Blimey, where does the time go! Can’t believe it was March the last time i scrawled on this blog! Cant even remember what birds Ive seen recently! Just come back from a weekend at the in-laws at Torquay and spent Saturday birding with the same lads i went to Norfolk with for the White-crowned Sparrow. Had a great day with Pied Flycatchers and Wood Warblers at Yarner Woods and superb male Redstarts at Challacombe Farm. Also had my first Swifts of the year too! Ended the day on 164 species seen so far this year and the weather was superb too. Unfortunately i’ve now got Sinusitis which should keep me off work for a few days!!

Had a great day filming with Gordon Buchanan and crew from the Springwatch team today! The weather held out and we had great views of the Cattle Egrets at Treganhoe Farm, near Sancreed. The programme will be screened at the end of May, so keep an eye out for my ugly mug!!

There has been a White-crowned Sparrow at Cley, Norfolk for over a month now. It is a very rare bird from North America and is only the fourth record for the UK.

The Sparrow had been niggling away at me for some time. I really had to make the effort and go and see it but that meant taking a day off work and involved a long and tiring drive with no sleep for 36 hours! So be it!…………………

I arranged the trip with four other birders from Devon and Cornwall and by 11.30pm on Saturday 1st March, after picking them up at different locations, we were all aboard and on the M5 north headed for North Norfolk. We made good time and arrived on the Norfolk border at 04.10hrs and at our destination in Cley at 05.15hrs. A few of the group who had the back seat had already managed a few hours sleep and were now wide awake waiting for first light and listening for owls! This didnt bode well for my cat-nap!

By 06.30hrs we were all out of the warm car and kitted out in warm clothing waiting for the Sparrow to show. At 07.30hrs it did. Well worth the wait and the long drive. It showed down to 3-4 feet but only for two or three minutes then disappeared from sight. (it wasn’t seen again that day until 2.30pm!)

The rest of the day was spent birding on the coast. We visited Kelling Heath in search of an elusive Great grey Shrike. It was too elusive and didnt show to us but we were consoled with views of Dartford Warbler, Yellowhammers and a stunning male Marsh Harrier.

Salthouse Beach was our next port of call where we had a close encounter with a flock of Snow and Lapland Buntings and then on to the Norfolk WT reserve at Cley (rhymes with eye not hay). Here we saw Shorelark, Bearded Tit and Marsh harrier to name a few. A quick stop at Holkham to scan the geese produced Black Brant (the American version of Brent Goose) and an adult Ross’s Goose and Egyptian geese with hundreds of Pink footed Geese.

Our final hours in Norfolk were spent at the RSPB’s flagship reserve at Titchwell watching the likes of Ruff, Black-tailed Godwit, Spotted Redshank and of course Avocet. Two male Bramblings were a nice suprise on the feeding station and after a quick drink and bite to eat we were heading home.

Two Grey Partridge and a buzzard en-route back to Cornwall saw us reach 103 species seen in the day. The weather was sunny albeit a bit windy and the traffic was kind, we finally arrived back in Cornwall at 10pm, a full 24hrs since we left. A great day was had by all but we did agree that if we did it again we would stay overnight in a hotel!

The group (from L to R) Chris, Jyothi, Simon and Henry. (I took the photo!)

On Saturday 1st March i called up to see the ladies at St Ives Coastguard Watchpoint for a chat and a cuppa. It was a beautiful sunny day and was nice to escape the busy town centre. My first Fulmar of the year drifted west and one of the ladies alerted me to a brown bird flying towards us. As it got closer i realised it was a Stone Curlew! Usually confined to thier breeding areas in Norfolk and Suffolk, i’ve no idea where this one came from. It flew west around Mann Head and out of sight. A new bird for my Cornwall List.

A weekend at the Mother-in-laws in Devon sounded like just the excuse i needed to see the 1st winter drake King Eider that was present off Appledore near Bideford. A serious accident on the A30 occured just as i approached Bodmin (I later found out that a motorcyclist had sadly been killed) so i had to detour up onto the A39 Atlantic Highway. An hour and a half later i was at Northam Burrows Country Park watching a cracking King Eider, the first i’ve seen and more significantly, my 400th species of bird that i’ve seen in the UK. It was too distant for any photos but i got some video images through my telescope. I celebrated with a cup of flask tea and a biscuit! (usually a cup of tea and a cigarette, but i stopped on New Years Eve!)

On the way back to the car i noticed a very strange bird. I want to tell you all about it but it will make a great quiz bird so will save that for a rainy day!

Sunday morning was spent with my Daughter and the animals of Occombe Farm, near Torquay. She loved the cows, pigs and chickens and was equally pleased with the Great Spotted Woodpecker, Long-tailed Tits, siskins and Bullfinch hanging from the feeders at close quarters from the bird hide along the nature trail. I was happy to year tick the siskin!

Oh, i also saw a Green woodpecker from the in-laws garden, which was another year-tick so all in all not a bad weekend.

Thought i would make the effort to get out and so spent the last hour before dusk on the estuary. Nice to see good numbers of Golden Plover and Lapwing. Two Greenshank were a welcome sight at the north end but i was suprised not to see any Med Gulls with the 200+ Black headed Gulls. There were lots of Lesser-black backed Gulls of varying ages out on the sands so i spent some time comparing them with the numerous Herring Gulls. Common Gulls were also present in small numbers. Waders were represented by 300+ Dunlin, 18 Ringed Plover, 30+ Redshank and numerous Oystercatcher and Curlew. I could’t see the resident Avocet, but he had been reported on Carnsew Pool earlier in the day. With the temperature plumetting fast i decided to head home for a brew!

Using the car as a hide always has it’s advantages! As these shots of a Little Egret this morning on the Hayle Estuary go to show!

Had quite a succesful evening in the garden today. Female Chaffinch, 3 House Sparrows, 2 Blue Tits (one of which was Number 49, a bird ringed last year), and a Wren. Highlight was a female Starling, very underated and a stunner in the hand!

Another stroll around my local patch in the warm sunshine was spoilt only by the irresponsible bloody dogwalkers again. I witnessed two owners watching their mutts fouling the area and not picking it up! It annoys me that i have to constantly watch where i’m treading or what my daughter is picking up.

Anyway, the Shelduck were still present (flying onto the main fenced pond as they were chased off the flashes by a sodding dog!) and a nice selection of gulls roosted and bathed on the water. Two Common Gulls were the highlight. No sign of the Little Gull and only a brief glimpse of the Water Pipit (as it too was flushed by off the lead canines). Other birds present were Grey Wagtail, Rock and Meadow Pipits, Raven and Stonchat to name a few.

A free Sunday morning is a rarity in its self, i’m sure those of you with small children will agree! I was picked up by my birding friend Mark at 8 am (Very tired as i didn’t finish work until 2.30 am!!) and we headed off to Stithians Reservoir. We were welcomed by cold fog! Not a good start, but we were soon cheered up with great views of the Bittern again. A cracking male Shoveler graced the same pond. The decision was made to head for Newlyn (and hopefully some sunshine!) to see the Iceland Gulls that had been there for a few weeks. A quick stop off at the northern end of the Reservoir produced the female Ring-necked Duck still on the cutoff. It showed well but the fog and poor light meant no photos.

Newlyn was a whole different ball game. The sun was out on a crisp and clear February morning. The Black-necked Grebe and three Great Northern Divers showed themselves at very close quarters, the former close enough for some video to be taken. Then a trawler entered the harbour, followed by a small flock of gulls that included a first winter Iceland Gull, our main quarry.

Iceland Gull (photo:R.Menari)

A superb morning with some great birds seen and back before midday for a Bacon sandwich and a cup of tea!!