen a couple of days earlier but was seen flying off. I was pretty sure I'd seen it in a field just north of the railway lines while I was on the train to Purfleet.

White Stork

This is the fourth White Stork I've seen at Rainham and it has become an annual visitor to the reserve. This individual was ringed so was probably one of the reintroduced Knepp birds but as they're breeding there now I believe they should all be countable.

Among the various butterflies and dragonflies on site, there were a few Clouded Yellows and an obliging Wall but I still haven't managed to catch up with the Brown Hairstreaks yet.

Wall butterfly

Dagenham Chase & Beam Valley

I visited 13 times but didn't see a great deal. Losing all the water in The Slack has really reduced the attraction of the site this autumn. I spent a lot of time searching the scrubby areas for flycatchers but didn't manage to find any.

I also went to Beam Parklands six times and despite the burnt areas grassing over and looking suitable for migrants, didn't manage to record anything notable.

Other Locations

I managed to visit a few other sites in August: Barking Riverside & Bay (as it's now called on eBird), Becton Creekside, Tylers Common (where a Red-backed Shrike disappeared 20 minutes before I arrived!) and Wanstead Flats (where most of the interesting migrants had left overnight).

Ruddy Darter, Becton

I also had a couple of trips out of London, down to Oare Marshes in Kent to see the regular Bonaparte's Gull and on a Seabird Safari across Biscay for cetaceans and seabirds.

Bonaparte's Gull, Oare

Spoonbill, Oare