Norfolk Birding

The weather was not so great on day two and three, but at least it didn't rain. I wandered to the sea and was delighted to see good numbers of Little Terns going past. These were joined by Common and Sandwich Terns. I had a distant Whimbrel on Arnold's Marsh, and the odd Bearded Tit in the reeds, but it certainly seemed a little quieter.

That said, it certainly got a lot better, when news of a Hoopoe came through, and just around the corner from my parents too. I was lucky enough to get a couple of shots of it on a roof, before it made off out of view. What a special bird.

You can view my latest adventures here:

Hoopoe

Little Tern

Sedge Warbler

Wheatear

Whimbrel

Bearded Tit

Bar-tailed Godwit

Wall Brown

Some Waders

Waders are my favourite genre of bird. You know where to find them, they are nearly always there, and they give you time to sit and watch them. A good hide where you can sit, have your lunch and just wait to see what drops in are my favourite places to be. There's always something to see and you can go away with a very different list to those an hour before you or after you. Spring and Autumn are the best times, but you can find me looking at waders any time of the year.

Here are just a couple of species, the Avocet and the Whimbrel. The lovely contrasting black and white of the Avocet in the sunlight, and the Whimbrel a little on the dull side in comparison. A great bird to see though, and one that makes my heart race a little more than the Avocet these days. It's always a bonus when your second look confirms it's not a Curlew.

Avocet

Whimbrel, with its eye stripe and slightly shorter bill (compared to a Curlew)

Cemlyn Bay

Last weekend I spent a day in North Wales. It's a trip I really enjoy doing each year. I started out at Cemlyn Bay and was really looking forward to catching up with some waders and Whimbrel in particular. There were lots around the bay, but they are a shy bird that will fly off if they catch sight of you, so caution is always required. Once you have their trust though, you can observe them and watch them go about their business. Slightly smaller than a Curlew, it has a shorter and less curved bill, but a really nice bird that is worth putting extra effort in to see each year.

Whimbrel

The sound that greets you as you arrive at Cemlyn is the unmistakeable sound of the tern colony. Sandwich, Arctic and Common all squawking away. I could watch these all day, and I do regularly in the summer months.

Sandwich Tern with a sand eel.

There was one Mediterranean Gull on the island with the Black-headed Gulls. He seemed like quite a bolshy bird and was aggressively confronting some of the others.

Mediterranean Gull

It was nice to see some of the smaller waders on the shoreline. Some Dunlin here with Ringed Plovers. It reminded me how long it had been since I last watched them. Covid restrictions have kept me away for too long.

Dunlin

Cemlyn Bay - Anglesey

I spent a full day in North Wales last weekend, stopping at sites from Llanddulas all the way out to Holyhead and South Stack. I did a bit of sea watching first from the shoreline of Llanddulas, where I quickly picked out a pair of Red-breasted Merganser followed by hundreds of Common Scoter. A Great Northern Diver went by too before I moved on.
I headed to Cemlyn Bay where I had been once before and was impressed by the birds on show. This time was no different, with lots seen that I wasn't really expecting.

A Whimbrel was the first bird I stumbled across. I'd been tipped off that there was one over wintering here, but wasn't really expecting to find it. Thankfully I did, although it didn't hang around long before moving off.

Golden Plovers were also a nice surprise. Always a very obliging bird but usually at some distance. I kept mine from this one out on the rocks.

It was soon joined by other waders, like this Oystercatcher.

A flock of 10 Purple Sandpipers were a real bonus.

Here's 7 of them together.

It took me a few glances through the binoculars at these, as I initially passed them off as Golden Plover, but they were just too pale. These are in fact Grey Plover, with one showing off the nice black underwing to confirm my doubting mind.

A pair of Dunlin at bottom left an Oystercatcher on the right of picture.

A very nice looking Ringed Plover was one of a few around.

Cemlyn Bay - Anglesey

A trip to Cemlyn Bay on the island of Anglesey was a first for me. I had often wanted to go here in the winter to see the Snow Buntings, but never actually got round to it. A visit in May was just as productive for me though.

I walked around the coastline and initially thought it was a little quiet but then I spotted a bird fly in off the sea and land on some rocks. It had the look of a Curlew but I knew this was much more like a Whimbrel. A quick check in the binoculars confirmed this. The shorter bill, less stocky appearance and the line (supercilium) over the eye. All characteristics of the Whimbrel.
Here is a link to the BTO's ID between Curlew and Whimbrel BTO ID
A good year tick to start the day, and my first decent flight shots of it. They would have been better had it not been so gloomy and raining.

 

This is a Curlew for comparison. Really quite similar to the Whimbrel.

I spotted a group of small waders further round the shore line. These were Dunlin and Turnstones mainly, but there was a larger bird in with them, and this turned out to be a Red Knot in fine summer plumage. I was really pleased to see it in this plumage and another year tick.

Really nice colouration.

Dunlin