Not such an unlucky Friday the 13th on the patch.

From the outset, I thought today would be a great day to find a Raven on the patch. This wonderful Corvid is now being seen with increasing frequency in Norfolk and indeed, I saw a pair at Great Cressingham last year.

I initially wanted to check on Bramblings, and saw many within a mixed flock of 500+ Finches and Buntings.  It whilst watching the Finches that I heard a distant Raven calling, soon it appeared in view flying over fields, I had an idea where it was heading and relocated myself to that given location.

Brambling 13th November

Brambling 13th November

Having relocated myself I almost immediately saw the Raven alight in a tall Scots Pine, later, it flew closer and alighted in an isolated tree close to a Carrion Crow, here I was able to appreciate the size difference between these Crows.  A single Mistle Thrush investigated the Raven and looked decidedly small in comparison.

The main features of the Raven was clearly its very large size, its call, the enormous bill, and in flight the tapered tail, often referred to being diamond shaped.

Raven Little Cressingham, Norfolk, 13th November

Raven 13th November

The above two shots shows a classic identification feature of an in-flight Raven.  With this alighting bird, note the strongly tapered tail giving a wedged shape.

Raven 13th November.  Note the heavy, powerful bill

 

Finch Fest

Autumn and winter in the Brecks is a very special and exciting time for finding Finches and Buntings, and knowing their feeding and habitat requirements will assist in locating these birds.  Winter feed, notably maize and sunflower crops attract Finches and Buntings. 

In recent days I have been visiting a site on my patch which has traditionally been used for winter feed over the years, so imagine when I visited on 9th November to find a mixed flock of Finches and Buntings easily exceeding 1000+ birds, an amazing sight and sound.

Working through these highly mobile birds, it appeared Chaffinches formed the majority species, with smaller numbers of Greenfinches, Yellowhammers, and Reed Buntings, but also I estimated a fantastic 250-300 Bramblings present.

Brambling 10th November 2020

Brambling 10th November

Bramblings are regular winter visitors in variable numbers on my local patch, some years are lean in numbers, whilst other years produce high numbers of wintering birds, this year so far indicates a good year for the species.

Bramblings are similar sized birds to Chaffinches, although markedly different plumages.  Seen overhead in flight, Bramblings have a noticeably forked tail, also, they show much white on the belly and ventral areas.  Calls vary from a soft "tup" to a call I love to hear from this species, a nasally "zweeeeu", although text books indicate a variety of spellings for this call, although I am happy with what I hear.   Seen well at rest, male Bramblings have brightish orange scapular patches and breast, and i winter have a patchy black head, which is solid black in spring for breeding, this is a stunning feature of this Finch.  The bill is a straw colour.  A nice little plumage feature on Brambling are the small black spots on the rear flanks.  Female Brambling is like a washed through version of the male, her head is grey with two parallel lines on the nape.   

Bramblings are winter visitors with us, they return to breed in the Birch Forests of Scandinavia in March and April.  It is at this time in early spring when males developing their stunning solid black heads and mantles in readiness for breeding.

Twitchery Stupidity

I have written up my blog for a month or so, therefore I apologise for writing this negative post regarding the Eastern Rufous Bush Chat at Stiffkey in Norfolk.

I have never been, am not, and will never be a twitcher, I really don't get it. So called twitching has often brought real birders into negative light, and when people say to me "Oh, you are a twitcher are you?", I immediately correct them and tell them I am a birder.

Twitching has brought birding into negative light in recent years, most recently, I refer to the Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler at Holkham a couple of years ago when some twitchers committed criminal damage on the Holkham Estate, and one idiot twitcher even suggested an organised flush for a bird which is a skulker by behaviour (see you tube).  Where was the bird's welfare on that occasion?

In 1999, I found a Pied Billed Grebe on my patch, I kept this find to a few trusted friends, however, news broke following my find and mob rule ensued.  This particular bird was at a previous Norfolk site before relocating to my patch, because it had been harassed by irresponsible twitchers. 

With the arrival of the Eastern Rufous Bush Chat at Stiffkey, it was inevitable that twitchers would arrive en-masse.  Evidence in newspapers, and even reports in another blog through written and photographic evidence, clearly showed a lack of respect for other road users and a failure to observe the current government guidelines relating to Covid-19 restrictions, also, and quite rightly, there was Police involvement  too relating to the concerns above.  One twitcher type even reported the presence of dogs at this site which disturbed the bird, how many dog-walkers look upon these twitchers with disdain on what is likely to be their regular dog-walk route.  How many birds are displaced by twitcher types as they trudge their way through habitats putting up other birds as they selfishly go their way?  The North Norfolk Coast is not the sole domain of birders and twitcher types, it is for all to enjoy.

I pride myself on not being a twitcher, I am a birder who likes to educate people on birds, their behaviour and movements.  I am also very proud to say that I like to think I am a well respected birder on my Breckland patch and I get immense pleasure from sharing my knowledge with people who are keen to learn.

Buckenham Marsh 20th September

 A very productive early afternoon visit during my work break saw good numbers of waders with 400+ Lapwings, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 6+ Ruff, and a single Dunlin on the scrape.  Several Wigeon were seen on or close to water and on the grazing marsh Greylags and a pair of Barnacle Geese were present.

At least 2 Hobby were soaring high overhead, and at least 3 Kestrels were having a bad time being harassed by Crows

Kestrel male receiving unwanted attention from a Rook at Buckenham Marsh 20th Sept

Visible Migration: My highlight for this visit was a single Turtle Dove which flew right past me, over the marsh, and off in a more or less southerly heading.  What an absolute treat to see an actual passage bird.  Also seen on the move was 2 Siskins, again, over in a southerly heading, these were probably recently arrived continental birds

Watton Brook Valley (juvenile Greenshank)

This morning, I decided to check the valley for migrants before stormy conditions set in.  Even early morning it was very windy, but sunny and warm otherwise.

Following recent very heavy thunderstorms, the valley became flooded in many areas along its length, thus becoming attractive to Gulls and passing wader species.  This morning Gulls were present in good numbers on flood water, an estimated 400+ Black-headed Gulls, and a few Lesser Black-backed Gulls were present in varying age groups.  One of these Black-headed Gulls was seen chasing a Wader species, as the chase broke off I followed the wader and despite distance, saw an unmarked darkish upper-wing and a white rump extending up the rump to form a wedge shape, this was a Greenshank.

The Greenshank alighted on the ground, which comprised mostly long grass, which rendered the wader lost to view.  Apart from the occasional relocation flight, the bird was difficult to find, the search was on.

A long thorough look through the Gulls and surrounding habitats proved fruitless, however, I later detected a little movement in long grass, using my 'scope I said under my breath "Yes, Greenshank". I trained my 'scope on this bird where it preened for some time, but was always partially concealed in the grass.  The key features seen on the Greenshank was the long, slightly up-turned bill, pale grey-brown crown, white forecrown, dark loral stripe which accentuated the white forecrown and chin and throat. The grey-brown patterned upperparts showed this to be a juvenile bird.

I have often encountered Greenshanks in autumn on the patch, these are always singleton birds, and generally calling passage birds, so to find one on the ground with reasonable views was the highlight of the day for me. 

Hummingbird Hawk Moth

20th August.  A beautiful Hummingbird Hawk Moth visited our buddleia to feed.  This delightful day-flying Moth has been reported frequently around Norfolk this year, their numbers fluctuate year to year.

Historically, swarms of Hummingbird Hawk Moths were encountered by allied forces crossing the English Channel on D-Day 6th June 1944

Garden Observations

I planted my hedge some six years ago in the garden with of course, bird friendly, native species being chosen. A variety of species were planted including Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Dogwood, Dog Rose, and Elder.  The hedge has grown well and now supports many species which use it for cover, nesting, and feeding.
Today, the most frequent species in the garden, as it often always is, was good numbers of Starlings, the vast majority of which are juvenile birds which are now acquiring adult plumage.  As well as food which I provide, Starlings are now attracted to my Dogwood where they are taking the ripening berries, or Dogberries.

Juvenile female Starling 2nd August

Also present in good numbers at this current time are House Sparrows, and today I saw recently fledged young birds being fed by a male parent.  The bill colour variations was seen today, particularly in the males, the adult having a black bill, whilst juvenile males have some yellow in the bill.

House Sparrow 2nd August. A beautiful and overlooked species.

A regular visit over the past couple of days is a juvenile Robin, a very alert, and sometimes alert little character.
Overhead, at least 3 Swifts seen, soon, these most aerial of birds will be heading south  , until their return next April.

Robin (juvenile) in garden 2nd August

Bodney, Norfolk

A beautiful, very bright morning in the Brecks, and time to start thinking about searching for migrants on the patch.  This morning I spent about an hour or so watching a beautiful area of rough grassland with scattered Elder, an area I have associated with resting and feeding passage birds over the years.
Out of three of the past 10 years I have found evidence of a Shrike species in this area in August, with impaled beetles being found on barbed wire, but I have yet to find the Shrike responsible, was it Red-backed, or possibly, Woodchat Shrike.  Fantastic, suitable habitat for Shrike will surely see a representative of this species here soon.
One of the first birds seen this morning was a single juvenile Stonechat in an Elder, a species I expected to see here.  A very distinctive juvenile with lots of white mottling on its mantle and head and with a little red on its flanks.

Stonechat (juvenile) Bodney, Norfolk 2nd August

Several Whitethroats (8+) were seen, this included an adult and several juvenile birds, also 4+ Blackcaps present (males, female, and juvenile birds).
Several Linnets (7+) seen, these comprised an adult male and juvenile birds.
Also of note here was at least 8 Stock Doves and 1 Swallow. 

List of Shame (Letter in 'Birdwatch Magazine' August 2020

An excellent and very timely letter to August 2020 edition of Birdwatch magazine highlighted the disrespect a 'well known Twitcher' and the lengths this idiot went to during 'Covid Lock-Down' to break the simple rules the government laid down to keep us all safe.  I have responded to that letter in the hope it gets published in order to shame this twitcher type.
My letter reads as follows: 

I am responding to Adrian Halliday's excellent and very timely letter regarding certain elements of the twitching fraternity who feel that 'Covid Lock Down' rules do not apply to them.

The vast majority of birders adapted their birding during lock-down to Garden birding and watching the sky from their gardens for migrants, and this produced interesting results.

However, those twitchers who disregard the simple rules of lock-down in pursuit of a tick, clearly lack the respect for others in the community and are putting people and potentially the emergency services and NHS at risk.

As a response to the disregard towards others and lack of respect for important rules laid down during lock-down, those twitchers who breached those requirements should be banned from public events in future and not given any form of media publicity.

It would be interesting to hear from those twitchers who could not comply with lock-down rules for their side of the story?

Swifts

Most of todays birding was done at various times from the garden.  The day started grey with rain but by the afternoon it was warm and sunny.
Sparrowhawk featured numerous times today, twice, I saw a bird high drifting slowly before plummeting groundward.  The same, or another bird passed through the garden late afternoon.  The occasional Buzzard was seen gliding/soaring overhead.
In the garden, Starlings dominated with 100+ often in the hedge, but departing swiftly to watch threatening Sparrowhawks.  Why do Starlings expend energy to shadow Sparrowhawks, when they could just remain in the safety of our thick hedge.

Swift 19th July

Juvenile Swift 19th July.  Note the light scaling on the underparts which ages this bird as a juvenile.

Swifts were numerous overhead with screaming parties and family groups seen throughout the day. Today I saw juvenile Swifts on the wing.  Look at the photo of the well lit bird, the light scaling on the underparts ages this as a juvenile bird.  These enigmatic birds will soon be leaving our shores for South Africa, in fact, I have already seen evidence of passage Swift this month.

17th and 18th July

My plan for the weekend was to do some tidying up in the garden, mowing, cutting the Laurel and Privet back, but I love my weeds,  I have lots of Poppies with their heads about to crack, then I will harvest the seed and put them in a container for sowing elsewhere.  I have thistle in my front garden which has attracted Goldfinches, and in hedge in the back garden, our pair of Collared Doves are incubating again, having successfully fledged two young from an earlier nest.
At the end of the day on the 17th I relaxed for a while in the calm of the warm evening hoping for calls of overhead passage waders in the night sky.  At 2250 I was rewarded with an overhead, calling Green Sandpiper.  Waders are on the move.
Before starting my second day of gardening, I decided on visiting a location near North Pickenham, again, in the hope of seeing, or hearing passage waders, but nothing recorded.
Hedgerows were checked and I found 4 Blackcap (2 males and 2 juveniles), Whitethroat, several Chiffchaffs, 1 Swift, singing Yellowhammer, Linnet, and the highlight for me this morning, a pair of Bullfinches with the male looking spectacular as he gave his simple 'piping' call.

Starling in the garden. This juvenile is clearly beginning to acquire adult plumage.

I arrived back home mid morning and enjoyed a coffee before getting started on the garden.  Once again, Starlings featured as the most abundant species seen in the garden, the greatest numbers being juvenile birds.  Watching these Starlings I was able to appreciate how boisterous they have become, and indeed how comical they are too in their antics towards each other.  Of particular note, I also saw that these juvenile Starlings are beginning to acquire patches of adult feathering on their breast sides and flanks, along with the darkening of wing coverts.  Beautiful birds.

Merton, Norfolk 1500-1610

Merton is a wonderfully wooded parish, and this afternoon I took short walk through mature woodland and parkland, and gathered some notable observations.  It was lovely to see some Rowan trees within mostly Oak woodland showing off their vast clusters of beautiful red berries.  Also, Bird Cherry fruits are now ripened and were enjoyed by Blackcaps and Blackbird.
Highlighted counts/observations saw:

26+ House Martins feeding overhead
2 Swallows
1 Swift
8+ Blackcaps
1 Treecreeper
Wren (pair food carrying)

Of 8+ Blackcaps recorded, 5+ were watched in a small Bird Cherry where they were consuming ripened black berries, these comprised a male, female, and female/juvenile birds.  An adult female Blackbird also enjoyed the feast.  A further 3 singing Blackcaps were heard.

One of a pair of Wrens seen.  This bird is carrying food for its young nearby.

Also of interest was a pair of Wrens agitated at my presence, one of which was food-carrying, I love the way these lovely little birds bob up and down when checking me out.
House Martins are not as common as they used to be, therefore, it was pleasing to see 26+ birds feeding high above parkland.

Marlingford, Norfolk, 11th and 12th July

This was a working weekend in Norwich, I therefore chose Marlingford for my work break birding due to its close proximity for my return to work.
A productive visit to this beautiful area.  An overview of the floodplain in the Yare valley produced a single Grey Heron,  Blackcap, Whitethroat, 1 Marsh Tit, Nuthatch, and a singing Reed Bunting on the 11th.

Marsh Tit Marlingford 11th July

The highlight of this visit was initially heard, a familiar "eez tk tk", only one bird has this call, Spotted Flycatcher, and indeed after a short search I found a bird on a wire, with a second bird also present.  In fact, upon my arrival I thought of the possibility of this sadly declining species being here.

Spotted Flycatcher - One of a breeding pair at Marlingford

Spotted Flycatcher

Spotted Flycatcher showing the nicely streaked crown.

Visiting on the 12th, I concentrated my efforts on watching the Spotted Flycatchers again.  Both were always close to an Oak with very old, dead climbers around the trunk of the tree, I suspected this as the site for the nest.
Food carrying was noted by the parent birds.  I was amazed at the sheer speed of Spotted Flycatcher's flight through trees and its sweeps  and swoops as it hunts prey.
A great weekends watching these beautiful Spotted Flycatchers, a sadly declining species these days.

Whitethroat (useful tips for identifying juvenile birds)

This morning I visited a lane near Bodney, Norfolk, where two territories of Whitethroats have been seen this year.  The lane is within a vast expanse of arable with little tall cover.  The wide roadside verges have a couple of well-spaced Hawthorns, otherwise the habitat is one of long grasses, umbellifer species, and low sprawling ground cover.
This morning I watched two pairs of Whitethroats, one of which was accompanied by at least two juvenile birds.  The adult birds typically gave their single, nasally alarm call to warn the juveniles, also the adults were food-carrying.

Juvenile Whitethroat (Note the all dark eye)

All ages and sexes of Whitethroats have the distinctive chestnut wing-panel, the only British species to have this feature, other than the very rare Spectacled Warbler.  Note here the concolourous head and mantle, also, see that the eye of the juvenile bird is all dark, on adults the iris is Orange with a darker pupil.  The other obvious giveaway is the pale gape flanges, an 'elastic' like membrane which allows a wide gape when being fed by adult birds.

Juvenile Whitethroat 10th July.  The dark eye and chestnut wing patches are visible here.

This photograph highlights nicely the chestnut wing patches and tertial fringes, the only British Warbler to have this feature, which also helps separate this species from the slightly smaller Lesser Whitethroat. 

Two juvenile Whitethroats waiting for food 10th July

Surlingham Marsh, Norfolk, 7th July

Today I had a longer than usual work break, I therefore decided to drive the 14.5 miles from Wymondham, where I was working, to Surlingham Marsh, a beautiful reserve south-east of Norwich in the River Yare valley.  I only had a couple of hours to spare, so a gentle walk around the marsh was just right for the time I had available to me.
Following my arrival, I descended along the narrow track which leads down to the river and saw Song Thrush, and heard both Blackcap and Reed Warbler.  At the end of the track, a lovely row of Guelder Roses were beginning to show many bunches of berries, a larder for winter Thrushes no doubt.
Walking alongside the river, it was clear from the mostly dry state of the path that we are in need of a good rainfall.
Reed Warblers continued to be heard in song, probably six males in total heard on this visit.  In waterside habitat, 5+ Greenfinches were both seen and heard, whilst on the far bank, 5 Oystercatchers probed the land for food.  A single juvenile Robin flew between bushes.
A short visit to the hide overlooking marsh and broad produced a couple of Gadwall, Mallard, and a passing overhead Cormorant.

Surlingham Marsh and Broad. Gadwall were present on the water.

An idyllic Norfolk marsh scene

With more of the marsh beginning to become more visible, thoughts turned to Marsh Harrier, and indeed, a male bird was seen hunting the marsh, flying back and forth over reeds and occasionally hovering whilst searching below for prey.

Marsh Harrier (male) Surlingham Marsh 7th July

Note the tri-coloured pattern on this male Marsh Harrier.

Also seen on the marsh where the Harrier was hunting was Kestrel, male Reed Bunting singing, a pair of Mute Swans dabbling in a dyke, and singing Sedge Warbler.
The male Marsh Harrier is easily distinguishable from the female by its smaller size and the lovely tri-coloured wing, gingery coverts, grey secondaries, and the black hand. The tail is grey.
My very worthwhile walk ended back at the car with a Chiffchaff calling in a hedge.  A great visit.

Garden notes

A coffee break in the garden late morning produced a couple of pairs of Swifts low over houses, whilst high overhead, both Kestrel and Sparrowhawk were seen.
Our Blackbird pair are now visiting the nest to feed their third brood and a quick check of the Collared Dove nest in the hedge saw a single young bird which is currently about two-thirds grown.
Many Starlings in the garden with full grown youngsters which are now quite confident and showing signs of independence.
Siskins were heard and Goldfinches were seen often in flight giving their 'tinkling' calls.
As my coffee break ended, a female Sparrowhawk made a slow, low level pass over the garden, and looking quite menacing too.

Sparrowhawk (female) making a slow, low level pass over the garden 22nd June.

Garden Warbler

A good mornings birding locally with Cranes, 4+ Little Egrets, 5+ Nuthatches, Blackcaps and Garden Warblers being seen and heard.
I have a lot of catching up to do locally, having been without a car for almost 3 weeks, so it was good to get out and see what changes there has been in my absence.  On the Butterfly front I did see some Large Skippers, a beautiful insect.
A female Cuckoo was both seen and heard giving its brilliant 'bubbling' call.  She will be migrating south soon.
I found a pair of Garden Warblers in traditionally used breeding habitat, song was delivered, as well as an alarm call.  The habitat used is one of Hawthorn and Bramble scrub within open woodland, although my pair were mostly watched in tall Holly.

Garden Warbler 20th June 2020

Much is written about the lack of plumage features on Garden Warbler, although a pale grey neck patch (may be just visible here) is a feature most guides focus on.  Notice here the almost indistinct buffish breast sides which appear to meet on the front of the breast forming a pale band and is demarcated from the whitish underparts.  The bill is strong.
The song of Garden Warbler is easy to separate from its close relative, the Blackcap, once learnt. For me, the song of Garden Warbler rarely has the fluty peaks of the Blackcap, its delivery lasts longer than Blackcap, and it often has the tonal quality of Blackbird.  From range, the song sounds like mumbling, however, it is stunning when listened too at close quarters, it is complex and varied with peaks, but not the high peaks reached in the song of the Blackcap.

A fortuitous work break 16th June

During the afternoon of the 16th June, I decided on taking my work break parked up next to a field of Barley near Wreningham, Norfolk.  There I sat for an hour listening to a Quail singing from within the crop.  A fantastic way to spend a lunch break.

Red Kite

Red Kites are now a familiar sight in Breckland and in the past few days a bird has been patrolling slowly, and low, over mine and adjoining gardens.  Larger than a Buzzard and lacking the bulk, this species appears quite menacing to anyone unfamiliar with this raptor, and its intentions....so don't stay too still if you are sunbathing.

Red Kite 15th June over gardens

A morning for Sylvia's on the patch

The day started grey with what seemed like sea-mist hanging in the air, this however, soon melted away in the warming sun.
This was to be a good morning for listening to and watching Sylvia Warblers in an area of mature hedgerows and low ground cover.  Notably the following highlights were recorded:

1 Goshawk (0907) 2nd year bird
3 Whitethroat territories
1 Lesser Whitethroat
Singing Blackcap
Singing Garden Warbler in low cover

From my arrival Warblers were in fine voice, a Garden Warbler was heard in breeding habitat, along with an nearby Blackcap in woodland.
Not too long after my arrival, I had superb views of a 2nd year Goshawk passing low over open farmland before descending into dense mature woodland.  This was a beautiful bird, large, and still showing brown upperparts of the juvenile bird.

Male Whitethroat 14th June

Male Whitethroat 14th June

Female Whitethroat 14th June

Most of my efforts were given to Whitethroats with a pair watched at a traditionally used habitat of low ground cover with a few higher bushes for song-posts.  Also, a further two males were seen singing and performing song-flight.
A single Lesser Whitethroat often sang, fortunately, later on during my stay I saw a gorgeous bird skulking along the base of a hedge.  The main features of this bird was its grey head and ear-coverts which contrasted strongly with the white throat.  The upper parts were uniform brown lacking any added tonal features.
Also seen this morning was 3 Stock Doves, a single Mistle Thrush, Skylarks, and a Buzzard carrying prey.

Garden notes.

Another grim day of weather with heavy rain at dawn, this relented for a while, then returned again late afternoon along with poor light due to full cloud cover.
Once again, birding today was confined to my garden and surrounds where Blackbirds featured most of the day.
Early morning saw several Siskins being very flighty and noisy, I suspect the pair seen frequently through spring have successfully bred locally in a nearby garden, a great record.
A beautiful juvenile Blackbird was seen, a bird from a first brood of the year, with lovely markings, the head and upperparts were mottled orange/buff, the secondaries were tipped orange/buff, the breast had a buff tone, and the belly appeared quite barred, even scaly looking.  The primaries and tail were unmarked brown.
Our Collared Dove pair are still sitting tight on the nest in my hedge, and I was lucky enough to catch the changeover duties between the male and female birds.
A few Swifts were seen overhead.  There appeared to be no other bird movements when checked.

Garden observations

At the time of writing the garden is full of hungry youngsters, Blackbirds are raising their second brood, the young birds chirping away to be fed.  House Sparrows are also busy feeding young ones, whose pale gape flanges instantly give their age away.

Female Blackbird feeding a youngster in my garden 9th May

And of  course there are the Starlings whose young never cease to amaze me.  Although initially dependant upon their parents upon fledging, they are clearly very quick learners, they follow their parents closely and learn from them, and within very short periods of time they are probing lawns for Leatherjackets.  Young Starlings have also learnt how to react when a threat appears, for example they fly up with their parents and closely shadow a Sparrowhawk as it passes by.

A lovely looking juvenile Starling 9th June

Red Kite and Buzzard at height 9th June

Also noted today from the garden was a female Sparrowhawk, 4 Buzzards, a Red Kite, a pair of Stock Doves passing high NNE, and 2 single Cormorants moving through.
The Red Kite and Buzzard were seen at height from the garden, and despite the distance, the pictures allows you to see the obvious differences between the two species.
In the garden a Collared Dove continues to sit tightly on the nest in my hedge, and Goldfinches were coming and going all day.  Two Siskins were frequently seen, I have seen four together recently indicating local breeding.  And finally, a male Greenfinch was singing and occasionally performed his very welcome song-flight.

Redstarts

In Breckland we are lucky to have the beautiful Redstart as a scarce summer visitor.  This very attractive bird is a common visitor to the upland woodland habitats of western Britain.
On 23rd May I located two singing male Redstarts, both generally difficult to see but occasionally a bird would appear in the very tops of tall Scots Pines.
Despite the range the salient features of this gorgeous bird were seen: White fore-crown, grey head and mantle, a neat black facial patch and chin, orange breast, and reddish/orange tail, and whitish belly.

Redstart 23rd May

Redstart (male) 23rd May

Great Melton, Norfolk, 21st May

Whilst taking a short work break in Great Melton, I became aware of noisy Blackbirds, Jays, and Chaffinches in mature dense woodland, my suspicions were confirmed as to why these birds were upset, a Tawny Owl, a bird which briefly came into view before flying back into thick woodland.

Tawny Owl Great Melton 21st May 

Also present was singing Blackcap and a Mistle Thrush which was collecting food for youngsters. The Mistle Thrush is the largest of British Thrush species appearing greyer than the warm browns of Song Thrush, also, the Mistle Thrush has a very distinctive football-rattle like call.

Mistle Thrush Great Melton 21st May

Youngsters

A walk along the Peddars Way at Great Cressingham this morning produced my first observation of fledged Long-tailed Tits.  A flock comprising 10+ birds was watched moving through a hedge, the youngsters being most vocal as they begged to be fed.  The male of the pair was seen carrying food for his offspring, the female, the bird with no tail feathers due to incubating and other nest duties, looked tiny.
The Long-tailed Tit is in fact closely related to the Babblers of Africa and Asia, it is not a true Tit species.

Long-tailed Tit (juvenile) Peddars Way 18th May

Also seen was several Whitethroats holding territory by singing and performing their conspicuous song/display flight.  I predicted that one section of the Peddars Way would hold Lesser Whitethroat, and indeed a singing male was found in traditional habitat which has been utilised for years by this beautiful Sylvia Warbler.
As expected, both Goldfinches and Linnets were present in typical breeding habitat.

Starling (juvenile) 18th May

Starling (juvenile) 18th May

The first fledgling Starlings of the year appeared in my garden on 11th May, it is amazing how far they have come in a week with the youngsters almost reaching adult size.  Young Starlings are very noisy birds as they follow their parents around constantly begging for food, a consolation for the ever-busy parents is that young Starlings are very quick learners.
Also noted from the garden today was Siskin (I have seen 4 together recently indicating breeding), Goldfinches, the occasional displaying Greenfinch, a passing Sparrowhawk (male), and a couple of Buzzards high overhead.

Grey Wagtail

Grey Wagtails have bred successfully on the patch.  On the 9th May, I located a male Grey Wagtail, he had his bill full of food and was repeating an anxiety call to warn his family.  The female was also present, however, the young were not seen, they would have been concealed in waterside cover.
The males anxiety call was a "tzik tzik suweee", which was repeated.
I have always thought the name 'Grey' as a description is something of a misnomer, given its glorious plumages, especially the yellow and black contrasts.

Grey Wagtail (male) 9th May

The summer-plumaged Grey Wagtail is a stunning bird.  This picture shows the grey head with bold white Supercillium and sub-moustachial stripe, it has a solid black chin and bib which contrasts strongly with the beautiful yellow breast and vent.  The tail is long.  Flight is very bounding.

Swifts

My first Swifts of the year were seen at Wymondham, Norfolk, on 23rd April, these were 3 birds high over the town in a Northerly heading, an early date.
Swifts have been seen with some regularity over Watton since the first few days of May.  From the garden I often see around 8 birds engaged in chasing and mating behaviour.

Swift over Watton 6th May 2020

Swift over Watton 6th May 2020

Swift over Watton 6th May 2020

I have always been in awe of these supremely aerial birds, how they feed, sleep, mate, and even gather nesting material on the wing.  Did you know that nesting material gathered on the wing is cemented in the nest using the birds saliva?
A true long-distant migrant, the Swift covers some 14,000 miles annually on its travels between Britain, Africa, and return journey.  The only time the Swift lands is when it enters the nest, if grounded, the legs are not strong enough to launch it back into flight, the bird can become vulnerable to predators, unless it is given a helping hand from us.
In order to sleep, Swifts have the ability to shut down half its brain, a remarkable feat.
Swifts can be long lived, the oldest recorded bird was over 17 years old, however, it is likely that others live longer.