Golden Wonders

Breckland and North Norfolk Trip, 16 July 2006
Way back in the day, when I first joined the bird club, I can remember one of my highlights of those first outdoor meetings I attended, being the visit to the Brecks in July, where we had awesome views of a female Golden Oriole flying about and then of a juvenile perched on the other side of the river. Hoping to relive this experience and share it with our newer members, I decided to conclude this season’s outdoor meetings on a high with the same trip.

The news I received prior the trip though wasn’t promising, “You’ll be lucky to hear one let alone see them” was one of the views expressed, so a disaster was to be expected. We were among the first to arrive (as well I should, being the trip leader n’ all) and kicked off the trip list with Turtle Dove in the car park.

Relatively new PBC asset, Brian Lawerence, arrived soon after and shared the fact that he had never seen them this late on in the day before. I knew that a dawn start was the preferred time to see these beautiful creatures, but I’m no early riser so I’ve never seen them then and have even seen them in the afternoon before. Nevertheless I rallied the troops and prepared them for a rather sweaty wait that would probably produce little in the way of Orioles.

We started by checking the flashes which were still very full and the ducks were loving them. Mainly Mallard but a few Gadwall were picked out, though the hoped for Garganey remained elusive. Making sure we didn’t miss anything, we grilled the flash extensively as Chris Orders was already at the Oriole watch point and I knew he would call me if we were urgently needed.

A Grasshopper Warbler reeled from the reeds to the south of the path and several family parties of Reed Warblers showed extremely well at the edge of the Phragmites. A couple of Green Sandpipers flew low over the flash and were lost as they went over the bank, but luckily another 5 or so birds were picked up at the back of the flash, proving to be a lifer for several members. A Sparrowhawk soared overhead in the already hot temperatures.

As we wandered up to the watch point, I started doing my rather poor impression of a Golden Oriole which got an almost instant response from an Oriole. Brian swore that it was me, but the bird then called again proving that a very real Oriole was in there somewhere! To turn up and have the Orioles calling straight away is lucky; I soon learnt how lucky we had been, as Chris had been there for an hour now with no sign or call from the Orioles!

The birds continued to call and a few minutes later Mac Bell picked up a sublime male Golden Oriole, sat in the plantation. It’s yellow and black plumage is surprisingly hard to pick up in the poplars, so Mac did really well to pick it up. The bird remained there for over five minutes allowing every member present to get stunning views of one of the most exotic looking species on the British list!

A female also joined the male for several minutes, it’s olive plumage proved especially hard to pick up when she wasn’t moving, but most if not all got views of her. It was extremely satisfying seeing everyone’s face light up when they first put their eye to the scope and will probably remain one of my birding highlights of the year. It just goes to show how much luck is involved in this game.

Flushed with success we moved onto our Stone Curlew site which indeed produced instant views of a couple of individuals and Coal Tit was also added to the trip list here. From here we made the fairly lengthy journey north, to the Wensum Valley Raptor watch point, near Great Ryburgh.

It would appear on mad dogs and PBC members go out in the mid-day sun, as Honey Buzzards certainly don’t. The weather was just too hot for them and only a couple of Common Buzzards put on a brief show. After getting quite fried and only a Hobby we decided to move onto Titchwell for the cool sea breeze if nothing else.

With our trip list already at the dizzy heights of 57 by the time we reached Titchwell, we knew we were in for a good haul of news species and we weren’t disappointed with the trip total nearly reaching the ton.

A Mediterranean Gull alongside a leucisitic Black-headed Gull provided an education for those not wise in the ways of the much dreaded Gull. Avocets were everywhere, chasing everything as they do. This very successful species has bred in record numbers at Titchwell this year.

The last highlight the day had to throw at us was a couple of migrant Whimbrel on the beach; a sign that autumn is only just round the corner and a fitting way to finish another successful season of trips. Hope to see more members during the next season of outdoor meetings.

Peterborough Bird Club's July 2006 Norfolk Trip Report.
by Will Bowell

Rutland Trip Report

Rutland Water, 20 March 2005
A large group of PBC members assembled in the Egleton car park on a cold and damp Sunday morning. After being greeted by trip leaders Trevor Williams and Will Bowell (and the strange sight of a pair of Egyptian Geese sat in a tree), we then ambled down the lane towards the imposing Anglian Water Birdwatching Centre. A number of us were distracted by the hide in front of the centre and had a quick glimpse of the Tree Sparrows on the feeders and a good showing of more familiar garden feeder species.

Once in sight of the Centre we were greeted by Tim Appleton, the Reserve Manager, and ushered towards the desk where permits were purchased (its worth noting that groups and those of a certain age do get a slight discount). After buying our permits we headed off through the woods surrounding the Centre, having more views of the Tree Sparrows as they “chirped”, noisily around the many nest boxes placed around the site.

Whilst walking towards the hides the group passed a few dead trees in the middle of a field. Will happened to comment on the fact that they look good for Little Owl and with that he promptly found one. A few members weren’t convinced of course that the leaders hadn’t had this bird staked out on their pre-trip recce-ing in the early hours, but they assured us it was pure fluke!

At Tern Hide many people had their first Sand Martins of the year, as a group of five birds flew up high against the grey, cold sky; no doubt wondering why on earth they had bothered leaving Africa in the first place! A small flock Golden Plovers wielded over the islands of Lagoon 1, including some sporting the first signs of summer plumage; the black belly. Other birds present included Curlew, Dunlin, Pintail, Goldeneye and Ruddy Duck.

Surprising to some, but Oystercatchers are actually summer visitors to inland sites so to see these and Sand Martins contrasted nicely to the many winter visitors still present such as the Goldeneye and Wigeon.

After returning to the Birdwatching Centre we had lunch and a welcome hot drink. After lunch we visited the northern hides. We saw some Goldeneye displaying in Lagoon 2 together with Little Grebes in breeding plumage. The head bopping motion of the Goldeneye is always a delight to see, and at this time of year is always done with new vigour for the oncoming breeding season.

A Kingfisher was a nice find in the opposite bank; it sat preening for all to see and was a nice change to the usual flash of blue view most people get, as the bird flies away!

On our return to the car park we learned of a female Scaup on the Fishponds from Tim Appleton. Whereupon we all decamped to the Fishponds part of the reservoir, north of the village of Egleton. After quizzing some birders already there we eventually found the Scaup.

Eventually, when the bird awoke the group could examine the main identification features which made this a female Scaup. The bigger build, rounder head (no tufts of course), extensive white round the bill and the different shade of brown all stood out. Surprisingly, the Scaup blended in quite well when roosting.

After returning to the car park, details of a long-staying Great Grey Shrike in nearby Oakham were discussed and a number of the group decided to head off and try and re-locate the bird. Unfortunately, despite much scanning of the railway land it had been inhabiting in previous sightings, no views were to be had.

Despite the gloomy weather the final trip list totalled 70 species.

Peterborough Bird Club's March 2005 Rutland Trip Report
by Chris Monk

Winter Wildfowl and Wind

Thrampston Gravel Pits, 19 February 2005

The Thrapston and Titchmarsh Gravel Pits form the northern end of a chain of gravel pits stretching from Northampton; this chain of gravel pits is nationally important for its wintering waterfowl and regularly holds in excess of 20,000 wintering water birds.

Both complexes allow for circular walks of 2-3 miles or a longer figure of 8 walks of 5-6 miles. The walking is easy although muddy in places and some parts are impassable if the River Nene has flooded its banks. In winter the site is good for common water birds and occasionally turns up something good. In summer the scrubby habitats surrounding the pits are good for warblers and I have seen Nightingales there during spring passage.

The winter of 2003/04 saw 3 Bitterns over-winter at Titchmarsh and it was these and Goosander that were the original target species for the PBC trip. The relatively mild winter of 2004/05 meant that no Bitterns had been seen regularly at Titchmarsh so the walk focused on the water birds of the lake.

Following a late change of meeting place to Thrapston, half a dozen or so keen members braved the biting cold wind to explore the Thrapston/Titchmarsh Gravel Pit complex.

We walked along the edge of Thrapston Town Lake which gave us a chance to look at Pochard, Great-crested Grebes and Goldeneye. The Goldeneye were already engaging in their distinctive “head bobbing” display and proving challenging to try and point out to people. “It’s behind that Pochard… nope, it’s just dived…”; eventually I think the whole group managed to catch up with some.

Town Lake also gave us the first chance to see Goosander, with two females and a male clustered near the bank. Whilst the males are very distinctive we took the opportunity to have a discussion about how to pick out birds in flight (flying cigars) and the difference between female/immature goosander and Red-breasted Merganser.

A Green Woodpecker gave good views in flight to everybody and a lucky few managed to pick it up again as it sat in a nearby willow. At this point we were joined by a flock of Long-tailed Tits and everybody enjoyed watching these attractive balls of feathers as they foraged and twittered nearby.

The walk continued into Titchmarsh Local Nature Reserve, which is managed by the local Wildlife Trust. A Stock Dove was sat on top of one of the owl nest-boxes trying not to get blown off and eventually gave up. We also decided that we had had enough of the biting wind and retreated to the nearby hide to have a closer look at the birds on the main lake. Sharp eyed watchers managed to pick out Gadwall and Tufted duck amongst the flocks of Canada geese, Coots and Mallards. Another 8-10 Goosanders were also seen. Grey Herons were a common sight and were often seen flying in and out of the nearby heronry.

I know the site quite well and know that the Little Grebes are generally only seen on one part of one pit. I’d said this to the group and bet that we’d find some Little Grebes there. Initial looks revealed a flock of Wigeon feeding on the grass banks, their whistling calls immediately transporting us back to the north Norfolk coast; but no Little Grebes… Eventually two were found in a sheltered bay and my reputation was intact!

Whilst people were speculating about the origin of the white Aylesbury duck on the lake, Peter Beesley picked out what for many was the bird of the trip. A superb male pintail! Just as it swam out of view, the “rest of the group” (those people that I hadn’t managed to find at the original meeting point to divert them to Thrapston) arrived. We compared notes, they had seen a Shoveler on a lake that we hadn’t looked at, gave them directions as to the location of the Pintail and went our separate ways. Our walk back to the cars in Thrapston was fairly quiet, with a few Lapwing seen flying over.

In all a total of 40 species were seen, and members were introduced to a new site that holds promise at most times of the year.

Apology
A chance phone call in the week told me that a group of travellers had taken up residence at the original meeting point. The car park there is small anyway and would not have fitted both travellers and members’ cars. The decision was taken to move the meeting point to Thrapston. I managed to put this out on Peterbirder but unfortunately didn’t have the opportunity to make the changes on PBC website. Despite sitting at the original meeting point until after the start time to re-direct people we still managed to miss a group of people.

I’d like to apologise to those members that I didn’t manage to find and hope that the “self guided” walk made up for it.

Peterborough Bird Club's February 2005 Northamptonshire Trip Report
by Nicola Orchard

A Very Happy New Year

North Norfolk, 9 January 2005

New Year’s birding in Norfolk has become something of a tradition for the club, with a well rehearsed itinerary and a good track record of 100 plus birds on most previous occasions. This year’s event was as popular as ever; and close on thirty club members assembled at the traditional meeting point of the wet weather shelters on Hunstanton Cliffs, with various car loads eagerly exchanging their early morning lists.

Fulmar at Hunstanton Cliffs, Norfolk, 09.01.05. © William Bowell

Despite some eager beavers being in position at the Golden Pheasant site for dawn neither they, nor other groups were successful in seeing this increasingly elusive species. One group of early birds found time for an excursion into Sandringham Woods to achieve a pre-meet list of 40 species!

Other cars had secured difficult-to-get species including Short-eared Owl and Grey Partridge. Those who had taken the detour to the boat ramp were generally ill-rewarded with no interesting grebes or sea ducks present and no sign of any Purple Sandpipers which you would usually expect to find here, at this supposedly loyal spot. For one individual (the trip leader) this proved to be a bad omen indeed, as his scope blew over in the strong wind and received a fatal ‘injury’!

After a rather slow sea watch (or rather watching the sea!) the party split into two groups. Those taking the more leisurely itinerary, ably led by Gordon Hamlett - the beginner’s friend - went on to Holkham Woods and Lady Anne’s Drive. The razzabouts, less-than-ably led by yours truly went first to the Hawk and Owl Trust reserve at Sculthorpe in search of the much declined, Willow Tit. They failed in this mission, but did make contact with its more common cousin, Marsh Tit, and a variety of other woodland species. Common Buzzard- never an easy bird in Norfolk- brought up 60 for his group. Their four car convey, sped off to Stiffkey Fen where Lesser Yellowlegs, a lifer for a number of the party, was quickly ‘in the bag’.Lesser Yellowlegs at Stifkey Fen, Norfolk, 09.01.05. © Josh Jones

On to Lady Anne’s Drive where, seconds after parking the cars this group were lucky enough to observe a male Peregrine perform a low level fly past – much to the consternation of the local Lapwing flock.

A brisk yomp across the salt flats at Holkham was rewarding with the spectacle of 29 Shorelarks and close on 200 Snow Buntings seen at close range. A flock of Fieldfare prior to a hurried lunch brought up the 80. A brief encounter with Gordon’s group confirmed that there was little of particular interest in Holkham Woods despite their thorough thrashing- the most exciting species being several Brambling close to the main gate.

With time on our hands- well about 20 minutes! – the razzabouts went to collect the Bramblings. A brief dash into the surrounding parkland to obtain Green Woodpecker yielded the amazing bonus of a male Lesser-spotted Woodpecker- much to the delight of the whole group. This elusive species was seen well and even photographed!

On to Choseley Drying Barns for more farmland species and for most, but not all (Gnash!), a thirty strong Waxwing flock fly over! Titchwell was our last stop and before reaching the shop we had added the three Redpoll species to the day list, taking us over 90. A brisk walk to the sea added more expected species but, on this occasion, no sign of Sammy the Stilt. Activity on the sea had quietened down according to a break away group of PBC birders, but Red-throated Diver at 105 brought the day to a close… but not quite!

A pager message indicated that the previously reported White-tailed Sea Eagle had been relocated ten miles inland. A twilight dash saw members of the group watching the sun go down over a damp wood near Great Bircham- but alas no sign of the ‘flying barn door’ on this occasion. A small set-back in an otherwise perfectly executed New Year birding century.

PBC’s North Norfolk Trip Report by Trevor Williams

Owldernell

Kings Dyke & Eldernell, 5 December 2004

What a fickle lot our club members are! You take them out to Eldernell, try to show them the Tree Sparrows on the feeders, and a Gadwall on the lake and what happens? As soon as the first Short-eared Owl put in an appearance, there were 'oohs' and 'aahs' all round, bins and scopes were trained and that was that. No interest in anything else for the rest of the afternoon.

OK, so you go with the flow and point out every flypast by an owl and what happens next? That's right, there were so many fly-pasts that by the end of the afternoon, people were becoming so blasé that they didn't even lift their bins.

The trip started off at King's Dyke, a new reserve for many of the 30 or so members that turned up. Here we were very lucky to have a talk from Philip Parker, the head honcho in charge of the reserve. He explained the plans for expansion of the reserve and talked about the workings of the brick factory - now the largest in Europe.

This is an excellent all-round reserve. As well as the bird life, in summer, you can often get really close up views from the hide of water voles, grass snakes and assorted dragonflies. Reed Buntings on the feeders were new for some members and a couple of Green Woodpeckers flew past really close, fortunately just after I had said what a good spot this was for them. Predictions don't often work that well. A few of us saw a covey of ten Red-legged Partridges fly up in front of us as we returned to the car park.

The car park at Eldernell was already full when we arrived so it took a bit of time to sort out the parking during which there were distant views of three Shorties out towards March Farmers.

We set off towards Lord's Holt and it wasn't long before the first owl appeared. To be fair, they were lit up brilliantly in the oblique winter light. Three or four were hunting around the reed bed and the action soon hotted up as a ringtail Hen Harrier came out of the reeds, its white rump showing Persil-white as it quartered the ground. Owls mobbed the harrier, Crows mobbed the owls and a Kestrel just decided to make a nuisance of himself and have a pop at anything that moved. One sight that caused a lasting impression was the sheer number of birds on the washes. Seemingly devoid of any significant numbers, several times during the afternoon, thousands of Lapwings and Golden Plovers shot into the air, no doubt trying to avoid the attentions of a hunting Peregrine. We never did track down the hunter though; you have to be very lucky to find one particular bird when so many are in the air.

We did find one strange raptor perched just beyond Lord's Holt but the combined talents of the club's 'experts' couldn't identify it. One of the first rules of birdwatching is that you shouldn't expect to put a name to everything that you see. As well as the waders, there were plenty of Wigeon, Teal and Pintails to watch. Two more Green Woodpeckers flew past and there was a flock of about 50 Fieldfares. Several more Shorties flew past, one coming very close. We saw at least ten Short-eared Owls in total.

Darkness descended as we returned to the car park and the last dregs of coffee. A Tawny Owl hooted in the distance though, surprisingly, no-one saw a Barn Owl. One final 'treat' was watching all the Christmas lights. The residents of Coates seemed to be in competition with each other to produce the most garish house. Some of the decorations have been in place since Halloween though to be fair, most of the pumpkins have now been taken down!

PBC’s Cambridgeshire Trip Report by Gordon Hamlett

The Joys of Migration... and Trip leading!

North Norfolk, 17 October 2004
Migration is always a favourite and our October trips always seem to be a hit with our members- is there a link? You bet there is and this year’s traditional “slog” round the north Norfolk coast was another success with thirty or more members assembled at the end of Lady Anne’s Drive, Holkham on a wet miserable looking Sunday morning.

The two leaders, Josh Jones and Will Bowell did it in style and stayed over night at the Jones’s Docking pad (thanks guys!) sussing out where all the birds were in Holkham Pines on the Saturday afternoon. An easier task than it might sound though, as the pine needles were dripping with birds and we saw loads of (well 5) Firecrests and a lemon rumped tiger- Pallas’s Warbler. The next morning the pine needles were dripping with rain as well as birds and the area was stuffed with birders.

Despite the fact that the two leaders were based just down the road they were actually later than most (something about the alarm clock not working or something…) but I’m sure the members didn’t mind as the fields either side of them were filled with all kinds of odds and sods. Plus PBC veteran Gordon Hamlett was on hand offering friendly greetings in the slack leaders place.

On walking along the track rumours of Pallas’s and Yellow browed Warblers being about filtered through and the sharp eyed Josh Jones soon picked up a Firecrest at the front of the “queue” of members. Unfortunately, as a lot of times during woodland field trips, only privileged, quick members got to see the beautiful blighter; the rest of us at the back had to make do with a Treecreeper.

Scanning over the fields the trip list was boosted by further wildfowl additions and a Peregrine which glided over us with out flapping its wings once. Arriving at the spot which hosted 4 Firecrests together the previous afternoon (or so the leaders claimed) it seemed dead with just a few Blackcaps and Bullfinches knocking about. Good instincts and bad leadership (but we will forgive him) told JJ to temporally abandon the group and wander down the track alone. Here he discovered a Ring Ouzel- a lifer for this teen birder (I don’t know these young twitchers, American Robin and White’s Thrush on his Brit list before Rouzel- doesn’t seem right some how does it?). The rest of the group were hot on his heals and some caught a fleeting glimpse of this silvery winged beauty.

On the same piece of track we were suddenly surrounded by Long tailed Tits and sat in the a small bush a few metres away from us Nigel spotted a Firecrest; this one actually posed long enough for most to get views of what has got to be one of the best birds on the British list. As it bounced across the track it was replaced by a Yellow browed Warbler found by JJ; this one was even more considerate and decided to sit on the edge of the bush for a while. Oh what photos we could have got…

A Pallas’s also called but remained elusive for our happy team of birders so we carried on (though some later confessed to have been rather distracted by a Marsh harrier and missed the ‘crest and Yellow browed!). At this point we decided to miss the masses of frantic listers trying to see Pallas’s and carried on through to the dunes (managed to attract a few non-members along the way, who tagged along with us until they realised we weren’t heading to the dunes and were an organised party!).

The sea was dead clam and only a few passing Swallows were of note, so we decided to head back to car park (where we saw two more Firecrests) for a much deserved cuppa and a bite to eat; and of course to plan the route to our next destination- Salthouse!

A Salthouse downpour
Most people tend to ignore this spot for the delights of Cley, but us PBCers are pioneering folk and have no fears of visiting new places and I’m sure even though we didn’t see a great deal most members will be calling in at a later date. Probably the highlight from here was a Snow Bunting and a very close Red throated Diver until a downpour stopped play.

After the sun had come back out, a clear division in the group occurred with some wanting to stay at Salthouse and some wanting to look for the Radde’s Warbler just in case it was still about after being rung at Weybourne in the morning. This split was helped further by breaking news of a Red throated Pipit at Weybourne and I am ashamed to say the two leaders rather selfishly “dumped” the members who didn’t want to make a mad dash for a pipit on Gordon. These twitchers, only thinking of their lists….

Well actually no, as it turned out since the two leaders ran ahead of the 7 or so members who tagged along but one of the leaders decided to stay behind and waited for the others at the coastguards (or maybe he just couldn’t be bothered to walk another half mile for flight views of a small brown bird?) whilst the other ran ahead to the Pipit field.

Whilst at the coastguards the group got a nice Red necked Grebe, Little Gull and more Red throated Divers, whilst the single leader at the Pipit field got an unsatisfactory flight view of the Red throated in among a hundred or so Meadows. But then as if it sensed Will’s utter dissatisfaction the bird dropped down on the stubble field and was the only pipit to be showing out in the open! A quick call to Josh and the rest soon followed but only three of us saw it before it disappeared into the stubble.

Despite the bitter ending for some (and they didn’t really miss much- just a dark, well marked Pipit with tramlines down the back really!), most enjoyed this unforgettable day and nearly everyone added birds to their lists with the trip list weighing in at just under 100 species (and we didn’t even get Canada Goose!).

Peterborough Bird Club's October 2005 Norfolk Trip Report
by Will Bowell

The 'Lake District' Tour

The Deepings, 5 September 2004
With a gap in the club’s outdoor programme in prime return migration month of September, a tour round the “Lake District” was organised. As the event drew ever closer to the two leaders were just slightly worried about the complete lack of birds at the star of the piece; Welland Bank Pits (or to give it, its official Lincs Trust name: Deeping Lakes). Thankfully the event wasn't particularly well advertised so even if we didn’t see many birds there wouldn’t be many people to see the leaders’ failure.

On the day our prediction was wrong on both accounts with 12 “hardcore” club members turning up in the soon to be blistering heat of the September sun. As we gathered at the entrance of Welland Bank Pits a Marsh Harrier was picked up circling over the maze fields.

The first pit seemed pretty dead on first appearances, but as usual they were deceptive and on closer inspection we found two Snipe as well as several Teal. The usual collection of odds and strays were present in among the Greylag flock including Bar-headed, Barnacle and Blue winged Goose. A flock of 5 Ruddy Shelduck flew round and landed on the first pit as well provoking all kinds of theories about their origin including the idea that 3 were escapes but the new two are wild (August/September being a traditional time for wild ones of course). Sounds good to us!

The hedges were alive with Chiffchaffs and the occasional Willow Warbler and a single Garden Warbler was seen, unfortunately we failed to connect to any decent tit flock which at this time of year can usually produce a few interesting birds. From the hide over looking Dandridges, the younger of the two leaders, Josh Jones picked up three Pintail roosting just in front of us and later another two were picked up further back by Trev. These birds can be easily overlooked when searching the masses of wildfowl at this time of year, but their long necks, pointy tail and shiny black beaks are always a dead giveaway. This was a much needed WBP year tick for the leader who’s patch this is.

Winter has truly arrived as the single female Goldeneye was still present along with a Red crested Pochard, Wigeon, Gadwall, Shoveler, Pochard and all the winter ducks you would usually expect! A slightly mad Green Sandpiper flew low over the Lake apparently appearing from the trees with a Common Sand in the more usual spot of phase 1.

Soaring high over the group as we stood on the high bank, a pair of Buzzards headed off towards Deeping a sure sign things were on the move despite the wintry feel (in everything but the weather!). Will Bowell has to thank Trev for these beauts as this was a big WBP bogey bird of his before the trip and a useful addition to his WBP list which is nearing the 150 mark.

A few hardcore members clung on for the part of the trip at Baston/Langtoft GP where we picked up no Red crested Pochards, 1 Yellow legged Gull, several Marsh Harriers and a Hobby. The trip list ended on 60 odd species- a creditable list considering how quiet things have been of late.

Josh and Will ventured back out to BLGP later on as the hefty gull flock looked promising to us, but despite over an hours coverage from the back of the New Workings no new interest gulls were picked up but we did get 3 Snipe and a Common Sand as well as spanking Clouded Yellow near Pocket Park.

Peterborough Bird Club's September 2005 Lincolnshire Trip Report
by Josh Jones & Will Bowell