A few shots from the hour.

And finally the little quiz. How many Goldfinch can you see in this picture??

Cheers

Paul

As requested by Chris, here’s where the birds are.

Well, in birding parlance: I ‘dipped’. The Rough-legged Buzzard that was more than a week on Gedling Tip has for the last week been at Woodborough close by so I finally went to see it – but it wasn’t there.

Did see over 50 Golden Plover, two Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, dozens of Fieldfare, Great-spotted Woodpecker, 5 Mistle Thrush and what looked like a distant pair of Ravens. Some good company, however, of fellow disappointed and very cold birders. Hey ho. Good chance it will be back in the area so I’ve included the map.

Jim

Hope you like them.

Don

Redhead Smew

The Resident Red Crested Pochards

The Robins at Attenborough seem very tame.

Don

A 0615 start to pick a mate of mine up before tearing down to Fakenham, picking up Mistle Thrush; Little Egret; Feral Pigeon and he a Grey Partridge en route.  After finding Morrisons just outside Fakenham, a short walk produced a Steppe Grey Shrike (lifer number 1 for the day) along with Blue Tit, Great Tit, Dunnock, Chaffinch and Goldfinch.

Up the coast then to Cley.  Thousands of Brent Geese flying over and landing in the fields.  But for more important things.  A Western Sandpiper (lifer number 2 for the day) and a Water Pipit (lifer number 3) along with the usual crowd of waders, Marsh Harrier, Wigeon and Pintail.

Back to the car for some lunch before weighing up where else on the coast to attack.  Wells where Shore Lark, Lapland Bunting and Black Brant had been reported.  Pulling into the car park and speaking to the birders highlighted where the Black Brant was and then a clamber up the sea bank enabled us to view this bird.  Some of the features were consistent with Black Brant: very prominent neck collar, dark appearance, scaly pale patch on the side.  It just didn’t seem dark enough to me.  That coupled with there being about half a dozen very similar birds in the flock made me a little suspicious but I reserved judgement until I had checked the field guide.  A scan over the saltmarshes did yield Rough-legged Buzzard (lifer number 4).

A walk across the dunes for a bit of seawatching yielded very little bar a Red-throated Diver and a Great Black-backed Gull.

Continuing our westwards dash along the coast to Titchwell.  Located the Redpoll flock by the visitors’ centre and somebody very kindly pointed out the Coue’s Arctic Redpoll (lifer number 5).  Stright through the reserve to the coast to add to the wader tally.  Sanderling, Turnstone, Knot and Grey Plover.  I picked up a large pale bird which I lost immediately before somebody shouted Gannet (that’s not a tickable bird, the one that got away).  Goldeneye, Common Scoter and Whooper Swan were the pick of the birds on the water.

A wander back gave Scaup, Spotted Redshank and 5 Marsh Harriers in one scope view.  A Water Rail and a Wren called from the reedbeds and then back to the car for the trip home.

Day list: 81 species.

Met up with Maggie today over at Keddleston Hall. We’d been hoping to have a wander around the woods but as it poured it down we only managed an hour or so around the lake. The highlight was four beautiful Whooper Swans so well worth the trip.

Here’s a list of what was around.

Coot. Crow. Jackdaw. Pheasant. Canada goose. Greylag Goose. Mute Swan. Whooper Swan. Collared Dove. Chaffinch.Pied Wagtail. Black headed gull. Mallard. Tufted Duck. Pochard. Goosander. Shoveler. Buzzard. Kestrel. Grey Heron. Redwing. Starling. Blackbird. Wood Pigeon. Mandarin Duck.

A few shots to finish with.

Oh, and a tip from Maggie Poppins. A spoonful of sugar helps the media card download. Gawd bless ya Maggie Poppins!!

Bar-Tailed Godwit

Black-Tailed Godwit

Dunlin

Curlew

Knot

Sanderling

Little Stint

Ruff

Redshank

Spotted Redshank

Hope you like them and let me know if I have not ID’d them correctly.

The two bittern are catching lots of water vole, 4- 5 a day apparently, see this photo of them on the Slimbridge site - http://www.wwt.org.uk/visit-us/slimbridge/sightings/2011/12/12/sightings-and-photo-compition/. Shame I didn’t get a shot like that.

Of note, of the wild birds, were the vast numbers of Pintail and Bewick’s Swans, some of the most confiding birds I’ve seen.  They allowed some good chances of photos, as did one or two of the most common species. I even tried a “Paul Shaw” effect as the sun sank – not quite as good as an original I think.

The other shots were all taken through the day, the light wasn’t great so some of the ISO had to be balanced against light. Please let me know what you think, critique is always welcomed.

So what can you expect if you go. Well, I would suggest you go early as the crowds do start to gather around mid morning onwards.

You are encouraged to stay behind the perimeter fence as going onto the beach can disturb the seals. It doesn’t stop some prats though. These idiots give good photographers a bad name unfortunately. It’s plenty easy enough to get good shots from the path anyway.

From the path you can see the seals hauled up onto the salt marshes.

Going back to walking out on the beach. The pups that are found out here are only there because their mothers didn’t make it to the flats in time to give birth. Unfortunately they will probably drown on the first high tide as they are unable to swim. And on the subject of mortality around 10% of the pups will die on the flats, mostly due to abandonment. 50% will not make it to their first birthday. Of the ones on the beach that die they do at least benefit the many gulls who also frequent the area. They clear up the placentas and any dead animals. You may find some of these shots disturbing but it is just nature at work.

So, on the subject of gulls, as I said there are a few around. Here’s a selection. I’ll leave you to ID them.

Pupping season also coincides with breading season so as well as mothers and pups you also get the big bulls. Once a female has given birth she comes into season so the males are looking to bread with as many females as they can. There can be some violent clashes if you’re lucky enough to see one. We had to be content with these sorts of shots.

Pretty aren’t they!!

So, back to the pups. It’s what most people come to see. Once born they are fed by there mothers for around three weeks and then abandoned. They stay on the beach for another couple of weeks living of the reserves of fat they have accumulated until hunger drives them to the sea. The pupping season lasts from November until January. So to finish a few shots of the pups. They certainly have the x factor don’t they!!

If you need any more info you can google Donna Nook and it will bring up various sites telling you more about the area. One tip though. Try to avoid mid-week visits as this is an RAF live firing range and access may be prohibited.

Cheers

Paul