Happy New Year

Here we go again. New Year New list. Just totted up the list 65 Species for the day.
Started on the patch but just common stuff. Best was Bullfinch and Grey Wagtail.
Onto Blythburgh estuary and picked up the common Ducks and Waders.
Reydon for 2 Waxwings and a Redwing

Had lunch at Minsmere and picked up the usual garden birds best being Marsh Tit. Didnt go on the reserve.
Leiston was next for 9 Bewick Swans.

Finally finished at North Warren RSPB which gave us great views of 2 Adult Spoonbill.

Again lots of ducks including lots of displaying Pintail

Upto 80 European White Fronted Geese and plenty of Feral Barnacle Geese.

Finally a Sparrowhawk landed in front of the hide.

Not a bad day.

Winter Swans

Had a visit to the parents in Derbyshire and on the way home drove through sea palling for the Winter Swans i saw in awful weather a few days before.
4 Whoopers and 12 Bewicks. Not a lot else.

Waxwing

2 Waxwings on patch briefly this morning. a nice Christmas eve present. I thought i had a Waxwing flying over but only heard it once so dismissed it but then realised it must have called as it dropped in, i then found them sat in the Silver birch.

Then the other highlights were

2 Bullfinch

2 Tree Creeper

2 Chiffchaff

18 Red Throated Diver on sea, many more flying North and South,

70 Common Scoter plus another flock of 540 flew North

2 Wigeon

45 Skylark

2 Common Snipe

Goosing around...

Weather was awful so had a drive through Norfolk looking through the geese. At Horsey i looked through the geese to find at least 35 Greenland White-fronted Geese with 100 or so Greylags.

Onto Sea palling where i found a smallish flock of Pink footed geese but could only find a single Tundra Bean Goose, although there is something a little strange about it. Smallish and not typical in my eyes.

Onto the other side of Sea palling where i found a few Swans 6 Bewicks on the pool and some Whoopers but visibility was poor and most of the Whoopers were hidden over the ridge.

That was it really, had a quick check for any Gulls at Cromer but there weren't any...

Merry Christmas everyone

Day off

Feels like and age since ive had the opportunity to go birding, so i had the day off work and walked from home to Ness point. i didn't see much until i reached Ness point and spotted 6 Purple Sandpipers.

On the way back 7 Med Gulls, mainly adults with 1 second winter.

That was it unfortunately. Still nice to be out.

Norfolk

Last weekend we had the day at Sheringham, thought it would be rude not looking at the 2nd Winter King Eider that was sat on the sea from the lifeboat station.

Other birds of note were a Purple Sandpiper and an Adult Shag.

On the patch 3 Snow Bunting on the beach.

Short time on patch yesterday with just a load of Goldcrest to show for it.

Today was great Started on patch and caught the tail end of what i was pretty sure was a Swift, didn't want to make a fool of myself however by reporting a probably Swift. More Frustrating was a Pallid Swift turning up at Minsmere and the 2 together at Thorpness, so almost certainly a Pallid Swift.
My second circuit of the patch had a Fly over Lapland Bunting and more Goldcrests. On the sea i waited for a flock of 500+ Common Scoter to fly so i could pick out the 1 Velvet Scoter.
Rach picked me up and we headed for Norfolk, stopping at Repps where 18 Crane were visible from the B1125.

Onto Horsey where a flock of 400 Pinkfooted Geese were feeding and i managed to find 2 Tundra Bean geese with them Bonus!

Carried onto Cromer but firstly passing Mundlsey a cracking Rough Legged Buzzard rapidly flew through. Shortly after i found it had gone through Sidestrand too.

Finished at Kelling heath but didn't add any new decent birds to the day list. Brought a little bit of faith back to birding

Update

So whats been happening for the past month or so. Well honestly not a great deal. Patch work has been very limited due to late days at work, returning home between half 5 and 7pm by which time its either dark or ive had enough.
Weekends have been spent house searching or small amounts of time on the patch.
So what have i seen.....
End of September i had a Yellow Browed Warbler on the football pitch again a few yards from home.
A trip to Minsmere had me looking at the Ferruginous Duck on site  Late Hobby Too.

Back on patch Great Pied Hoverfly and Willow Emerald,

6th October my first Redwings over the garden for the Autumn.
13th Had my first Pink Footed Geese and a noce Jay in the Garden. Yellow Browed on the patch and a small movement of Wildfowl, Mipits and Siskin too.
15th Muntjack Deer, Common Redstart and Snow Bunting COSW.

20th a trip to Westleton heath for a few Red Deer and 4 Stone Curlew, also Dartford Warbler.

Nothing happened until the 26th when working in Ipswich opposite Christchurch park a YBW and a small movement of Reding and Fieldfares.

This weekend 27th Oct we met our friends from Derbyshire again at Cley our annual pilgrimage with them, a wet day with not a massive species list but Views of Pom Skua, a cracking male Hen Harrier, Short and Long Eared owls and bird of the day Siberian Stonechat possibly of the race stejengeri.

Back on patch this morning to a sea watch 2 Short-eared Owl in off, 2 little gull 8 Red Breasted Merganser, 28 Eiders. Plenty ducks and geese. 500+ Starlings in off and a Grey Heron and Ring Ouzel too. 2 Wader Sp were the other highlights.

Went house hunting again and returned via Southwold where i had my best ever views of a 1st winter  Red Breasted Flycatcher..Stunner.

annnnnnd thats about it. see you in another month at this rate.