Thursday 31st December 2015

NWT Holme Dunes

   A look at the sea (0910-1020hrs) did show signs of new arrivals, conditions being clearer and much cooler over night. Most noteworthy were the ducks moving west; 15 shelduck, 48 teal, 1 pintail, 2 wigeon, 4 black-headed gull and a skein of pink-feet coming in off the sea from the north-west.

   Local birds on sea or moving short distances were: c600 common scoter, 5 long-tailed duck, red-breasted merganser 6 west; red-throated diver 7 west; great northern diver west;  fulmar 4 west; cormorant 5 west; great crested grebe 7 west, 6 on sea; bar-tailed godwit 30 west and auk spp 2 west, one east. A common seal was offshore.

Tuesday 29th December 2015

The Leas, Sheringham

   OK not exactly north-west Norfolk, but a nice place to watch the sea for an hour (1210-1310hrs). The southerly winds and clear sunny, and still mild conditions weren't exactly ideal. However conditions aside it turned into rather a nice session with a few highlights: brent goose 7 west; common scoter 12 west; gannet 11 east; red-throated diver 3 west, 4 east and 2 on sea; great northern diver on sea; guillemot 4 on sea, including a summer plumaged bird; a kittiwake west and finally a superb glaucous gull (at c1230) being mobbed by two great black-backs, the bird a first-year gradually moving east and closer to the shore, the great black-backs being replaced by a few black-headed gulls and gradually removed from the premises and out of sight to the east.

Monday 28th December 2015

NWT Holme Dunes

   At least 200 pink-footed geese were arriving from the north-west this morning and the most obvious migrants today.

   The sea was watched for about half hour and produced the following: nine red-breasted mergansers west, two gannets west, two fulmar west, auk spp west, guillemot east and four kittiwakes west. The scoter were very unsettled the reason being two marauding bonxies.

   On the grazing marshes there were 1100 pink-feet, 300 teal, 200 wigeon, 3 marsh harriers, 190 lapwing, 89 curlew and 2 barn owls. The shorelarks remained on the beach at Thornham.

   

Sunday 27th December 2015

NWT Holme Dunes

   After what was a very windy and wet night, it was nice to find it very calm and clear by 0900hrs. The sea was very flat and visibility really clear and sharp. There was also some signs of migration when way off shore I followed 33 pintail into The Wash followed by ten more a little later also at distance. Two wigeon, nine red-breasted merganser and 12 red-throated divers also flew west but may have been "local". Two fulmars heading back towards Hunstanton Cliffs were also typical, but the two gannets east were more noteworthy. Over the grazing marshes 70 golden plover flew west.

   Elsewhere on site 1500 pink-footed geese (Holme Marsh), 500 teal, 220 wigeon, 22 shoveler, 24 pochard (Broadwater), 2360 common scoter (off shore), 85 lapwing, 4 barn owl, short-eared owl, three shorelark (Thornham West Island) and a cetti's warbler.

Saturday 26th December 2015

NWT Holme Dunes

   Another very mild day with very strong southerly winds and a temperature of 14 degrees!! The sea was fairly dull during a twenty minute watch producing two red-throated divers, fulmar, 21 herring gull,  seven great black-backed gull, kittiwake and an auk spp. all west.

   Other more stationary birds included two great crested grebes off shore, the distant scoter and from the hides 250 teal, 160 wigeon, two marsh harrier and a female sparrowhawk. 

   Thornham Harbour at mid pm saw a gathering of 450 common gull, 210 herring gull, 1 lesser black-backed gull and 41 great black-backed gulls, and out on the sandflats a nice count of 77 shelduck. On the way back to The Firs there were 52 curlew pre-roosting on the North Field, while a barn owl was struggling in the strong winds along the edge of the Hun River.

   

   


  

Friday 25th December 2015

NWT Holme Dunes

   Happy Christmas

   Although the air temperature had dropped some what the sea appeared quiet. The usual scoter c1200 and a lone red-breasted merganser were the only birds of note.

   The beach had 150 dunlin, and on the grazing marshes 1100 pink-feet, 30 brent geese, 780 teal, 200 wigeon, 8 pochard, mash harrier and a trilling cetti's were seen and heard.

Thursday 24th December 215

NWT Holme Dunes

   A short look at the sea produced one highlight, a great northern diver heading high into The Wash, this was likely to be a "local" bird. Two auk spp. also flew west.

   On the beach there were 260 dunlin.

Monday 21st December 2015

NWT Holme Dunes

   A brief look at the sea saw 5 shelduck and 8 auk spp fly west.

On the shore 340 brent geese, 18 ringed plover, 80 dunlin, 23 bar-tailed godwit and 23 redshank.

Sunday 20th December 2015

NWT Holme Dunes

   A look at the sea produced very little other then two shelduck high in off the sea, along with a lone kittiwake west.

   On the beach the 425 brent geese were devoid of any young, of the 300 or so checked closely not a single "bird of the year" could be found! Also close in shore was a harbour porpoise swimming westward.

   The shorelarks and Iceland gull still present this morning.

Saturday 19th December 2015

NWT Holme Dunes

   Another ridiculously mild day saw little of note off shore other than a very welcome black-throated diver west during a brief morning seawatch along with three red-throated divers, a razorbill and guillemot all west.

   The three shorelarks were still at Thornham West Island.

Friday 18th December 2015

NWT Holme Dunes

   A quick look at the sea (0818-0830hrs) produced very little in genuine movement other than six wigeon west and a group of five great crested grebes west.

   A black-throated diver off shore, three long-tailed duck and the Iceland gull at Gore Point were reported by Phil Amies.

Thursday 17th December 2015

NWT Holme Dunes

   Over the course of the morning a steady movement of 370 lapwings moved west between 0930-1200hrs, most over the grazing marshes, so decent numbers may have been missed over the sea.

   Later Andy Brown found an Iceland gull at Gore Point feeding on a sunfish (a very odd combination), a nice find and not thought to be the King's Lynn bird from a few days ago. Check out Robert Smith's photos on the North-West Norfolk Naturalists blog.

Tuesday 15th December 2015

NWT Holme Dunes

   A very brief look (five minutes at most) at the sea, provided me with nil migration, but the flat sea did help me a find a few more great crested grebes than normal with ten present, and with them a cracking slavonian grebe. This species is now very irregular at Holme and in very small numbers. A rather forlorn looking guillemot just beyond the breakers was the only other bird of  note.

   On the way out off the reserve four lapwings and five starlings flew high west.

Monday 14th December 2015

NWT Holme Dunes

   A look at the sea (0900-0950 hrs) was really rewarding, the colder night, a light SW winds had clearly sparked a few migrants into life accross the North Sea. Westerly totals as follows;


Shelduck - 112 plus a later flock of 21, total 133.
Teal - 69
Wigeon - 32
Goldeneye - two 
Red-breasted Merganser - 12 some may have been migrants.
Goosander - four drakes.
Red-throated Diver - seven west, with five east.
Gannet - one
Lapwing - 621 with latter numbers of 481 made a nice total of 1102.
Golden Plover - 40 west over marshes later.
Herring Gull - 44 some may have been genuine migrants.
Starling - 66 west throughout the day over grazing marshes.
 

Tuesday 8th December 2015

NWT Holme Dunes

   Still very mild and no sign of any incoming winter visitors.

At Thornham West Island the three shorelarks still present along with 5 snow bunting.

Monday 7th December 2015

NWT Holme Dunes

   Sea watch (0843-0907hrs): a steady nos of 74 herring gulls west were likely to be local birds, but the 4 distant shelduck most likely migrants. The weather is still ludicrously mild for time of year, hopefully the next drop in temperature might see a few more birds head our way.

   Birds on the water were 3600 scoter (conveniently flushed by a fishing boat) and three velvet scoter (two male and a female), six red-breasted merganser west (local), seven great crested grebe, and a greenshank with the redshank on the beach.
   Down at Thornham Beach the three shorelarks remained.
Mid-morning saw two common buzzards low over The Firs, and later while grading the track a barn owl was hunting.
 

Sunday 6th December 2015

NWT Holme Dunes

   Another dull day off shore and overhead.

   Elsewhere on site the three shorelarks remained. While late afternoon a woodcock left the scrub, a barn owl hunted the marsh after the strong SW winds had subsided. At dusk a flight of 3700 pink-footed geese left a small local sugar beet field, some roosting on the grazing marshes, but most heading for Thornham Harbour sands on the evening spring tide.

Saturday 5th December 2015

NWT Holme Dunes

A very windy day with no bird movements to report.

At Thornham Beach the three shorelarks continued to be enjoyed by the few visiting birdwatchers and off shore a velvet scoter was seen with it's commoner cousins.

Friday 4th December 2015

NWT Holme Dunes

A few birds heading west early am, notably 186 lapwing, 7 wigeon and 22 starlings.

Elsewhere on site the three shorelarks still present at Thornham West Island, joined briefly by 24 snow buntings before flying west up the beach. Early on three barn owls were seen along the Firs Approach Road. 

Thursday 3rd December 2015

NWT Holme Dunes

 A quick seawatch (0930-1015hrs) produced 60 wigeon west, red-throated diver west and a kittiwake east. Seven starlings west over Thornham Harbour. Later in the day Robert Smith had a further 45 starlings west and 268 lapwing west, though the last flock of 85 were quite hesitant as they headed towards Old Hunstanton.

  On the sea a velvet scoter with the scoter flock, two male long-tailed duck close to Thornham Channel mouth then flew east, 6 red-breasted merganser, 7 great crested grebes and a razorbill. Further down at Thornham Beach the three shorelarks were still in residence along with a peregrine. Later a woodcock was flushed from the Paddocks.

Wednesday 2nd December 2015

NWT Holme Dunes

   Robert Smith reported no sign of any obvious vismig today as he walked the beach to Thornham Channel. 
   His highlights today were a close in slavonian grebe, the three shorelarks and 17 twite on the beach.

Tuesday 1st December 2015

NWT Holme Dunes

Poor weather, an early dentist appointment and a day off to Kings Lynn gave me know hope of an early seawatch!

How fortunes can change...........

When visiting Lynn I always drop in at the Fisher Fleet and check the gulls at the cockle shell feeding station. To be fair I've done this rather alot this year and apart from the odd colour-ringed herring gulls I've had little else. However today was about to change that, as on arrival at lunchtime there was an obvious white-winged gull in full view with about 50 herring gulls. The camera got me plenty of shots of it, then I called Robert Smith as he only lives down the road at South Wootton. 

By the time he arrived I was starting to have my doubts about it's identity and was considering a hybrid due to dark marking at the tip of the right wing, this could clearly be seen in one of Robert's photos, also the bird looked pretty big as well, certainly structurely as big as any of the herring gulls.

Under pressure to move on to King's Lynn town centre I left Robert with the bird and advised him to send the photos to Mark Golley for his thoughts. Soon after leaving the bird disappeared and Robert went home to send Mark the photos. Around mid pm I recieved a call  from Robert that Mark felt the bird was likely to be an Iceland gull. The dark marking on the primaries being of course staining from the horrible muddy water it was residing in.

I told Robert I'd check on the way home, and to my surprise the bird was back feeding with the black-headed gulls even though it was close to dusk. Robert put the news out soon afterwards. See link to Robert's footage...

  Late afternoon saw me counting gulls heading to roost from Austin Street in Lynn, from 1515 to 1551hrs good numbers of mostly herring gull and black-headed gulls headed north-west into The Wash, presumably from the Nar Valley. Totals were 3465 herring gull, 3533 black-headed gulls, 8 common gulls (many probably overlooked) and 8 great black-backed gulls. On returning to the Iceland gull the gulls were still pouring over so numbers far exceeded this.

Sunday 29th November 2015

NWT Holme Dunes


   Most of morning spent completing our monthly WeBs count. Some migration noted with a superb drake goosander flying high south-west over Holme Marsh along with two small groups of starlings totalling 55 west. On the sea four wigeon flew west and another came in off, a lone gannet flew west.

   The WeBs produced little in the way of large counts other than 66 gadwall, 900 teal and 4200 common scoter. Three shorelark remained on Thornham Beach with 27 twite, three of which were colour-ringed and later read in the field by Robert Smith by photographing them. This was some feat as the wind was almost gale force as they fed deep in saltmarsh vegetation at Thornham Harbour...photos here
   Earlier on the pools of 97 brent geese present only one was a first-year bird, clearly a very poor breeding season! Other highlights today included 1000+ pink-feet feeding on the grazing marshes, two velvet scoters and a ringtail hen harrier.

Saturday 28th November 2015

NWT Holme Dunes

A quick seawatch with few species moving west. Highlights; 2 eider, 5 red-throated diver, 10 fulmar, 9 bar-tailed godwits (from way offshore), kittiwake, 6 auks, skylark, and 3 starlings. These were the only species I considered migrants.
Also offshore 200 common scoter, 10 red-breasted merganser, 2 great crested grebe and a fine grey seal.

NWT Holme Dunes

Surge of shelducks

 After the stormy weather of yesterday the calmer conditions today produced the hoped for large wildfowl movement. The wildfowl did not disappoint, the star of which was the shelduck. The count (about 6.5hrs) recorded 740 birds moving west into The Wash. The Norfolk record movement for this species is 780 recorded at Sheringham in Oct 1974, and considering the gap in years this makes today's count that more special. Well done to Robert Smith and a team of other observers for stretching the count out in the hope of beating the Sheringham count, it was a valiant effort.

For more details of the days observations and counts see Trektellen

NWT Holme Dunes

 Rain, rain and more rain....

A very wet start with north-easterly winds. Andy Brown and Greg Beeton watched the sea for a very long 2.5hrs, for little reward, highlight being 30 arctic skuas west. The rain continued all day until about 1700hrs. Robert Smith searched the Forestry just after 1600hrs but found little of note other than a local turtle dove.

NWT Holme Dunes

There was a big clear out overnight with only a handful of pied flycatchers left on site. An icterine warbler in the pines early on was seen by a lucky Phil Amies. At least 17 whimbrel flew west during the day, but the highlight for me was the flock of 23 greenshank calling wildly and circling in a tight flock as they gradually moved west at the back of Holme Marsh.

NWT Holme Dunes

A watch over the sea (0600-0647hrs) saw little other than a notable eastward movement of 110 common terns and 52 Sandwich terns. The only definite movers were 2 teal. Later in the afternoon the strong SSE winds that had been blowing all day gradually began to produce migrants in the pines and along the front edge of the dunes, it was to be part of a very large fall of mostly pied flycatchers along the coast. The rain that was forecast sadly curtailed any further counting, until later when a brief window of opportunity allowed the track and pines to be explored. The count of 40 pied flycatchers was very much an under estimate as the Foresry, Paddocks and saltmarshes were not explored. Other highlights included a tree pipit in off the sea, and good nos of willow warblers, a spotted flycatcher and 2 redstarts. A little earlier in the afternoon Andy Brown and Chris Mills had 9 black terns west and 6 arctic skuas, along with a yellow wagtail and 4 golden plovers in off the sea.

NWT Holme Dunes

A massive concentration of terns off shore (mostly common’s) was the main highlight today, along with 360 gannets feeding off shore at Gore Point (Gary Elton). Clearly fish populations are concentrated in the mouth of The Wash. Two Arctic skuas west were probably “local” for the time being.

NWT Holme Dunes

Black Terns

The morning high tide at the golf course end of Lavender Marsh found a very notable group of 20+ black terns. Later a flock of 17 black-headed gulls south-west were clearly on the move.

NWT Holme Dunes

Early morning saw a “local” spoonbill head west at Gore Point. Closer to The Firs six house martins flew west followed by a tree pipit at around 0930hrs.

NWT Holme Dunes

During the morning a wisp of 6 snipe and 21 golden plover moving west, then later (1900-1930hrs) a look at the sea saw a steady passage of terns, west in to The Wash, including 25 Sandwich tern, 26 common tern and a tight flock of 10 Arctic terns.

NWT Holme Dunes

An early morning walk provided Phil Amies with Holme’s third Caspian tern resting on the beach at Gore Point. The bird was seen by two other observers before flying off. Later in the morning a phone call from Steve Rowlands who was with his family on the beach alerted us that an osprey was heading south-east off the sea. We picked the bird up over Thornham Harbour, the bird giving us fantastic aerobatics as it attempted to hover and catch fish, amongst the irate herring gulls! Later Robert Smith drove to the harbour and found the bird on a kill, only then to find another bird flying around to the east of the harbour!

NWT Holme Dunes

Crossbills

Today at Holme the only sign of any visible migration was of at least two crossbills (unseen) calling over the grazing marshes (Robert Smith) heading south-west, then heard again over the entrance gate by Fiona Skinner heading in the same direction.