220 for 2022 – October Update

Welcome to my 220 for 2022 – October Update. A month of southerlies, westerlies, and yet more southerlies, not what us east coast birders want during autumn. We needed a spell of sustained easterly airflow bringing drift migrants from the continent and even Asia, but it wasn’t to be. There were a couple of days mid-month when things perked up, but this was short-lived and didn’t result in much out of the ordinary. Nothing anyone can do about that except just get out and try and enjoy what is on offer. In that sense, the month has provided a mixed bag; days of frustration followed by euphoric interludes. Birding in a nutshell, I guess. Let’s start at the beginning.

1st October 2022 – While looking (in vain) for Yellow-browed Warblers at Winterton, tiny fluttering green and yellow birds amongst a dense swathe of fluttering green and yellow foliage, I turned around to catch sight of a small bird flycatching from a stand of holly. There, perched brazenly in the mellow afternoon sunlight was a lovely Redstart (221), a 1st winter male judging by the pale edging on the wing feathers. All thoughts of the Yellow-browed Warblers evaporated as we simply watched this lovely migrant feeding quite unconcernedly a few yards in front of us. Periodically it would drop to the ground to pounce on some morsel, once catching a bush cricket which it devoured with relish.

A few other birders gathered around, from which source I learned that a Rustic Bunting (222) had been discovered just up the road at Horsey. Since it was almost on the way home, it would have been churlish not to go and have a look. After a mile or so yomp, I was consequently watching this lifer creeping around on the public footpath bookended by happy binocular wielding folk. Then a dilemma! Two young women came along the path, out for an afternoon stroll and completely within their rights to do so. However, their progress would have flushed the bird that would probably have simply flown away to deep cover never to be seen again. Luckily, they were quite intrigued by what was going on, had a good look through someone’s scope and agreed to turn around and discontinue their circuit. Most kind of them, enabling several flustered blokes that I encountered on the way back (‘is it still there’?) to see the bird.

7th October 2022 – A morning spent around Norwich Cathedral Close, where after a while Allan and I were able to watch Black Redstarts flitting around this ancient edifice, still a working church of course and quite magnificent. Although I’ve already seen a Black Redstart, see June’s update, they are such charming birds that it was a delight to observe them go about their business in such a location. It looked like it was a family group with a male, female and possibly 3 young, indicating successful breeding which is good news, adding a bit more interest to the City’s urban birdlife (it also falls within my 5K radius, thus providing a welcome double whammy).

12th October 2022 – After another fruitless search for a Yellow-browed Warbler, and a similarly blank sea watch at Holkham, Elizabeth and I found ourselves at Cley overlooking the roadside lagoon at Snipe’s Marsh. Here, on the far side, foraging on the mud amongst broken reed stems and low growing plants, we were able to locate a pair of Jack Snipe (223). One of the birds was napping and the other was busily feeding, constantly bobbing its body as it progressed. Both almost impossible to see such is the effectiveness of their cryptic colouration.

18th October 2022 – The view from the top of the dunes was quite spectacular, sweeping acres of sun kissed sand stretching to the horizon both east and west. From this vantage point we had a commanding view of the restful sea of Holkham Bay.

Many Great-crested Grebes fished in small groups, their long necks catching the bright sunshine and making them easy to spot. Common Scoters flocked nearby as did an array of Red-throated Divers in various stages of transition from summer to winter garb. We scrutinised each one carefully, just in case a Black-throated Diver had infiltrated their ranks. Despite a couple of short-lived hope raisers, we had to conclude all were the more common species, sporting upturned lower mandibles and lacking the white flank patch etc. Some even retained splashes of deep red on their necks for goodness sake. It took a while, but eventually a smaller black and white bird popped to the surface, not sitting low like the numerous Razorbills, but altogether more upright, a smaller version of the Gt Cresteds. Slavonian Grebe (224) entered the year list, and most welcome it was too.

As we stood there glued to our scopes, the twittering of small birds reached our ears. Looking around, we were delighted to find a small party of Snow Buntings (225) had alighted on the beach close by. These dainty birds must have been constantly on the move, disturbed by the numerous dog walkers that smother the place nowadays.

A short drive found us overlooking North Point Pools just east of Wells where a surprise awaited in the form of a trio of Whooper Swans. The main target here however was a somewhat smaller bird, so anything hopping around on the mud was scrutinised with interest. Eventually we located our quarry when a pipit sporting a bright supercilium alighted briefly, a Water Pipit (226), one of those species you kind of hope you will come across at some point but could easily miss. A good day with 3 new species for the year.

21st October 2022 – A lone trip to North Norfolk today where at Cley, just off the East Bank, I joined a group of like-minded folk to have a look at the long staying Long-billed Dowitcher (227). This bird, a juvenile, has strayed well off course, swapping its intended wintering grounds of the southern USA for a few weeks in eastern England. It seemed happy enough, feeding contentedly with a few Black-tailed Godwits and Dunlin. Formerly known as Red-breasted Snipe, it is indeed quite reminiscent of that tribe, being about the same size and shape and sporting a very long bill. It never came very close, so no chance of an award-winning photograph, simply a record of the sighting and nothing more.

With brightening skies, I moved to Holkham where with the evocative yelping of Pink-footed Geese a constant accompaniment, I marched through the woodland belt to the very edge of Burnham Overy dunes. There, amongst the sweetly scented pines stand a small group of sycamores, and in these could be found a few migrant warblers. It wasn’t easy to track these little sprites down, in fact it took a lot of time and patient scanning of the mass of concealing autumnal foliage, but eventually a charming Wood Warbler (228) gave itself away. This bird, fresh and bright, came very close to the assembled group, approaching to within 10 feet. Even then it was difficult to track, blending in so well with the identically hued leaves. I reeled off a few shots, which hopefully illustrate this point.

But there was more. Periodically, a group of mixed tits and crests would circuit around the glade. Amongst them a couple of rarer gems had been seen. I waited. Sure enough, about every 40 minutes the flock would appear out of nowhere, flit energetically around the bramble scrub and sycamores picking off small insects, and then evaporate into the evergreens. On the next pass I saw nothing out of the ordinary, although some people locked onto something more unusual. The birds were so quick. Time ticked past, birders trickled home, but I determined to wait a few more minutes because, well, you never know. And then a movement in the scrub; Long-tailed Tits buzzing around as the vanguard. I focussed my binoculars on a patch of brambles about 30 yards distant that seemed to act as a conduit for the group and was immediately rewarded with a beautiful Pallas’s Warbler (229) alighting on a twig. I pointed the camera at the spot and took a couple of shots totally blind. I was lucky.

29th October 2022 – the weekend saw us fruitlessly trawling the coast between Cromer and Sheringham trying to connect with a small group of Pallid Swifts that had been blown into our realm by the incessant southerly winds. We spent time at West Runton, always with one eye on the skies above, move to Sheringham for lunch only to discover the swifts had tracked eastwards and had been seen 10 minutes earlier over the West Runton car park. Yesterday, I sat on Cromer Pier, coffee in hand, while an alert went out that one was at that very moment circling the Clifftonville Hotel quarter of a mile west. I could see the hotel clearly from where I sat but could not get onto the swift. A tantalising sight of something small and fast tazzing away and that’s as good as it got. We never did get the swifts, but on this particular afternoon, we stood patiently on the clifftop path at Runton looking into a beet field, where after the best part of an hour, the Hoopoe (230) was spooked by something and flew into the bordering belt of pines. There it sat in full, if distant, view for 20 minutes preening and looking about. An excellent 2nd prize.

31st October 2022 – The final day of the month and a further excursion to Holkham. It was a lovely bright and sunny day with a calm sea, providing ideal conditions to scan across the expanse of the Bay once again in search of those elusive marine birds we had missed earlier in the month. Oh dear, not a sniff of any Black-throated Diver, Red-necked Grebe or Velvet Scoter. To add insult to this grievous injury nor were there any Shorelarks on the saltmarsh. There were any number of Great-crested Grebes, Razorbills and Red-throated Divers. A Slavonian Grebe showed well as did a small group of Common Scoter, but of the target species there appeared not a glimpse.

Move to Titchwell, where on the receding tide we were able to delight in the ranks of waders feeding on the newly exposed mussel beds, and there forlornly mooching along the shoreline was at last a new bird for the year, perhaps one that should have appeared 10 months ago, a lovely Grey Plover (231). Having had our fill of waders, we turned our attention to the sea. Once again plenty of Gt-crested Grebes, several Red-breasted Mergansers, a raft of Red-throated Divers clustered around rich feeding grounds towards Brancaster, a few Gannets, and several Razorbills. All great birds, and under different circumstances in any other year a satisfying session, but in this crazy year a disappointment and a dampener of spirits.

I had an opportunity for a bit of introspective interrogation on the drive home. I mentally tallied all the beautiful birds we had encountered during the day: layered flocks of Golden Plover floating through the autumnal sky like so many windblown leaves, their melancholy piping piercing the still air; Buzzards soaring above us as we munched our lunch when precocious Robins would perch within inches hoping to glean a crumb or two from our board; bubbling cries of Curlew, piping of the Oystercatchers, fluting Redshank and harsh croaking Little Egrets; silent masses of Starlings at dusk. All seen to best advantage in the mellow light of a perfect October day. How dare I feel disappointed!

Summary

We have 3 participants over the 200 mark. Personally, this is by far the highest year total I’ve ever recorded, I’ve also added a couple of 5K birds this month as well (target 100). Well done everybody. There are some pretty impressive tallies amongst all of us, and with 2 months of the year left it will be interesting to see what a concerted effort can achieve. As always, Darren’s blog can be found here, and Sean’s escapades here.

Participant	Overall Score	5K Challenge	Garden List
Barry Madden	231	78	32
Darren Archer	211	117	54
Tim Oxborough	202	63
Sean Locke	171
Allan Archer	163
Elizabeth Dack	158
Ros Burrough	148	66	44