20261019 Desert Wheatear, Wells-next-the Sea

 

20261019 Desert Wheatear
Better comp with the line of castles in frame.

20261019 Desert Kasbah Wheatear

20261029 Desert Wheatear
Bashed wasp and pulled wings off.
Then swallowed whole.

20261029 Desert Wheatear

20261019 Bluethroat, KWM

 

20261019 Bluethroat
Adult female...

20261019 Bluethroat

20261005 Caspian Gull & Peregrine, Cley Marshes

 

20261005 Peregrine
Juvenile hunting about Swan Lake.
Orange darvik on lt leg.

20261005 Caspian Gull
Classic lanky 1st winter on the new Whittwell scrape.

20261005 Caspian Gull
Classic hefty 1st winter with retained juvenile upperparts.
Pats Pool roost.

20261008 Caspian Gull
Adult winter.
Smaller plump female type with rounder head.
Note poor primary spike.

20261008 Caspian Gull
1st winter.
Ice white head.

20261010 Caspian Gull
1st winter, East Runton CP.
Classic but not massive. A well rounded individual.

20261003 Short-eared Owl, Cley Marshes

 

20261003 The eyes of Owldor & the Haddock Curry of Doom...

20261003 Short-eared Owl
Spent 30mins attempting to hunt from this telegraph pole.
Small Black:1600mm, 1/200th, ISO6400.

20261003 Short-eared Owl
Warming by the West Bank Sluice.

20261003 Short-eared Owl
Pro-capture set here but the bird flew back away from camera.
A higher burst rate is also required, say SH2.
Surprisingly OMSystems have just released firmware to upgrade the Big Black to 50fps in SH2 mode.
Having tested this, 25fps is enough for most BIF... 50fps of use on specific photo shoots.
Flew over Cricket Marsh and then onto telegraph pole...!?!

20261003 Short-eared Owl
Dozing in the evening sun.

20261003 Near Eastern Yellow Wagtail, Cley Marshes

 

20261003 
Rt side.
Hint of yellow at rear of supercilium...
Yellow underwing coverts show around bastard wing.
Ref: grey1st winter female Yellow Wagtail by Lewington, Rare Birds of B&E.

20261003 
Lt side.
Pale yellow in vent sides...
1st winter female beema...??
No yellow in tertail edges on this side either.
Ref: A putative 'Eastern Yellow Wagtail' in Devon,  Abbott P & Haig G, Birding World.

20260103 

20260929 Yellow-browed Warbler, Morston & Cley Marshes

 

20261003 Yellow-browed Warbler
Central hides clump.
Found by the owners of a large Supermarket chain....
1602mm, Small Black with MC20!!... GRGS?
HiRes image in acrylic available.

20260929 Yellow-browed Warbler
1 of 4 birds about the village.
A country wide invasion.
3 at Stiffkey Fen on 1st Oct and 1 at Morston Pond conservation project, deep in Willows.

20260930 Song Thrush
Birds moving inland all along the coast.
78 inland over Cley Res within 1 hour. Average flock size 10 birds.

20261001 Treecreeper
With LtTit flock Stiffkey Fen.
Back lighting at its best...

20260923 Lapland Bunting & American Wigeon, Iron Road & Popes Pool.

 

20260923 Lapland Bunting
1st winter tame bird in the shadows on track.
1680mm, ISO12800, Big Black +MC14.

20260923 Red-throated Diver
Adult off Cley Beach.
1120mm, Small Black +MC14.

20260927 Bar-tailed Godwit
Confiding Juvenile avidly feeding, Grambore Pools.

20260923 American Wigeon
Eclipse male taking flight.
White axillaries and underwing coverts, pale grey in E Wigeon.
But this depends on how direct sunlight catches the underwing....
Ref eclipse male just above American. During the burst this appeared pale grey in most shots.

20260920 Spotted Redshank, Cley Marshes

 

20260920 Spotted Redshank
2 moulting juveniles, Wattling Water

20260920 Spotted Redshank

20260920 Spotted Redshank
When spooked the birds flew behind the reedy islands, returning after about 10mins.

20260920 Golden Plover
Eye Field

20260920 Spotted Redshank

20260905 Pied Flycatcher, Lowestoft Cemetery

 

20260905 Pied Flycatcher
1st winter bird.
With an obvious and white median coverts bar!?
As in Semi-collard form...

20260814 Pied Flycatcher
Cley VC CPark.
Fainter median coverts bar than above.
Otherwise a very similar wing pattern.

20260814 Pied Flycatcher
Cley VC.
Minimal tertial patch also on this bird.

20260905 Red-footed Falcon, Rotterdam Rd Lowestoft

 

20260905 Red-footed Falcon
Unaware juvenile...
Recalls tame birds by clifftop footpaths in the South West.

20260905 Red-footed Falcon
Strange but true...

20260905 Red-footed Falcon
Bird came down to feed on locusts put out by a local dog walker.

20260905 Red-footed Falcon
Early morn exercises, the Eagle pose.

20260905 The Norfolk Hawker Mural
2nd birder of the morn.
Red-foot initially flew low around my head as if expecting to be fed...
then back up onto roof edge.

20260827 Arctic Skua, Blakeney Spit

 

20260827 Arctic Skua

20260827 Arctic Skua

20260803 Arctic Skua on Herring Gull

20260803 Arctic Skua
Grabbing tail of Herring Gull.

20260803 Arctic Skua
2nd summer pale morph.
Well marked cap and neck collar.
Underparts barred as in juvenile.

20260812 Peregrine Falcon, Bodham & Cromer

 

20260812 Peregrine
Flew onto the Bodham Tx Tower from the direction of Holt to the NW.
Using the tower as a static attack launch site.
Reviewing the shots revealed a blue darvik on the birds left tarsus.

Ringing Scheme: London Ring Number: GE10466 Species of bird: Peregrine (Falco peregrinus)

This bird was ringed by P J Wilkinson as age nestling, sex unknown on 21-May-2025 11:30:00 at Norwich Cathedral, Norfolk, England

OS Map reference TG20 accuracy -, Central co-ordinates 52deg 35min N 1deg 19min E accuracy -.

Colour Marks left below knee BW(MB)

It was found on 12-Aug-2026 time unknown at TX Tower, Norfolk, England

OS Map reference TG13 accuracy -, Central co-ordinates 52deg 52min N 1deg 11min E accuracy -.

Finding condition: Sight record by non-ringer

Finding circumstances: Identified by Colour Ring(s)

Extra Information: -

It was found 448 days after it was ringed, 31 km from the ringing site, direction -.

20260812 Peregrine
White MB on blue.
Emailed the Hawk & Owl Trust to find that she is a Norwich Cathedral bird ringed as a pullus last year.
Using the European cr-birding site is not a pleasant experience, but in this case it gave the email address of a H&O Trust member...

202607 25 Peregrine
Female bird in early morn sun, Cromer Church.
Male appeared latter on also to sun himself on the tower.
No sign of juveniles after 3 visits...??
Have they succumbed to the extreme heat during the 3rd heat wave?

20260725 Peregrine
Positioned sunlit bird against tower shadow...
Links bird well to its habitat, but against the sky surely more pop!?
Info supplied by The Cromer Peregrine Group, this years 3 juv's have not fared well.
VRN passed in early July, VSN last seen hunting in early August and VLN is still about
the tower but is injured......