#sp: alauda arvensis

[petec9099]

On Sunday Keith and I went with Bexley RSPB group to Cley in North Norfolk. It was a welcome return for me as we had been there only a few weeks earlier during our trip to Norfolk, but the weather could not have been more different. In fact, it could not have been more different than the day before. On Saturday as we had visited local reserves it had been hot and sunny, but as day dawned Sunday it was overcast and wet, and so it continued all day.

But we did get some birdwatching, between dodging rain. We first went to Snipes Marsh, in search of Jack Snipe that had been reported there.

It wasn’t long before we were watching one in the reeds, although it proved difficult to get anything like a good picture of it due to the vegetation. This is the best one, taken by Keith.

On the Cley Marsh, there were a very large number of Eurasian Wigeon plus smaller numbers of Mallard, Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail and Gadwall. There was also a large flock of Black-tailed Godwits but surprisingly few other wading birds.

Eurasian Wigeon (top) and Black-tailed Godwit (lower left and right)

Greylag Goose [sp] (Anser anser) Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata) Gadwall [sp] (Mareca strepera) Eurasian Wigeon (Mareca penelope) Mallard [sp] (Anas platyrhynchos) Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) Eurasian Teal (Anas crecca) Little Grebe [sp] (Tachybaptus ruficollis) Grey Heron [sp] (Ardea cinerea) Little Egret [sp] (Egretta garzetta) Great Cormorant [sp] (Phalacrocorax carbo) Water Rail [sp] (Rallus aquaticus) Common Moorhen [sp] (Gallinula chloropus) Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) Eurasian Curlew [sp] (Numenius arquata) Black-tailed Godwit [sp] (Limosa limosa) Jack Snipe (Lymnocryptes minimus) Common Snipe [sp] (Gallinago gallinago) Common Redshank [sp] (Tringa totanus) Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) Mew Gull [sp] (Larus canus) Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) European Herring Gull [sp] (Larus argentatus) Lesser Black-backed Gull [sp] (Larus fuscus) Rock Dove [sp] (Columba livia) Stock Dove [sp] (Columba oenas) Common Wood Pigeon [sp] (Columba palumbus) Eurasian Collared Dove [sp] (Streptopelia decaocto) Western Jackdaw [sp] (Coloeus monedula) Rook [sp] (Corvus frugilegus) Carrion Crow [sp] (Corvus corone) Eurasian Blue Tit [sp] (Cyanistes caeruleus) Great Tit [sp] (Parus major) Eurasian Skylark [sp] (Alauda arvensis) Long-tailed Tit [sp] (Aegithalos caudatus) Eurasian Wren [sp] (Troglodytes troglodytes) Common Starling [sp] (Sturnus vulgaris) Common Blackbird [sp] (Turdus merula) European Robin [sp] (Erithacus rubecula) House Sparrow [sp] (Passer domesticus) Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis) Common Chaffinch [sp] (Fringilla coelebs)

  Naturelog:14th October On Sunday Keith and I went with Bexley RSPB group to Cley in North Norfolk. It was a welcome return for me as we had been there only a few weeks earlier during our trip to Norfolk, but the weather could not have been more different.

[petec9099]

On the way back from a trip to Peterborough, Sue and I stopped off at Welney Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust for lunch and a couple of hours bird watching. From the main hide, we could see that the number of Whooper Swans present had risen significantly since our last visit back in mid-September with arrivals from the breeding grounds in the artic.

  Also present were good numbers of duck species which also make their home for the winter on the washes of Cambridgeshire and Norfolk

Eurasian Wigeon

Common Pochard

Northern Shoveler (m & f)

  Pintail (m)

The star birds of the day, although only seen briefly in flight were a group of 3 Common Cranes, which flew into the far side of the reserve before disappearing into the vegetation and out of sight. These once very rare birds are now increasing in numbers due to re-introduction programmes in Somerset and East Anglia.

Common Crane (Photographed Slimbridge Dec 2013)

Despite being the first weekend in November, we also saw a red admiral and a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly and a pair of Common Darter Dragonflies, witness to how mild the autumn has been.

Red-legged Partridge [sp] (Alectoris rufa) Common Pheasant [sp] (Phasianus colchicus) Greylag Goose [sp] (Anser anser) Canada Goose [sp] (Branta canadensis) Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus) Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) Gadwall (Anas strepera) Eurasian Wigeon (Anas penelope) Mallard [sp] (Anas platyrhynchos) Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata) Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) Eurasian Teal [sp] (Anas crecca) Common Pochard (Aythya ferina) Grey Heron [sp] (Ardea cinerea) Little Egret [sp] (Egretta garzetta) Great Cormorant [sp] (Phalacrocorax carbo) Red Kite [sp] (Milvus milvus) Western Marsh Harrier [sp] (Circus aeruginosus) Common Buzzard [sp] (Buteo buteo) Common Kestrel [sp] (Falco tinnunculus) Common Moorhen [sp] (Gallinula chloropus) Eurasian Coot [sp] (Fulica atra) Common Crane [sp] (Grus grus) Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) Common Snipe [sp] (Gallinago gallinago) Black-tailed Godwit [sp] (Limosa limosa) Dunlin [sp] (Calidris alpina) Ruff (Philomachus pugnax) Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) Lesser Black-backed Gull [sp] (Larus fuscus) Common Wood Pigeon [sp] (Columba palumbus) Eurasian Collared Dove [sp] (Streptopelia decaocto) European Green Woodpecker [sp] (Picus viridis) Eurasian Magpie [sp] (Pica pica) Carrion Crow [sp] (Corvus corone) Great Tit [sp] (Parus major) Eurasian Blue Tit [sp] (Cyanistes caeruleus) Eurasian Skylark [sp] (Alauda arvensis) Common Starling [sp] (Sturnus vulgaris) House Sparrow [sp] (Passer domesticus) Eurasian Tree Sparrow [sp] (Passer montanus) Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba yarrellii) European Goldfinch [sp] (Carduelis carduelis)

Naturelog: 5th November On the way back from a trip to Peterborough, Sue and I stopped off at Welney Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust for lunch and a couple of hours bird watching.