Watton/Saham (Private land immediately west of Watton and north of the B1108 road) 11 September 2026 - 0645-0930

With the wind continuing from the west, I chose to walk alongside the sheltered east facing hedgerow which lies south to north through large meadows, with the purpose of finding migrant species which hopefully should be resting and feeding in this long unbroken hedgerow.  The habitat comprises Hawthorn hedgerow with a mixture of Elder, Buckthorn, Blackthorn, Dog Rose, and Bramble.

Blackcap in typical habitat ia autumn where they feast on soft fruits for energy for their journey south. 

I walked the full length of this hedgerow waiting and searching for migratory birds, and with the land immediately adjacent to the west side of the hedgerow being a large area of game cover, the first birds seen were Finches and Buntings which will have good feeding here.  30+ Linnets, 4+ Reed Buntings, Yellowhammers, Greenfinches, and Goldfinch, were all present and as autumn progresses into winter, the flocks of both Finches and Buntings should increase in number. 

My search for migrants eventually paid off with at least 3 Blackcaps present including a male in Buckthorn habitat, also noted was at least two Whitethroats, one of which was a juvenile bird.

In addition to the migrants seen a couple of Snipe were seen on a wet meadow, both birds flew up to relocate on nearby marsh habitat.

Houghton 9 September 2026 (0645-1030)

A bright, cool start to the day with a light to moderate WNW wind eventually NW. It remained dry and later quite warm.

A few migrant Warblers were found with the best observations coming from the sheltered and warm east facing hedgerow.

Upon my arrival a female Kestrel was on the tower of St. Mary's where she was calling, also here was a few Jackdaws.  The sheltered east facing woodland boundary of the churchyard held a mobile flock of Long-tailed Tits along with Blue and Great Tits too.

A gathering of 10 Stock Doves were on overhead wires whilst the same area held a wandering flock of 50+ Linnets.

Blackcap (feamle) at Houghton 9 September. In typical autumn habitat of Elder.

Once I reached the sheltered east facing hedgerow on Houghton Common I decided to watch this habitat carefully in the knowledge that birds would benefit from being out of the wind.  This long and continuous hedgerow is laden with mixed fruits including elderberry, Dog Rose, Hawthorn, and Buckthorn, and it was in this habitat I found 7+ Chiffchaffs (including a singing bird) and another feeding upon elderberries.  At least 8 Blackcaps were seen, again attracted to elderberries where a female bird was taking fruit.  Also seen was a single juvenile Whitethroat, again in elder.

My return walk was productive with at least 10 Grey Partridges seen in stubble.

Hever Castle, Kent. 6 September 2026

My wife Pam has a great interest in history, especially the history of the Tudor times, and one of her ambitions was to visit Hever Castle in Kent, the childhood home of Ann Boleyn.  We travelled from our home in Norfolk to our accommodation near Sevenoaks in Kent on 5 September, we stayed overnight in fairly basic accommodation, but that is all we required for our one night.  

On the morning of 6 September I drove the 15 miles or so to Hever, we arrived early as we wanted to look around St Peter's Church in Hever as well as a walk round the outside of the King Henry 8th pub, both of which are located close to the entrance of Hever Castle and its gardens.

Henry the V111 pub at Hever

St Peter's Church at Hever (Resting place of Thomas Boleyn, the father of Ann Boleyn)

 

Hever Castle (the beautiful gardens approaching the castle)

Here we are at Hever Castle

Hever Castle 6 September 2026

The beautiful lake at Hever Castle

Birds

Shortly following our arrival at the car park for Hever Castle I had a stroll round and located a calling juvenile Tawny Owl.  Also noted here was both Nuthatch and Robin.

Although our main focus was on visiting the castle and its magnificent gardens, our wanderings included the birds seen, and the various bodies of water, including the castle moat and the large lake saw Coot and Mallard being the most numerous of species.  Most Coot were adult birds with a few juveniles seen.

Coot at Hever Castle

The wonderful area of woodland, and indeed solitary trees within parkland, held Robins, Nuthatch, Green Woodpecker, and Goldcrest.  I noticed several Robins in the beautiful Italian themed gardens, the many cavities in the brick structures undoubtedly providing good breeding sites.

The large lake at Hever Castle saw 4 Great Crested Grebes (a pair with a single juvenile and a lone adult), also Black-headed Gulls and a single Little Egret was seen overflying. 

A walk through woodland to visit the ruins of Anne of Cleves Bower House produced a couple of Chiffchaffs.

Following our very memorable visit to Hever Castle Pam and myself rounded off the day with a lovely meal in the King Henry V111 pub, which along with nearby St Peter's Church, is part of the Hever Castle estate.  

We departed this beautiful part of Kent with a drive through some beautiful old villages and wonderful countryside before joining the main routes for our journey back to Norfolk.

Sparham (Churchyard and immediate surrounds) 1015-1115

Sparham Churchyard is a beautiful well wooded location which holds a range of species, mostly around the boundaries.  The southern boundary typically has some large, old Yew trees, the east boundary has a nettlebed, a dead tree,a plum tree, and a Japanese Mock Orange.  The northern boundary is particularly well wooded with Ash, two Hazel, 2 Field Maples, Hawthorn, Elder, Hawthorn, a large Cedar, Ivy, and Black Bryony.  The west boundary of the Churchyard has a few fruiting Rowans.  There is a small wildflower meadow.

1 Stock Dove singing

1 Green Woodpecker (heard)

8+ Blackbirds

1 Blackcap ♂ singing

Robin

Coal Tit

3+ Blue Tits

2+ Goldfinches (including a juvenile)

3 Swallows

Hardingham and Scoulton 2 September 2026

 I had a short work break between calls, I therefore visited Low Road in Hardingham (1810 to 1845) where I counted:-

26 Egyptian Geese (all S/E)

120+ Lesser Black-backed Gulls in stubble

28+ Stock Doves on wires

Carrion Crow

6+ Rook

1 Swallow (south) battling against the wind

Scoulton (Woodrising Road) 2145  

A beautiful Barn Owl was seen in car light in a hollow within a large roadside tree.

31 August 2026 at Thompson, Norfolk (with Sarah Harris, and 'Digger')

With the last day of the month upon us, my plan was to visit Thompson Wood for a search for migrant birds. I was not to be disappointed.  This was a sunny morning with increasing cloud. The wind was a light to moderate, occasionally fresh W to SW.

I messaged Sarah Harris (BB editor) and her gorgeous Border Collie 'Digger' and was later joined by her for a lovely walk and catch up.

Probably the most spectacular observation this morning was watching several hundred Hirundines gathering along wire fencing and hunting low over large weedy fields.  The majority species present was the House Martin with many Swallows too.  A single female Reed Bunting was seen.

I then walked alongside a long fence enclosing a very large weedy field, I was confident that I would find migrants here and a relatively short search revealed 5+ Whinchats either on the fence or on tops of tall weeds where they showed reasonably well.

Whinchat 31 August at Thompson. 

 

Whinchat 31 August 2026 (Note the bold pale supercillium)

The Whinchats seen today shared their surroundings with a number of Stonechats, it was therefore possible to see the difference between the two species.  Whinchats are paler birds with a strong pale supercillium, the tail pattern (as seen with a hovering bird) shows distinct white outer tail bases.

Also noted this morning was a single Whitethroat in a patch of scrub within grassland habitat.  

I later met up with Sarah Harris for our walk and catch up and although the high numbers of earlier Hirundines had moved on, more Swallows and House Martins arrived to fly low and close to the grasses and weeds.  

As we continued our walk Sarah saw a Goshawk flying left to right just above the treeline, it then dropped into the canopy when several Wood Pigeons scattered erratically.

It was a lovely walk with Sarah and it was good to see her again. Thank you Sarah.

And finally, as I was about to leave I met another friend, Jean Wagner, for a brief catch up.  Good to see you too Jean.

1 September 2026 (Observations from the garden)

September is the pivotal month for bird migration with birds leaving us and other species arriving later in the month from Northern Europe.  Although a fantastic month for witnessing bird migration, I have to say that October is without doubt the best month for this phenomena with autumn storms from the south-west seeing the arrival of birds from North America, whilst here in the east we can witness the spectacular arrival of thousands of winter Thrushes and Finches from Northern Europe along with scarce and rare passerines from Europe and Siberia.

1 September

The day began with a male Blackcap in our native hedgerow where it remained for much of the day, obviously a resting migrant bird which hopefully benefitted from the soft fruits in the hedge. Subsong was heard.  

The hedgerow also attracted a couple of Blackbirds which fed upon berries of the Dogwood bush whilst other common species noted included a number of House Sparrows.  A juvenile Collared Dove was being fed by a parent bird.

A female Sparrowhawk was seen on a couple of occasions overhead, the second occasion saw the raptor closing its wings and plummeting towards the ground.

Overhead movements included a light passage of House Martins and Swallows in a north-west heading, perhaps this was pre-migration reorienting behaviour. 

Lepidoptera species in the garden today included two Hummingbird Hawk Moths and a single Painted Lady butterfly.