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