November 2023

I was up at 4.15am to be down at Snettisham RSPB car park for a 5.15am start in the dark and rain, where I met up with the other RSPB staff, ready for the onslaught of cars arriving with visitors in, for the last wader spectacular of the year. We mistakenly thought that there would not be many takers for the spectacle, given the weather forecast. How wrong we were! Luckily for me cars arrived at a pace that I could cope with, but we soon ran out of space and Hayley had to send many cars down to the beach car park. Lucy and I dealt with answering visitors’ questions before I drove up to the reserve, checked on the permit holders and joined the hundreds of people stood at the Wash Point watching the waders on the mud running ahead of the in-coming tide.

Oystercatchers, Knot and Bar-tailed Godwit joined the Curlews further up the channel as the in-coming tide progressed before a Marsh Harrier spooked all the waders up into the air and gave all the assembled people an amazing aerial display. It was the spectacle that they had come to see. Meanwhile after taking a few photographs I pointed out to those standing nearby me another amazing event taking place; that of migrating thrushes that were flying in large flocks over our heads. The flocks were mainly Fieldfares and Blackbirds. There were also a few small finch flocks too.

Snettisham is an amazing place and we were lucky that the rain had stopped, so that we could admire what was taking place in front and above us. I walked to the hide to check that all was well and noted several hundred Oystercatchers on the roost bank. Most of the islands are currently under water due to the large amount of rain that we have had recently, but one small island had some Redshank and Cormorants roosting on it. After helping a few visitors and sorting out some identification problems that they had, I walked back to my car. Thrushes were still flying overhead as got in my car and drove to the country park. Here some Fieldfares landed in a tree before flying off again. After a walk, the rain started once again and I returned back to my car.

With a storm forecast I had planned a day at home to try and attend to many ‘small sewing’ jobs on my sewing machine that I had neglected for the last few months as well as a run to the supermarket for provisions and petrol. With all that achieved I looked at BirdGuides to discover that there was a Glossy Ibis in King’s Lynn, only 14 minutes away. I jumped in the car and arrived at the flooded football pitch where the Glossy Ibis was associating with Black-headed Gulls and Common Gulls all feeding in the squelchy ground.

Dave Nurney arrived who had found the ibis whilst teaching one of his pupils to drive in his driving school car. He soon left and I was joined by Pat, Brian, Les and Anne, Roger and Steve who all enjoyed the ibis as much as I did. We watched for a while and also saw the two Peregrines sat on top of the tower in the docks in our scopes. Suddenly all the birds took to flight for no apparent reason and it looked as though the ibis was going to leave, as all the gulls landed back down. However it changed its mind and doubled back around and landed at the edge of the flood. None of us stayed for much longer as the temperature was dropping and it was time to go.

Along with many other birdwatchers and those of us that care about the terrible proposed barrage across The Wash and the irreversible damage that it will do for the birds that depend on the feeding area that The Wash provides for them, I attended the meeting in Hunstanton this evening. It was arranged by the local council so that we could hear about the proposed development and question the developers. All I can say that the first half was a total shambles! Many people were refused entry as the Princess Theatre was packed to capacity. If it wasn’t for my twitching experience at getting to where I want to be, I too had initially had been refused entry but with a bit of guile, managed to sneak upstairs and find myself a seat!

Mr Sutcliff of Centre Port apparently had refused to speak in the first half and would only attend if he spoke last! It all became a bit of a farce as local councillors, with little knowledge tried to answer questions despite repeated calls from the audience that they had come to hear from Mr. Sutcliff. The mayor tried to keep order and decided upon a break. After a recess we had an excellent presentation from a U.E.A professor of oceanography who explained the importance of The Wash to prevent future flooding and its environmental/wildlife importance. At last we had someone with some intelligence speaking.

More calls from the audience came asking Mr. Sutcliff to speak and he eventually capitulated. His slides were full of spelling and grammar errors. I have never witnessed such an unprofessional presentation from an international company before. I needed a red pen to correct them all! I was appalled at his proposal, as was most of the audience. His money-grabbing scheme will damage our wonderful wildlife area forever. Do we really want thousands of container lorries trundling around from a huge container port near The Wash? Do we really want a barrage with over 40 wind turbines on it across The Wash killing birds and nowhere left for them to feed? The 3 rivers that currently flow into The Wash will not be able to evacuate the water and flooding will occur as far as Peterborough.  We MUST do all we can to stop this scheme. A big thank you to all those who attended or tried to attend.

John and I joined other birders at Cley Spy this afternoon where we tried out several thermal imagers in the event that Cley Spy were putting on. Pulsar and Zeiss both had displays with various models for us to try out. As John and I have several winter holiday planned, where a thermal imager will be useful, we were keen to learn something about them. We tried almost all of the models on display and eventually settled on one that we both liked. Let’s hope it will find us some good night birds as well as those pesky birds that like to hide deep in vegetation!

Very frustratingly, I have spent the last two days at home, as on Sunday afternoon my back seized up and by Monday morning I could not get out of bed! Oh the agony! With various vapour rubs, sprays, hot water bottles and heat strips being applied to the affected area of my back, I managed to limp to the sofa where I settled for the morning and continued with the editing of my website.

I have been working backwards through the 102 pages to be edited and am now on the 2010 diary pages. This of course was my world trip year where my ex-partner and I spent the whole year birding around the world. What a year it was! I just love my birding and cannot imagine a life without it. Being in foreign countries with new birds and wildlife, as well as meeting new people and places is just amazing. Luckily it’s not long now until my next trip. I just hope that my back improves in time. I’m sure it will!

Today I am working (with a heat strip on my back) on my new computer upstairs which I am very pleased with. Goodness knows why I put up with the old one as long as I did. Needing a cup of tea, I stood for a while looking out of the window at the top of the stairs. My Silver Birch tree was alive with a flock of Long-tailed Tits. They are just such lovely little birds. A few Blue Tits and Great Tits were also flitting around the garden. Thank goodness for a garden!

After suffering cabin fever from an enforced two days at home with a bad back, I needed some fresh air and a short walk. The weather was not promising as I joined John Gates in the Snettisham car park. Together we watched flocks of Starlings migrating over our heads as well as many other thrushes arriving. Most flocks were fairly small but they were so easily spooked as we walked along the RSPB path behind the pits. Most flocks consisted of Fieldfares that were landing in the Hawthorn bushes that were loaded with berries. There were also a few Blackbirds, with dark bills. We heard a Cetti’s Warbler calling but did not see it. A skein of Pink-footed Geese flew over our heads just before we reached the end of the pit. The wind was getting up and I did not think my back would hold up for much longer and so we returned back to the cars just as the rain set in once again.

When I returned back home the postman had been and had delivered my Red-footed Booby pin badge. A wonderful memory of the day out that we had had in the summer of the twitch to the Bishop Rock lighthouse, Isles of Scilly.

John and I attended a talk in Wymondham last night along with several other birders about our Wild Isles. The talk was not quite what we expected. Whilst the photography was excellent it was a shame that the speaker hadn’t taken the trouble to correctly identify many of his bird  photographs. The birders in the audience sat and squirmed as the mis-identifications continued in the first half of the talk.

The second half of the talk had some stunning photographs of insects taken with a macro lens and the speaker’s knowledge of insect behaviour was good, but once again let down by not knowing the names of his subjects. If only he had taken some care to find out what they all were the talk would have been impressive!

After visiting friends, John and I drove to Lowestoft where we watched 11 Waxwings in a suburban street. Unfortunately they mostly stayed at the top of a tall tree because two photographers with no binoculars, insisted standing underneath the Rowan tree where the Waxwings were hoping to feed, despite frequent requests from the birders to stand back a bit to give the Waxwings an opportunity to feed. Grrrr….

After buying a new keyboard for my computer we drove to Norwich where we watched 5 Rose-ringed Parakeets that were frequently calling to each other.

John and I joined many friends standing at Winterton church scanning the skies for a lone Pallid Swift that we had only just missed by a few minutes as we arrived. However we felt a bit better when told, that even if we had been stood there, we would not have necessarily seen it, as many were strung along the street at various points and had not seen it either! Apparently it was keeping very low over the roof tops and if you were looking in the wrong direction and didn’t keep up with it, it dipped low again and disappeared. Our hopes were fading after an hour and a half of no sign of the bird and I decided to fetch a cup of tea from the Post Office, as John’s had had a power cut and we could not make a cup of tea to bring with us. Luckily Graham Etherington, who was further along the road put a message on the WhatsApp group that he was watching it. I immediately rang him and he gave us directions of where to look. Gosh it was low over the roofs. I just managed to get a glimpse of it before it disappeared once again. At least we knew it was still around! Luckily after a chase down the road, we all saw it well as it flew around the rooftops of the village. Getting a photograph of it was another matter though. The light conditions were awful as a band of cloud had come rolling over, making it very gloomy, after the lovely sunlight we had enjoyed earlier. Taking photographs of swifts are never easy at the best of times! I pointed the camera skywards and just hoped for the best!

After a while, we drove onto Horsford, where at Broadland Country Park ,we walked some of the trails and flushed out a Woodcock that flew over a clearing. We heard a Green Woodpecker calling but did not see it, as several Jays flew across in front of us. All of a sudden I heard a flock of Crossbills approaching and put John onto them. The flock split up but luckily some flew our way and over our heads. A minute later a dozen flew back and landed in a tree at the side of the track, where I managed a few photographs of them, before we headed for the pub for a very late Sunday lunch.

Having spent much more time down at the supermarket and other shops this morning than I had anticipated, I arrived at Snettisham in the gloom of the afternoon. How I hate these gloomy, grey days of winter. Luckily there were a few birders in the hides and it did not take long to locate the Black-throated Diver, however it was extremely mobile and using the full length of the southern-most pit. I always seemed to be in the wrong hide and in hindsight should have stayed put in one hide and waited for the diver to approach. However it never came close and proceeded to spend the majority of its time under water as divers do!

The Goldeneye present were a joy to see as were a Marsh Harrier and a Red Kite that flew over the fields. I heard a Kingfisher but it flew by extremely quickly in front of the hide and only gave the briefest of views.

My evening was spent at the Wensum Valley Bird Club meeting where Steve Stansfield gave a very interesting talk about his life as Warden of Bardsey Island. It brought memories flooding back of an amazing day that I spent on the island back in June 2015 twitching a Cretzschmar’s Bunting. Being the 4th biggest breeding colony in the world for Manx Shearwaters, Steve gave us an insight into what life was like living on the island for the last 26 years and the work he undertook. I was amazed at the sheer numbers of rarities that it has had. The photographs were wonderful as the audience listened intently. It was an excellent evening as the birders amongst us that had twitched the bunting tried to name all the rarities that Steve put up on screen.

After sorting out a few things at home I needed a break. It looked a wonderful day outside and I fancied a second look at the Black-throated Diver at Snettisham, as this species is scarce in Norfolk and we don’t get to see very many close up.  I had a quick snack for lunch and drove down to Snettisham and walked to the Shore Hide which was very noisy inside. I pleaded for people to be a bit quieter if we stood any chance of the diver coming close, as the diver was quite clearly keeping to the far side of the pit because of the noise. After a while only Dave and Trevor Rackshaw and his wife were left, as people left for their lunch and we kept very quiet and watched the Black-throated Diver swim underneath the water and eventually popped up right in front of the hide. The light was much better today as we took our photographs.

We watched a Sparrowhawk fly along the far bank and a Kingfisher fly along the length of the pit in front of us. A Marsh Harrier cruised by followed by a Little Egret. Cormorants and Lapwings were roosting on one of the islands whilst Great Crested Grebes and Little Grebes kept us entertained.

I have spent most of my day editing my website after getting my suitcase packed ready for my upcoming trip at the end of next week. It’s going to be hot! 😉

The only birds I have seen were some Goldfinches, Greenfinches, Chaffinches and a Robin on my garden feeder.

I spent this morning at the Sandringham Christmas Craft Fair as a friend had recommended a Skiffle band that he thought I ought to go and see. They were very entertaining! However I enjoyed some of the craft fair and managed to buy some presents for some of my grandchildren as well as trying a few samples of Gin!

Arriving back home it was nice to see a Red Kite from my kitchen window before once again editing my website. I have pressed a few wrong buttons and hope Richard from NRD can sort it out! Please bear with me whilst I learn the new system.

After leaving Heathrow last night we arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where we boarded another plane to Lusaka in Zambia. We then flew onto Harare in Zimbabwe where Dylan Vasapolli picked us up and took us to accommodation to change and go out birding. The heat hit us as we walked under a clear-blue sky and watched Red Bishops, Yellow Bishops, Little Bee-eaters with African Palm Swifts flying overhead. However my mind was concentrating on seeing an African Yellow Warbler lurking in the reeds which was a world tick for me. A Black-winged Kite sat and posed whilst Red-collared Widowbirds also sat and posed in the sun.

As the sun was beginning to get lower in the sky we drove back to our accommodation where we had a delicious meal and a few beers sat outside in the warmth of the evening.

We were up at 5.30am for another hot sunny day. After breakfast we drove to Christonbank just outside Harare, where it did not take long to find Boulder Chat that gave us good views as it called from a boulder before flying up into a tree. The Miombo woodland was quite productive as we watched Scarlet-chested Sunbirds, African Pied Hornbills, Ashy Flycatchers, Black-headed and African Orioles before a pair of our target birds flew in. We watched the Whyte’s Barbets flying and perched, adding another world tick to our lists.

After a lovely lunch in a local restaurant we returned to our accommodation for a swim in the pool to cool down before setting out mid-afternoon to Haka Park where we saw Giraffe, Blue Wildebeest and Zebra as well as a host of Miombo woodland species, including Southern Hyliotas and White-crested Helmetshrikes. I was pleased to see Pale-crowned Cisticola, a world tick for me. White-backed Ducks also swam on the lake as an African Fish Eagle swooped over us.

Well what a fabulous day it was today! First, I got to see my much-wanted Racket-tailed Roller and John got to see his Bronze-winged Courser in Zimbabwe. We also had a search for my target species of African Pitta but not before Jim had loaded up the rifle as we were on foot. It was just as well, as later on towards the evening we came across a pride of Lions with some cubs. Luckily they were quite sleepy at the time! We loved watching White-fronted Bee-eaters and Southern Carmine Bee-eaters too. However as we were enjoying our sundowners with a G and T at a waterhole, whilst watching Elephants and Double-banded Sandgrouse, the Lions came creeping in to drink when it was almost dark!

It was another 4.30am start today. After a cup of tea, we watched a few birds before making our way back to the African Pitta site at Mana Pools in Zimbabwe, where we had watched the bird yesterday. We were in luck as two African Pittas were lurking in the vegetation. They were not so keen to show themselves today but we still had reasonable views of them. Two African Broadbills also put in an appearance. It reached 40 degrees again today as we returned to the camp for lunch and for a short snooze before heading out again to watch Lilac-breasted Rollers, European Roller, Mosque Swallows, Mottled Spinetails and Carmine Bee-eaters at a waterhole before enjoying our G and Ts at our sundowner.

With temperatures that rose to 42 degrees Celsius during the day we were fortunate that Dylan decided to use his own car today, so at least we had some air conditioning for the majority of the journey to the River Zambezi, where Zimbabwe looks across to Zambia. We enjoyed views of Elephant, Buffalo, Greater Kudu, Spotted Hyena, Zebra, Eland and a Hinge Tortoise that walked along the road for a while in front of us. Once we reached the flood plain of the river, we opened the windows and the heat flooded in, warming us up just a little bit! Sadly we failed to find the pack of Wild Dogs that were know to inhabit the area but were told that they haven’t been seen for the last week.

We stopped to admire some of the birds along the route and river including Three-banded Plover, Lillian’s Lovebird, Yellow-billed Stork, Bat Hawk, African Hawk-Eagle, Trumpeter Hornbill and a host of other wonderful birds. Lunch was taken at the riverside where it was lovely to sit in the shade and take the view all in as Carmine Bee-eaters, Bohm’s Spinetails and Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters flew over our heads. Out on a river island African Skimmers loafed around whilst Black Herons and Black-headed Herons stood around as Water Thick-knees waded in front of us. Jim, John, Dylan and myself enjoyed a few drinks and a picnic letting the world go by without another soul in sight.

On the way back to camp we stopped to find Arnot’s Chat which performed very well for us. A world tick for me but gosh it was like a furnace as we stood and watched it singing.

Am I missing Norfolk in the cold? Now let me think!…….