Rouzel & terns

A pretty good day today at Breydon Water after an uneventful walk round there on Friday. Friday produced the same migrants as before although numbers Whitethroats and Sedge Warblers had increased overnight.

Along Harpers Lane today there was anice mix of warblers including a Lesser Whitethroat (106). At Breydon there was a good selection of waders including 4 Whimbrel, 300+ Dunlin, 50+ Ringed Plover, 100+ Blackwits, 3 Knot, a Spotted Redshank, 10+ Greenshank, 7 Sanderling, 3 Avocet and a Common Sandpiper. Just as I was leaving 2 Common Terns flew past followed closely by Sand Martins (107 & 108). There was a distant Ringed Plover that got me excited briefly as the black breast band was incomplete. I had high hopes for Kentish!

Along the south bank of the river the now usual mix of warblers were very vocal but the highlight had to be the elusive male Ring Ouzel (109) near the farm. Also in the same field was a Wheatear and White Wagtail while a Yelllow Wagtail flew over. On the mud flats there were 2 adult Little Gulls (110) and 3 Sandwich Terns (111) roosted. The walk ended on a high as 3 Swifts (112) flew over my house.
Just a wee montage of 'white' butterflies. I normally find these hard to photograph so it was nice to get the three common ones today (large, small and green-veined).

Centurian

A pleasnt spring day (shorts on for the first time) and I was rewarded with some spring migrants along the river from Breydon to Burgh Castle. It all started with 2 Buzzards flying high over Bradwell, a suprisingly hard bird for here. At Breydon waders were relatively scarce but a small group of a ciouple of hundred held 4 Whimbrel, a Greenshank and a Spotted Redshank. Sedgies were very vocal as was a lone Whitethroat and several Bearded Tits. While watching the Beardies a Hobby flew past heading towards Burgh Castle. Butterflies were everywhere, although I only noticed 3 species, Peacock, GV White and Small Tortoiseshell. 3 Marsh Harriers at Burgh Castle hassled the large flock of waders (600+ Blackwits and 80+ Avocets) constantly. Congratulations go out to Aberlady who is now on 110(ish), while I languish on 105!

Boredom!

I finally decided to put a bit of effort into a seawatch today as there were a few common seabirds missing from my list. An hour was more than enough on top of Gorleston dunes with 2 adult Kittiwakes, 4 Common Scoter and a Bonxie all to show for my efforts, sea watching is going to be hard work here!! A Common Sandpiper near the pier helped beat the boredom. The walk home through the golf course, Hobland woods and Jew lane manage to boost my list to 99 with Willow Warbler, Marsh Tit, Red-legged Partridge and 2 Yellow Wagtails. A few Chiffs and Blackcaps helped bring a spring feel in the bitter NW wind. The walk ended with a Pheasant fight, its the first time I have been remotely interested in Pheasants!

Minsmere

The day after the Bay of Biscay, Mr Lewis, dodgy Davey and myself headed off to Minsmere to get the two tarts some ticks. First stop was Hen reedbeds, one of my favourite areas in the region. Quiet (or quieter than most places down here) and some good birds. Spring was definately there with Reed, Sedge and Cetti's all singing while Beardies pinged away. I managed to pick up my first Sand and House Martins of the year, at least a month after most people!! Minsmere produced its usual, far too many people and good birds including this Bittern. A Nightingale was equally tame near the car park, providing a little too much excitement for some! At Dunwich there was a couple of Dartford Warblers holding territory. It isn't until someone from the birdless north comes down here that you realise how good the birding is in East Anglia.

A whole heap of blubber

At the weekend I was on the Pride of Bilbao looking at all sorts of fishy things, although the jourvey out was pretty uneventful with more wee migrants on the boat than whales or dolphins in the water. Seabirds were just as scarce, as it was this time last year. Once at Bilbao (or St Tiruzzi?) the bird geeks amongst us jumped in a taxi upto a nearby hill where we immediately started picking out migrants. First call was 'Melody' from Mr Fat Paul Scholes and it just rolled on from there, a good mix of common/scarce migrants and the resident vultures and eagles didn't disappoint either. This Redstart has the white wing patch of a samamisicus Redstart but Mr Scholes reliably informs me that he has seen 'normal' Redstarts with this wing patch in south France.

The journey back on the ferry was very eventful, firstly with 1500 volcanically stranded tourists hopping on board and then a feast of blubber. During a 5 hour spell we managed to rack up 7 marine mammal species, including some close ups of Fin & Cuvier's beaked Whale and shit views of Sperm and Pilot Whale. Dolphins bounced around everywhere and I managed to get a snap of a partially melanistic Common Dolphin. Although this happens with birds I had never really thought about it occuring in dolphins, my second lesson of the day!!! Amidst all this fishy frenzy a couple of friendly stow aways were highly photogenic. The day was nicely rounded off by a flyby Black Tern. The last day was a lot quieter as we entered the English Channel, however the mirror like seas did allow us to add Harbour Porpoise and Minke to the cet list

Spot the difference

Back to the patch and today was very quiet although I did manage to see a few migrants at Gorleston golf course, a male Blackcap and half a dozen or so Chiffchaffs and at the beach a Bonxie flew north just offshore.

The woods near Hobland Hill were alive with birds and the "highlights" were a pair of Green Woodpeckers, two singing male Blackcaps, a Nuthatch and 5 late Redwings. Along Jew Lane four Lesser Redpolls pushed my patch list along to 94.

Back again to a delayed spring!!!

After another month offshore, again being entertained by a few White-billed Divers as well as a few migrants like Black Redstart and Gropper, it was back to the almost migrant free local patch. A quick look around Burgh Castle didn't add much except a Whimbrel and a Grey Wagtail to get my list moving again. Aberlady is on 106, a good 15 species ahead of me!!

A wee bit of spring!

Managed a wee bit of migrant hunting today before heading offshore again. Not much about but managed to add swallow, chiffchaff and wheatear to the list. It seems I missed the alpine swifts though! News from Aberlady is that he has hit the 90's!

Back to a Frosty Spring

After my week in south Portugal I managed a quick walk around the lanes in my patch today but added no new birds. Spring is well on the way with Skylarks singing everywhere and a pair of Green Woodpeckers displaying near Bradwell. Finally heard from Aberlady, it is 86 species each so far although Aberlady have a few easy birds to see (Great & Coal Tit) so its advantage Lothian so far!

Before heading offshore again I managed to visit Haddiscoe marshes and Fritton wood on the 13th and had a reasonably good day with a good mix of raptors over the marsh including 3 Marsh Harriers, a Peregrine and a Rough-legged Buzzard and in the woods there were a few Goldcrests and a Treecreeper, unfortunately all outside the patch boundaries!

Faro, Portugal 1st - 6th March

1st March
Flew into Faro from Stansted in the late morning and once I found my hotel in the centre of Faro I had a wander around the marina that overlooks parts of the Ria Formosa, a massive estuary. The centre itself had many nesting White Storks and the marina held a few Yellow-legged Gulls and LBB Gulls.

The estuary had quite a few waders about with the highlights being a few Kentish Plovers and a Stone-curlew.

A few migrants were about with Swallows and House Martins everywhere while resident Serins and Sardinian Warblers were singing.

In the afternoon I headed out to the western edge of Faro where a few old saltpans are amongst the salt marsh. Zitting Cisticolas were holding territories, a few Crested Larks were singing, an Osprey hunted and there were lots of common waders. On the non-bird side of things a Swallowtail butterfly was seen.

At the village of Montenegro there were more Z.Cisticolas, 2 Hoopoes, Cattle Egrets and my first Azure-winged Magpies (a flock of 24 on the west side of the village).

2nd March
I decided to catch a bus to Almancil today and walk down to Quinta do Lago from there and then walk back to Faro via Ludo Farm. The road to Quinta was pretty productive with AW Magpies, Iberian Green Woodpecker, Crag Martins, Serin and Booted Eagle all seen before reaching the resort. The resort itself produced my first Bluethroats of the trip and as I reached the lakes a few Crested Tits and Sardinian Warblers appeared. The lakes were quiet bar some common wildfowl and AW Magpies were abundant across the resort and golf courses. An adult Audouins Gull was my first lifer of the day, washing on the northern lake and a Water pipit was feeding along the edge. The salt marshes next to the lakes were full of waders and 7 Spoonbills and a large gull flock that contained 300+ LBBG's, 35 YLG's, 10+ BHG's, 53 adult Aud Gulls, 1x 1st winter Aud Gull, a Med Gull and a Sandwich Tern. Out at sea a few Bonxies passed by.

I reached the famous Purple Gallinule hide and immediately saw 4 PG's showing really well. As well as a good mix of common birds there was also 3 RC Pochards, a very showy male Little Bittern, 31 adult Auds Gulls, Kingfisher and 15+ Waxbills.

As I walked towards the salt pans at Ludo Farm a Firecrest showed well and at the farm hundreds of waders were using the salt pans. Amongst the many Dunlins, Redshanks, Blackwits, Ringed and Kentish Plovers there were also a few Greenshanks, a Spotted Redshank, a few Grey Plovers, 6 Avocets and a Common Sandpiper. Many ZC's and Sard Warbs were about and at least 5 Aud Gulls were in the area. To the east of the farm there was a large Cormorant and Stork roost (10+ White Stork nests in the area) and just beyond these 3 Booted Eagles were seen roosting on the same tree.
Back in Faro, I hired a bike for the next three days to make exploring Ludo and Quinta a lot easier. A Peregrine roosted on top of a tower block on the west side of the town.

3rd March
Thunder and lightning all day and only managed a wee bit of birding around Faro today. HIghlights included a Hoopoe east of Montenegro, 37 Black-winged Stilts, 6 Flamingos and a Blue Rock Thrush amongst the old salt pans in Faro. The centre of Faro is the scene of a large roost in the evening, todays roost included 500+ House Sparrows, 50+ Spotless Starlings, 25+ Swifts and at least 2 Pallid Swifts.

4th March
Woke up to a gorgeous, sunny day and it was soon apparent that a small fall of migrants had happened overnight. Around the old slat pans in Faro there were hundreds of Swallows and House Martins and a couple of Red-rumped Swallows whilst in the scrub there was a few Bluethroats, a Blackcap, a Whitethroat amongst the usuall ZC's, Sardinian Warblers, Cetti's, Crested Larks and Spotless Starlings. 38 BW Stilts were still in the area but the Flamingos had disappeared.

The start of the track to Ludo Farm is scrubby woodland and looks to have a lot of potential. In the morning there were 3 Hoopoes, Siskin and both GS and Green Woodpecker. Ludo Farm saltpans had much the same birds as on the 2nd with 3 Booted Eagles still around and Avocet numbers had increased to 53. A few new passerines were in the area with a Thekla Lark and a couple of Yellow Wagtails (iberiae) the main attractions. I followed a footpath from the farm to the estuary and walked along the salt marshes which had the usual mix of waders, ducks and egrets with only a Little Ringed Plover new for the week. At Quinta do Lago a male Hen Harrier hunted along the marsh and again several Auds Gull roosted.


At the hide a Squacco Heron and male Little Bittern showed briefly and 4 Purple Gallinules were seen. On the golf course 2 Hoopoes fed and another Yellow Wagtail was seen.

Back at the Ludo Farm a female Marsh Harrier hunted, 7 Little Stints had joined the masses and at the eastern side near the woods a Short-toed Eagle hunted. In the woods there was a Short-toed Treecreeper and a female Redstart flitted past. The day ended with a Caspian Tern flying past near Faro marina.

5th March