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Coordinator: Keith Walker Leader: Chris Stone Reporter: David Laurie Bird List: Seamus O’Dowd It was a 9:00 start on a day promising sun with a light westerly wind and as we assembled the trees and bushes around the car park yielded Lesser Whitethroats, a Chiffchaff and a Blackcap. We made a party of 13 and our first call was the woodland by the visitor centre in search of the Spotted Flycatchers that have nested there this year. The adults and three juveniles are reported to be around but escaped us on this occasion. But we did see a Treecreeper. The plan was to work our way down to the beach in time for the late morning high tide. The freshwater marsh had plenty of Avocets, lots of Black-tailed Godwits, some Dunlin and Redshank, Little Ringed Plovers and Ruff, some of the latter with vestiges of breeding plumage. There were six Spoonbills, a Mediterranean Gull in among many Black-headed Gulls and a couple of fly-over Yellow Wagtails. A party of a dozen Whimbrel also flew over, recognizable by their distinctive pipipipipipipi call.
On the Thornham saltmarsh side there were Little Egrets and a Chinese Water Deer while occasional Bearded Tits could be heard or briefly seen in the reedbeds. Closer to the sea on the tidal marsh there were Oystercatchers and Turnstones resting while the water was high. The light was good for a sea watch but today the birds proved scarce. Sandwich and Little Terns flew past but the sea produced only a Great Crested Grebe and a distant Gannet out towards the wind turbines. Heading back, we stopped at the Parrinder Hide for more views of waders, this time finding a Little Stint and a few Golden Plover. Then it was back to the car park and a break for lunch (still no Spotted Flycatcher). Some had to leave at this point but the rest, around half of us, went round to Patsy's Pool. There was a Muntjac under the bird feeders wholly indifferent to passing humans and from the boardwalk just beyond the Fen hide we saw a Turtle Dove fly over. The bird, or a second, was spotted preening in a willow, giving us a good opportunity to focus the telescopes and admire its plumage. Great to see, but sad to think that this once widespread bird has all but disappeared. At Patsy's there was a singing Cetti's Warbler and a distant Hobby over the reedbeds. On the pool were Gadwall, Coot, a Pochard and a Little Grebe while at the far end a Great White Egret appeared alongside two Little Egrets. What a contrast in fortunes compared to the Turtle Dove with these once rare egrets now so regularly seen. Back on the main path and heading for a second visit to the Parrinder hide a Kingfisher flew past and disappeared on the Thornham side. That flash of blue is always a welcome sight. With the sun now behind us the birds on the freshwater marsh were showing really well, particularly the Black-tailed Godwits still in summer plumage. At this point we were joined by two other members who had been at Snettisham in the morning for the high tide waderfest and a rare White-rumped Sandpiper. From the Parrinder hide a scan around an assortment of waders, ducks and gulls and in the distance a small brown above and pale below wader. Was this the Temminck's Stint that had been reported? Probably, and convincing enough to make it onto the day's bird list. There was also a Green Sandpiper but the recent Wood Sandpiper seemed to have moved on. Parrinder marked the end of the club outing and our thanks go to Chris for leading the day and to Seamus for keeping the record which ended with an impressive full time score of 81 species. Bird list: Avocet Bearded Tit Blackbird Blackcap Black-headed Gull Black-tailed Godwit Blue Tit Canada Goose Cetti's Warbler Chaffinch Chiffchaff Common Tern Coot Cormorant Curlew Dunlin Dunnock Gadwall Gannet Golden Plover Goldfinch Great Crested Grebe Great Spotted Woodpecker Great Tit Great White Egret Green Sandpiper Greenshank Grey Heron Greylag Herring Gull Hobby House Martin Kestrel Kingfisher Knot Lapwing Lesser Black-backed Gull Lesser Whitethroat Linnet Little Egret Little Grebe Little Ringed Plover Little Stint Little Tern Long-tailed Tit Magpie Mallard Marsh Harrier Meadow Pipit Mediterranean Gull Moorhen Mute Swan Oystercatcher Pied Wagtail Pochard Red Kite Redshank Reed Bunting Reed Warbler Robin Ruff Sanderling Sandwich Tern Sedge Warbler Shelduck Shoveler Skylark Spoonbill Starling Stock Dove Swallow Swift Teal Temminck's Stint Treecreeper Tufted Duck Turnstone Turtle Dove Whimbrel Woodpigeon Wren Plus: Chinese Water Deer Reeve's Muntjac Seal Black-tailed Skimmer Brown Hawker Gatekeeper Meadow Brown Peacock Red Admiral Small/Essex Skipper Cinnabar Moth caterpillars (no patch of Ragwort is complete without them) Extra time: After a stop at the visitor centre for refreshments (still no Spotted Flycatcher) Chris S and I went back for a look at the low tide beach. This gave us a few additional species with a Spotted Redshank on the freshwater marsh and on the shore some Bar-tailed Godwits, a Great Black-backed Gull, a Common Gull, Ringed Plover and a solitary Common Scoter on the sea.
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