Dog walk this morning produced an adult male Blackcap along the lane with a mobile tit flock but little else.  This afternoon the local squadron of woodpigeons took to the air (c2000) and sure enough the usual suspect, a Peregrine drifted over Shrike Point and spent the next hour terrorising the columbines and gulls.

A look in here during a late lunch and a sunny break in the clouds produced the usual array of wildfowl including 66 Gadwall, 4 Wigeon, 4 Tufties 10 Mallard, 123 Coot, and single Great-crested Grebe.  A grey wag was at the Sawmill, and the biggest surprise of all was a Southern Hawker around here also.

Another day chasing the English pound saw me having trips out to gorgeous Gorleston (!) and sunny Salhouse.  A trip down to Gorleston usually means a look in on Yarmouth seafront this time of year to admire the Mediterranean Gulls on the beach there, but with deadlines to meet I decided against it so placed my camera back in its cozy spot before leaving home this morning.  Mid morning, with both clients sorted I was gonna pull in to Salhouse broad but sailed right passed. Buggar.  With ten o'clockers racing away I decided to pull in to Wroxham broad.  Loads of birds here today, good flock of gulls and plenty of Tufties but with the sun full in the face and wielding my old 'stay in car' Swift Audubons it was like looking through tissue paper!  I impressed myself, picking out an adult Med Gull being a notable shade of 'knackered optic coating' grey! Another car-bound birder present was  intent with his camera, with a lens the size of a small person!   A look through the Tufties however highlighted a rather distinctive, delicate little face with peaked crown, a corking female Ring-necked Duck!  The camera guy had already seen it (moan!) and had had it the previous day.  It soon drifted out of site of the carpark. Of course if I had brought my camera today, or even my scope, this bird would not have been here-guaranteed !

 

A near-dawn visit to the clifftop pre-work started well with a pair of Goldcrest (scarce this autumn) on the edge of the woodland being the first birds I saw.  Clifftop feeding Blackbirds (6) also added to the air of stuff in but thats where it stopped.  The presumably same Chiffchaff was in the same clump of bushes while a brief stare at the wet stuff produced 7 R-t Diver, 3 Brent and a duck Eider on the sea.

A bright, cheery morning here with the usual sight of Pinkies going east first thing.  Found a ploughed field ffull of Skylarks (30) but little else in with them save for 4 Meadow pips and a couple of Pied Wags. Three roosting Common Buzzard were flushed incuding the usual pale bird, with two seen soaring much further to the west a little later.  Starlings appeared to be making in-roads west for a short period with a conservative count of 1010 in an hour.  Late this afternoon a quick visit to the clifftop produced just 4 Bullfinch, with Common Scoter (4) and Eider (15) moving northwards offshore

Gypo Goose and Stock Dove flew past kitchen window at the same time this morning constituting a double garden tick.

An absolute Grouch of a day here weatherwise with howling south-westerly with stinging rain all morning, nothing even ventured on to the feeders.  As the rain abatted mid afternoon I took a rather wedged dog for its walk.  A nice selection of common birds feeding at the campsite (looks promising) included Redwing, lots of Blackbirds Song Thrush and a couple of gaudy Bullfinch.  Managed to pish in a good flock of tits in an otherwise desolate woods (not even a Robin) but nothing in with them.  I have identified a possible day of birding mid month(!)  Just be dry, don't care what the wind is doing, just be dry! (Unless of course its drizzle just after dawn with a prevailing easterly!)

Managed a circuit around the east side of the village this morning.  Not a great deal going on, the daily routine of Pinkies east in the mornings, also today 22 Lapwing west.  The garden is now starting to attract the birds with up to a dozen Greenfinch plus smaller numbers of Goldfinch and Chaffinch.  New in the garden today was a brief Great-spotted Woodpecker and a male Blackcap, which was seen mid week in next doors garden. Work, both paid and on the house, is preventing me from the right good thrashing around that I am desperate to do!

yep, that time of year again (already!).  With a breezy, but sunny first light I took my camera out for a change, as usual this  guaranteed that I saw absolutely nothing of interest, even a calling Chiffchaff never gave itself up.  With most of the day spent on the roof erecting the chimney, a couple of calling birds caught my attention whilst working away, single Siskin was new for the garden as was the flock of 10 Crossbill flying north over the village calling.  A pleasant surprise visit by three birding amigos confirmed that a) I was not missing anything and b) all agreed that contrary to belief, I have not committed birding suicide by moving from Aylmerton to Northrepps!                          

Day off work today (paid work, that is!) but no 7 hr seawatches for me, oh no!  Lights need putting up in the daylight, shopping needs doing and worktops need ordering.  So I eventually snuck out at 1600hr to Trimingham where the North Sea was looking a bit tasty with squally showers whipping through, and strong gusting northerlies.  Gannets were moving east constantly, but apart from that it was fairly quiet with single Arctic Skua, 4 Bonxie and 6 Little Gull all east also.  The birds here were stupidly distant and its probable that stuff would be really easy to miss.  On the stripped Beet Field were just a brace of Pied Wagtail.

Pooch duty this morning at first light produced a decent mixed tit flock up Firs Hill but no hoped for Y-b wobbler, although did get good prolonged views of a Woodcock on the deck.  An adult Med Gull was again in with the early birds catching the worms on the stubble fields, and a Brambling dropped in to neighbours migrant catching trees!.  On the way home this evening I  stopped at an area of scrub not a stones throw from the house to have a look, as it seemed promising from the garden.  Nothing mega but 3 Blackcap together, 11 Brambling overhead, plus about 40 Redwing lurking, along with some great habo ensure that I will keep an eye on this little area.

A quick 45 mins look down at Trimingham from 0800 found the wood there devoid of life apart from the resident Wren and a Chiffchaff.  Offshore a constant trickle of Gannet east with wild fowl shifting west, the majority Teal with lesser numbers of Wigeon, Brent Goose, Common Scoter, Mallard (1) Gadwall(2)  and singles of Pintail and Tufted Duck. A Red-necked Grebe heading west was the highlight. Work Saturday and work on the house Sunday contributed to missing out on a pretty good weekend, by all accounts.

Day off work today, but too much to do to enjoy any birding.  From the garden however during the course of the day a light trickle of vis mig noted with Starling (150), Chaffinch 20, Mipit 10 and Greenfinch 3.  Just after dawn c2500 Pink-footed Goose seen distantly moving southeast off roost from the northwest of the county presumably.  A late dog walk this afternoon resulted in our first Barn Owl sighting.

First migrant raptor since moving this morning, in the form of a juvenile Marsh Harrier coasting westwards over Firs Hills.  Also during dog-walk first ducks-Mallard, 8 Redwing arriving and still 3 House Martin over the village.  There also seems to be an increasein Robins past day or two,

The first Redwings of winter this morning along the lane, landing briefly in the Ash tree

Adult Med Gull cruised over garden just after first light this morning going west

Got down here in between appointments mid morning, and productive it proved to be, whilst tip toeing through the dog sh*t (wish they were tulips!) at least 8 Snow Buntings were on the clifftop fields with Skylarks.  As I walked back all the birds on the fields(including the Snowbies) flew off east, Woodies, Jackdaws the lot, it wasn't for a nother minute that a raptor appeared between me and the road, my first instinct was that it was gonna be a ringtail Hen Harrier...but it wasn't...it was an effin' great Goshawk!  A juvenile, it slung low over the hedgerows, over the road and launched into a Lleyandi hedge scattering everything in its path, before sneaking around back of the village.  My first ever migrant Gos.

Good old Virgin Media have managed to screw up our Broadband connection here, hence no posts since moving in, well, that and cleaning and clearing up the place due to the previous owners leaving it in a right state!  Friday morning saw a Lesser Whitethroat go through the garden at dawn, with a couple of Common Buzzards (including a very pale bird (!) over at 1000. Sunday saw a Goldcrest drop out of the sky mid morning and at least three Chiffchaff in the area, including singing birds, with at least two this morning along with a Muntjac creeping over the fields.  Once we get connected (am at work posting this) I'll put a few pics on to get a feel of the place.

 

Pale phase juvenile Common Buzzard with typical plumaged bird