A beautiful day in the Brecks

What an incredible early spring-like day today has been, a very bright day with a temperature high of 15 degrees Celsius. The wind was a fresh westerly.

I love the vast expanses of Breckland with its large rolling plains, farmland, heathland, and patches of mixed woodland habitats.  This is an ancient landscape with evidence of Bronze age, Roman, and Iceni peoples.  When I walk the lanes and footpaths in the Brecks I am walking in the footsteps of history.

Stonechat (male) 20 Feb

This morning I saw bird species which people in antiquity may have seen, although it goes without saying that those peoples would have seen birds which are now extinct as breeding birds in the Brecks, namely Great Bustards, and a more recent loss, the Red-backed Shrike, however, the latter species I feel will recolonise the Brecks in time.

Stonechat (female) 20 Feb

Stonechats is a beautiful Breckland species and this morning I had lovely views of 3 birds, a pair and a single female.  The male Stonechat is starting to acquire breeding plumage, the black head contrasts strongly with the bold white collar and reddish breast and underparts.  The mantle feathers are black with buff fringes.  The female lacks the black head but is equally attractive. 

Stonechats are conspicuous birds in that they choose prominent perches to watch from, from here, they will drop to the ground to find a small invertebrate and then return to the same or nearby perch.

A good mix of Finches and Buntings were seen on spill. The most numerous species was Yellowhammer (70+) with good numbers of Bramblings (30+), the latter always distinctive, even at range when the birds gather in a hedge in strong sunlight and show off their bright white underparts and orangey breasts.  In flight, Bramblings are easily identified by their narrow white rump.

Goshawk (juvenile) 20 Feb

Another Breckland speciality is the Goshawk and this morning I was privileged to have prolonged views of a juvenile bird.  For about 10 minutes, this large powerful raptor was soaring just above the woodland canopy, it then approached keeping very low and fast over open country towards another woodland, its increasing speed suggested it was focussed on taking prey.

The plumage which confirms the Goshawk as a juvenile are the brown upperparts with white tips to the upper coverts. The underwing coverts and breast has a pale buffish tone, these buff tones contrast with the white secondaries and primary feathers. The breast is strongly streaked black, in adult birds the underparts are barred. An incredibly powerful raptor.

An afternoon walk around my home town of Watton was equally productive with a Green Sandpiper being found. This lovely wader is generally a spring and autumn migrant, but is a scarce winter visitor. 

Finally, a pair of Egyptian Geese had 8 young Goslings, all were happily grazing on grass and weeds on the edge of town.