20210928 Long-billed Dowitcher & Bittern Potter Heigham Marshes

 

20210928 Long-billed Dowitcher
Bird roosting for over 1.5hrs with Spotted Redshank and E Teal.
Slightly grubbier grey than SpotReds.
Under-tail coverts barring and short legs noted at this stage.

20210928 Bittern
3 birds about Marsh today, a good show.
Note MKII was focus tracking right hand bird into frame.
Swiftly switching to closer bird would improve overall focusing. 

20210928 Great White Egret
Great day for Herons all round.
Little and Cattle Egret size comparison with Great.

20210928 Long-billed Dowitcher
First signs of movement.
White trailing edge to secondaries and inner primaries, white rump with lower half barred onto tail coverts and tail...
but still no bill.
Much smaller than Black-tailed Godwit and stockier than SpotRed. 

20210928 Long-tailed Dowitcher
Bird finally moved through roost feeding and revealing kinked eye-stripe and pale
supercilium... and bill.
Note short tibia.

20210928 Long-billed Dowitcher
Slightly decurved bill.
Adult winter plumage, upperparts gave impression of Ruff's scaling but in dull greyscale.

20210926 Caspian Gulls, Red FE, Cromer Beach & Cley Marshes Roost

20211028 Sunrise Cromer Beach
'one day I will burn you'.

 

20210926 Caspian Gull
Red FE turns in at Cley roost after being seen at Cromer.
Classic 1st winter lanky bird.

20210927 Caspian Gull
Red _KZ on 27th for one night only...

20210927 Caspian Gull
1st winter, Cromer Beach.
Note white streak on Culmen effecting parrellel shape of bill.

20211007 Caspin Gull
Tipically buried in roost and continually preening.
White culmen streak on this bird also.

20211026 Caspian Gull
2nd winter in early to Pats.
This bird shows a small white culman streak that effects the outline of the bill.
Grey adult feathers in median coverts and inner primary coverts within a juvenile wing.

20210923 Caspian Gull
Lanky and snouty 1st winter, again in early on.

20210921 Red-throated Diver off Cley and Overstrand

 

20210921 Red-throated Diver
Moulting adult.
Rear of neck stripes breaking up.

20210921 Red-throated Diver
Extensive white feathering appearing on face and neck.

20210923 Red-throated Diver
Off Overstrand.
In full breeding plumage.
Venetian red neck patch widens towards base.

20210923 Red-throated Diver
Complete striping down rear of neck.

20210923 Red-throated Diver
Fish to be ID...

20210923 Red-throated Diver
Money on Goby...

20210923 Red-throated Diver
Surely Goby, but which one?

20210906 Black Stork, Frampton Marsh

 

20210906 Black Stork
Bird flew about large cattle field looking for feeding sites from 0623hrs.
Sunrise at 0615hrs, ISO 10,000, 1/320th & F10 well pleased with MKII performance in
near darkness...

20210906 Black Stork
Flew to South East corner of field.
Came across John Badley again, out commendably early for a RSPB warden...!? Than again he
does oversee the whole of the Eastern Hemisphere for said organisation...
Advised on best location to view the bird from, track down to barn in centre of field.

20210906 Black Stork
Early morning mist rising.

202100906 Black Stork
Sure enough the bird searched the dykes in this corner of field and perched up against the dark hedge.
Proved difficult to spot in the murk against dark green of hedge.

20210906 Black Stork

20210906 White-tailed Lapwing RSPB Blacktoft Sands. Post dedicated to the memory of JEF, who found the first for British Isles, Packington, 12th July 1975.

20210906 White-tailed Lapwing
Most striking in flight, yellow legs extend well beyond short white tail.

20210906 Large ships
heading for Goole on The Ouse having come up the massive Humber on the tide.
Norfolk boy never  seen such massive industry...

 

20210907 White-tailed Lapwing

20210907 White-tailed Lapwing

20210907 White-tailed Lapwing
Diagnostic short white tail.

20210906 1st for Britain.
Packington 12th July 1975