This morning up and out and headed up to Holkham. All weekend the emails and Twitter were full of what was about and the crowds that were out as well. Arrived just after nine o'clock to find it nice and quiet, with only one other birder getting ready to set out.
Decided to try to find the Isabelline Shrike first so headed towards the Washington hide. On the way it soon became apparent that there were a lot of Goldcrest around! Checking through a flock near the house found two smashing Firecrest. Lots of Long tailed, Blue and a few Great Tit were also passing through.
Scanned the area in front of Washington and was able to get a distant view of the shrike. It was very mobile and I was only able to get a very blurry photo through the scope. After a short while it disappeared and did not return so moved off towards Jordan Hide in search of the Red-Flanked Bluetail.
A lot more Tit and Goldcrest around Jordan plus Treecreeper and Nuthatch. Moved to where Bluetail had been reported yesterday and off the path and into the bushes. After a short while a Robin was making a real fuss nearby. On checking I realised it was actually having a go at the Bluetail! Sadly my view was brief as the Bluetail shot from the bush into a thicket.There then followed a number of brief glimpses as it moved through and around the thicket until a really good view was achieved when it settled on the brambles to feed. sadly not long enough for a photo. By then our quiet little corner was being disturbed as more birders arrived so I set off to return to the car park for lunch. The amount of birders I passed heading out for the Bluetail was surprising; doesn't anyone work on a Monday!
Had planned to have lunch and then check out the woods up to Wells but the crowd got the better of me and so I set off for Warham Green. Checked out the pit and the whirligig but other than a Blackcap and the usual Chaffinch and Robin little else. Two Buzzards, one of which although very high, seemed larger and longer tailed than the lower one; a possible Rough Legged Buzzard? As these two were attracting my attention a Red Kite drifted into view. Not a bad scope full!
On the marshes there were good numbers of Barnacle Goose, Curlew and Little Egret. Redshank were calling and moving around and a sizeable flock of Golden Plover settled in for a while. Further off a Peregrine was harassing the gulls and two Merlin were involved in a little aerial combat. Two ring tailed Hen Harriers (F or J) quartered the marshes. As the sun finally set I departed to the sound of hundreds of Pink -Footed Goose passing overhead.
Had planned to have lunch and then check out the woods up to Wells but the crowd got the better of me and so I set off for Warham Green. Checked out the pit and the whirligig but other than a Blackcap and the usual Chaffinch and Robin little else. Two Buzzards, one of which although very high, seemed larger and longer tailed than the lower one; a possible Rough Legged Buzzard? As these two were attracting my attention a Red Kite drifted into view. Not a bad scope full!
On the marshes there were good numbers of Barnacle Goose, Curlew and Little Egret. Redshank were calling and moving around and a sizeable flock of Golden Plover settled in for a while. Further off a Peregrine was harassing the gulls and two Merlin were involved in a little aerial combat. Two ring tailed Hen Harriers (F or J) quartered the marshes. As the sun finally set I departed to the sound of hundreds of Pink -Footed Goose passing overhead.
No comments:
Post a Comment