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| Shore Lark |
If truth be told, it’s been a funny old autumn for birding. While there have been a few absolutely stonking megas, what my friend Jeremy calls the supporting cast, i.e. good scarce birds, have been by and large absent.
I left home just after 05:30 and commenced the drive eastwards to Norfolk which normally takes about three and a half hours. Leaving early normally gets me around the M42 before it turns into a car park around Birmingham. All was going to plan as I got to Peterborough and I stopped for a coffee and to pick up a roll for lunch. After Peterborough I ran into very slow moving traffic which eventually ground to a halt at a series of roadworks. I queued for half an hour to get through a very short single lane section controlled by traffic lights where a small and unattended hole had been dug. Shortly after that I was again queuing for over 30 minutes to get around some “improvements” to a roundabout. While static my mind started to wander and I pondered what the real advantage of these improvements were. I noted that the roundabout works were scheduled to take a rather unbelievable two years. If I assume the average queue time to be 20 minutes, the time saved when the works are complete to be 2 minutes and no change in the volume of traffic, I concluded that it would take 20 years before the time lost was balanced by the time gained! I wonder if those who plan these things every think like that – I suspect not. They have a budget for roadworks and prioritise the supposed bottlenecks without considering the pain/reward calculation.
The result was that it took me just under five hours to get to Holkham but I resolved to put the hassle of my journey firmly behind me and enjoy my days birding. I parked at Lady Anne’s drive and scanned the fields either side which are good for winter wildfowl. There were flocks of feral Greylags, Brent and Canada Geese but no Pinkfoots. The absence of the latter was not too surprising as the leave this area first thing in the morning to graze on what is presumably richer pasture elsewhere and return on mass in the evening. The warden told me that upwards of 20,000 had arrived in the preceding two weeks. There were also large flocks of Widgeon mainly out of eclipse and resplendent in their shiny new plumage. A sole Curlew probed the ground with is extraordinarily long downcurved bill looking for substance. In the distance I saw a Great White Egret in a field with cattle. It’s a funny old thing that its presence a few short years ago would have resulted in a major twitch but in recent years they have colonised the UK to such an extent that its now pretty much possible to see one whenever you want.
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| Widgeon |
I walked down the boardwalk through the conifer tress and took in the panoramic view of the beach which I always find uplifting. The roped off area where the Shore Larks feed is a 20 minute walk eastwards along the sand. I met other birders coming back who confirmed that four Shore Larks were indeed feeding in this area. There was a tide line right up close to the conifers a long way from where the sea currently was. I’m not sure whether this was the result of an usually high tide that had flooded the grass area or if it was caused by a storm , but, very sadly, there were a number of dead seal pups on this very high tide line. I assume the flood had washed them right up the bank and away from their mothers.
The Shore Larks were immediately obvious feeding in the roped off sandy grass area when I arrived. They would peck away furiously for a few moments and then twist their heads skywards to look for threats. They really were quite stunning in the late autumn sun and I spent some time chilling out and just watching and enjoying them through my scope
The Shore Lark, or Horned lark as it is known in North America, is one of my favourite small birds. Most larks, again if truth be told, are rather dull brown jobs. The Shore Lark is the exception being mainly brown-grey above and pale below, with a striking black and yellow face pattern. Except for the central feathers, the tail is mostly black, contrasting with the paler body. The summer male has black "horns" giving it its North American name. The literature lists a large number of subspecies and no doubt, as seems to be the modern way, they will be split into a number of separate species in the future.
After maybe an hour a Kestrel flew over and the Larks rather foolhardily flew up and harassed it. After this excitement they settled down again to feed but almost immediately something else flushed them and they flew off landing somewhere in the sand dunes. So I made my way back to the car, had my lunch while looking out at the wildfowl and then made my way eastwards toward West Runcorn.
The drive to West Runcorn took 40 minutes or so. Being my first visit to this location, it took me a little while to orientate myself and find the birds location in a ploughed field just off of the cliff top. There were two other birders present and one quickly got me onto the target bird. It was quite distant at the back of the field in amongst a large flock of Skylarks. The field was quite undulating and the birds would momentarily disappear behind a ridge before popping up again. A combination of distance, wind vibrating the scope and the camouflaging effect of the field made staying on the Short-toed Lark quite challenging. It was easiest to differentiate it from the Sky Larks by its slightly smaller size, paler appearance and, most noticeable, the lack of any streaking on its breast. They are widespread in Sothern Europe, north-west Africa, and across the Palearctic from Turkey and southern Russia to Mongolia. They are rare vagrants to the UK with typically between one and four reports per year. I have seen one before in the UK at Shakleford last autumn and here is a picture of that bird.
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| Short-toed Lark |
At one point a Kestrel hovered absolutely motionless at eye level behind me on the cliff, its head a frozen study in concentration, never moving in the slightest as it watched the cliff for prey.
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| Kestrel |
The forecast for mid to late afternoon had seemed pleasant enough, sunny intervals and occasional light rain. This was pretty accurate except there was no sign of the sun and the rain started to come down in stair rods! It was time to make a soggy exit stage left and head home from my Lark filled day.
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