short eared owl - Thorpe Marshes

short eared owl - Thorpe Marshes

Wednesday 11 October 2017

East Coast to find some Migrants...

So as September drew to an end  I decided to nip off work at lunch and go to Waxham.
Ive not visited here for couple of years and wanted to be somewhere alone and find  for myself  some passing migrants. The day previously had been good as regards birds moving through along coasts( although still no East winds)
Alone I was, as I only got to see one other birder (Ben Lewis) and a Photographer, not even a dog walker!
 Parked up at money lane and walked down and was soon watching 2x Spotted Flycatchers.I enjoyed them doing what they do best...catching what little there was and producing that typical call of theres.


Spotted Flycatcher
 As I made my way South I picked up my first Redstart of the day ,a nice bird perched up .As I watched it dropping to the floor and returning to the perch I saw a Whinchat fly up along the fence line just further along...., things were looking good.


Whinchat




As I walked on I quickly picked a pair of Stonechats, and then a juvenile Stonechat. I always love to see these birds ,although not as "good a bird" as the whinchat and Redstart previously seen( as regards number of sightings/rarer)  they are just all round smart and full of character in my opinion .

Juvenile Stonechat


Stonechat-adult


As I approached the pipe dump I saw Ben and we spoke about what we had seen. He had been out longer then me with some good birds seen and I then mentioned I hadn't had a Wheatear yet ,only for him to say there were 5 just further up!  I made my way around the pipe dump and counted at least 7 x Wheatears.

Wheatear


I stayed there for a while and picked up yet another Whinchat, my 3rd of the day and then found another Redstart.


Redstart -wasn't quick enough on the iPhone!

Video below.........

https://youtu.be/mWL0KkBbKdQ


Redstart-That's better!

As i walked back I picked up the original Redstart I had earlier, along with a second bird now making it a total of 3 x Redstarts, the most ive ever had in one single day! As i walked back this time up along the bank I got yet more Stonechats and  another Wheatear among other bits.
  My totals for the day were-
3x Redstarts,4x Whinchats,2 x Spotted Flycatchers,6x Stonechats , 8 x Wheatears among others.
 A great afternoons birding and great place.
 Happy Birding,
 Ricky

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