Houghton-on-the-Hill, Norfolk

The weather was wild at dawn with a strong NW wind and spells of driving rain.  The rain cleared to give a bright morning, however, the strong wind remained a feature of the weather.

2 Buzzards

2 Kestrel

1 Yellow-browed Warbler

4 Swallows

Blackcap

Chiffchaff

Goldcrests

5+ Coal Tits

4+ Marsh Tit

Long-tailed Tit

Treecreeper

300+ Goldfinches Little Cressingham mid-afternoon

The drive to Houghton-on-the-Hill early this morning saw lots of leaf and large twig debris on the roads as a result of the somewhat wet and windy weather at sunrise.

The weather conditions made my decision about where to search for Warblers quite easy as most activity would be on the sheltered sides of wooded areas and hedgerows.

Trees were bending in the wind at Houghton, however, a quiet south-east facing woodland edge was productive almost straight away with Marsh Tits, Blue Tits, Coal Tit, a male Blackcap, and Goldcrests moving along the woodland edge.  I spent some time here to watch small bird activity, but after some 30 minutes I entered the churchyard to see what was present there.  Again, Marsh Tits, Coal Tit, and Goldcrests featured.  Looking above the churchyard, a single Swallow passed over east being driven along by the strong wind.

From the churchyard I then decided to walk the hedgerow corridor running east of the church, here, it was reasonably well sheltered from the wind.

For some reason I felt hopeful about what I might find in the hedgerow, instinct I suppose, anyway, only a short time passed when at about 0805 I heard the highly distinctive, piercing, high-pitched "tseweest" call of the Yellow-browed Warbler.  I walked a short distance along the hedge, towards the sun sadly, with the call being repeated several times.  I then saw a small bird through the hedge, somewhat concealed by twigs.  The Yellow-browed Warbler then came into view (head area only) in very good light, but only for a matter of a couple of seconds before it flew high into trees in the churchyard.  I was completely in awe of the birds very striking head pattern, a bright, broad, and long yellowish supercillium, greenish above and a dark eye-stripe which enhanced the supercillium.  

I called Peter Dolton who promptly arrived, a thorough search produced roving Tit flocks and Chiffchaffs, however, after a while we did hear the Yellow-browed Warbler calling along the south facing hedgerow, although we did not visually locate it.

During our search for the YB Warbler, we saw 3 Swallows overhead, their directional heading having a north-east to east bias.

Sheltered, sun-bathed edges of woodland habitat also produced Red Admiral and Comma butterflies.

Little Cressingham (NW of The Arms)

A mid-afternoon walk along the Great Cressingham Road produced a very notable flock of some 300+ Goldfinches in and around a large area of weed and maize.