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| Snow Bunting |
Since my last blog about my trip to see a very showy Hume’s Leaf Warbler in Somerset, see here, I’ve done a couple of twitches to fill some glaring gaps in my UK list and have also been to the Wyre Forest searching for Lesser-spotted Woodpeckers.
Richardson’s Cackling Goose, given a two star rarity rating in the Colin’s Birding bible, is a diminutive form of the Canada Goose which has been comparatively recently upgraded to full species status. It is actually one of five subspecies of Cackling Goose but it is the one that occurs as a regular winter vagrant to the UK. It basically looks like a shrunk Canada Goose that has been washed on the wrong hot cycle. It is noticeably smaller with a shorter stubby bill, short legs, and a marked steep forehead. It is a native of North America breeding in the Canadian and Alaskan Tundra before migrating south for the winter. Most UK vagrants are found in Scotland, often on the more remote islands, so when one was found in Norfolk the opportunity arose to both fill a gaping hole in my UK list and do a bit of general winter birding in Norfolk. There was the additional attraction that it was associating with a large flock of Pink-footed Geese rather than the more usual and similar Canada or Barnacle Geese where finding it would have been much more problematic.
After a long but uneventful drive to Norfolk, and one false start with the location, I found the concrete pad where the Cackling Goose could be viewed from in a field just outside of the pleasant village of Brancaster. There were perhaps twenty birders scoping a distant sugar beet field containing a large flock of Pink-footed Geese. I enquired if the bird was showing and, as is so often the case, a friendly birder offered to let me look through his scope and there was my latest UK tick done and dusted within a few minutes of arrival – it’s not always that easy!
The distance rendered photography pointless so I spent 30 minutes or so looking at the goose through my scope making sure I had acquainted myself with its defining features. To be honest, there is only so long you can stare at a goose in a field, so I decided to move onto the nearby Holkham beach to look for the flock of Shore Larks that normally spend the winter there. The walk from the Lady Anne’s Drive through the trees and along the beach is one of my very favourites, guaranteed to lift my spirits no matter what mood I start the walk in. The sea view and clear saline sea air are very rejuvenating and in such circumstances I often think back to my endless hours stuck in a stuffy work office dreaming of such freedom prior to my early retirement – I am a very lucky man! On this occasion the Shore Larks were not in their normal roped off area and, as I’ve seen them on many occasions before, I decided not to waste hours searching for them elsewhere but moved onto Titchwell RSPB to spend the rest of the day on some relaxing and very chilled out birding. The highlights of the afternoon were the flock of a hundred or so Golden Plovers feeding out on the fresh marsh and the Sanderlings feeding on the coastline. Sanderlings are one of my favourite waders, I can spend hours watching them rush after the receding waves looking for a tasty washed up snack before scampering off, always just in the nick of time, when the next wave comes crashing in.
A week or so ago I decided to make an early morning trip out to my almost local Wyre forest on my annual quest for Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, the much smaller and rarer cousin of our common garden bird, the Greater Spotted Woodpecker. I had picked a cold but very clear morning only 8 days earlier than I was fortunate to have wonderful views last year but to cut a long story short there was, rather worryingly, no sight or sound of the birds. I guess I could have been a little early but I would have expected them to be drumming by then. The problem with this trip is that there is very little else to see or do in the forest at this time of year so it felt like a rather wasted morning.
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| Lesser-spotted Woodpecker from last year |
Another bird I have narrowly missed on several occasions in the UK is the Surf Scoter, a rare one star vagrant north American sea duck. The drakes are really stunning birds and so, with two being regularly reported off the Welsh coast near Conwy, I set off on Wednesday morning this week hoping to see them.
We have one species of UK Scoter, the Common Scoter, which, as the name suggests, is a fairly common duck off our coast in winter. The Surf Scoter, dare I say it, is everything the rather drab looking black Common Scoter isn’t, i.e. a really spectacular looking bird. When seen well the drake is almost unmistakable with a massive and colourful triangular bill which gives its whole head an out of proportion heavy appearance. The drake is completely velvety black except for white patches on the forehead and the nape. Its swollen bill is patterned with white, red and yellow, and a black spot near the base. They breed in Northern Canada and Alaska and winter along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America.
When I arrived there were two or three other birders present and yet again a friendly birder showed me the Scoter through his scope.
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| Distant record shot of the two drake Surf Scoters |
Closely associating with the Surf Scoters were four scarce Velvet Scoters. I hadn’t seen one for several years but, just like busses, I’ve now seen two groups in a little over a month.
I spent a very relaxed couple of hours watching the Scoters and scoping the sea for other birds. There were three Red-throated divers fishing in the choppy water. In winter plumage they are mostly very pale and hence easy to distinguish from other wintering divers. This is one of those birds which totally transforms into stunning and colourful breeding plumage in the spring. Jeremy and I were very fortunate to see a pair displaying and calling on a Scottish loch a few years back. A pair of very smart Red-breasted Mergansers were alternating between fishing and displaying in a prelude to spring.
After a late sandwich lunch back at the car I drove the short distance to Kinmel Bay where a Snow Bunting and a Black Redstart were being reported. I had a quick look for the Redstart but couldn’t locate it before a birder returning from the Snow Bunting told me it was showing well a little way down the beach. Now occasionally you come across a bird that is ridiculously confiding, for example the Pied Wheatear I saw at Whitley Bay last November. This little Snow Bunting certainly fell into this category, so much so that I couldn’t find it at first, its winter plumage blending in so well with the sand and shingle. It was essentially un-flushable and when I eventually found it it was only a few meters away from me. I sat down on a low wall and watched it feeding in the nooks and crannies just a few meters away from me. On occasions it was so close that my 500mm lens could not focus on it. It seemed to be mainly feeding on small spiders that it was adeptly picking up from around the shingle. With the sun out and a full tummy it found a nice warm spot between the stones and went to sleep not more than a few feet in front of me. Its eyes would slowly shut and then suddenly open again while it cocked its head checking the sky for any danger before snoozing for a few moments again. I was somewhat reluctant to move as I thought I would scare it but I eventually had to as I had promised to bring a fish and chip supper home with me. I needn’t have worried as although it watched me get up it went straight back into napping mode as I moved off. I find wonderful natural experiences such as this so therapeutic, it’s so easy to relax and forget the scary issues in our trouble world when you are blessed with such captivating and enchanting company.
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