Anne's Journal

 Tuesday January 30 Bathed in sunshine, the light shining through the top of winter reeds, sky as wide as one can see. I love Norfolk marshlands. We hardly saw a bird before Horsey straight. Two Egyptian Geese, eight Greylag and ten Pinkfeet in a roadside field.  It was parking money for the seals- bucket day at Winterton. Again there was little birdlife - and the seals have pupped and left. Dogwakers on the beach preclude any loafing waders. Scoping, I found one close Red-throated Diver, and a Red- necked Grebe , both  in full winter plumage. Leaving, Pam spotted a board on the side of the black seal watchers' shed. The season's seal count for Horsey and Winterton combined, is 1669 adults and 3796 pups. That looks like a very healthy ratio of young produced.  

 Tuesday January 24 We didn't even bother asking Siri when high tide woud be at Snettisham today. We drove straight there along roadside verges so thick with overnight frost that it looked like snow. Ungritted roads looked likewise apart from the wheel tracks of earlier traffic.Under a sun shining from a virtually cloudless, winter blue sky the countryside looked beautiful. I'm never sure which season I prefer. Winter, when the beauty of skeletal decidous trees opens up the landscape and have a supreme value of their own. Or spring when fresh green growth gives the promise of warmth and migrating birds to come. The first pit at Snettisham was totally iced, no birds anywhere. The second pit held small flocks of Tufted Duck with some dapper male Goldeneye amongst them. There must have been six Little Grebe.      I've lost the marker disc from the top of my Canon camera - the one that tells me which mode of shooting I'm using. When I got home I discovered that all my ch...

 Sunday January 22 Lovely looking day. Where should we go? It would have to be a short one as Man U are playing Arsenal later this afternoon. We decided on Holkham as being a safer year tick destination.  The White-tailed Eagle has re-located to Essex, the gateway overlooking Bone's Drift was empty. Great, we could park sideways on. I soon found a few Russian White-fronted Geese , hidden behind the slender upper branches of marsh side Willows. Later scanning found a lone Barnacle Goose , probably part of the Holkham feral flock, but where were the others? Then, two Great Egrets appeared at the bottom of the driveway, soon joined by a third, which remained just out of shot. A fourth flew across the back of the marsh. Over wintering or part of the breeding group already returning to set up territory?   Nothing else of note, we drove straight home for the match- which we lost 3-2 with a very late Arsenal goal - the script I'd written for us, not them. It was an excellent mat...

Friday January 20  We both needed some respite, birding is the best relaxant. After a sunny morning, we turned right at the end of our road to see a dark grey sky and a rainbow.. The rain was heavy and almost immediate. A lovely result of the recent spells of rain and sun is the frequent rainbows. Seldom complete arches, to-day's was almost excellent, the spectrum fading in the centre of the complete bow. I can understand how in most folk lore and religions, they play a mystical role. We started roadside at Rollesby, looking over the western  part of the Broad.. Yet again, part of the large parking area has been coned off preventing us from driving to view the far reaches. Why? We are finding thus all over the county. A few Goldeneye and Tufted Duck , one Great Crested Grebe , and remarkably, over a hundred Pochard . We've only seen this number before at Welney on the WWF lagoons. No sign of any Smew.  After a recce around the cafe grounds, we drove to St Benets. Three la...

 Tuesday January 17 An early phone call from Sam to say that she wouldn't be coming today, changed plans a little. She has a heavy cold. Instead of waiting until her arrival at ten o'clock, we could leave earlier. A bit of faffing about meant that we didn't leave early after all. The nearest Broads are hosting several good winter duck species at the moment, I'd love to see them. Ferruginous, Smew, Scaup and Red-crested Pochard. Mostly, inaccesible for us. We went to Selbrigg for twenty minutes of enjoyable photography. A Marsh Tit was the challenge today. They are grab and fly raiders of bird food. This one paused on a viewable perch for a few seconds.   Greg told me that the Swans on the lake had been ringed on the continent.  Via Blakeney Quay, we drove to Morston, where the tide was incoming, the creek already well filled yet two hours from high tide, according to Siri, Apple's Alexa.We were the only people there, until a logo'd twin cab pick-up, towing an im...

 Sunday January 15 Weather conditions and routine medical appointments have prevented us from birding much during the last week. The six weekly eye check, annual medical review and a blood test ate into three days.  We managed to visit St Benets twice as it's so near to home - camparatively. Our first visit was late afternoon on Wednesday when we joined a throng of birders, getting the last place on the front row in the small car park, albeit squeezed into the corner. The car next door turned out to be Pete's, with Pauline alongside him. David B then oarked behind us before making his way to a better viewpoint.  Th first bird seen was a lovely Barn Owl. Then, four Cranes flew along the Thurne bank, not long before a Short-eared Owl. hunted the Abbey Bank, often disappearing behind the trees.. David's photos of the Short-eared Owl are amazingly good considering the light and distance. His Blog address is : https://birdsoftheheath.blogspot.com/  Our second visit was ...

  Sunday January 8 Both Mick and Pauline were kind enough to inform me that the Long-eared Owl was back at CleySpy. The bird was missing for several days earlier this week, returned on Friday, missing again yesterday. No-one has told it that Long Eared Owls usually hide deep in bushes, parts showing occasionally when the wind blows. Apart from flying views, this is the best view we have ever had. Despite the distance and the rain, it was perched  on a comparatively open branch in the hedge. behind CleySpy shop, viewable from the telescope and binocular try-out area. It was a prospective customer who first found it.   Previous photos have frequently shown a branch across the bird's face. To-day, a few bramble branches needed farming. I asked it to open its eyes.... it continued sleeping.

 Saturday January 7 What a day to choose to go birding, it certainly curtailed our plans. Dark grey overcast with mist over the sea and light rain. We started at Winterton car park, where the owner was in the kiosk and gave us a free entry to make up for the last time when we paid and went straight out. Very decent of her. A slow scan of an angry sea brought nothing - until Pam saw some scoter through the windscreen. She re-positioned the car so that I could scope the scattered flock. Gradually, most of them flew south, 14 of them showing the white in the wing defining them as Ve lvet Scoter. That is the largest number I have ever seen of this sea duck. There were probably more amongst the Common Scoter, a larger number has been published. As a byline, a Red-throated Diver flew past. Still 7 Whooper Swans off Water Lane, four of them juveniles. After adding a Mediterranean Gull behind the Sealife Centre we drove home.  During the week, we added Stock Sove, Greenfinch, Long-...

 January 1 2023 Dawn starts are an event of the past. They were never very productive anyway, I can remember breakfasting in a field gateway as the sun came up, watching Hares eating theirs. We have never missed a New Year's Day birding, even when the fog was so thick we couldn't see the whole width of the road, we made it as far as Felbrigg before turning for home.  The one we spent in Australia felt wrong, even though it was successful. So, a sedate 8.20 start, Robin, Blackbird, Dunnock and Collared Dove heard and viewed from the front garden. Buzzard, the first of six, and Kestrel, the first of twelve, added within a mile of home. The roads were free of traffic. We actually got through North Walsham, including two sets of traffic lights on major crossroads without seeing another vehicle or person. Amazing.  Selbrigg was also traffic free - no evidence of bird food either. Pam got out to spread some no-mess mixture on the posts and ground. Immediately, the tree above he...