Friday 27th December

Rough-legged Buzzard, Felbrigg, November 2018 – one of the highlights of this review period

Each year since I started this blog I’ve published a short annual review. Until now this has been at or around the anniversary – in September. But dividing the best part of the birding year across two review periods doesn’t make much sense so, starting today (in a slightly extended edition), the AND annual review will coincide with the calendar year.

The long-staying King Eider off Sheringham – one of a run of local late autumn rarities

The closing months of 2018 had plenty of interest both around the parish and slightly further afield. October produced Mediterranean Gull on the patch (and again in 2019), Jack Snipe, Ring Ouzel and Yellow-browed Warbler, whilst November will be remembered for that fly-over Rough-legged Buzzard – a Felbrigg ‘tick’. Further afield the rarities included Stejneger’s Stonechat between Kelling & Salthouse – a ‘first’ for Norfolk, followed by Brown Shrike at Weybourne – another ‘first’ for Norfolk, the long-staying King Eider off of Sheringham and a Pallid Swift, also at Sheringham. The year closed with a sighting of a pair of Peregrine around Cromer church tower – who would have guessed what that would lead to in 2019! Meanwhile back in the park, a pair of wintering Stonechat were seen through to February, with possibly the same pair returning this autumn. Barn Owl continued their downward trend – proving a very elusive species during 2019, but Tawny and Little Owl remain evident in the park throughout.

Tawny & Little Owl populations in Felbrigg remain stable, whilst Barn Owl continue to decline

February also produced one of the local highlights of the winter with a reasonably obliging Little Bunting on Weybourne Camp. Firecrest, Pintail and, the increasingly scarce, Coot saw winter turn to spring in the park. An early seasonal speciality – Alpine Swift at Sheringham in April, heralded a run of good birds locally. Several singing Wood Warbler were found in May – culminating in a ‘self-found’ in Felbrigg – a new bird for me in the park. These increasingly scarce Norfolk birds were an entertaining ‘warm-up act’ for a couple of outstanding local spring rarities – Bluethroat at Spalla Gap and a long-staying Great Spotted Cuckoo at Weybourne Camp.

Wood Warbler arrived in numbers along the Norfolk coast in May 2019

The NENBC Big Sit in early May, whilst not producing anything outstanding in Felbrigg, did amass the second highest total of 77 species since the event started. Cuckoo and Mandarin Duck proved equally elusive as spring slid in to summer. As is usually the case in Felbrigg, mid-summer highlights were mostly of the insect variety, with three species of Emerald, Lesser Emperor and mating Red-veined Darter being the ‘dragon’ highlights.

Red-veined Darter – one of several at Felbrigg – providing a welcome summer distraction

Autumn migration got off to a reasonable start with several large groups of Green and Common Sandpiper through the park and a long-staying Greenshank. Meanwhile, sea-watching off Cromer in early August produced the stand-out bird of the year – Sooty Tern (record pending). Even by recent standards the 2019 autumn passerine migration through the park was dismal. I had to work hard to find birds like Whinchat, Willow Warbler or Ring Ouzel, but October did produce a nice male Goosander on the lake (the first for a couple of years), several Black Redstart in the village and another, long-anticipated, Felbrigg ‘first’ for me – a Merlin. A pair of Stonechat brought the first winter period to a close in an otherwise unremarkable period for the park.

A male Goosander – the first in two years – Felbrigg, autumn 2019

Even in a year where generally good birds were hard to come by locally, there were several noticeable species thin on the ground or non-existent. The already remarked upon decline in Barn Owl and Mandarin was, in 2019, compounded by just a single brood of elusive Spotted Flycatcher, an absence of breeding Hobby, no evidence of Cuckoo breeding locally, Kingfisher, Little Egret and Coot sightings down and no Redpoll, Crossbill or Hawfinch in the park up until the year end. But perhaps the biggest surprise was that in a year which saw record numbers of autumn Wood Sandpiper along the Norfolk coast, e.g. 100+ at Cley, not a single bird was found in Felbrigg – the last record in Felbrigg being in 2015!

What, I wonder, will be the highlights in and around Felbrigg, Aylmerton and Cromer in 2020? Keep reading this blog to find out!

Wood Sandpiper where evident in large numbers along the coast – but not in Felbrigg!

Christmas Eve

Record shot of this mornings Eastern Yellow Wagtail at Sedgeford – Jane’s 400th UK tick!

Generally 2019 has been a pretty poor birding year for me – not so many interesting species around in Norfolk and, perhaps more pertinently, far less time to go for them anyway. Yesterday at Cley the birding was un-spectacular but at one point during the morning John radioed in ‘five Sanderling – on the beach east of Iron Road’. To my embarrassment I still need Sanderling for my Norfolk year list. I hot-footed it along the shore but by the time I was within ‘scoping distance the birds had been flushed further east and out of view! This would have been my 200th for the year – as it was it looked like I’d be stuck on 199 – a very poor tally by recent standards. This all potentially changed though with a report of Eastern Yellow Wagtail at Sedgeford in the afternoon. As we were supposed to be packing for our up-coming trip, going then wasn’t an option – I had to hope it would re-appear today. Which fortunately it did. We made a minor detour on the way to the kids for Christmas and, between the rain showers, we got reasonable views of the bird feeding on the muck heap. A first for Norfolk, a UK Lifer for me, and my 200th Norfolk year tick, BUT of far greater birding significance – Jane’s 400th UK tick! What a Christmas present.

Speaking of Christmas, I’d like to wish my regular blog readers a very Happy Christmas & New Year. We’re off on our travels again in a few days time so, apart from an occasional travel-blog, this site will be off air until late February. See you in the Spring!

Another record shot of this excellent year-end Norfolk birding super-star

Friday 20th December

Are Grey Wagtail becoming more common in Norfolk?

It’s never too late! I was up at the allotments yesterday morning doing another ‘final clear-up’ when the unmistakable profile and call of a Grey Wagtail flew over head. An hour or so later it flew back again, from the direction of Felbrigg. When I got home I discovered that it was a rather surprising ‘Allotment’ tick. Is it my imagination or are Grey Wags getting commoner in Norfolk? There’s been one hanging around Cromer town centre for a couple of weeks now.

Thursday 19th December.

The pair of wintering Stonechat – Felbrigg Park. Almost seen on the NENBC mid-week walk!

The NENBC mid-week walk in Felbrigg yesterday was the 50th occasion I have had the privilege to lead the event for the Club. Around 20 turned up for the walk and we saw just over forty species – helping at least one enthusiastic member over the ”100 species recorded in the NENBC area’ line and earning a Bronze badge into the bargain. Highlight, but alas only seen after the walk had concluded, was a pair of elusive Stonechat on the water meadows. In other news, Monday ‘s ‘duty day’ at Cley NWT was good, with a number of notable long-staying species – Water Pipit, Stonechat, Peregrine, Kingfisher, Snow Bunting and Water Rail. Birds of the day were a nice adult Yellow-legged Gull and a White-fronted Goose, both on or near Simmond’s Scrape, late afternoon. Today will mostly be spent in preparation for tonight’s Bird Club AGM & Christmas Social – Aylmerton Village Hall – doors open at 7.00.

Highlights of Monday’s ‘duty day’ at Cley – Yellow-legged Gull (iPhone photo)

..and White-fronted Goose, in with the hundred+ Pink-feet (iPhone photo)

Sunday 15th December

Welcome additions to the wildfowl on Felbrigg Lake today for the WeBS count

It was ‘duck count’ at Felbrigg this morning – the furthest I’ve taken my toe since the ‘unfortunate incident’. It was a lovely morning and although the overall numbers are still down, relative to this time in previous years, the variety has crept up in recent weeks. There were five duck species present this morning – Mallard, Gadwall, Teal, Tufted and Wigeon. No Cormorant, Snipe or Water Rail though. Away from Felbrigg, a Peregrine – probably our Cromer male – over the A148 near Pine Wood caravan site, was the only recent birding highlight.

Saturday 14th December

A reasonable prospect for Hooded Crow – until you look closer

I came close to being ‘Hooded-winked’ yesterday! Following a call from Richard regarding a possible Hooded Crow at West Runton, I went to take a look. I found the bird fairly easily, feeding amongst the pigs and horses at Hillside Animal Sanctuary. I got brief but distant views of it on the ground before it was disturbed by the staff working in the enclosures. By the time I relocated it the afternoon light was beginning to fail. Although the bird looked nice and clean on the back and breast, with the grey and black crisply demarcated, the underside looked rather different. A couple of flight views revealed an extensive area of black between the legs, around the rear flanks and on the under-tail coverts. Not at all obvious to see on the ground and easily over-looked. There is a history of hybrid Carrion x Hooded Crow in the local area and I’ve yet to see a proper Hooded Crow in the NENBC recording area. All the more galling that I missed the one reported on the main road in Aylmerton a couple of years ago. Thanks Richard for the shout – always good to see these birds.

Flight views reveal areas of black feathering on the underside – confirming the bird is a hybrid

Wednesday 11th December

The end of the day – and the end of an era..

We’re in the process of tidying up the allotment before giving it up at the end of the year. We’re going from the ‘ridiculous’, a 1200 sq m plot to the ‘sublime’, a 10′ x 4′ raised bed! I was up there tonight and, as I tended the bonfire, I was thinking about all the birds I’ve seen over the years we’ve had it – in all a total 84 species. Highlights have included some pretty cool birds  – Cattle Egret in the cow pasture next to the entrance track four years ago, a signing Wryneck in the boundary oaks in the April of that year, the pair of Black Redstart which spent a few days prospecting the wood pile on my neighbours plot, and a supporting cast including: Grey Partridge, Mandarin Duck, Ring Ouzel, Garden Warbler and Spotted Flycatcher. But possibly the stand-out birding moment over the years was waiting in the early morning mist for the visiting flock of Hawfinch to arrive in the Field Maple between the allotments and The Street, back in 2017.

A pretty special place – but it’s time to move on.

Hawfinch, from the Aylmerton flock – seen on one occasion from the allotment

Sunday 8th December

About the best I can do for wildlife photography this week – for reasons I should explain! 

Another quiet week on the wildlife front – certainly in terms of seeing stuff. Not helped by a broken toe incident mid-week! But it has been very busy on the wildlife organisation front nonetheless. On Tuesday night it was the Felbeck Trust third Annual General Meeting – follow this link for more details, on Wednesday the Cromer Peregrine Project Management Committee met to review the 2019 season and plan for what we hope will be another successful breeding event in 2020, and on Thursday I talked to the local Explorers group about how their young people could get involved in wildlife conservation and recording. I did manage a bit of a sea-watch (watching the sea!) on Friday morning – a few Red-throated Diver (with one possible Black-throated) moving around off-shore, a few auks – mostly Razorbill, and a juvenile Shag were the highlights. Cley on Monday produced nothing new on recent weeks, in fact the main event – Isabelline Wheatear – had departed sometime towards the end of last week.

Now here’s a couple of Christmas present ideas for you:

PERFECT CHRISTMAS PRESENT FOR WILDLIFE LOVERS.

For just £10 you can buy a year’s membership to Felbeck Trust which includes quarterly newsletters, exclusive access to the bird hide in Spurrell’s Wood in Sustead and an invitation to the charity’s AGM. Help us help preserve our countryside. Membership vouchers/email will be sent to you before Christmas. Email enquiry@felbecktrust.org.uk for details

or, how about a memory of the Cromer Peregrines from 2019, available from Jarrolds bookshop in the town:

There’s also a superb book – available in Upstairs Downstairs!