The Joys of Migration... and Trip leading!
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
posted by PBC Trip Reports @ 11:39 AM
