Sea, Sand, Sun

With the promise of sun, I decided to head over to the coast after emptying the garden trap. Leicestershire couldn't be much more land-locked; anyone who does not believe or recognise the restorative pleasure of just a short time hearing the sea, breathing the sea breeze and walking on sand perhaps needs to live in Leics. for 52 years. Whilst we are the the middle of the Country, it's actually not too bad a run to get to the coast either side of the Wash. But, of course, the only drawback is that on a sunny day in the middle of summer everyone else wants to do the same thing. I decided that I'd head for Titchwell and combine a walk along the beach with some birding and rummaging around the dunes. The route was free of traffic until hitting a virtual brickwall immediately after the roundabout at Guyhirn. I managed to circumvent some of this with short detours through Wisbech and Kings Lynn, and then taking a rural route through Docking. All was great until the last 500m or so of roadway before re-joining the A149 at Brancaster where it was chaotic with beach-going families parking all over the place and blocking the roads. All time gained on the way was lost - and more. I arrived at Titchwell about an hour later than expected, but at least I was able to slide into a parking space easily and get out onto the reserve.

There were a few people around, though there were more carrying beach chairs etc than optics. I wandered around the boardwalks and had a look in Island Hide (Parrinder Hide still shut). Very few people actually birding or doing anything remotely in keeping with a RSPB Reserve. Social distancing was still very easy and people managed to observe etiquette and manners, so all good. Once I got to the end of the long walk to the beach, it was clear where everyone was. I've seen people using the beach whilst their other halves are birding etc, but I've never seen the beach here literally used as a beach! Beach tents, parasols, wind-breakers, chairs, pasty white bodies in the sea - the whole lot. It wasn't rammed in any way though, and groups of people were well spaced out which meant I walked another 1km or so to clear them all. But it's not like there is not much beach here ....

Inverts were few and far between in the dunes and on the beach. The only action really were a large number of presumably the same robberfly sp. that completely evaded scrutiny, plenty of Bee-wolfs carrying prey and a fair number of solitary bees nesting in the dunes. I turned a few logs but no interesting beetles. Just a couple of these ....

Dactylochelifer latreillii

It was blisteringly hot. I spent an hour or so on the beach before the sun burning my head and neck was no longer bearable. By then the sun was higher and photography from the hide and pathway was a bit more manageable though not everything was within range - a group of Spoonbills remained too far out. The camera seemed to struggle a bit with focussing through heat-haze, but I managed a few passable shots. More practice required.

Black-tailed Godwit

Avocet

Pied Wagtail

Lapwing

Little Ringed Plover

Most numerous of the waders was Ruff, with juvs and moulting adults present.

The best birding moment though was a group of juv Bearded Tits pinging their way along. One perched up long enough to get a shot.

Whilst around the reserve I manage to pot a handful of inverts to check out, including a sizeable horsefly from the inside window of the hide. I'd spent about three hours on the reserve and needed to head back to the car for coffee and a bite. I mulled over what would be the best option now, given that it was early afternoon and heading further along the coast was probably not a good idea for getting home in time to get the garden traps outs. I decided avoiding traffic delays on the reverse journey and having time to go to a couple of sites on the way home was a better move. An hour and a half later and I was parking up at Ketton Quarry. It was now very hot and humid, but some cloud cover had built up so at least I wasn't burning and sweating at the same time anymore. I spent an hour sweeping the ample flowering vegetation and easily managed to fill up more pots that I can quickly deal with. Very large numbers of Mirid bugs, including 100s of Phytocoris varipes, shieldbugs, other hemiptera and a few beetles too. There were hazards though: every sweep included a number of honeybees and bumblebees which needed to be let out of the bag before sticking me in it. I was also constantly harassed by Chrysops relictus.

Next I headed to Eyebrook Reservoir, where a Cattle Egret has been knocking about for a couple of days. I managed to find it milling about with cattle, before it flew up to perch in a tree. I managed to get a photo, sort of, whilst poking the camera through a gap in a bush.

Also good to see a fishing Osprey, Whinchat, Common Sandpipers, Ringed Plover and a Dunlin.

I got home a full 12hours after leaving, in time to eat and get the traps on. I should have been excited about that but, in truth, on the mothing front the garden has been poor this summer. But the previous night was good for other inverts and it looked to be another good night for that.

Get Knotted

My blog posts are now a rare commodity - I've had to remember my login details and how to post anything it's been that long!

It's almost 20 years since I missed out on the famous Great Knot (the 'Great Dot') at Seal Sands, Cleveland in October 1996. That turned up whilst I was on Scilly, and I had no chance of going for it after I came off as I was in Devon celebrating Isabelle's first birthday before going back to work the following Monday. The Dot lingered in early November, but the first weekend I could of gone coincided with a Little Bustard on the Lizard (I went for that instead with my birding mates who'd all already done the Dot). Given that I ditched my pager c14 years ago I had no idea that one had been in Lancs in 2004 (although not exactly twitchable) or that one had been at Breydon a couple of years ago. Not that I would of gone anyway!

I was already booked-off from work and planning to head to Titchwell on Friday on my way to meet up with other PSLers at Holkham for the weekend. Finding out that a Great Knot had turned up there was a massive slice of good luck - or at least would be if it stayed. Still, as a non-twitcher these days I was not rushing about. I left home at 7:30am and arrived at Titchwell at around 10am having taken about as long to get through Leicester as it took to get to Kings Lynn!

I sauntered down to the beach - there were lots of birders heading back and forth and the bird was clearly still around. When I got to the beach, there was a gaggle of birders though not all looking in the same direction. I quickly worked out that the large Knot flock was messing about, but the bird was amongst them - somewhere.

I'd gone sans scope as I can't be arsed lugging that about these days, so I bumbled about for a bit in the dunes and potted up or photographed a few bits ........

Marram Weevil (Philopedon plagiatum)

Garden Tiger

Eventually, the throng of twitchers coalesced into a uniform mass - so I casually rocked up, lifted my bins and enjoyed nice views of a stunning adult breeding plumaged Great Knot. I also managed to blag scope views from other birders (who probably took pity on such a pathetic dude trying to watch such a bird with no scope, huge telephoto lens or pager) and it was good. I did manage to grab some absolutely pathetic photos of it, but they are my pathetic photos of it!

Ironically, I should of been more intent on seeing it as about half an hour after I took these it flew off and wasn't seen again until much later in the evening on Scolt Head Island off Brancaster of all places. After the Greater Yellowlegs last year, my bird list is in danger of exceeding 410 by the end of the decade!

After failing to see any Dune Tiger Beetles in the dull and cool conditions, I sauntered back down the path and had a quick look on the fresh marsh, passing what used to be the brackish marsh ....

Loving what the RSPB are doing to attract carrion-eating invertebrates ......

Look under the wings ....

Black-headed Gull supper

I do like having a saunter around Titchwell - really good to see Cuckoo, Marsh Harrier, Little Tern, Bearded Tit and a good numbers of waders and wildfowl for a change. But visting always enlivened by a mega, and noticing the other stuff that's there.

Golden-bloomed Grey Longhorn Beetle (Agapanthia villosoviridescens)

Not often that the name is a gobful in vernacular and scientific! 

After all that I've been in Holkham all weekend poking about in and under logs, lifting dead rabbits, sweeping saltmarsh and generally bumbling about the dunes. Lots of stuff to ID - but that will have to wait.

Natterjack Toad, Holkham Dunes

May Day Pseudo Birding

Yesterday, May Day. Another Bank Holiday, and another opportunity to wander birdlessly with family in tow around what should be a reasonable birding site. Or at least that was the prospect until I devised a cunning plan. I mentally hypothesized that if we went out to a really good birding site, then I would stand a more than good chance of actually seeing some great birds despite the best efforts of my offspring. And so it came to pass that we had a family day out in north Norfolk (sweetened with a suggestion of 'let's go to the beach'). This great plan was not without flaw of course: Firstly, there was no way on Earth that said family were going to get up and ready at a very early hour, and so we would not be arriving until c10:30. Secondly, the weather forecast was not great (although likely to be a lot better than staying in Leics.).

First destination was the famous RSBP Titchwell Marsh. I really like this reserve on the whole, though when in extreme birding mode the presence of complete novices and dudes can be annoying. Of course on this occasion, I was heading up the list on both counts and we fitted in perfectly!

Before we'd left the car park, I pointed out Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and Cetti's singing around us - though there were only just audible against the strong wind which was to be a key feature of the day. After the obligatory pass through the visitor centre, we spent a few minutes watching the feeders and I got the boys onto a cracking male Siskin through the scope (Nichola and Isabelle were quite happy to tow along without looking at anything through optics).

Robin - just about the only thing I could be arsed to point the camera at whilst at Titchwell, everything interesting was well out of my photographic range!

We ambled down the boardwalk trail through the reeds, picking up a singing Blackcap in open view on the way. I got the boys onto some Brents, a couple of Egyptian Geese and a pair of Redshank over on the saltmarsh, whilst a Reed Warbler chuntered away behind us. Once we were in Island Hide, it was clear that virtually everything was huddled over on the far side of Freshwater Marsh tucked up against the shelter of the Parinder wall.

Freshwater Marsh

I spent some time scanning through and then getting the boys onto various birds in turn, the best being Little Terns, Red-crested Pochard, Oystercatchers, and of course Avocets. Also plenty of commoner wildfowl to look at, including Pintail, Shelduck, Shoveler, Gadwall and Teal. Not too many hirundines and Swifts over, though I picked up a handful of House Martins amongst them. A superb male Marsh Harrier quartered the reedbed behind the marsh, but it was clearly having to work to get anywhere with the wind strength. Otherwise a few Common Terns loitering, but sadly no Little Gulls whilst I was there.

Alex - working out which eye to use to grill a Red-crested Pochard

Josh - keeping a look out for Marsh Harrier whilst waiting for a turn on the scope

Another look over the saltmarsh produced a superb breeding plumaged Spotted Redshank - a real stunner. We carried on down the track but Parinder Hide is no more - work in progress on improving the sea defences and building a new hide.

Parinder Wall - work in progress

Sheltering on the Tidal Marsh was a spanking Grey Plover and a Turnstone, but not much else. The path onto the beach was effectively impassable due to the strong wind whipping up the sand and blasting your face - had I been alone I would have braved it to look although I reckon anything out at sea would have been virtually invisible with the deep swell.

Working our way back, I eventually got good flight views of a pair of busy Bearded Tits - I'd heard them pinging away on the way down the track. We headed back to the car and filled up on our packed lunch and tea, before walking back down the boardwalk trail through the reeds to Fen Hide. Amazing how you bump into people when away from home, and loitering in there were some of the VC55 birding stalwarts headed by Roger Davis. A quick natter confirmed that, amazingly, despite my handicap I hadn't missed anything other than a few Sanderlings in the sandstorm on the beach. A Kentish Plover had been claimed earlier in the morning but it seems that no one else saw it. As we chatted, a shout went up and there in all its glory was a superb Bittern flying over the reeds right in front of us. Josh managed to see it, but Alex had pretty much lost interest by then and wanted to know why we weren't on the beach I'd promised - time to head off somewhere else.


We headed further along the coast to the Wells-next-the-Sea beach / Holkham Pines area, arriving at c14:30. The beach here is superb - a vast area of nice fine sand with loads of shells. Like just about anywhere facing the North Sea, the water is far too cold and a bit shitty but it's a long way off.

Wells-next-the-Sea Beach - looking great but you can't feel the wind

Shiftting Sands - that conveys it a bit better!

We braved the cold and sand-blasting for half an hour before heading into the Pines for what turned out to be a really nice sheltered and sunny walk through the pine woodland and scrubby margins.

A fair bit of activity, expecially in the margins, with plenty of singing warblers amongst the other common residents. Aside from Willow, Chiffchaff and Blackcap, I got nice views of both Common and Lesser Whitethroats, a manic Sedge Warbler and half-glimpsed a singing Garden Warbler.

Whilst stalking the Garden Warbler, I was amazed when a pair of Muntjac ambled past without noticing me. I really needed to get the camera up fast but I didn't want to spook them, but I just managed a couple of shots before they slipped out of view.

Next we moved further along the coast to Salthouse. The wind blowing over the huge shingle ridge was ridiculous, but I was rewarded by a constant movement of Sandwich Terns close in shore, all heading west toward Cley - not a single one coming back east. The marsh was littered with breeding Avocets, including one pair roped off close to the path - shame the light had gone by then.

I have mixed feelings about Avocets: great to look at, really smart birds, but they are bloody aggressive! Also a Wheatear here, and several more Marsh Harriers noted around the area.

By now it was getting on for 17:30 and we needed to head for home with today being back to work and school. Overall we had a great day, and whilst it was by no means the greatest birding day out I've ever had, I was pleased to catch up again with some nice species.