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.

Little Cressingham 27 August 2026

A dry start to the day but with heavy thundery showers predicted. Some heavy and prolonged showers arrived around midday and it was great to look out of the window and finally see some decent rainfall following the long very dry spells and many days of very high temperatures.

My day began with a visit to a nearby army camp where I had to go through my annual safety briefing and pass renewal for the training area, an efficient process.

Little Cressingham (Watton Brook Valley within the training area) 0810-0930.

I arrived at my destination with full cloud and a muggy feel, the wind was an easterly shifting to a light south-easterly.  The morning had a feel of migrants about it.

The first birds I noticed was a couple of Red Kites perched in a dead Oak, in the same tree two Great Spotted Woodpeckers, one of which was chiselling away at dead bark.  A Goshawk was heard calling. Several Stonechats (c.10) and Whitethroat along the valley sides. I also saw a very brief acrocephalus species dart into cover, I suspected Reed Warbler.   

Before proceeding along the valley I decided to scope rolling grassland and in doing so located 3 Northern Wheatear.  Even watching from distance these Wheatears were easily identified migrants, firstly, I checked areas of short grassland at this time of year knowing that this kind of habitat supports passage Wheatear, I saw a distant bird standing upright and still before running fast over the land, then the birds were seen to fly short distances and showed their very distinctive white rump which appears as an inverted T.  

As I slowly walked towards the grassland a Marsh Harrier approached from the west then headed south. 

Wheatear at Little Cressingham 27 August 2026 (one of 3 birds present)

Wheatears are birds of open country and although a few pairs breed in the Brecks the vast majority of birds seen are migrants passing through both in spring and again in autumn.  I encounter these delightful birds every year on the patch.

The Wheatears seen today were easily identified from range by their upright carriage, short, fast runs over the land, stopping and once again upright as it looks around, often these Wheatear chose the highest perch in the area, on fence posts on top of a hillock.  The Wheatear pictured here is a juvenile bird, the other two birds were either female, or again, juveniles.  As previously written the most distinctive feature of a flying Wheatear is the very conspicuous white rump in the form of an inverted T shape.

North Elmham Chapel 25 August 2026

During a short work break on 25 August I visited the beautiful ruins of North Elmham Chapel in Norfolk. My apologies for possibly not getting the information panels in the correct order. I hope you enjoy this little tour.

The approach to the chapel

St Mary's Church North Elmham

Little Cressingham (Watton Brook Valley) 18 August 2026

It has been a long time since we had any significant and meaningful rainfall here in the Brecks, therefore, could you imagine my absolute delight that at just after midnight on the 18 August when it began to rain steadily and continuously for around 3 hours, it was a wonderful sound listening to the rain beating down on the conservatory roof.

I had only a short time for birding this morning and I chose to walk along the Watton Brook valley off Great Cressingham Road for a migrant search. 

Firstly, a single Red Kite perched rather statesman-like on a dead branch high in an Oak and nearby on wires were perched 5 Stock Doves.  Before entering the area of grassland an initial scan saw 25 Lapwings on the hard, dry land.

I walked along the valley through lots of grazing cattle which were being fed on a good supply of supplementary food as the usual lush grassland is looking more like a desert due to the current drought conditions.  I noted that 6 Pied Wagtails were feeding around the cattle. 

The lush green habitat alongside Watton Brook separates this feature from what otherwise appears as an arid looking surrounding landscape, as expected, the valley produced most birds.  My quick visit along Watton Brook produced at least two Whitethroats, Wrens, Dunnock, several Goldfinches, Great Tit, and in excess of 10 Stonechats, of which most were juveniles. 50+ Swallows flew low up and down the valley in their search for food.