It was our final day in Norfolk and we wanted it to be a good one. But we didn't really spend much time in Norfolk as as soon as we were up we headed straight down to Suffolk to Lakenheath Fen RSPB for seconds. In my own personal opinion this reserve is a must. Superb place and I find it better than Minsmere RSPB, I think for me personally the fact the Golden Orioles are there makes the reserve simply superb for me personally.
We started the trip of as usual standing by the first stand of plantations that back onto the railway line listening for the beautifuly flutey call of the male Golden Oriole. About an hour had passed and no sign whatsoever, most of the lads were more sensible than me and had wandered off leaving myself and Alf Rutherford to look for a Golden Oriole. Alf missed the bird the previous visit and it would have been a lifer for him. The sun was out and the birds were calling; I assured him that he would see one if he gave it time. About 5 minutes later a Golden Oriole flew past and went straight into the tree! Unfortunately and very frustratingly I was unable to locate in the binoculars despite the fact I saw pretty much the spot it landed in. They are very mobile birds most of the time. Alf was happy and so was I to have finally glimpsed another one of these truly stunning birds. I hung around a short while after but nothing so I moved on to a viewpoint that overlooks the rest of the reserve. The most superb spectacle of the holiday was to happen here. My mate David Kay spotted 2 Bitterns in flight and we all got onto them....then another one joined them. Wow 3 Bitterns! Then another! We watched for a couple of minutes as 4 Bitterns were in the air together at once. They then all landed distantly in a reedbed all in the same area. Clearly from behaviour it was a territorial dispute but fantastic to see such a rare breeding bird making an astonishing comeback. From the viewpoint we also had several Marsh Harriers and the usual Reed Warblers and 3 Cuckoos together at once. Another mini spectacle. I managed this video of a Cuckoo just before arriving at the watchpoint as it sat in the last stand of poplars on the reserve. Myself and another mate of mine decided we would head back to try and see the Golden Oriole again, on the way back my mate picked up on the very distinct call of the Bearded Tit. We waited patiently and out patients was rewarded when we managed to get some excellent views of a female at close quarters. Brilliant birds!
(Cuckoo - Andrew Kinghorn)
(Cuckoo - Andrew Kinghorn)
So that was it! End of the Norfolk trip. We had a great time and we were now heading home and the birding for the weekend was over. Well............for everyone on the bus but me it was. My mate had been texting e updates and sure enough at 4 in the afternoon the Terek Sandpiper was still present at Low Hauxley NR in Northumberland. The site is only 1 hour drive from my front door which is nothing really! So got home, dropped my stuff off in the house, and straight back out and headed north. I arrived on site about 7 in the evening and no one was in the Tern hide but me and I scanned the shores. My bins steaming up as I sweated it out hoping it was still present frantically searching. After 5 minutes nothing.......I checked my watch and decided I would hang around another 10 minutes and if it wasn't present move to the Wader hide which was a 5 minute walk as it was from my current location. This decision proved wise and after a few minutes of frantic searching and not thinking straight it hit me.........I could hear a wader calling. A call as a bit of a wader fanatic I didn't recognise as any of the typical British waders. Then a wader flew in and sat ontop of a rock calling. Thought it would be a Redshank but there sat front on was my first Terek Sandpiper I watched it for a short while and then decided to get a video incase it was going to up sticks and go as it didn't look settled at all! It was at this point it took off and flew over the central island and landed on the shore visible from the wader hide. So along to this hide I went and it was on view and showing well. I had cracking views of the bird and also managed some photos and video. It then walked around the corner and went out of view; so back to the Tern hide. As I entered this time a couple were in and I told them it was "there lucky day" and explained the Terek Sandpiper was right in front of them. They mentioned they saw the birders queuing to get into the hide one of the days they were there previously and wondered what it was for. I pointed out the bird to them and they were delighted. I also let them have a look through my scope at the bird and they seemed very pleased and the man seemed pretty excited of having seen this rare and superb looking bird. So the answer to the blog post is; stay. Thanks Terek! We enjoyed brilliant views of the bird as it wandered around and fed. Brilliant bird....brilliant long weekends birding.....British birding is brilliant at times!
(Terek Sandpiper - Andrew Kinghorn)
(Terek Sandpiper - Andrew Kinghorn)
(Terek Sandpiper - Andrew Kinghorn)
(Terek Sandpiper - Andrew Kinghorn)
Hope you enjoyed the whole Norfolk trip report. Until next time, Foghorn out!
No comments:
Post a Comment