Trimm's Green 16 August

Stephen had reported some excellent birds from his watchpoint this morning (its some way north of here at the point where the A11 leaves the M11 and heads off towards Thetford). He had seen a few Marsh Harriers, a bird I've always wanted to see on passage here, so this evening I thought I'd sneak out and see if anything was passing through our own local high spot at Trimm's Green.

I stopped off at one of the local recently ploughted fields. There were a flock of gulls slowly departing - exactly 50 LBB Gulls, mainly adults but a few juveniles, a couple of hundred corvids in a mixed flock, and a few House Sparrows which is a bit odd out here I think.

At Blount's Farm there was a mobile flock of 25 Yellow Wagtails, and a few Linnets in the area. A flock of c20 Greylag Geese appeared and headed down towards the fishing pond; a strange site for here as I've only seen one Greylag in the area previously. In the distance a couple of Hobbies were hawking over a wood at Allen's Green.

As I left I noticed a raptor over the enormous corner field. Well knock me down with a feather if it wasn't a juvenile Marsh Harrier. I stopped and scoped it for about twenty minutes. The ginger feather edgings along the primary and secondaries were clear, and the bird was in spanking plumage. It spent a couple of periods sat on the ground, its head just visible above the grain. As I left it was still present. Overall, a splendid list for little over an hour in the middle of farmland.

Edit: it wasn't Blount's Farm where the Yellow Wagtails are - it was Morris Farm. I'll get my place names correct in future.