A red letter day on the east coast

Isabelline Wheatear

Bird listing is a funny, i.e. obsessive, thing!

I’ve seen Isabelline Wheatears before abroad, in fact I saw one last month in Kenya, but I have never seen one in the UK. Until comparatively recently they were considered great rarities, the second edition of Collins guide to UK and European birds published in 2009 lists it as a three star mega. But, as the great man said, “the times they are a changing” and it has become more or less an annual vagrant to the UK such that BBRC now lists 42 accepted records. Its habitat is steppe and open countryside and it breeds in southern Russia and central Asia to northern Pakistan wintering in Africa and north western India. There have already been a couple of records this autumn so when one was reported from Cley-by-the-sea in Norfolk on Sunday I thought it was high time that I filled this particular gaping hole in my UK list. The problem was that I was working at Culham on Monday and Tuesday so yesterday was the first day I could go. Wednesday also had the only decent forecast for the next few days.

Now, I have to say that I have a love hate relationship with Cley. I love it because I have seen so many great birds there. I hate it because the birds tend to be a distant walk over the shingle beach and this is very hard going with your optic gear.  Blakeney point, a famous location for rare birds, is a case in point. I was very luck to see a very rare Moltoni’s warbler there a few years ago but it’s a four mile round trip slog across the shingle. I’ve learned from locals that the trick, if the timing works out, is to do the walk at low tide because it’s so much easier to walk on the wet sand rather than the shingle.

On arrival I had a good idea where the bird was from my bird alert service and set out along the beach. I meet another birder who was sea bird watching and politely asked him if I was heading in the right direction. His helpful reply was “I have no idea” –yea sure. Why some birders have to be so unfriendly I simply don’t understand – it’s a hobby not warfare guys!! 

Isabelline Wheatear

I found a group of birders who were watching a flock of snow buntings on the dunes, a year tick for me, and they were much more helpful pointing me in the right direction. Some one-mile down the beach from the car park there were 30 or so birders, obviously watching the bird. I met a chap who I’ve seen at a couple of recent twitches and he got me on the bird. It was feeding continuous and quite mobile but, with a little patience in came ridiculously close to the assembled admirers. It literately walked by our feet and carried on its merry way completely oblivious to our presence. A “gentleman” then arrived and berated everybody for being so close and picked on a lady birder with a scope who I’m very pleased to say gave as good as she got. While I absolutely agree with the sentiment that the birds welfare must always come first, this chap just didn’t get that the bird had started off quite some distant from us and had walked towards us – again there always seems to be someone intent on confrontation rather simply enjoying the wonders that mother nature has to offer.

Isabelline Wheatear

On the way back I had a more leisurely watch of the snow buntings and got back to my car at midday. While eating my sandwich I pondered what else to do with the remaining 4 hours or so of daylight. On checking RBA I saw that an Eastern Yellow Wagtail was still being reported down the coast in Suffolk. My sat nav said that the bird was located some 60 miles away and the journey would take 80 minutes. Knowing that the sat nav was always optimistic about journey times on the roads in Norfolk and Suffolk I allowed 2 hours for the drive and duly arrived at the beach car park in Dunwich just after 14:00. I fed the map reference from RBA into OS locate which showed me that I was in for another 2 mile slog along yet more shingle. Oh well this was a bird I have never seen anywhere so I hoped it would be worth it!

On arrival at the location there were ten or so birders looking in the direction of a fairly overgrown lagoon. They told me that the bird had been showing well a little while earlier but was now in some dense vegetation. I had glimpses of a wagtail moving around in the grass, which looked promising, but when it eventually came out into the open in was clearly the wrong bird. By this time the light was starting to go and I was thinking oh well at least I had great views of the Wheatear. A bird with an unfamiliar call then flew over our heads and a birder, who was well above my pay grade, shouted there it is! It landed some 20 meters in front of us on the shingle and gave us stunning views for a couple of minutes before flying off, presumably to roost, with two other yellow wagtails. 

Eastern Yellow Wagtail

I started the walk back to the car a decidedly tired but very happy chappy with two new UK ticks in my pocket, not bad for so late in the autumn!