Wensum Valley Birdwatching Society

Archive for the ‘Birding In Norfolk’ Category

On a bright frosty morning seventeen members met in the car park of the Welney Wetland Centre to share a day’s birding together. Some of the group got straight down to business by identifying the birds around the car park environs.  Before moving into the Centre itself 35 species had been found including Tree Sparrow, Reed Bunting, Fieldfare and circa 50 Linnet and that was without going anywhere! Read the rest of this entry »

A Birders Year in Norfolk

Member Allan Hale is known to most of you. He has given talks to our Society many times over the years and his last talk on Boughton Fen in November 2009 was a cracker. You can be assured of wonderful photography and great dialogue. Both old and new members are in for a treat.

Titchwell Marsh – Coastal Change Project

We welcome Paul Eele of the RSPB who is our speaker for this indoor event.  Paul is the warden at RSPB Titchwell having worked there for the last 8 years.  He has been with the RSPB since 1994 spending time at Otmoor, Haweswater and West Sedgemoor before coming to Norfolk.  He is, in his spare time, a trainee ringer and a keen gardener.  We look forward to getting first-hand information on the planned changes at one of our favourite Norfolk Reserves.

Visit 10am – 3pm

Meet in the Wetland Centre free car park at 10am.

Welney is famous for its wildfowl and is probably the best place in Norfolk to see wild swans.   There is also a chance of finding Corn Bunting, Tree Sparrow and Peregrine besides other more common species.

The reserve is off the A10, seven miles south of Downham Market .  Turn right at the “Ten Mile Bank/Welney” brown tourist sign.  Follow the road for 0.8 miles to a bridge.  Turn left, then immediately right down Station Road (there is a brown tourist sign but it is difficult to see).  Follow Station Road for about 4.5 miles to the reserve car park on the left.  Be warned: this road is straight but keep your speed down as there are several undulations and potholes along the road.

It is hoped that a member of the WWT Welney team will be available on our arrival to give us an introduction to the Trust, the reserve and what birds may be seen during our visit.

There will be a swan feed at 12 noon.

Welney has excellent visitor facilities including a café which is open 10am-4.30pm with hot food available between 12noon & 2.30pm.  Members may prefer to take their own packed lunch.

If we have a group exceeding 12 then visitor permits cost  £5.60 (adults) £4.25 concessions (65+). 

If you wish to join the visit either add your name to the visit list at the indoor meeting on  21^st Jan or contact Alwyn (chair@wvbs.org.uk) by Monday 25^th January.

Sunday 17th January 2010         

Workshop led by Steve Cale 9.30am – 4pm. Morning indoor session at Sparham Old School Room and outdoor session during afternoon.

 The Workshop will focus on how to identify the commoner species found in Norfolk & the UK i.e. Honey Buzzard, Common Buzzard, Rough-legged Buzzard, Red & Black Kite, Marsh, Hen & Montagu Harrier, Goshawk, Sparrowhawk, Osprey, Kestrel, Merlin, Hobby and Peregrine Falcon.

 The cost of the workshop is £10 per person and there is a limit of 15 places.

Bring a packed lunch, tea & coffee will be provided during the morning session.

It would be useful if participants bring along a Bird identification handbook.  Particularly recommended is the “Bird Guide” by Killian Mullarney, Lars Svensson, Dan Zetterstrom & Peter Grant published by Collins, £14.99 softback £19.99 hb; available from www.wildsounds.com

If you wish to participate would you please contact Alwyn Jackson (chair@wvbs.org.uk ) by Monday 11th January.

Our traditional Winter Count will be our first Outdoor Event of the New Year.

The idea is to find as many different species as possible in our recording area between 8am and 4.30pm.

Don’t worry you don’t have to be bird watching all that time, you can start at any time and anywhere in the valley after 8am but you must finish by 4.30pm. The finishing point will be in the bar of the Fox and Hounds, Lyng. (Where you can also book in for a meal afterwards, which is a very nice way to end the day!)

This is a team event – teams can consist of 2 to 4 members who have a cross section of bird watching experience. In other words we prefer not to have teams comprising solely of very experienced birders!

A reminder of the rules again

• You can start anywhere within the WVBS area
• All species counted must be seen or heard
• In teams of two all must see or hear each species counted
• In teams of three, 2 must see or hear each species counted
• In teams of four, 3 must see or hear each species counted
• The finish time is 4.30pm, inside the Fox and Hounds, Lyng
• Feral pigeons are accepted, hybrid waterfowl are not.
• Birds within the grounds of Pensthorpe are not accepted

Attached separately in next month’s Newsletter will be a checklist for each team to tick off the species seen and it would be most useful if participants could add the location for our record purposes.

If you are unfamiliar with the WVBS area a copy of the map can be found here or in any of the Annual Reports.  If you wish to take part or are short of team members please let Richard Norris know a.s.a.p or at the latest 21st December.

This is a fun event so please come along and enjoy yourselves.

Please note that this event was cancelled due to the weather

Where do I start?  7.30 transport arrives, wet and gloomy; 9.00 bright and sunny but a cold wind at Sandringham;  10.30 Dersingham Bog;  12.00 a very cold north wind at Snettisham (never has a hide been more welcome!); 3.30 Roydon Common.  Another action packed day with WVBS.  What treats had Ray in store for us?  He might even have surprised himself! 

A Great Grey Shrike at Dersingham Bog!  He must have known that so many of us had not seen his species before.  How well he showed us his black eye-mask, his long tail, the black and white on his wings.  I could have stayed all day watching him.  Not to be, we had seen him, as well as a pair of Green Woodpeckers showing very well, and a pair of Stonechats.  Did I mention the wonderful views of Mistle Thrush and a Redwing earlier at Sandringham?

Not much time for a leisurely lunch on this trip.  A hasty few minutes at the layby on the A149 to down our sandwich and a drink, and then on to Snettisham.  I have been there when it has been windier, but never when the wind has been so cold.

Our day’s birding list has been compiled elsewhere, but Pintail Ducks, Golden Eye, a flock of Golden Plover, many Little Grebe and my own favourite Grey Plover were amongst those species seen.      But that northerly wind was cold and we were hastening back to the cars when, joy of joy, the Scaup which Alwyn had seen earlier on our way down was spotted again on one of the lagoons alongside the bungalows.  A much better specimen than that I had previously seen.  And I have forgotten to mention the Barn Owl seen on entering the reserve.

Last port of call – Roydon Common.  The day was drawing to a close and much less wind than at Snettisham.  A great spot of a Buzzard sitting in a tree goodness knows how many hundreds of yards away.  And then the highlight of the end of the day – one male and two female Hen Harriers flying back and forth before our eyes.  How handsome the male is and thank goodness the females have a white ring on their tails so that we could spot them in the gathering gloom.

All birds wonderful to see but a Great Grey Shrike (a lifer for me), a Scaup and both Hen Harriers, what more could we have wanted from the day?

Liz  Bridge

Noel Elms has colour-ringed 31 Stonechats on Kelling Heath this year – 3 adults and 28 pulli * . He asks if anyone seeing one of these could e-mail him directly on noelelms1 at mypostoffice dot co dot uk and he will reply with details of the bird ASAP. All birds have a dark green ring above a metal one on the right leg. The birds have two colour rings on the left leg and these can be the same colour. The different colours he has used are green, pink, orange, pale blue, red, white and yellow.
As several Stonechat winter in the WVBS area if you do see any please look carefully for any rings and if possible note the colour combination and report them directly to Noel or via Ray Gribble. Ray would be interested in any sightings.
* Pulli is the term used by ringers for nestlings

There was a hoopoe wandering around in a stony field on the edge of Great Ryburgh village on Saturday 16th May.   Apparently he was there Friday as well.  Read the rest of this entry »

It was Sunday at last, our chance to learn our bird identification by sound as well as sight. Glen had suggested that if we went to Felbrigg early we could get an hour in before the official start at 9.30am to hear the dawn chorus. Read the rest of this entry »