December 2024 - A summary

December 2024 began very mild, wet, and windy, some rainfall totals causing flooding in many parts of the country, here in Breckland the heavy rain would cause river courses to run high and low lying areas like the Watton Brook Valley would be under much flood water.

Frequent heavy rain on the 2nd eventually relented after dark, much to the benefit of a Barn Owl seen along The Street at Scoulton where it had good opportunity to hunt.

On the 5th I walked a 3 mile route from Great Cressingham beginning at the village hall, along Priory Drove, the Peddars Way, and the Watton Road back to Great Cressingham.  The morning began with a south-westerly movement of 200+ Black-headed Gulls in a tight flock over the village.

Leaving Great Cressingham along Priory Drove it was evident there was several Blackbirds present, a single Song Thrush, and a mobile flock of 19+ Long-tailed Tits.

To the north of Priory Drove lies a large undisturbed meadow, very rolling with lots of peaks and troughs and a distant marshy habitat and copse.  The meadow is flanked both sides by mature tree-lined hedgerows.  A distant Great Spotted Woodpecker seen in damp woodland habitat.  A number of Blackbirds were seen including a fine male in an Elder.  Nearby, the distinctive song of a Mistle Thrush was heard. 

Priory Drove is long narrow lane with quite an ascent on the approach to the junction with the Peddars Way footpath.  The large rolling fields to the south of the lane held at least 10 Egyptian Geese and the hedgerows leading up to the junction held 3 Redwings and a noisily departing Song Thrush.  At least 2 Bullfinches were heard.

The Peddars Way between the Priory Drove and Watton Road junction held 5+ Bullfinches, this section of the path has always been reliable for this beautiful Finch.  A weedy corner of a field held 30+ Goldfinches, some of which drank from puddles in vehicle tracks.  Approaching Watton Road a flock of 44+ Golden Plover drifted west.

The last section of this walk was along Watton Road, a long road with some wonderful and well stocked hedgerows either side.  A further 3+ Bullfinches were present bringing the total seen on this walk to 10+ birds.  My third Song Thrush of the morning was present in the hedgerow close to Great Cressingham.

Following a period of heavy rain low lying land along the Watton Brook valley was under much flood water, therefore, on the 9th it was time to visit to check for wildfowl.  A small section of the valley was checked at Little Cressingham and I was rewarded with the presence of 135+ Teal, 24+ Mallard, one Little Grebe, and a male Stonechat on fences alongside Watton Brook.

The 16th of December saw me confined to home with a nasty throat infection, so needing a little fresh air I popped into the garden, looked up, and rather fortuitously, a Peregrine drifted over at height in a NW heading.  

Siskin (female)

Alder woods are always a great habitat to search for Finches in the winter months and on the morning of the 19th I visited a small Alder wood in the Watton Brook valley at Little Cressingham and almost immediately  I encountered a flock of 100+ Siskins wandering the treetops, often alighting in the canopy to feed upon seeds taken from Alder cones.  I find Siskins are tolerant of human presence, these beautiful little Finches often feed in the lower branches of trees, sometimes within a few feet.

Siskins do breed in the Brecks in small numbers, however, the vast majority are winter visitors from Northern Europe.  These small Finches are often associated with damp Alder and Birch woods where they will mix with other Finch species such as Goldfinches and Redpolls.

Siskin (male)

Also here on the 19th a mobile flock of 100+ Fieldfare were feeding on fields and wet meadows and then moved west along the valley.  Just a single Redwing was seen here.

Early morning on the 24th I visited Thompson to check upon duck numbers, the most numerous species was Mallard (96+), with smaller numbers of other species including Gadwall (20+), Wigeon (22), Shoveler (9), Pochard (7+), Tufted Duck (12+), and a few Teal.  I paid close attention to the Wigeon which spent most of the time roosting amongst surface weeds, occasionally the birds stirred from their roost and in unison gave their so sweet "weeoooo" call.

Also noted was 53+ Coot and high overhead a female Sparrowhawk passed over with a slow wing action.

Wigeon at Thompson Water 24 December 2024

..........And finally for 2024

I would like to wish all my followers a very happy new year.  Thanks to everyone who have sent me emails, stopped me in the street for a chat, submitted a comment on my blog, and who have posted supportive comments on Facebook regarding 'The Breckland Birder' blog.

I look forward to continuing with my blog in 2025....and beyond

Paul

 

           Happy Christmas and a very happy New Year

Thank you so much for following my blog and giving me the encouragement to restart The Breckland Birder

Kindest regards, love, best wishes, and happy Birding

Paul  

November 2024 - A summary

 Calm, settled overcast and grey conditions (some may call depressing) often accompanies the month of November and the thoughts of a Great Grey Shrike sitting like a sentinel on a bush top in the vast openness of a bleak Breckland landscape, is always at the forefront of my mind when watching suitable landscapes for this solitary species.

The 1^st day of the month I was working in the evening and being in isolated surroundings in almost complete darkness my focus was on listening for Tawny Owls, I was in luck with birds present at two locations in the small village of Carleton Rode. The first was a calling ♀ on Rode Lane in the village, the second bird was one seen flying in a small wooded area on the Old Buckenham Road.

A target habitat for me in autumn and winter are those large game strips and plots of wild seed mixes, so early morning on the 2^nd I visited one such large habitat at Little Cressingham traditionally used annually for the purpose of providing game cover, these habitats also benefit our Finches and Buntings.

Having positioned my self where I had good views of the game strip/seed mix plot, it was apparent that Finches were present in good numbers alongside the roadside by the game strip. Highlights seen included 100+ Linnets 100+ Chaffinches, a few Greenfinches, and also my target species for the morning, a beautiful ♂ Brambling with Chaffinches. Bramblings are winter visitors from Scandinavia in varying numbers. Although just the single Brambling seen this morning I am confident numbers will increase. Numbers are variable year to year, in particularly good years I have seen three-figure numbers of Bramblings. Although now in their winter plumages ♂ Bramblings are still distinguishable from ♀♀ from their brighter orange breast and scapulars and dark heads. Bramblings will remain with us until late March by which time ♂♂ begin developing their breeding plumages, their solid black heads and bright oranges make this a very attractive Finch species.

Sparrowhawk - Often seen where good numbers of Finches occur (from archives)

Inevitably, with high numbers of Finches present, Sparrowhawk is always at the forefront of my mind and as expected a mass ‘putting up’ of Finches announced the arrival of a ♀ Sparrowhawk in a small tree close to me, but rapidly departed as soon as it arrived.

Also seen on this productive morning was a single Goshawk drifting in a slow glide towards woodland, this raptor would not be interested in Finches, its quarry would be larger species like Pigeons, Crows, Pheasant, and duck species.

On the 3^rd I visited the vast expanses of arable habitats and dense field boundary hedgerows in the Great Cressingham area. Highlights once again saw good numbers of Finch species (100+ Linnets) and Chaffinches. In excess of 30 Blackbirds were seen with some feeding upon Hawthorn berries, also a small flock of 17+ Fieldfares dropped into a dense hedgerow where a Bullfinch was seen. Also in the hedgerow was a small flock of 12+ Tree Sparrows, a very scarce species now. Overhead a small flock of 13 Golden Plovers circled.

The main highlight of the morning was seeing 3 Ravens passing overhead calling. I initially heard Ravens calling to the west of my position, not too long after 2 Ravens flew east calling, these were shortly followed by a single Raven following.

 A short work break on the 5^th was spent overlooking Seamere Marsh at Hingham. Thrush species were the highlight with 8+ Blackbirds in a broken hedgerow and in a young Ash tree a small flock of 12+ Fieldfares were seen along with a single Song Thrush which was a probable migrant.

A flock of 8+ Stock Doves arrived and a large number of Wood Pigeons (1000+) were ‘put up’ by a possible passing raptor.

 Early morning of the 7^th I visited a beautiful Alder and Willow Carr in the River Wissey valley at Bodney. The old Alders within the Carr held good numbers of feeding Finches, most notably, a large flock of 150+ Goldfinches which wandered the canopy and settling to feed upon cones. A few Siskins were also present. At least 70 Skylarks were wandering the fields and a similar number of Fieldfares (of which 50+ NW) were noted. A small southerly movement of 14 Lapwings passed over.

On a nearby wet meadow, a single Great White Egret looked very stately.

Great White Egret at Bodney.  Increasing in numbers

The morning of the 11^th was particularly notable for movements of birds. I paid an early morning visit to Little Cressingham to check for Finches and Buntings at a large game strip, this was productive with good numbers of Chaffinches and Linnets present, also a single ♀ Brambling was seen. Two Song Thrushes in treetops were probably migrants.

Whilst watching the Finches and Thrushes I could hear to the distant SW approaching Geese, within a few minutes a skein of 126+ Pink-footed Geese came into view, they passed directly overhead and off in a NE heading in a long and strung out V formation. Later, as I was preparing to leave, a flock of 100+ Lapwings passed directly overhead in a NE heading, these birds approached and departed along the same path as the earlier seen Pink-footed Geese.

A short afternoon visit to Watton churchyard on the 14^th was intended to check for winter Thrushes in the Yew trees, of which there are some fine examples. 32+ Redwings and a few Blackbirds were seen, a good visit.

Redwing - A common winter visitor often seen in Yew trees in churchyard settings

The 14^th was a bright but cold morning with excellent light. I visited Little Cressingham to once again check on Finch numbers at a traditional game strip habitat. Chaffinches and Linnets were the most numerous species, also one Brambling seen.

A large Goshawk was seen flying quite leisurely along woodland edge then chased a Pigeon into woodland. A few minutes later I saw large numbers of Pheasants in a panic flying fast and low over the land, the Goshawk reappeared and was seen to give a half-hearted attempt at chasing another Pigeon. On the last occasion the light was particularly good, this showed off the Goshawks all grey upperparts, which showed this as an adult ♀ bird.

Thompson Water on the 21^st was to prove very productive as the day was to provide me with my highest ever count of Mallard on the water. Several species of ducks were on the water including a couple of sawbills.

I arrived at Thompson Water at 0640, some 50 minutes prior to sunrise and the first birds heard was ♂ and ♀ Tawny Owls in the dawn woodland.

It was clear a high number of ducks were on the water, however, those seen were silhouetted against light of the dawn sky, so in order to wait for light to improve my attention was given to the very noisy chatter of Starlings in their roost habitat of reedbed and Willow Carr. The incessant chatter went on for some time, then at 0712, some 18 minutes prior to sunrise, a noise likened to thunder was followed by the mass departure of 5000+ Starlings, initially a spectacular murmuration was seen before the birds rapidly departed Thompson Water for the day.

Thompson Water

With improving light, it became apparent I was faced with high numbers of Mallard on the water along with several other duck species. With my clicker counter in hand I went through the birds on the water and reached a count of 322+ Mallard on the water, my highest ever count of this species here. Without doubt many more Mallard would have been present but out of sight in reeds, reedbed inlets, and channels.

Other ducks present were 8+ Shoveler, 20+ Gadwall, 37+ Teal, 10+ Pochard, 5+ Tufted Duck, and 2 Goosander, a scarce winter visitor.

Also on the water was 60+ Coot, Great Crested and Little Grebes, and in the surrounding woodland was Marsh Tit, Redwing and Song Thrush.

During a work break on the morning of the 23^rd I visited the wide open and vast expanses of land at Deopham at the site of the former wartime bomber base. It can appear quite bleak here, especially so on this visit when there was fast moving cloud, frequent heavy rain, and poor light due to the cloud cover and reduced visibility due to the rain, but as I have written before, I love bleak. I was parked on the former runway which used to have some fine scrubby cover and Willows, however, in recent years this was grubbed out by the greedy landowner. This former habitat provided good shelter within vast arable land for farmland birds as well as breeding habitat for Warblers, for me, this was tantamount to criminal behaviour.

The wide open expanses of land holds good numbers of Golden Plover and winter Thrushes, I have also seen Merlin here on a couple of occasions, a bird well suited to this bleak landscape.

The visit here today produced little, however, it was just good to be there. 1 Red Kite was seen in awful conditions over the land and clearly demonstrated its mastery of the air in such conditions. A couple of Stock Doves passed by too.

A return to Thompson Water on the 26^th saw less Mallard than the 21^st, however, a pleasant surprise came in the form of a ♀ Goldeneye, a very attractive little diving duck. A Marsh Harrier was briefly seen.