2023 and all that.

In stats: 5 lifers. 215 year list. Didn't keep a local list for the first time in ages.

Overall a bit more relaxed and targeted this year with average results. The year-list did its job in keeping me going to different places.

1. Lifers. Alpine Swift, Blue-Winged Teal, Brown Booby, Canvasback, American Golden Plover. And about time too for a couple of those. But all good fun.

2. Birds I missed this year. There's a few. 

Black Redstart, Snow Bunting, Shore Lark Grey Partridge, Water Pipit. White-Fronted Goose, Goshawk, Garden Warbler, Grasshopper Warbler, Tree Pipit, Yellow, Browed Warbler, Jack Snipe...

A few of these I could go and see right now, and a few more could be done with a trip to Holkham. When I first started doing this more seriously back in 2015/16 it was a revelation that I could go to Holkham and see Shore Larks and Snow Buntings, and for a few years that continued to be fun, but after a while it becomes an exercise in ticking. This year's birding simply didn't involve bumping into these birds (Garden Warbler has always been scarce on my patch). I reserve the right to go and twitch these next year, as it will have been over a year since I saw them ...

Common Crossbill has become a much harder bird in the Brecks recently, but there was a record of them at Lynford so maybe next year.

3. Local. Again, back in 2015/16 one of the fascinations was to see just what occurred in the fields and woods in walking distance of my house. And whilst most trips mainly involve seeing nothing, there's been a decent list in total. But this year, particularly post-covid, has felt a bit diminishing returns. So I've done fewer trips but nevertheless saw Wheatear, Mediterranean Gull, Redpoll, Brambling, Stonechat, and even on a dog walk where I decided not to take my binoculars had a Marsh Harrier belting south over the park. I may do more of this next year.

4. Things that didn't happen: - Didn't get to see Whinchat or Redstart locally mainly due to lack of walks at suitable times. Didn't get a local vis mig passage. Didn't get a good October day in Norfolk with Yellow-Browed warblers in number and other migrants. Didn't get a strong late winter Northerly on the Norfolk coast, one of those Skua/Little Auk winds. This winter period hasn't delivered much of what one might hope for - no White-winged gulls, few geese, 

5. Good days. Had a lot of those. Frampton was great - just masses of great waders, and a memorable day at Minsmere. But again, a change of emphasis - two trips to Titchwell where we just did the reserve and kept chasing to a minimum. Great fun will do that again next year. And its no coincidence that my good days were all spent in the company of Mike and/or Dave. Am just very fortunate to have these two for birding companions - both top birders and great company. Thanks guys.

6. Memorable sights. American Black Tern and many Arctic Terns all at close range at Long Nanny. Hadn't expected to be that close. Male Hen Harrier at Eldernell. Always a fantastic sight. Grey-Headed Wagtail at Titchwell - not really expected and great views. Lady Orchids in Kent - so many! A flock of Woodlarks in a quarry on Westleton Heath, Pink-Footed Geese just arriving in Norfolk in September, Velvet Scoters at Abberton, and the sheer number of Short-Eared Owls at Wallasea. 

7. Blasts from the past. Black Guillemot - been a few years since I saw one of them. Same Waxwing, Buff-Breasted Sandpiper, and Montagu's Harrier. Genuinely though I would never see another one of those in the UK. 

... and so to next year. Am still keen. Bit the bullet and rejoined the National Trust so will do more Hatfield Forest. But as I get older and now I know what is possible, I'm feeling a bit more Zen about the whole birding thing so may just be spending more time going to places and seeing what's there rather than just chasing the list. 

Thanks for reading. Hope I can make your visits to this site worthwhile next year. 

Rarities as MacGuffins. Brown Booby.

Family business meant I had to drive from Hertfordshire to Ilkley. A quick look at a map shows Teesside, currently home to a Brown Booby, is practical on the way! So I find myself at 2 in the afternoon driving along the desolate Road of Destruction that is the road to South Gare, a place I have known of for years since as a student on occasion I went birding the other side of the estuary, but before today have never been.

First stop is a crowd of birders looking the wrong way. They are scouring a desolate rock-strewn plane and within seconds they are putting me on to a Wryneck perched on a bush. Tremendous stuff, but just a brief view before onto the target bird.

Parked, picking my way down the rubble between buildings to the men with cameras, and I am put onto the target bird sat on a buoy mid-estuary. Fantastic. 

Target duly ticked, I start to scour the estuary and it is full of birds. Gannets, hundreds of Auks, some Kittiwakes, and amongst them some Sandwich Terns, Common/Arctic Terns, an Eider, and a couple of skuas. One of them is obviously an Arctic Skua, very agile and busy, but that other one, a pale bird with vivid flashes, well that seems a different beast all together. I should note, at this point, that the Tees off South Gare is but a narrow stream compared to the wide ocean that is the Thames off Canvey. All the birds on the far side are pretty easy to see and identify too if you have more skills than I possess.

I'd become aware the Booby had flown off, and I was annoyed with myself. Ticked but not much more; I had no idea what it looked like in flight, how it ate, etc. I spent a couple of hours looking for it and also in a break went back for the Wryneck which was once again co-operating as it quietly picked its way round boulders and small bushes, close enough to fill a scope view. It's easy to see why in cover even just slightly thicker and higher these birds can disappear for hours. 

Most of all, I just talked to other birders. To a woman down from Northumberland, exchanging children-at-university stories, and with a local birder as we looked for the Booby. During one of these chats the pale juvenile skua reappeared and satisfied us that its lazy lumbering heavy-bellied approach was consistent only with Pomarine Skua. 

Finally the Booby reappeared off North Gare, flying back and forth in the wind with some light harassment from gulls. An elegant flyer with a longer tail than I expected. Then it started tacking across the estuary, flying west into the gale, drifting back, flying west again, until it was on our side and it flew round the Pilots Pier a couple of times and landed. Great views of this bird, its big yellowish feet, its subtle blue hints round the eye. Fantastic views unlikely ever to be repeated by me.

A smashing trip, with the Booby being a MacGuffin. A MacGuffins is a plot device, believed to be named by Alfred Hitchcock, which serves as a driver or central theme for the plot but enables the real drama, the characters and other plots to take centre stage. Here the Booby was excellent, but the other birds and the chats with local birders made the day complete. Rarities so often seem to be the excuse for a day out, not the main reason.

Birding Etiquette Fail at Frampton

RSPB Frampton Marsh. A stellar list of birds (more of that in the next post) was topped by Blue-Winged Teal. It had been seen early somewhere on the vast expanse of channels and ditches that is Marsh Farm Grassland but by early afternoon despite many people looking (including myself and Mike) there was no further sign. 

So it was with some excitement that, on encountering the chap who had re-found it, we walked to the knot of birders on the sea wall staring through scopes at the target bird. And it was with some horror that as we and others were making our way to this group we saw them pick up their tripods and head off. 

We managed to get the last one off to try and help us locate it, but on that plane where everything looks the same, and with our only references being cows which were all moving, we were left cluelessly back at square one scanning the ditches in the vain hope of somehow reconnecting with a bird that had evaded birders for the most part of the day.

I was furious, loudly quietly complaining to anyone unfortunate enough to be near me. To me, when a rare bird which is not co-operating is pinned down, you don't walk away until you pass the location on. Particularly when you yourself have been given the location by someone else.

This state of Meldrewesque grumpiness continued unabated until, by sheer chance, the target duck appeared swimming in a channel, whereupon I was deeply grateful to the departing birders for giving me the opportunity to experience the excitement and joy of rediscovering the bird. Even at this considerable distance it was a cracker, all white blaze and white thigh spot. It gave distant but reasonable views as it swam around, flapped once, and waddled around on the bank. And the biggest pay-off for me, never having seen one outside of a collection before, is that given its behaviour and circumstances the bird is clearly unequivocally 100% wild. Fantastic.

Sunday morning listing

Up early Sunday morning, and Abberton Res still has its star birds. I can be there and back before lunch so I'm in the car and heading off. 

I arrive and have no real idea where to start. I go to Billett's farm but there are only a couple of cars here; surely there would be more here, so I carry on to a lay-by pull in over Wigborough bay and in the distance I see several Avocets, lots of Black-Tailed Godwits, some Ruffs, some Wigeon, but I'm on my own and I have the feeling I should be somewhere else. I drive round to the Pegdon side and down to the screens and have a spectacular couple of minutes with a juvenile Peregrine and a juvenile Marsh Harrier exchanging pleasantries. The Harrier is superb, chocolate brown apart from a bright cream crown and a fine line of orange feather edgings down the wing. However again I am on my own and not seeing the star birds, so after checking Twitter - I should have done this a while ago - I go round to Abberton Church and meet a crowd of happy smiling faces coming away "yes - down there". And the star birds, 2 Red-Necked Phalaropes, are indeed down there and out of sight behind some tall vegetation. For the next fifteen minutes we make do with glimpses of distant birds through the foliage. Phalaropes they clearly are; near they clearly aren't.

I am sent back to Billet's Farm where I am reliably told the Pectoral Sandpiper has been on display all morning. We are staring directly into the sun and doing birding-by-silhouette. We find a couple of candidate birds, even agree on the same one, but end up thinking it is a ruff. Strangely I enjoy this more than I think I would enjoy being shown a distant Pec. Such is birding.

Then it is back home for lunch. I'm left with that familiar Abberton feeling; Abberton is not so much a reservoir, more an inland sea. Good birds seen distantly, but never the full list. That feeling that someone somewhere else is seeing something really good. My Abberton list is excellent given the few visits I make, but my list of Abberton misses is even better. 

Little Bunting at Great Barford

When twitching works its a great way to spend a morning. An hour to the site. Easy to find because others have given very good directions, some "will-it-won't-it" tension, then views as good as you could ever wish for, some excellent conversation and back home.

Directions: - look up Great Barford on google maps - its near the A1. Park by the church - there's sufficient parking just off the road. Walk back to the bridge, then along the north-west Great Barford  side of the river for a few fields until you reach a small copse with a bridge viewable in about 50 yards. If you get to the bridge you have gone too far.

I got there this morning and two chaps from the West Midlands were looking forlorn. The tractor had just gone through and ploughed the seed area. No birds. We were going to give up when some Reed Buntings appeared, and then the Little Bunting. Here it is.

It showed all the features, some of which you can see here (black border to cheek patch, fine black markings on white breast, fine straight-edged bill). It even called when it flew.

We spent time looking at the Reed Buntings too. They were each as different to each other as the Little Bunting was from them, but all were bigger, had thicker brown streaks on the breast, and didn't have the full black cheek ring.

Bring on the next twitch!

Holkham Wildlife Park - 19th Oct

With a fantastic set of birds in North Norfolk and a change of weather looming it was a no-brainer to have a second visit to Holkham Wildlife Park aka Holkham Pines.

I paid my entrance fee at the Queen Anne Drive car park and headed off to the first exhibit - Isabelline Shrike. I spent a half hour watching the bird work the hedgerow, dropping down frequently and once impaling a worm on a thorn. There was one other birder there; as I fiddled with my adapter and camera finally ending up with the horror below as my best effort he calmly clamped his iPhone to his scope eyepiece, stood back and calmly took a video. I think I'm wasting my time with this adapter lark.

That's the Isabelline Shrike. You can clearly see the distinctive reddish tail and dark eye patch. Honest.

He introduced himself as G and we paired up for the day, luckily for me G turned out to be a former twitcher, full of skills and knowledge but relaxed enough to approach this as a fun day out. G was less lucky as he got me. My only material contribution came next as I took us to the bush that had previously held the Red Flanked Bluetail. Last week I had stood in a crowd and had 5 seconds of view; today the pair of us had the bird to ourselves, quietly working its way through the undergrowth, even flitting through the branches above our heads at one point. Blue tail, red flanks, white chin, the lot. fantastic.

We worked the area a bit and G had a Pallas's Warbler stick its head out at one point, but we couldn't refind it, only masses of Goldcrests. On the way back to the car park we found our only group of birders of the morning at our next exhibit, a Firecrest. It gave typical Firecrest views, i.e. a fleeting glimpse of the head and shoulders but nothing else before it dived deep into the middle of a Holly Tree. One of these days I will see an entire Firecrest in full view.

Next we headed toward Wells Wood. Again the groups of birders were our guide; a large group stood under a group of spindly oaks watching a Hume's Leaf Warbler. It was earning its keep today, consistently calling and at intervals perching in the open to allow the crowd to admire its slightly faded look.

Next the Blyths Reed Warbler exhibit. the bird had not been seen for two hours and with only a few people looking for it out prospects were dim. G brought his experience to bear, and also his iPhone. A few "chuck-chuck"s from the bird call app were soon met with a response in kind from deep in the brambles. We then followed the line of gently moving flower heads until we began to see the bird working its way though the undergrowth. Larger than I had expected, it was washed out grey. It gave the characteristic "inverted banana" posture a few times, and was constantly flicking its tail. How to definitively tell it from Reed? No idea, but the affirmation of the crowd is good enough for my list! A smart little bird and thanks to G for finding this lifer.

Ideal Blythe's habitat. Less than ideal birding habitat.

It was mid afternoon and my permit to birdwatch was due to expire so I left G searching for more birds, in particular a skulking bird with a soft "tack" we had seen flit across our path earlier. The final exhibit was a crowd by the Car Park looking into a holly tree - Pallas's Warbler! Like the Hume's it flicked its way round suitably exposed twigs giving the admiring crowd full value - another outstanding bird. The only thing it could have done to please the crowd more was to sit in the open and sing, which I mention as the last time I saw this species 30 years ago that is what it was doing.

Supporting birds included an obliging and colourful Brambling under some pines, a couple of Chiffchaffs, a pair of Stonechat, a few Common Buzzards and Marsh Harriers, Redwings and Skylarks overhead.

I was left with some intriguing questions. Birders have a choice of visiting the exhibits or finding their own; how long does it take to find your own? Our experience from the Blyths was you could spend all day and not find one. How many other skulkers are there out there? A late Olive-Backed Pipit was reported after I left, and a second Bluetail was found over the weekend, so I suspect there may be quite a few other undiscovered skulkers in the 3-mile stretch of thick woodland. By contrast, I suspect most Shrikes have been found as they sit on the top of bushes out in the open.

Thanks to G for excellent company and expertise. Another smashing day in Norfolk