February 2025

John wanted to see the flock of introduced Lesser White-fronted geese so we drove down to Snettisham to see them. The path along the bank is now getting quite muddy with all the feet tramping along it. Whilst there we watched a flock of White-fronted Geese in flight along with two Barnacle Geese.

We drove down to the reserve and met up with Les and Anne who were watching all the Brent Geese. There were several White-fronted Geese amongst the Greylag Geese. We watched Marsh Harriers, Red Kites and Common Buzzards during our stay as well as admiring all the waders swirling around over the mud in The Wash, including Avocets, Oystercatchers, Bar-tailed Godwits, Redshank, Sanderling, Dunlin and Knot. There were also Shelduck, Teal, Wigeon, Mallard and Little Egrets present. By the chalets, Goldeneye and Tufted Ducks were present.

A very Happy 6th Birthday to my twin Grandsons, George and Ted.

It was an early start for John and I as the ferry docked into Harwich from Holland. We were up for breakfast in the cafe at 5.30am ready for driving off the ship at 6.30am. We drove through the countryside and stopped off at Lynford Arboretum in the early morning sun where we walked around the usual loop before driving onto Cockley Cley where we watched 5 Goshawks displaying as well as Common Buzzards soaring and a Raven and a Red Kite flying over.

Needing to visit the sewing machine shop in King’s Lynn to sort out a tension issue on my machine, it seemed a shame not to visit Lynn Point afterwards as it would be nearly high tide by the time I had finished with the shop. I stopped in the docks but the Peregrines were not there and so I carried on down to Lynn Point after a quick stop to admire a few Turnstones by the shell factory outfall.

I started to walk to the point but turned back to get my camera. Just as I did so I caught sight of a Short-eared Owl being harassed by a corvid. I ran for my camera, took a few shots but in my haste realised that not all was well when I reviewed what photos I had taken. They we all misty, as the view-finder had suggested. I looked at my settings and could not see anything obviously wrong. The penny then dropped that because of the cold, my lens was completely misted up. Curses! The owl and corvid were now far away and the corvid gave up the chase. I tried to keep an eye on the owl which went to ground but I was unsighted as to exactly where because of a bush in the way. After quite a search I located the Short-eared Owl sitting out in the marsh but it was too far away for me to see with my camera. I vaguely pointed it in the right direction and pressed the shutter more in hope than anything else! However I managed to get some phone/scope photos of it before it slunk completely down into the grass.

I watched a few Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, Redshank, Cormorant, Brent Geese and a flock of around 60 Curlew before 200+ Pink-footed Geese flew over. By now I was cold and drove back to the silo tower where I stopped to watch a pair of Peregrines mating. By the time I got my phone/scope arranged the event was over.

Back at home I processed my photos in the dining room and then noticed the sun gleaming on something white in one of my trees. Closer inspection revealed it was a Sparrowhawk, soaking up the sun!

It was another grey, gloomy day in Norfolk and after discussing more planning with John for our future foreign trips, I needed a planner to get my head around it all! It was a late start by the time I arrived at Snettisham, that made no difference since the reported Scaup could not be found by any of the birders present. It was good to talk to Pat, Seamus and Fiona about Alaska and about some of their exciting foreign trips coming up. I would certainly like to be away from the grey, cold, gloomy U.K. right now their and was envious of their plans.

We watched Goldeneye, Wigeon, Teal and Mallards as a Marsh Harrier, Red Kite and an unidentified harrier flew by us in the gloom. Out on the mud Shelduck, Grey Plover, Redshank were the predominant species. Cormorants and Shoveler flew over us as we watched from the hide.

I took a photo of a Coot as one of my followers of my website likes counting them. So here is another one to admire as I don’t take photos of Coots very often and this one was close.

I went to investigate the progress of the installation of the new toilets but there wasn’t much to see. There were only Greylag Geese on the fishing pits and 3 Cormorants, hanging their wings out on the posts.

At West Newton I walked down a trackway where a Mistle Thrush was singing. Thirty Redwings flew across the track as I approached. A few Blackbirds and a lone Song Thrush also flew out. Down by the pool I was saddened that much of the bramble had been removed where Garden Warblers and Lesser Whitethroats breed, leaving little habitat left for them. Grrrr…

A very happy birthday to my eldest granddaughter, Isla who is 11 years old today.

I took a short walk at Leziate today in the February gloom and to be honest I wished I had stayed at home. My motive was to look for some Redpoll on my way home from the supermarket as Leziate has many Alders and Silver Birch trees. Years ago Leziate used to be good for Siskin and Redpoll but not now, it would seem. The reserve was virtually bird-less and I only saw two Blue Tits and a singing Robin. I heard a Wren but did not see it. I added a Bullfinch to my year-list in the village hall car park.  Not much for my efforts!  Down at Pott Row sewage treatment works a dozen or so Pied Wagtails were hopping around the sewage bed.

Please beam me up Scottie to somewhere hot and sunny with some nice birds to look at!

It was lovely meeting up with Rob and Lisa at Titchwell and I wish I could say the same about the weather and the walk to the beach. We were all dressed like Michelin men against the wind and the cold. Once on the beach the wind was whipping up the sand and I got sand-blasted. I watched a small flock of Common Scoter and a lone Velvet Scoter that flew around them never settling down. It was not the day to be out of shelter and back in the ditch by Visitor Centre a Water Rail was feeding. However I did not take my camera today so I took its photo on my iphone.

At Patsy’s Pool I looked at the new screen which was good for propping the elbows on, to look at the pool but there was no shelter from the bitterly cold wind. A Pied Wagtail was feeding in the mud in the cut reed area but I could not find the Water Pipit. Coot, Shelduck and a pair of Mute Swans were swimming on the water. Back by the Welcome Hub a Treecreeper put in a brief appearance. The Robins are still just as tame too as one sat and posed whilst I took its photo.

Alan picked John and I up and drove to Deeping Lakes Nature Reserve, where the rest of the NarVOS members signed up for the outdoor meeting joined us. We were very early and so had time to stop and admire two Barn Owls and five Goosanders on the River Welland as we drove by. We stopped to check out some Mute Swans before we arrived in the car park where we watched Gadwall, Teal, Mallard, Wigeon, Shoveler, Greylag Geese, Canada Geese and Cormorants.

John and I slithered along the very muddy path to the first hide. We had been told where to look in the Ivy-clad tree but there was only one position in the corner that was possible to get a part photo of the Long-eared Owl. I was struggling with my camera and another photographer kindly let me sit where he was sitting and made a suggestion on settings  to get a better focus on the bird that was covered with twigs and leaves and no matter how I pointed my camera at it, the twigs and leaves were pulling it out of focus. I could do with stronger arms and better eyesight as my diopter won’t now go far enough!

A few of us watched another three Long-eared Owls across the water, down the little gully, before going back into the hide. As the group had now arrived and the hide was packed, some of us left to give the others more room and we wandered along the very muddy path to where the Little Owls sit in the Willows, by the riverbank. Sadly the rain started and we could not find the owls but we did see a Great White Egret, more Goosanders and Mallards. A Red Kite and a Common Buzzard had a bit of a set-to and a Green Woodpecker teased us as none of us saw it, but could hear it calling. I walked along the river but could not find the owls or the reported Glossy Ibises.

By now most of us were cold and wet and we returned to the cars for a drink. I wandered around and found a Grey Wagtail, which most members saw flying off as I called them over. We left the reserve and stopped to admire a few Whooper swans.

We drove onto Eldernell, seeing a few Cattle Egrets en route. Water -levels at Eldernell have gone down since my last visit. We admired Pintail, Wigeon, Mallard and Teal. There were huge numbers of Lapwing in the air as well as Black-tailed Godwits. Further along the bank we watched flocks of Goldfinch and Fieldfares. A Kestrel sat and watched us as we walked back to the cars and Stuart saw a Barn Owl which flew off before the rest of us could see it.

After a lovely meal with a friend last night John and I drove to Welney WWT stopping off along the way to admire two Bewick’s Swans amongst a herd of Whooper Swans. It was nice to meet Kane Brides who monitors swan populations for WWT. Outside the entrance of the Visitor Centre there were many House Sparrows, Tree Sparrows and a couple of Reed Buntings.

Once we had paid our dues we walked along to the Lyle Hide where Ashley Banwell told us where to look for the Black-necked Grebe that was present. We soon located it in our scopes over to the right of the hide, but it did spend most of its time under water. Further to the left, we watched some Tundra Bean Geese amongst all the Wigeon, Teal, Mallard, Shelduck and Greylag Geese. Over by the bank a Great White Egret was feeding. We admired a few Common Snipe and a few Pintail before walking back to the Visitor Centre for lunch. Out on Lady Fen there were two Common Cranes, which increased to 12 by the time we left.

After lunch we walked to the main hide and watched Pochard and a lone Whooper Swan that had a damaged wing. Three Bewick’s Swans were swimming over at the back off the reserve. Black-tailed Godwits flew around but the spectacle was all the Lapwings in flight. There must have been thousands of them. We had a chat with Lizzie, my former colleague at Titchwell, who is now the site manager at Welney and walked down the side of Lady Fen and admired 5 Cattle |Egret but the Short-eared Owls failed to show themselves.

After a lovely few days with my son and family in the West Country, I stopped off at Summer Leys in Northamptonshire for a walk as it was such a lovely sunny day. I had a battle with the Wildlife Trust car park machine that would not accept contactless or card payment despite me having several attempts to pay the machine. I then tried to pay with an app which I did manage to download. It would then not let me put in the amount that I owed! Grrr As it was a car park monitored by a camera I was promised £100 fine! I can feel an email coming on to the Wildlife Trust!

After speaking to a member of staff who told me that I wasn’t the only one having trouble withe the machine, I enjoyed a nice walk around the various hides seeing Lapwing, Golden Plover, Redshank, Great White Egret, Oystercatcher, Shoveler and Tufted Duck as well as meeting lots of lovely people who like me were out for a nice walk in the sunlight.

After unloading my car at home I drove to Snettisham, where I watched a Greater Scaup, Goldeneye, Mallard, Pochard, Teal and Tufted Duck. With a couple of hours of light left I joined Pat Finch and Graham Sherwin on Roydon Common where we watched 3 Hen Harriers, 20 Red Kite, Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel and a Barn Owl. Pat heard a Dartford Warbler which I shall investigate tomorrow!

It was a lovely sunny day but bitterly cold when I started my day on Roydon Common, where I did not find the Dartford Warbler that was heard yesterday. I did see 3 Stonechats however and several Red Kites before I was distracted by a message that said that a Waxwing was still showing well at Dersingham. So I jumped back in the car and drove to Dersingham Co-op, where I joined several local birders on the other side of the road and watched the Waxwing sat up in one of the trees in the Co-op car park. I took a few photographs of it before it flew off south and over the rooftops and into the NarVOS recording area! 😉

Sadly Graham and Sandra arrived 5 minutes too late as did one or two other birders. As I plans for later in the day I wanted to make the most of the morning and drove to West Newton. After bidding the late arrivals goodbye I joined many other local birders at West Newton watching 3 Goshawks, 6 Common Buzzards and a Grey Wagtail on a roof top before it made a bid for freedom! I walked down to the pond and saw very little except for a couple of Moorhens and a Linnet. A Fieldfare stopped and posed for a short while at the top of the tree.

John and I were up early after an evening of sorting out various issues on our forth-coming trips this year. They do seem to be ever more complicated to organise, although some would say that we get even more fussy over what we want to achieve! This year we are focusing on mammals that we want to see, with the exception of one birding holiday but I daresay that we will take note of the birds that we see along the way on our foreign travels.

Today was an excellent example of why we want to go birding and watching mammals abroad. Not only did we spend most of the day dressed up like Michelin men but we saw very little for the effort that we put in, missing every single one of out target species. The best bit of the day was the pub lunch sat by a roaring open fire!

We started at Lynford Arboretum and after staking out ‘the tunnel’ where we could only see Dunnock, Blackbird and a Chaffinch we wandered down to the paddock where a flock of Siskin was the highlight. Back at ‘the tunnel’ some seed had been put down and in the next two hours we saw, Brambling, Nuthatch, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wood Pigeon, Stock Dove, Jay, Crow and Robin.

We threw the towel in and drove to Brandon Country Park where the only birds on the pond were Mallard and Moorhens. The water level was very low and the reeds had been cut right back. At Mayday Farm we watched exceedingly noisy jets from Lakenheath and a Dunnock! By now we were frozen and headed for the pub where the fire, meal and cider were very welcome! So Hawfinch, Firecrest, Mandarin and Woodlark will have to wait for another day or we will have jetted off to somewhere that birds are more plentiful!

It was another grey and gloomy day as John and I set off for Stiffkey. We parked in Greenway but could not find the reported Glossy Ibis on the flood in front of the Red Lion Pub, despite our best efforts of walking along the lower pathway by the river. We drove to the other flood by the A149 to the east of the village and found the Glossy Ibis there with all the Wigeon, Teal and Little Egrets.

We drove along Greenway and looked out over the marshes and watched a few Marsh Harriers and Red Kites before driving to Cley and walking to Bishop’s Hide where we saw Avocets, Turnstone, Redshank, Shoveler and Teal. We joined a few friends in the Visitor Centre for a chat and then drove to Kelling Heath where after some lunch we saw Dartford Warbler and Woodlark.

The weather had not improved and I was keen to get back to the garage to see what had happened to my car with its M.O.T. and service after a diagnostic problem that the garage had had yesterday with their software, after draining out the brake fluid! Apparently Mazdas have very sophisticated on-board computer allied to the EV batteries. Gone are the days when all a mechanic needed was a spanner and a bucket to drain out various fluids! When I arrived at the garage, my car was gleaming. I don’t think it looked as sparkling as this, even when I bought it! Still that won’t last long, driving around Norfolk lanes!

John and I spent the evening at the Wensum Valley Birdwatching Society where Steve Cale gave and excellent talk on Antarctica. Gosh it brought the memories flooding back of when I went in 1998. Steve had photos of many of the places that I had been to, but had the big advantage of digital photography of the birds, whereas all my photos are all on slides and prints stuck in albums. He explained that some identifications of birds were done after examining photos that he had taken! This was not an option in my day as I had no way of cropping and enlarging my photos and in fact many of them went straight into the bin! It was a very enjoyable talk as Steve is very knowledgeable and a very good presenter. Thank you Steve. The cakes were delicious too Mary! Thank you.

I decided to have a wander over to West Acre this morning to a lovely little area that used to be a regular recording area in NarVOS. We used to have regular sightings of Siskin, Redpoll, Grey Wagtail, Kingfisher and Green Sandpiper. A Grey Shrike was present once too! I haven’t seen any bird sightings from here lately, so I thought I would make a visit. Years ago I paid a small fee to Abbey Farm to have a key to the hide and have a permit to birdwatch here from it. One of the NarVOS members used to maintain the hide and scrape and we all got excited when one of the first Common Buzzards recorded in the county was seen from the hide. How times have changed!

I was pleased to see a new board walk that led from the bridge by the old ford to a wonderful walk through the woods but I was less than pleased to see how the estate has let the hide and access to the hide fall into disrepair. Surely the estate can do better than this? It is such a lovely little quiet spot that the local community could benefit from? After a walk over the bridge, I walked along the boardwalk, through the woods and enjoyed watching Long-tailed Tits, Goldcrest, Great Tits, Marsh Tit, Mallard, Coot, Moorhen and listening to Nuthatch, Wren and Green Woodpecker.

I doubled back (although it is possible to do a circular walk) to the ford and walked down to the hide overlooking Tallents Meadow. I gave up the battle to access the track to the hide and made my way down by the side of the track and sat quietly in the hide. Sadly the water level was too high and had submerged the islands that are sometimes present. Mallard, Teal, Moorhen and Coot were present, as a Little Grebe swam towards me begging to have its photograph taken. By now the temperature had zoomed up and for the first time this month, I had to remove my coat as I was too hot! A Red Kite flew over, as I made my way back to the car but the Little Owl tree had long gone.

As I have been away quite a bit this year, I am still trying to catch up with my U.K. year list so a report of a Long-tailed Duck lingering off the coast at Titchwell and the need to take something to a member of staff there, made the decision easy on where to go birdwatching today. After a visit to the cafe at Titchwell, I walked down the West Bank path and met up with Jim and Rob. Jim had a Little Gull lined up for me and directed me to a couple of Mediterranean Gulls. I was very pleased to see 3 Cattle Egrets on the Freshmarsh, which was a Titchwell tick for me!

Together we walked down to the beach where I soon found the Long-tailed Duck. We watched a small flock of Common Scoter, a few Red-breasted Mergansers, a Goldeneye, Cormorants and a few Great Crested Grebes. Jim found me a couple of Eiders which I needed for a year tick. We walked back to the Parrinder Hide where we watched Common Snipe, Marsh Harriers, Lapwing, hundreds of Golden Plover, Teal, Shoveler, Gadwall, Mallard, Pied Wagtail, Little Egret, Brent Geese and Mute Swans.

Rob had walked back to the car park and had phoned Jim that he was watching the Woodcock. He kindly stayed with it until I got there. After a quick drink, I re-joined Jim at Patsy’s Pool  where we watched a few Common Snipe, a brief Cetti’s Warbler, Teal, Marsh Harriers, Red Kite, Mute Swan and Coot.

It was lovely to stop and talk to all my former colleagues as I miss them all!

On my way home I stopped to watch a Little Owl at West Newton.

It was yet another horrible grey and gloomy day in Norfolk and as the day progressed the wind got up with a few spits of rain. It was not the ideal birding day and I decided to stay at home.

I had a WhatsApp face to face phone call with my 5 year old granddaughter Hannah, who was full of excitement to tell me about a birthday party she had been to yesterday. Like me she is very keen on her wildlife and is full of natural curiosity about anything that we see together when we are out and about. I often end up with a pocket full of snails, bugs and pretty leaves. I try my best to lose a few as we walk home, hoping that she won’t notice but she is smart and I have to make excuses that they must have crawled out!

Hannah was full of herself and bursting to tell me that she had held some birds yesterday at the party and that two of them had pooed! I asked her what birds they were and she could remember that there were some owls and vultures. I know many owls are kept in captivity and my daughter knows my feelings about captive birds, especially falconry, however with good education hopefully the birds will inspire some children to take care of our natural world. However I raised an eyebrow about a captive vulture. After my daughter sent me some photos, I was able to tell Hannah that she had held a White-faced Scops Owl (now called either Northern or Southern White-faced Owl) and a Blue-winged Kookaburra. She had also stood very close to a Pygmy Falcon, Verraux’s Eagle Owl and a Black Vulture! After my twin grandsons holding snakes, lizards and tarantula spiders a few days ago I never ceased to be amazed how exciting children’s parties are nowadays. They were not as exciting when I was young!

After a walk along a local lane watching Fieldfare and Skylarks whilst listening to a Woodlark singing, John and I drove to Warham Greens where we were joined by James and Mike. Together we had a wonderful couple of hours in the sun watching 4 Barn Owls, 2 Short-eared Owls, 3 Merlins, 5 Marsh Harriers, 2 Hen Harriers and a Pallid Harrier. The interaction between a Short-eared Owl and the Pallid Harrier was lovely to watch. The light was good for a change and with no wind, we did not freeze to death, as we stood in awe of the amazing scene in front of us.

There was a supporting cast of Little Egret, Brent Geese, Curlew and Herring Gulls and as I was driving home another Barn Owl flew across the road and landed in the hedge beside me, as I watched skeins on Pink-footed Geese flying out to sea through the sunset. Magical!

As I did not have my camera with me today all the photographs are phone/scoped.

It was third-time lucky for John and I as we watched a Hawfinch along with Stew this morning. Luckily we did not have to wait long but getting a photograph was quite a different matter as Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Blue Tit and Great Tit always seem to be in the way or the bird hid behind a water trough. I knew I would not have long to try and photograph the bird as this year the bird seems to only stay a couple of minutes. Nuthatch, Blackbird, Brambling, Yellowhammer, Dunnock and Robin provided a supporting cast.

We watched a Goldcrest in the trees above us before  a Firecrest flitted around one of the Holly bushes. After buying a delicious cake from the Shephard’s  Hut, I drove to Santon Downham and walked the river bank. Great Spotted Woodpeckers were drumming but sadly there was no Lesser Spotted Woodpecker which has not been reliably seen in Norfolk for over a year now. The specialist species that dragged Norfolk birders away from the coastline of years ago are now diminishing as Willow Tit has long gone, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is no more, Goshawks are everywhere, (if only people would look) and Crossbill is an irruptive species that can be seen elsewhere. It must be grim for inland birders with such a diminishing, restrictive menu as the biomass of birds continues to decline and birding in the U.K. gets more and more depressing, as we now struggle to see birds that years ago we would have regarded as common.

I saw a few flocks of Siskin and Goldfinches along the river bank, but could not find any Redpoll but I was being challenged by looking into the sun most of the time! A few Buzzards took to the air calling but I was annoyed when I heard a Woodlark singing in the St. Helen’s car park, which was deserted, only to be thwarted by a car arriving which immediately let an Alsatian dog out of it, off its lead and that was the end of that! Grrrr!

It was yet another dreadful day weather-wise with rain for most of the day, with grey and gloomy skies. After visiting the supermarket, I stayed at home and spent the afternoon cooking, whilst watching my garden birds getting wet. Blue Tits, Robins and Blackbirds didn’t seem to mind the rain as they gorged themselves on sunflower seeds and apples that I had put out for them.

The day was saved by attending the monthly NarVOS meeting that was well-supported by some long-standing NarVOS members and the more recent members. John was giving the talk about the Guianan shield which combined a Sunbird holiday that he did many years ago to Venezuela and our trip to Guyana  last year. It was lovely to enjoy the memories of our wonderful birding trip with Eduardo and all the colourful birds that we saw. The small plane ride to The Kaieteur Falls will remain in my memory for years to come.

Afterwards many of us trooped across to the pub where we enjoyed the usual camaraderie that the NarVOS members relish and look forward to, although Linda and I will probably be a bit more selective on the chairs that we choose next time!!!!

After a brief stop to look at the Peregrine at the top of the silo in King’s Lynn docks, it was a cold keen wind that met me down at Lynn Point this morning. The tide was out and the with the exception of hundreds of Brent Geese, there were not a lot of birds to look at. A few Linnets, Reed Buntings and Yellowhammers were sat in the bushes as I watched a lone Little Egret and a Shelduck fly over. A flock of 14 Yellowhammers flew over the marsh and disappeared into the grass. I waited for sometime for anything else to appear and was about to give up, when a flock of 50 Corn Buntings appeared which also eventually disappeared into the grass. Luckily a few landed on a thistle before they too disappeared into the grass.

I walked along the bank and through the trees along the coastal footpath and saw a few Long-tailed Tits, Blue Tit and a Great Tit.

After a quick stop for some lunch at home, I drove around the lanes of West Newton and Flitcham where I saw a Red Kite, Buzzard, 3 Red-legged Partridge and a lone Grey Partridge. Goodness knows where  all the birds were hiding today. In the hide at Flitcham I was joined by two delightful young birders who were on holiday and together after watching Teal, Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Marsh Harrier and Buzzard we were spoilt for the next 45 minutes by two Barn Owls that were hunting and posing on posts in the meadow. What a treat!

After watching Grey Wagtail at West Newton I drove to Ringstead Downs where I saw very little, although it was a nice walk in the sun. I heard a Tawny Owl calling but could not see it. At a local site I met up with Kathryn, Gwynn, Julie and John and together we watched a Goshawk displaying. A pair of Stonechats were flitting around too.

I drove back to West Newton where I walked my local track and found that the field has been planted with tulips. This will not bode well for access with peace and quiet, when all the visitors arrive to see them! It does raise an awful lot of money for the local hospice though. Down at the pool there were Mallard, Teal, Moorhen and a Great Tit mimicing a Chiffchaff! As I walked back along the track a Stonechat and a Yellowhammer sat and posed for my camera. My only year tick today was a Kingfisher, that flew along the Babingley River as I walked over the bridge.