Friday 7th - Where did the north wind go?

Looking at the weather forecast a strong northerly was promised so I headed to Thorpeness in the hope that a good seawatch was afoot. However it soon became apparent by north the weatherman meant west! I struggled to see much and gave up after an hour so bashed the bushes. Highlight was my first Yellow-browed Warbler of the autumn that called 3 times in as many hours and evaded views. A Lesser Whitethroat showed well however and had characteristics of an eastern type as it was quite sandy brown on the mantle and lacked a lot of grey in the crown and face. 8 Crossbills flew south and the odd flock of Siskin and Redpolls headed south.
North Warren held a few fresh in Wigeon and amungst them was a Chiloe Wigeon now coming out of eclipse plumage.

Red letter day

Me and the 2 Craigs headed down to Cornwall on Friday night as we were booked on the 1st chopper going over to the ISles of Scilly on Saturday, the aim to see the Solitary Sandpiper. Just after we left we got a message to say a possible Waterthrush Sp. had been found on St Marys, result. The next morning as we waited to board the chopper the Waterthrush had been confirmed on the pager, this was exciting stuff.

However after reaching lower moors at around 8 it became apparent the Waterthrush has gone for cover so it was going to be a stressful wait. Whilst waiting we saw the Pectoral Sandpiper but little else so we decided to look for the Solitary Sandpiper as that was the bird we had originaly come for.

Pectoral Sandpiper

The Sandpiper showed ridiculously well and we watched spell bound for about 20 minutes, before heading back in to town for breakfast.

Craig gets intimate with the Solitary Sandpiper

Solitary Sandpiper

 

Whilst eating the pager leapt in to life with the news a Black-and-White Warbler had be found at lower moors.A taxi was soon flagged down and we were off!! A rather tense 30-40 minutes of scrambling through dense wet sallows ensued but soon we had nice views of this bird creeping and flitting through the vegetation almost oblivious to the panic around it. Several back slap, hugs and hand shakes were had as a good crowd enjoyed the bird.
After getting some second looks at the warbler we headed to the airport, finding a female Woodchat Shrike sat on the airfield fence as we walked up the hill. The 4 Buff-breasted Sandpipers showed distantly from the terminal building but all too soon we had to leave.

 

 

Female Woodchat Shrike

Once back on the mainland we made a detour for Drift reservoir to see the juvenile Semi-palmated Sandpiper, which like the Solitary Sandpiper showed really well. The Lesser Yellow-legs showed distantly but brought with it the 7th species of American bird for the day.

Semi-P Sandpiper

Southwold seawatch

An early morning seawatch from Southwold produced 2 Balearic Shearwaters, 2 Sooty shears, a lone Manxie 6 Black Terns, 6+ Arctic Terns, 6+ Arctic Skua and a probable Storm-petrel. By mid morning the sea became less productive with just the odd Little Gull and a steady stream of Terns passing by.

A little Bit(tern) of Norfolk

The plan was get to the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper early, then pop in and get the drake Blue-winged Teal at Salthome before stopping off at Titchwell for the Little Bittern, the reality was get half way to the Sharpie find out its gone then head to Norfolk.We did however have a rather good day with 23 species of wader, with highlights being 2 Pectoral Sandpipers, a Buff-breasted Sandpiper and a couple of Dotterel as well as numerous Curlew Sandpipers and a few Little Stints. The best bird of the day however for me was the juvenile Little Bittern that showed superbly after a nail biting 2 hour wait.

Back to Thorpeness for the Wryneck

After co-finding a Wryneck on Friday evening myself and Craig H headed back to see if it was still around and check for any other left over migrants. The Wryneck soon showed but was very flighty, so we enjoyed it from a distance in light drizzle.

Wryneck.

 

 The rest of the caravan park remained quite with the exception of a lone dark phase Arctic Skua passing south offshore.

A bit of Suffolk and a bit of Norfolk

Craig and the new BINs bus, those PG tips don't stand a chance.

Myself and the Craig's started early doors at Covehithe and we soon found 10+ Curlew Sandpipers and a few Dunlin still in residence. An juvenile Arctic Tern headed south with a few commons. A Wheatear was on the beach and a flock of 8 Sanderling played chicken with the incoming waves.

After a hearty breakfast we headed north in to Norfolk to twitch the Western Bonelli's Warbler. It soon became apparent that the bird was elusive and in all honesty I wonder if it was there at all as several people had a pale Chiffchaff which they kept calling as the Bonelli's.
We headed off to Cley and after a piece of cake we scoped the pools at Cley and soon found the Red-necked Phalarope as well as 8 Spoonbill, 10+ Little Stint, 30+ Curlew Sands, a Wood sand and several each of Ruff and Dunlin.
A brief stop at Walsey hills resulted in excellent views of the Red-backed Shrike.

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Orfordness - 6th August.

A trip over to fantasy island aka Orfordness with Craig and Roy got off to a superb start with a flock of 7 Little Stints! Also present on the Ness were several each of green and common Sands, greenshanks and Whimbrel. 4 Little ringed plover were a nice sight and showed well just of the green trail. A short sea watch produced a juvenile Marsh Harrier in off, a dozen or so Grey Plover and a lone Common Scoter. Passerines were represented by 2 Whinchat, Yellow Wagtail, and a few fresh looking Willow Warblers and Chiffchaff. 2 smart Ruff rounded of a nice day out. Water levels are low so future trips for waders may have to wait until more rainfall maintain levels.

Whinchat