Patchtick...again!!

Jim found a black-redstart opposite Buckenham on Sunday afternoon, so first thing monday morning I was down there checking out the roof of the pub. Luckily for me it was still there, a lovely little bird, although a little distant for photography I did have a go. Amazingly this is by fourth new species for the Mid Yare this year already!

On the way back to the office the woods were alive with chiffchaffs singing, clearly a small arrival finally! I also had good views of a Goldcrest which posed for a few quick snaps.

Today I was carrying out routine checks and looked up to see a subadult male Hen Harrier flying over the fen, a quick fumble in the bag for my camera produced another poor shot...always a great bird to see though!

Tommorrow I am having a look for the Ring Necked Duck and Scaup that have been in the eastern reaches of the patch, fingers crossed!

Catch up blog

Its been a mixed start to spring for me and the fen, very quiet migrant wise with just singing Chiffchaff to speak of.
A few Cranes have been around, which are always very nice to see, as are the Short-eared Owls that have been seen on and off at Buckenham.

Ringed Ruff at Buckenham- still need to send off the combo to BTO

50 Bewick's Swans flew over the office on Thursday, which was a nice surprise on a bright spring like day, their soft calls alerting me to their presence, the same flock was seen later on at Breydon Water.

I had a day off on Friday and decided to do a bit of gardening instead of heading out birding. The day started off cloudy and it looked as if there was going to be no chance of seing the eclipse, however the cloud thinned for a matter of seconds and I was able to take the photo below, I guess it was lucky, but it was the second time this week that clouds thwarted a good show (the Aurora being the other dissapointment).

Whike gardening in the morning I noticed a small passage of Buzzards over the garden so decided to go to my local raptor watchpoint, in an hour I got 7-10 Buzzards, 9 Marsh Harriers and at least 4 Sparrowhawks, not bad but could do better. I got home and saw that the White Tailed Eagle was circling over Gt Yarmouth, so out I went again! A message came on saying it was heading NW over Breydon Water so I thought it may pass by Halvergate Bridge on its way to Ranworth. It turns out that it did not pass the bridge, or at least I didnt see it. I spent at least an hour at this location its always a great place to see over the marshes and although the eagle did not show it didnt dissapoint. I saw Rough-Legged Buzzard, many C Buzzard, Red Kite, Peregrines, 2 SEO, as well as Kestrels and Sparrowhawks. I also had the pleasure of coming face to face with the White Stork that has been in the area, plastic or not it still looked good in the spring sunshine!
I'm not quite sure what was going on with my camera, what should have been very good shots are not nearly as sharp as I had hoped considering the good light conditions, need more practice with the FZ200, I'm sure it is a very good camera I just need to master the settings!

RLB having a tussle with CB

 

It couldn't be, could it?

Slightly confused by a large accipitor today seen from Tower Hide. I first saw it way off over the marina and instantly thought  Hen Harrier, always nice to see. Then all of a sudden I realised it didnt look quite right, it started powering to the right, morphing into a large heavy looking acciptor as it went.
Many will know I'm usually the first person to dismiss such claims of Gos, especially away from their strongholds, I usually say if you see a Gos you know it... but at this distance I was struggling.
It was a very large bird, clearly the size of a hen harrier at least, the undertail coverts were fully wrapped around the uppertail (giving the look of hen harrier on first look) the wings were fairly broad and it looked broad in the hips. The bird then headed back left and flushed just about every woodpigeon in the woods and then dissapeared.
As I have said I am usually the one who rubbishes these sorts of records, but I am very used to seeing displaying Sparrowhawks from this vantage point and this was instantly different due to size and bulk. I have seen large female sparrowhawks from here too, so do have prior knowledge as to what to expect in terms of behavior and size/shape. It actually did not look much smaller than the marsh harriers as they fly past that area, sparrowhawks certainly usually appear far smaller then them!
I took some very poor photos which are featured below. I admit they are not much use but I would really appreciate any comments as to why it could or couldnt be a Gos. Unfortunately apart from structure and flared undertail coverts I did not really get any plumage detail, partially due to attempted photography, now kicking myself! Photos taken with optical zoom only, no digital zoom and have only been cropped.


goshawk male ws 90-105cm
sparrowhawk fem ws 67-80
hen harrier ws 97-118
Woodpigeon ws 68-77

this is an uncropped version of the photo below showing distance

bulky body and width of wing visible (just about through pixilation!)

Again same photo cropped to show comparison size of woodpigeon on left at what looked like a similar distance

There is what looks like a gull in this image but not sure of comparative distance?

this shot shows the wing shape/length slightly better

Breckfest

A short post as it involves the hallowed ground that is the Brecks.
I went to four different locations and saw;
4 different male Bighawk
3 Bigfinch (1 male and 2 female)
1 Woodlark
4 Red Kite
20+ Buzzard (10 in one scan at a site)
as well as other usuals such as Bramblings, Redpolls, Siskins
(but no Crossbills, Little woodpeckers or Willow Tits)

Not bad for a chilly, windy, cloudy day and very enjoyable after a years absence from the area.