Another cracking if blowy day at Happisburgh from dawn: vis mig low key but todays highlights: male Ring Ouzel, 3 Yellow Wag, 15 Wheatear, 2 House Martin & c40 Swallow north, Whimbrel & Green Sand south, 1 Golden Plover (+ Painted Lady). Best of all PATCH GOLD with a sp Little Grebe on the sea!!

Apart from the Storks, Happisburgh was hard work: vis mig from dawn was restricted to 300 Common Gulls & 150 BH Gulls. Later 1 Swallow, 25 Sand Martin, 1 Redpoll, 2 Med Gulls, 1 Red Kite & 2 Peregrines. For those who laugh at me for these things - it was 15,000 steps and 7hrs after a 4.50am alarm!!

Cracking find today with 2 White Storks high south over Happisburgh at 10.10. Got the news out quickly and they were tracked through at least 12 sites in east Norfolk and north east Suffolk showing the value of local WhatsApp groups (sorry @russmalin.bsky.social was about 30 mins after I saw you ☹️)

Drake Mallard x Eider at Seahouses Harbour, Northumberland this evening 😍. I’ve wanted to see this bird for far too long (& even dipped it back 2023). A superb beast, completely overshadowing Leach’s Petrel, Great Grey Shrike, Tundra Bean Geese and an Osprey that flew over me on the A1 seen today

Over the years I’ve recorded some c80 ringed Black-headed Gulls in Thorpe/Whitlingham area but this bird is different in that almost all our birds summer in Eastern Europe along the ‘Baltic corridor’ whereas this bird was ringed in the summer near Bangor, North Wales 250miles west of us!

This single laurel tree in Eastbourne Place, Norwich might not look much but tonight it’s hosting a roost of c285 Pied Wagtails (I’m told Sall’s Gourmet Burgers are excellent too!)

This may look nothing like decent bird habitat but this abandoned building plot with buddleia and brambles adjacent to Norwich Bus Station is currently the roost site for 600 Pied Wagtails

If you see both wild Swans it’s always a good day in the Yare Valley - 2 Whoopers have been on Limpenhoe Marshes most of the winter but 3 Bewick’s Swans on Norton Marshes were seemingly new in to the area and gave the opportunity to enjoy the wonderful Reedham Ferry

I must admit my initial reaction when I realise the ring on a Black-headed Gull is local is disappointment but a timely reminder they too have fascinating stories and today’s reduced throng contained locally ringed birds that have summered in Finland and stopped over in the Netherlands in spring

A video of one of the redhead Goosanders where you can actually see why they’re called redheads before the light made everything monochrome…..

Well the cold weather did its job and delivered treacherous ice to Whitlingham but also 5 Goosander (2m 3f). Also today counts of 40 Pochard, 249 Tufted Duck, 52 Shoveler, 254 Gadwall, 60 Teal, 290 Coot, 2 GW Egret, 85+ Siskin, c3 Redpoll & 2 RN Parakeet

At Buckenham Marshes on 31st Dec I recorded 2 colour-ringed Black-tailed Godwits including this one. Ringed near Bergen, Norway in Sept 2025, this is the first sighting since and it’s only the second Norwegian ringed Blackwit to be recorded in the UK @wadertales.bsky.social

This photo and weather of -3 degrees, a biting NE wind & 5cm of snow, just screams Magpie roost count time right? The madness of patch birding! The Thorpe Marshes/Whitlingham roost held c259 Magpies on 3rd Jan, which turns out to be a record Norfolk count (prev 204 here in Nov 2016)

The return of my occasional series ‘photos of featureless urban concrete’ can only mean one thing….c1100 Pied Wagtails roosted at Sainsburys, Longwater Lane, Costessey tonight

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!