Whitlingham Country Park this am: 28 Pochard, 14 Shoveler, drake Wigeon, 45+ Teal, 2 GW Egret, 3 Little Egret, c30 Siskin & 1 full carpark by late morning. My friend says happy new year!

Buckenham Marshes beautiful today and full of birds: drake Green-winged Teal showing well amongst c1200 Teal, 66 Blackwits (including 2 colour-rings), 12 Ruff, 70 Golden Plover, c1470 Lapwing

Spread the word!

An early start for a morning of seawatching and stubble fields at Happisburgh they said……standing for 90mins in thick fog before giving up was the reality! (even a Snow Bunting overhead was invisible)

Lovely Saturday at RSPB Minsmere with the wintering Temminck’s Stint showing all morning at range, 3+ Water Pipit, 3 Bewicks Swans and c137 Pintail all from North Hide and a Firecrest by the hide itself. A3 prints of Temmincks photos available, the (im)perfect Christmas present for loved ones 😉

Whitlingham CP: 27 Pochard, 205 Tufties, 13 Shoveler, 21 Little Grebe, 2 GWE, Chiffchaff, c30 Siskin, Welsh-ringed BH Gull the best.

I appreciate this isn’t everyone’s idea of winter birding but it keeps me sane(-ish!) and can yield surprises - we’ve had ringed Black-headed Gulls from 9 countries east of us but birds from the west are proper rare in Norwich and this flock contained a bird ringed in Bangor, Gwynedd in 2024!

Happisburgh Cliffs 08.25-12.25: c982 large Auks, 144 Gannet, 111 RT Diver, 4 Eider, 16 Teal, 5 Kittiwake, 2 Bonxie. Snow Bunting south, Chiffchaff at Coastwatch. Freezing cold, I couldn’t stop shaking for the last hour so a visit to the pub was entirely on health grounds 🥶

This week I finally made the pilgrimage to Hampshire for the ship assisted Boat-tailed Grackle. A little cracker and full of character, hopefully it will entertain people through the winter

Sunday at Happisburgh was fun if unspectacular. Seawatch 07.50-10.50: best 96 Little Gull and 303 Kittis S, 3 Arctic Skua, Bonxie, 3 Goldeneye, RB Merg, 29 Eider & Sandwich Tern On land: yesterday's Pallas's, 1 Firecrest, 4 Goldcrest, 3 Chiffchaff, 1 Blackcap, 37 Golden Plover & Peregrine

Lovely to be back amongst the local Gulls for another winter - 8 ringed Black-headed Gulls at Thorpe St Andrew today - 6 locally ringed & regular returning Finnish & Polish birds. This feisty yellow-ringed Polish bird is a personal friend back 9 winters since I first saw it here

Happisburgh Cliffs vis.mig. 07.00-09.00 quiet: 78 Meadow Pipit, 56 Chaffinches & 30 Linnet the bulk plus 3 Brambling, Grey Wag and a crazy 17 LT Tits (v.high) south and c200 Starling & 1 Raven north. Zero movement offshore but at least the dawn light was worth the 05.30 alarm 😍

Just back from Birdquest tour of Namibia/Botswana led by Janos Olah. Superb with highlights Pel’s, 2 Slaty Egrets, Herero Chat, Souza’s Shrike, Arnot’s Chat, White-tailed Shrikes etc and good mammals too including Honey Badger, Aardwolf, Bat-eared Foxes, Cheetah, 10 Black Rhino & African Wildcat

Just back after Migfest 2025: brilliant vis mig, super tame Red-necked Phal, Bottle-nosed Dolphins, Osprey and more, engaging lectures and socialising 🍺, but above all a friendly, welcoming event superbly run. Thankyou so much to the team at @spurnbirdobs.bsky.social (next year we’ll win the quiz 😉)

2 Cattle Egrets flew in to roost on east side of island at Whitlingham CP tonight (with 3 Little Egrets). A Whitlingham tick for me, only taken 30 years! Usual excuses for the photography - distant, light poor, digi-scoping ability worse etc

Well, autumns here. Time of Yellow-brows, rarities, checking the forecast hourly and…..the start of Pied Wagtail roost counts. To start an occasional series of photos of random concrete abominations here’s Tesco’s, Harford Bridges, Norwich where 24 Pied Wagtail roosted on Sunday. You’re welcome! 😉

Happisburgh Obs: migrant Sedge Warbler, 6 Whitethroat, 6 Stonechat & GS Woodpecker (dispersing bird). Most notable sighting 11 Mute Swans north offshore. Also Painted Lady, Small Copper and sev Willow Emerald Damselflies in cop. Scant reward for 17,000 steps and no hoped for hirundine passage

Happisburgh today in the sunshine: first Pied Fly of the autumn (Blacksmiths Lane), Whimbrel, juv Marsh Harrier and trickle of Swallows north, Yellow Wag south, Lesser Whitethroat, 200+ Med Gulls, Hummingbird Hawkmoth. Lovely to be back!

For looks, the Caspian Tern was over-shadowed by this gorgeous adult Med Gull however!

A gentle trundle up to Cley on Sunday afternoon was well timed for the Caspian Tern that’s seemingly commuting to the Wensum Valley to fish

A fresh version of the Rare birds in Western Palearctic is live on tony-rinaud.shinyapps.io/WP_rare_birds/! New sightings are coming from Syria, Poland and Luxemburg. Many thanks for the respective members for their help! #Rstats #Shiny #RareBirds #WPBirding #MEGA @bio-data.bsky.social

Crazy scenes between Walcott and Happisburgh this week when the Sand Martin colony survey yielded c605 AONs. Last year we counted ‘just’ c265 AONs although birds move depending on the suitability of the dynamic cliffs

John Crossland, the owner of the carpark at Thornwick Cafe opened it free of charge yesterday for the Song Sparrow twitch when there is normally a fee. For everyone who came, please consider donating to John's JustGiving page supporting Alzheimer's Research UK. www.justgiving.com/fundraising/...

Still present 18.10 at least (& 2 Pale-bellied Brent) #spurnbirds

Black Brant & 1 Pale-bellied Brent Goose with c270 Dark-bellied Brent Geese - still Easington Straight, Kilnsea #spurnbirds

Purple Sandpiper & 2 Spoonbills - Beacon Ponds, Kilnsea #spurnbirds

Temmincks Stint still at Kilnsea wetlands 08.15 #spurnbirds

A very pleasant evening with the most intensely spotted Spotted Sandpiper I’ve seen in the UK showing amazingly well at Grafham Water dam (it had been elusive in waterside willows for 3hrs before we arrived!)

Early spring is a productive time for presumably north or east bound New World wildfowl in Norfolk but they often don’t stay long so a quick trip to Kelling Water meadows to see this drake American Wigeon this evening was too tempting….

A video of the aforementioned Hoopoe at Winterton (sorry for the shake, it was very windy!)

Finally Norfolk has got involved in the Hoopoe influx and this bird at Winterton Dunes is flighty but very obliging with care 😍

Happisburgh: patch gold with an Avocet on the beach briefly then south! Also fem Black Redstart, 9 Wheatear, 1 White Wagtail, 7 Redwing, 4 Whimbrel & 1 Barwit south, c200 Sand Martin, 2 Red Kite north. 2 ad/s Med Gulls & c35 Common Gulls north. Just 17,000 steps!

Whitlingham tonight: Reed Warbler, c25 Sand Martin, 9 Redwing, 2 Marsh Tit, 12 Cormorant AONs, 3+ Grey Heron AONs, 1 Pochard, 146 Tufted Duck (split Whit/Thorpe)

As spring starts to get going (& not a moment too soon!) moth catches are getting more varied - two of my favourites at this time are Brindled Beauty and Oak Beauty 😍

Whitlingham CP, Norwich late on: GW Egret & 7 Little Egrets roosted on the island, 179 Tufties (incl the pink billed male), 1 Pochard, 3 Shoveler, 5 Little Grebe. 97 Redwings to roost, Woodcock at dusk

A quality early spring day at Happisburgh Obs. Vis mig 05.55-08.25 gave 1060 Starling, 409 Chaffinch, 128 Siskin & 1 Sand Martin all south. Later a 2cy Glaucous Gull and a 2cy Caspian Gull drifted north & 4 Wheatear, 225 Golden Plover & White Wagtail. Well worth the 3.50am alarm & 17000 steps!

With the pause button apparently about to be pressed on spring in Norfolk, c310 Pied Wagtails still roosting at Sainsburys, Longwater Lane, Costessey tonight (1 less than attempted to, after a successful kill from the regular male Sparrowhawk!)

Caister-on-Sea dunes 06.30-08.30: a light southerly movement of Chaffinches and Siskins but most invisible in the clear skies. Woodlark and 2 Reed Buntings the highlights along with a beautiful sunrise. Worth the 4.45am alarm after 4hrs sleep? Debatable!

Finally nice to moth trap again with genuine optimism after a few weeks of the almost expected blanks here in south Norwich. First moth of the year was this Small Brindled Beauty which is new for the garden so the optimism wasn’t misplaced for once! (Pale Brindled Beauty for comparison)

Wow, simply wow!

Just had confirmation this yellow-ringed Mute Swan at Whitlingham CP on 29th Jan was Thetford ringed (it was still in Thetford on 6th Jan) - at 30+ miles the furthest movement of any of the Swans they’ve ringed there and therefore about exciting as Mute Swans get!

Today at Happisburgh was best described as monochrome! Speculative seawatch 08.00-11.30⁩: drake RB Merganser north, 1 Bonxie, 4 Kittiwake & 1 Fulmar all south. Also 202 RT Diver, 326 Gannet, 30 large Auks, 1 Eider. Surprisingly busy, unsurprisingly freezing cold!

I don't want to be on ghastly x anymore but it's where a lot of my sales come from so this post is a brazen request for shares to spread the word about my work on a kinder platform that isn't run by a dangerous megalomaniac! www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Sara... #selfemployedartist #ukgifthour #shopindie

If you’ve ever wondered what a very grumpy, doubtless freezing cold, Cattle Egret looks like at extreme range (50x scope zoom, 5x IPhone zoom) when taken by a poor photographer in the glare…..wonder no more! (Opposite Wheatfen NR today with Belted Galloway cattle)

Whitlingham CP: redhead Goosander, drake Goldeneye, drake Tuftie x Pochard, 17+ Shoveler, 1 Wigeon, 20+ Pochard, 2 GW Egret. Not the place to be at the moment if you don’t like crowds!

c200 Pied Wagtails arrived to roost at Sainsburys, Longwater Lane, Norwich despite the continual attention of my nemesis, this tame male Sparrowhawk (Iphone photo). Love that birding can take you to such contrasting places on consecutive days!

For anyone who may need these over Xmas…just in case

Without a deluge of options Happisburgh Cliffs 08.50-11.50: 1 GN Diver south, 1 Fulmar north (plus 185 RT Diver, 57 large Auks, 26 Gannet, 19 Common Scoter, 40 Wigeon, 2 DB Brent Goose)

Sometimes good to be reminded how beautiful some of the lesser known buildings in Norwich are 😍 particularly when you are doing your biennial Feral Pigeon population count 😍😍

Our AGM will be on Friday 24th January and will be followed by the next of our Winter talks - Stuart Newson on the BTO Acoustic Pipeline. Stuart's enthusiasm for bioacoustics makes this one not to miss! @btobirds.bsky.social