Caspian dip at Breydon - again! - but Black Tern and decent waders.

It's a Yare Valley year tick thing, really: I've seen a dozen Caspian Terns over the years, but I would like to add this one to the list (which has somewhat faltered in recent weeks!) Accordingly when the bird appeared on early tweets, I checked with Linda before driving east.

As I turned right over the bridge (assuming the CT would be in front of the Rugby Club) I noticed a group of locals standing by the roadside scanning the Lumps. I turned back as soon as I could, parked at Asda and trotted up to the hide. A visitor from Cambridge was methodically checking the birds, but hadn't found the Caspian. Quite soon we were joined by Keith Dye, who told us the bird had flown across from the south side earlier in the morning, but hadn't been refound. It was such an excellent morning (although lots of heat haze!) we sat and watched for a couple of hours, during which time we enjoyed a Black Tern, over 1,000 Avocets and a flock of Golden Plover that was spooked by a Hobby. Perhaps 7 or 8 Whimbrel twittered backwards and forwards and, last knockings, Keith found a Grey Plover. No Caspian, but an enjoyable session.

Stone Curlews: back for a Breckland fill-up!

Following yesterday's dismal failure to connect with any Stonies at either of their traditional sites, I received an e-mail from Alan S, who confirmed that the birds at the Pig Farm were still present. Accordingly, Linda and I drove south west through the rush hour and roadworks, arriving on-site by 9.00am.

The Pigfields were absolutely barren, but in the distance we could see a couple of cars in a layby. Walking up, we found a trio of birders from NARVOS who were kind enough to point out the Stone Curlews - all 83 birds - on the other side of the road in a harvested cereal field.

Over the next hour Linda and I enjoyed fabulous views of these amazing birds at reasonable range (around 100 metres) both in flight and on the deck.

Back home via the coffee rooms and antique shops of Swaffham for an afternoon's gardening!

 

It's becoming a habit! Stone Curlew blank in the Brecks...

While chatting with the inestimable Sue Bryan at Titchwell last week, we mentioned that a few Stone Curlews were already gathering at the well-known site on Cavenham Heath: she informed us that much larger numbers were available at a pig unit in West Norfolk. Accordingly, Brian Norman and I made an early start and arrived on site by 8.00am. Despite diligent searching of the whole area we failed to locate a single bird! Assuming that they may have moved across to Cavenham, we decided to follow them: again, despite an hour's search we couldn't find a single Stonie! Have they all left already? Or have they not yet assembled?

Since it was still early we carried on east to Lackford: sadly, the result was the same - absolutely nothing of note presented itself. The only pictures I took from the hides were of a charming family of Moorhens, a low-passing KC-135 tanker on finals and some of the surprisingly large flock of Pochard. The walk back to the car added Green Woodpecker to the somewhat sparse daylist, while the most exciting (but un-snappable) item of the day was a very close Osprey Rotor Plane over the A11

A very early start: still no Caspian Tern, but a Reeve's Pheasant was nice!

Knowing that the Caspian had roosted at Breydon last night, I was up and away by 5.00am and on the north shore before dawn. As the light improved, I began to pick out waders on the mud behind the Lumps: Curlew, Ruff, Black-tailed Godwits and a number of Whimbrel: I attach photos just to show how poor the light was. There was an eight okta overcast, so the visibility was still bad when I left at 6.30 to meet the two Brians and Norman at the Fen. (I've since discovered that the Tern was over by the Rugby Club: I'd already scanned the distant birds from the hide and seen nothing, so - fatally - didn't drive round for a closer look....)

The approach road to Strumpshaw was crawling with newly-released young Partridges and Pheasants, so a gorgeous Reeve's wasn't totally unexpected: Brian and I established a two-car traffic jam while we took a few photos.

A somewhat gloomy Fen Hide produced the usual interesting birds: Little Egret, Kingfisher and Water Rail hung around for pictures, but two Green Sandpipers were fly-throughs.

Last stop was Tower Hide: the only new birds were a pair of distant Common Sandpipers.

Willow Emerald at Upton Fen and much more besides!

Willow Emeralds are pretty easy to find in the Yare Valley these days, but I'd never seen one at Upton Fen (Bure Valley) until today! I came across a copulating pair right at the end of a five mile circuit of this splendid reserve, having already encountered multiples of Emerald, Common Blue and Blue-tailed Damselfly.

All the expected species of Dragonfly were present in numbers: Migrant, Brown and Southern Hawkers, as well as Common and Ruddy Darter. Still no sign of any Common Hawkers: if anyone comes across one of these elusive odonatids in Norfolk, I'd love to hear about it - I've been trying to photograph one for six years now!

Other interest came in the form of a decent patch of the beautiful white-flowered Grass of Parnassus, several Chinese Water Deer and a hunting Hobby.