Norfolk

Caspian Tern, Welney WWT

Note the size of this tern compared to the Shovelers (right) and also look at that huge dagger like bill - you could dig up the roads with that!

Gatekeeper, Lakenheath Fen

Large Skipper, Lakenheath Fen

Ringlet, Lakenheath Fen

Ringlet, Weeting Heath

Spotted Flycatcher, Weeting Heath

Stone Curlews, Weeting Heath

Roe Deer, Dersingham Bog

Dersingham Bog

Green Sandpipers, Rutland Water

Green Sandpiper

Drake Teal in eclipse plumage, Rutland Water

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Thursday started with a trip to HGF in the morning. All the usual suspects present plus a Common Sandpiper wandering along the eastern bank. I then headed off to Barleythorpe nr Oakham (approx 2 miles from Rutland Water) for a company event. The EEF offices have extensive gardens here and quite a few birds were flitting around. I didn't have the luxury of the bins but did pick up a few obvious birds including three Green Woodpeckers (one juvenile), a Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Bullfinches and a Tawny Owl. The best bird to appear was a Barn Owl which flitted around for a few minutes while I sat with my back to it chatting to a colleague, completely oblivious to its presence!

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Friday after work and I nipped over to the Lyndon Reserve at Rutland Water. Currently the two pairs of Ospreys breeding here have decided to do so in areas off limits to the public, however a young male has been hanging around in the vicinity of last years nest. As time was limited I made a quick enquiry at reception to find the male had gone over to the Egleton part of the reserve for the day. I duly headed off to the same where reception confirmed he had been perched on a post on lagoon 4 all day. As I approached lagoon 4 I saw him flying off in the distance - bloody typical! At the Crake hide I found three Green Sandpipers showing very well opposite the hide. Off then to Norfolk - on the way I spotted a Red Kite from the car somewhere near Peterboro.

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In the evening I headed off to Dersignham Bog. This is a large bowl-shaped area with sloping sides covered in heather, coniferous forest around the rim and a bog in the base. It is also famous for Nightjars. Having arrived I quickly found a couple of Green Woodpeckers and 2 singing Garden Warblers. A Kestrel also flew through the area in a manner resembling a Hobby. A Roe Deer with a faun showed up - later on three more Roe Deer also appeared at various points. Three Woodcocks flew over as dusk arrived, one of them roding. The first Nightjar started churring at around 21:45 - eventually at least five birds were churring. I managed three sightings of birds in flight from at least two different birds but nothing close. On the way back to the car two Tawny owls (adult and juvenile) began calling.

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Saturday morning, 06:45 and I arrived at Weeting Heath on the border between Norfolk and Suffolk. This is, essentially, a large field full of rabbits (easily over 200) with the grass cropped short. This is, apparently, ideal habitat for Stone Curlews. Even this early the heat haze made viewing difficult though I didn't have to wait long for 2 adults to appear. They did, however keep their distance and disappeared after 30 minutes or so. A Garden Warbler was singing nr the entrance and down at the woodland hide two Spotted Flycatchers showed well and a Green Woodpecker also showed up.

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Leaving Weeting Heath I headed off a few miles down the road (and in to Suffolk) to Lakenheath (Hockwold) Fen. It was extremely hot and still - the air seemed to be full of butterflies. Lots of Reed and Sedge Warblers also in evidence. Another Green Woodpecker (juvenile) was the first sighting followed by a male Marsh Harrier nr the visitors center. Down by plantation 2 I managed to get a couple of brief views of a male Golden Oriole in flight along with a brief glimpse of a juvenile. At least three Cuckoos were calling here along with a booming Bittern and a screaming Water Rail. A pair of Marsh Harriers showed up to conduct a food pass and an adult Green Woodpecker made its presence known. After watching four Bearded Tits (a bogey bird for me) and another female Marsh Harrier at the end of the track, a birder announced the arrival of a Caspian Tern at nearby Welney and that signalled a treck back to the car park for all the birders present. A Hobby flew over the path on the way back.

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At Welney (back in Norfolk) a twitch was well and truly underway with lots of birders scurrying off to the hide - they needn't have rushed as the Caspian Tern was fast asleep. For a tern it is a beast of a bird, easily the size of a Shoveler duck and with a huge, thick, dagger-like bill. Not much else you could mistake it for! The tern woke up from time to time but showed no sign of moving. Also here on the pool were 4 Ruff, 2 Snipe, 7 Avocets and 33 Black-tailed Godwits. All too soon it was time to go home - the end of my brief Norfolk adventure - the first time I have birded here.

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At home this evening a quick trip around the back lanes produced a Yellowhammer on Waterworks Lane and a juvenile Kestrel begging from a parent on Highfield Lane - the first sighting of a young Kestrel here this year. A Sparrowhawk was also spiralling up nearby. At HGF three Black-necked Grebes were present with increases in Coot and Tufted Duck numbers. In the field nr Midhops I eventually found 2 juvenile Yellow Wagtails perched in the barley - the male soon appeared nearby. This morning the Black-necked Grebes were down to two again with no sign of the Yellow Wags - the Common Sandpiper was back though!