Nice stroll along the beach from Horsey to Waxham produced the Iceland Gull but no sign of the wide-ranging Glaucous. 2 male White Wags on Waxham Sands campsite as well as a pair of Black Redstarts.

Brecks today: Lesser Spots, Goshawks, Stone Curlews, Firecrests and finches galore. Highlight was watching @robertsjsmith.bsky.social get down and dirty with some Early Colletes.

Surprise Lesser Spotted Woodpecker at a murky Lynford Arboretum this morning. 3 Hawfinch in the paddocks and a fair few Crossbill about.

My local patch bird report, covering species seen at Whitlingham & Thorpe Marshes (Norwich, UK) during 2025 is now available to view/download here: drive.google.com/file/d/12pEC... A big thank you to everyone who has reported sightings and allowed their photos to be used in the report.

Blakeney and Stiffkey today with @robertsjsmith.bsky.social: 2 Tundra Bean and 4 Barnacle Geese with c2000 Pinks, Slavonian Grebe, Raven, Glossy Ibis, stonking male Hen Harrier and Merlin. Lovely old day.

Some nice birds between West Runton and Weybourne today: a revisit to the Eastern Black Redstart, Tundra Bean and Barnacle Geese amongst the masses of Pinks (including an orange-legged bird), and 53 Snow Bunting (52 at Spalla and 1 at West Runton).

Pleased the Eastern Black Redstart at Sheringham did the decent thing and hung about for a few days. Cracker of a bird.

Quality day around St Benet’s and Ludham with @robertsjsmith.bsky.social and K. Nixon. Black-throated Diver, 5 Bewick’s and 31 Whooper Swan, 45 Crane, 5 Cattle Egret, 2 White-fronted Goose, 2 SEO, Barn Owl, Beardies etc

A potter around Cromer gave me an opportunity for a 30 minute bins-only seawatch. Little Auk and 2 Purple Sands , moving west, the best whilst the pier shook beneath me.

Lots of birds on patch today. Big finch passage, Goldcrest everywhere, loadsa wildfowl moving offshore; it was hard to know where to look. Highlights: Short-eared Owl, Yellow-browed Warbler and this Eastern-type Lesser Whitethroat… a real chameleon of a bird.

After a Firecrest and Glossy Ibis at Stiffkey, it was a bit gripping to be beaten to a Radde’s Warbler at Warham Greens by a couple of minutes. An overdue Norfolk tick so no grumbling. Had a look at the Barred Warbler on the way home… showed much better than the pic suggests.

Unsurprisingly the sycamores on patch were largely devoid of birds this morning. Whooper Swan in off, 9 Rock Pipit W, 2 Grey Wag W, a few Siskin W and a few Chiffs and Blackcaps the best between West Runton and Sheringham.

Double shrike day at Winterton. Couple of Dartford Warbler and a bit of finchy vizmig the best of the rest.

11 juv Curlew Sandpiper into Arnold’s Marsh at lunchtime. Inadvertently photobombing my other half’s vid of the Cormorants. 2 more Curlew Sand, 2 Little Stint and a Wood Sand on Pats. 2 Spotshank, 3 Arctic Skua, food-passing Hobbys and my first 8 Pinks of the autumn the best of the rest at Cley.

West Runton-Sheringham this morning. This Western Bonelli’s Warbler caused an adrenaline rush. Freshly arrived and calling like mad from brambles before it showed well briefly in the hedgeline and then disappeared. Hats off to @markclements27.bsky.social for the photo, pleased he got there so fast!

Black Redstart’s have been thin on the ground in Norwich this year with no singing birds in the city centre as yet. As such, this male from my flat this evening, outside of their regular territories, was a bit of a surprise.

Wood Sandpiper, Whimbrel, 4 LRP, 6 Hobby, Cuckoo, booming Bittern and bugling Cranes at a very warm Buckenham Marshes this morning.

Little lunchtime stroll in the Brecks. Raven, Goshawk, Woodlark, Tree Pipit and healthy numbers of Willow Warbler. 2 Tree Sparrow and 2 Grey Partridge on the way home.

Quality week in the Cairngorms with @robertsjsmith.bsky.social and our other halves. Eagles, Grouse, breeding plumage Divers and Grebes, Crested Tits etc but it was probably the mammals that stole the show.

Cleared up a few bits on a glorious sunny day in North Norfolk with @robertsjsmith.bsky.social Pallid Harrier, Glossy Ibis and the Lesser White-fronts the headlines but you can’t beat a friendly Barn Owl.

A surprise Glaucous Gull at Waxham the highlight of a day in East Norfolk today. Showy Slav Grebe at Hickling, Purple Sand, Water Pipit, Eider, close fly-by Bittern, 12 Whoopers and 20 Cranes the best of the rest.

Two new species for me in Norwich in 2025 already: Red-necked Grebe and this cracker of a 1st-winter Caspian at Whitlingham this afternoon.

Couple of hours in the Broads this afternoon: 8 Whooper Swan, 3 Tundra Bean Goose, 7 Cattle Egret and 3 Short-eared Owl.

I've just finished putting together my local patch bird report, covering species seen at Whitlingham & Thorpe Marshes (Norwich) during 2024. It can be downloaded here: drive.google.com/file/d/13pLp... A big thank you to everyone who has reported sightings and allowed photos to be used in the report.

Quality day at Holkham: Green-winged Teal, Long-billed Dowitcher, 8 Shorelark, Raven, Merlin and good numbers of wildfowl and waders.

Ring-necked Parakeets in Norwich are not a good thing ecologically… but they are pretty smart.

Holkham Gap this morning: 8 Shorelark, 4 Snow Bunting west, 2+ Red-necked Grebe, 2 Velvet Scoter and Great Northern Diver the best.

Little time for birding at the mo. Flashback to November last year when the Waxwings were already arriving. Look like they stepped right out of Blitz Club.

October between West Runton and Sheringham was relatively quiet with few big days of migrants. That said Richard’s Pipit, 4 Yellow-browed Warbler, Scaup, Velvet Scoter, vizmig Bearded Tits and several Short-eared Owls in off kept me entertained.