I booked
a rental car from 30th December 2023 to 2nd January 2024 for a
trip away from home to include visits to a number of sites in Essex and Norfolk.
This enabled me to get some last minute additions to my 2023 UK year list and begin building up my 2024 UK year list.
The trip was successful and I added Mandarin and Hawfinch to my 2023 UK year list, these 2 species taking the final total to 205 species for the year, 1 more species than 2022. This was my highest total since 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic restricted so much travel but well off the all-time high of 234 species that I recorded in both 2017 and 2010 when I was still travelling to the Scottish Highlands each year.
The trip was also successful in initially adding 67 species to my 2024 UK year list
Saturday 30th December 2023
After picking up my rental car and driving home, I then drove to Connaught Water in Epping Forest. This small lake is easily accessed via a circular path around it. Connaught Water is a reliable site for Mandarin and this was the target species for my visit.
Despite Mandarins being a very colourful duck (the males at least), they can be quite elusive and difficult to see if they are resting in the lakeside wooded area. However, after much searching, I did spot a male and female Mandarin, my first addition of my trip to my 2023 UK year list.
A pair of Goosander was an unexpected sighting amongst the commoner water birds.
The highlights from my visit were as follows: Mandarin (male and female), Goosander (male and female), Mallard (c.30), Tufted Duck (c.20), Common Pochard (c.10), Great Crested Grebe (1), Mute Swan (7), Canada Goose (4), Coot (c.20), Moorhen (c.10), Grey Heron (1), Black-headed Gull (c.100), Lesser Black-backed Gull (1), Ring-necked Parakeet (3), Redwing (c.10)
The light was very poor and the only successful photograph that I managed to get was of a Grey Heron ….
Photo: Grey Heron
Sunday 31st December 2023
I made an early start from home and arrived at Lynford Arboretum in Thetford Forest in Norfolk at first light. This site is a reliable winter site for Hawfinch in varying numbers and this was the target species for my visit.
After spending well over an hour scanning the treetops in the paddocks area and checking any flying passerines, I eventually spotted just a single female Hawfinch, my second and last addition of my trip to my 2023 UK year list.
In addition to the Hawfinch, I saw c.20 Redwings plus I heard a calling Nuthatch and a calling Coat Tit. Other than these species, it was relatively quiet compared with my previous visits with only the commoner woodland birds seen and heard. However, the small lake did hold c.10 Mallards and c.10 Gadwalls.
Whilst the Hawfinch provided excellent telescope views, it was unfortunately too distant for any photos.
My day concluded at NWT Hickling Broad and Marshes and specifically the Stubb Mill viewpoint.
NWT Hickling Broad and Marshes is the largest of the Norfolk Broads and is a year-round haven for wildlife and holds a significant percentage of the UK population of Common Crane as well as important breeding numbers of Bittern, Marsh Harrier and Bearded Tit. In winter, large numbers of Marsh Harriers roost in the reedbed north east of Stubb Mill and Hen Harrier, Merlin and Barn Owl can also often be seen. Interesting mammals include the introduced Chinese Water Deer plus Red Deer and Otter.
I spent around 2 hours at the Stubb Mill viewpoint and stayed until it was almost completely dark (a torch is recommended for the long walk back to the car park!).
The notable records from my visit walking to and from the Stubb Mill viewpoint were as follows: Common Crane (4), Hen Harrier (1 or possibly 2 males), Marsh Harrier (at least 50 coming in to roost!), Red Kite (1), Kingfisher (1), Pink-footed Goose (++++), Greylag Goose (c.30), Cormorant (c.25), Mute Swan (7), Mallard (c.30), Teal (c.10), Great Spotted Woodpecker (2), Reeves’ Muntjac (1 seen and another heard “barking”), Chinese Water Deer (1)
Monday 1st January 2024
New year …. the first opportunity to build my 2024 UK year list.
After staying overnight at Travelodge Norwich Cringleford, I drove up to the north Norfolk coast and started my birding at first light at NWT Cley and Salthouse Marshes, specifically seawatching from Cley Coastguards and scanning the adjacent Cley Eye marshes and rough grazing.
The sea was very quiet other than 4 Cormorants, 4 Shelducks and Black-headed, Herring and Greater Black-backed Gulls. Unfortunately, there was not even the hint of a diver or grebe or any sea ducks.
Cley Eye was much more productive and I eventually located the Red-breasted Goose which had been associating with the Dark-bellied Brent Goose flock for some time and which had been reported regularly in recent days. This was my 5th UK record of this scarce winter visitor.
Apart from the c.300 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, Cley Eye also held a flock of around c.300 Lapwings and I also managed to spot 8 Golden Plover amongst them.
After spending time at Cley Eye, I drove west along the coast road to Morston and Stiffkey and eventually to Holkham.
At Morston, I saw the single Cattle Egret that had been reported in the field opposite the church along with 4 Little Egrets and at Stiffkey, I saw the Glossy Ibis that had been reported in the marshland area opposite the Red Lion pub along with c.200 Wigeon and 12 Curlew. The Glossy Ibis sighting was my 7th UK record of this scarce but increasingly reported species.
Holkham National Nature Reserve is England's largest National Nature Reserve and it is situated on the Norfolk coast between Burnham Overy Staithe and Blakeney. It is managed by Natural England with the co-operation of the Holkham Estate.
Holkham National Nature Reserve comprises 3900 hectares of a wide range of habitats including grazing marsh, pine woodland, scrub, salt marsh, sand dunes and foreshore.
The reserve is part of the North Norfolk Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest and the larger area is additionally protected through Natura 2000, Special Protection Area and Ramsar listings and it is part of both an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and a World Biosphere Reserve.
Holkham National Nature Reserve is a huge area but on this occasion, due to the huge number of cars and New Years Day visitors already present in the car park, I only scanned the freshmarsh either side of Lady Anne’s Drive. I decided not to park up and walk to Holkham beach and bay to search for the regular wintering Shorelarks or any divers, grebes and sea ducks.
However, even this limited visit produced some notable sightings: Lapwing (c.1000+), Curlew (c.30), Common Redshank (c.15), Pink-footed Goose (c.200), Brent Goose (c.100), Greylag Goose (c.20), Egyptian Goose (4), Wigeon (c.500), Shoveler (3), Red Kite (2), Marsh Harrier (3), Brown Hare (1)
My next visit was to Sculthorpe Moor which is owned and managed by the Hawk and Owl Trust and is located in the valley of the River Wensum just west of Fakenham. Its habitats include a rich mosaic of woodland, fens and reedbeds and there are several hides and viewing platforms accessed by a network of trails.
A number of bird feeders on the reserve provide exceptional views and easy photo opportunities of common garden and woodland species, including some that are difficult to find and see well elsewhere, most notably Bullfinches and Marsh Tits. In addition, a single or pair of Tawny Owls at a nestbox can now be seen relatively easily from a viewing screen.
I had an enjoyable visit although I was disappointed not to see Treecreeper, Brambling, Siskin, Lesser Redpoll, Water Rail or any raptors, all of which I have recorded on previous visits. In addition, I only saw a single pair of Bullfinches whereas I usually see up to 10 birds.
Highlights from my visit included the following: Tawny Owl (1), Bullfinch (male and female), Marsh Tit (2), Nuthatch (1 seen and another heard calling), Great Spotted Woodpecker (1 seen and another heard calling), Great White Egret (1), Grey Heron (1), Mallard (c.30), Cormorant (1), Greylag Goose (2), Reeves’ Muntjac (1), Grey Squirrel (4)
Other species recorded included the following: Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Robin, Wren, Dunnock, Blackbird, Starling, Jay, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Pheasant
As always, Sculthorpe Moor provided good photo opportunities.
My final visit of the day was to WWT Welney but before doing so I had a slight detour off the A10 south of Kings Lynn to try and find the reported flock of wintering “wild swans” on Southery Fen. Large white birds in a flat fenland landscape can be easy to spot and this proved to be the case and I found a mixed flock of c.100 Bewick’s and Whooper Swans.
Between Ten Mile Bank and WWT Welney, I drove past a flock of c.500 Pink-footed Geese. I do not recall seeing this species in this area before and I am much more familiar with seeing them on the north Norfolk coast and on the fields just inland.
At WWT Welney, I began by scanning Lady Fen from the visitor centre. This produced the following highlights: Cattle Egret (2 groups of 10 each), Whooper Swan (c.100), Wigeon (c.500), Teal (c.100), Mallard (c.20), Shelduck (5), Shoveler (2), Greylag Goose (c.200), Moorhen (2), Lapwing (c.300), House Sparrow (c.20)
There were very high water levels on the main wash and, whilst there were large numbers of birds, these were significantly less than during my visits in previous years. However, I did manage to locate the single Scaup amongst the ducks.
Highlights from the main observatory hide were as follows: Whooper Swan (c.20), Mute Swan (2), Scaup (1), Goldeneye (1), Wigeon (c.100), Mallard (c.100), Common Pochard (c.200), Shoveler (c.10), Pintail (2), Tufted Duck (c.10), Lapwing (c.100), Black-tailed Godwit (c.300), Coot (1), Moorhen (1), Black-headed Gull (huge roost of probably thousands of birds), Common Gull (c.10), Herring Gull (c.10), Great Black-backed Gull (c.5)
As I drove out of the WWT Welney car park and along the minor road back to the A1101, it was almost dark but I still managed to see a Barn Owl as it flew across the road.
#DefendNature
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