Minsmere

I was out for the day with Danny Digiscoper at Minsmere.
So we started at Island mere hide hoping to see Otters, but unfortunately it was disappointingly very quiet. This did mean however I could get some practice with the new camera I was trying for digiscoping, the Panasonic GX7. Light was rubbish but I was pleased with the Sharpness of some of the images.
(Click pics to enlarge)

 

 

After a great couple of hours we moved onto the Adder Trail where we were very pleased to see a Female Adder.

After our fill of the Adder well 2 actually we nipped into the Bittern hide where yes we saw not 1 but 2 Bitterns. 1 was a fly by but the other passed in front of us moving from one side of the Reed bed to the other.

Next stop was South hide and then East hide which again gave me some practice with the Camera. on the way to east hide a male and female Goosander flew North over the sea wall.
The light had now got worse so it was impossible to gain any proper colour out the birds.

It was nice to see quiet a few Adult Med Gulls on site.

A few Oysercatchers

Redshank and Teal

Lastly we were hoping for some good gulls as a few now started to drop in. A few folks were trying to claim some Yellow legged gulls but they were in fact Northern Herrings.

 

That was until this brute of a proper Yellow Legged Gull dropped in, Stunning.

 



The Day was almost over but on the way home I took a little detour and Danny spotted a flock of finch's and on closer inspection it was nice to see at least 2 Brambling and 9 Yellowhammer with 60+ Chaffinch. Now that was pretty much the end of our Day, great day great company. cheers Danny.

The new Panasonic GX7

So I left Danny Digiscoper with the job of sourcing me a new adapter to join my Leica Apo 82 scope with Dannys Panasonic GX7 with 20mm lens which he was going to lend to me, amazingly he was successful, Danny sent the dimensions to SRB Photographic who actually made it from scratch. Well done DANNYYY :-)

(Click all pics to enlarge)
So it was time to trial the camera scope combination, and wow am I impressed. I Started of with a distant Little Owl at North Cove, I took a picture with my Leica first, I can get closer shots with my Leica but the colours slightly off.

Then the GX7 but this time I had to do a heavy crop on the computer. The colours are certainly better and the image sharp even when cropped so much. I guess that's the 16mp versus just 10mp on the Leica.

I then headed to Grimes Grave in Thetford for a Great Grey Shrike.  Which was a good challenge for the camera as it was fairly distant. I think it did well.

Next we moved onto Santon Downham for the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker which we got at the end of the poplars but on the other side of the river, only calling though.
Whilst waiting for the Woodpecker I had another go with the GX7 on something closer and wow was I impressed, no vignetting like I get on the D-lux 5 and the sharpness was spot on.

Headed back to the van where a Firecrest was singing from the bridge, loads of Marsh Tit and a few Kingfishers flew past. Also Mandarin Ducks were hidden away in the woods.
Visited Lynford Arboretum hoping to catch up with some Hawfinchs so headed straight for the paddocks where it was great to pick out 11 in the trees straight away, never seen so many here probably migrating birds with the locals.

 

 

The camera did well considering the distance.
Whilst watching the hawfinch I heard the familiar call of the Raven, not common at all in Norfolk and when I looked up there were 2 being mobbed by jackdaws and crows.

The camera worked well on specks in the sky.
We finished at Cockly Cley for Goshawk but dipped today it was probably too cold and to late in the day.
So it was a great day and a good first test of the new camera. Looks like ill be splashing out for a new one. Ill be out tomorrow hopefully testing the two cameras side by side.

Patching

So ill start with the patch, I had a patch year tick this week with 2 Egyptian Geese North of CNSW. Also 2 Firecrest were still in Corton Woods.

On the way to work near Acle a nice Ring tailed Hen Harrier flew over the van.
At Oulton Broad a chiffchaff was singing.

local guiding ;-)

It was nice to see a pal from Cumbria up for the day so I took Carl around some of the local haunts to gain a few year ticks and some nice site ticks too.
So started the day of at North Cove for Little owl but flippin dipped, not a good start but at least we Got the Cattle Egret which was more important. The bird wasn't in view when we arrived so we walked along the river bank when I spotted what looked like the egret flying the opposite side of the river towards the cows. Once at the cows it was clear that it was the bird as it was now feeding around the cattle. Bingo!

 

We moved onto Minsmere where we had a good ratch around watching Bitterns, Marsh Harriers plenty of Waders such as Avocets and bird of the day so far a 1st Winter Caspian Gull. We then visited a heath and managed song views of Woodlark but no Dartford.

One of Carls target bird was Black Redstart we were going to visit Shingle street but I gave Sizewell a try first and it was great to find 2 Female type birds inside the compound and pretty much straight away too.

 

Seeing as we had a selection of egrets Carl wanted to see if we could add the Great White egret to the year and day list, I knew the Hen Reedbed bird was still present although more elusive now as It was favouring the river Blyth but we had to try. We checked all the hides and it wasn't looking good. We decided to start heading back when it was great to see the Great White Egret in flight on the opposite side of the river, what a bonus and a big relief, our luck hadn't quite run out.
We finished the day on my patch which was great as we managed another great bird and one Carl was really pleased to see and hear the amazing Firecrest in Corton woods and infact we had 2 birds.
A really great day.

Yesterday on patch a few drumming Woodpeckers and a couple of Treecreepers.

Suffolk

So I stayed in the county this weekend, she was feeling neglected, even more so the local patch.
Saturday the weather was rubbish but still managed to get out early for a few hours before lunch then again after lunch almost all day birding. My only reward mind you was a Chiffchaff in the NE corner of the Caravan Park and a Rock Pipit on the cliffs.

Out to sea were a few close Red Throated Divers, hundreds of Cormorants and a handful of Gannets.

Sunday Rach n I headed to Orford Ness, a first for us bit it was more of a Cultural excursion. I did manage to see a Ring-tailed Hen Harrier and a Buzzard that looked to come in off the sea but hard to tell if it did or not.
We spent a bit of time on the Quay

and at the Castle.

The dogs were loving it.

We then headed to the National Trust Sutton hoo and it was rubbish!! all that money spent and all there was were a hump and a silly visitor centre and café. I wouldn't have liked to pay the 9 quid entrance fee to look at a hump.

On the way home I nipped into North Cove for the Little Owl, it was nice to see the 2 together, they were in a bad position for photos so only took a single shot for the blog. 1 Owl was sat in its hole until I got my scope out when it flew to an obscured position.

 

Visited the Cattle Egret just around the corner but I was about 50 yards from the bird when it took off to a small heard of Highland cattle a mile away so didn't even get the camera out, it was nice and close originally too. Not a day for photos.

 

Gibralter and Cadiz Bird List.

Common Shelduck

Mallard

Northern Shoveler

Red-legged Partridge

Barbary Partridge

Common Pheasant

Little Grebe

Cory's Shearwater

Northern Gannet

Great Cormorant

European Shag

Cattle Egret

Little Egret

Great Egret

Grey Heron

Black Stork

White Stork

Glossy Ibis

Eurasian Spoonbill

Black-winged Kite

Black Kite

Red Kite

Griffon Vulture

Short-toed Snake Eagle

Western Marsh Harrier

Common Buzzard

Booted Eagle

Bonelli's Eagle

Osprey

Lesser Kestrel

Common Kestrel

Peregrine Falcon

Common Moorhen

Common Crane

Black-winged Stilt

Little Ringed Plover

Common Ringed Plover

Kentish Plover

Northern Lapwing

Common Sandpiper

Green Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper

Great Skua

Black-headed Gull

Mediterranean Gull

Audouin's Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Yellow-legged Gull

Sandwich Tern

Rock Dove

Common Wood Pigeon

Eurasian Collared Dove

Little Owl

Common Kingfisher

Hoopoe

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Calandra Lark

Crested Lark

Woodlark

Sand Martin

Eurasian Crag Martin

Barn Swallow

Red-rumped Swallow

Common House Martin

Tree Pipit

Meadow Pipit

Grey Wagtail

White Wagtail

Common Bulbul

Winter Wren

European Robin

Bluethroat

Black Redstart

European Stonechat

Blue Rock Thrush

Common Blackbird

Song Thrush

Mistle Thrush

Cetti's Warbler

Zitting Cisticola

Eurasian Reed Warbler

Eurasian Blackcap

Common Chiffchaff

Iberian Chiffchaff

Common Firecrest

Long-tailed Tit

Eurasian Blue Tit

Great Tit

Eurasian Nuthatch

Short-toed Treecreeper

Eurasian Jay

Western Jackdaw

Northern Raven

Spotless Starling

Common Starling

House Sparrow

Spanish Sparrow

Common Chaffinch

European Serin

European Greenfinch

European Goldfinch

Eurasian Siskin

Common Linnet

Hawfinch

Cirl Bunting

Common Reed Bunting

Corn Bunting