Coastal Birding Tours News

TO VIEW OUR FORTHCOMING TOURS & IDENTIFICATION WORKSHOPS FOR THIS MONTH, PLEASE CLICK ON THE ‘OUR TOURS’ PAGE & HAVE A BROWSE.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE www.coastalbirdingtours.co.uk

May 5th, 2010

The Coastal Park can provide an interesting walk at present, with plenty of birds around to see.

Apart from the usual regular species such as Linnet, Chaffinch & other finches plus Meadow Pipit & Skylark, there are plenty of newly arrived warblers to check on. Good views can often be obtained and it provides a great chance to appreciate and recognise each species calls and songs.
Differentiate between Common and Lesser Whitethroat, plus Sedge and Reed Warbler. The Sedge Warbler is quite abundant down here, whilst its cousin the Reed Warbler has now caught up in numbers. They tend to arrive a little later from their wintering grounds and are slightly more difficult to see as they keep more hidden in their reedbed habitat. Read the rest of this entry »

Wednesday 28th April, 2010.

I arrived at the RSPB reserve at Snettisham at 05.30. Another early start, but high tide was about 07.00 and although not a big tide, I was interested to see how many waders would still be roosting on the gravel pits and to have a check for any passage/spring Read the rest of this entry »

Sunday April 25th.

An early start this morning with my old mate Paul, saw us begin our tour of Titchwell Marsh at around 6.15am.
Paul had brought all his camera gear to get some good shots in the early morning light. It was good to be here at this hour, especially as we had the whole reserve to ourselves!

The place was alive with birdsong and as we reached the west bank path, we were met by a chorus of various warblers. Sedge Warblers were singing away from the reedbeds and hidden amongst the vegetation a Cetti’s Warbler burst loudly into song. Read the rest of this entry »

Tuesday 6th April, 2010

A late evening check on my local birding patch whilst exercising the dog was in order tonight.
And it was worth a look as some more fresh warblers had just arrived from their wintering grounds.

Amongst a couple more Chiffchaffs, were two Willow Warblers in the scrub area of hawthorn & brambles just in from the sea wall. But a pair of Stonechats that had recently been in the area were noticeable by their absence.

It was only a short walk this evening and by the time I began my return to the car the light was starting to fade. Walking back through the scrub & areas of long grass, I thought I heard, although brief, the distinctive ‘reeling’ song of a Grasshopper Warbler. The Coastal Park is a good area for this species but I reckoned on it being probably a little early for one. I stopped for a couple of minutes to listen out, and then, no more than 20 yards away hidden amongst the vegetation I heard the ‘reeling’ song again. This time the Grasshopper Warbler sang properly for me to claim my earliest spring date yet for this elusive bird!

Five minutes further on, and the fluent grating and chattering song of a Sedge Warbler suddenly burst out from some dense cover. It was almost dark now, so unfortunately  there was no chance of seeing the bird.

It all seemed quite strange to be listening to warblers that had just returned from their long migration from Africa, when across the way a flock of Pink-footed Geese, that have spent the winter in the area, were coming in to roost on Ken Hill Marsh. This time of year really is a transition period between our wintering and summering birds.

Welcome to the Coastal Birding Tours website’s blog.

The website is fairly new and will be improved as the weeks progress. More and better photographs will be added to hopefully enhance the site further.

The blog is a general diary of trips and walks that we undertake, mainly to locations where Coastal Birding Tours visit. The posts give a brief description of trips and highlights the main species of birds that were seen. It’s an honest reflection on what customers can expect to observe on our trips.

So please enjoy the blog and feel free to leave any comments.

Regards,
Pete Chillingworth

April 3rd, 2010

For a couple of hours this afternoon I had a short trip down through the small woodland strip on Gipsy Lane and onto the raised embankment which leads to the beach between Titchwell and Brancaster in north Norfolk.

The woods produced their usual array of species including a lovely Bullfinch, a couple of Chiffchaffs and a male Blackcap singing away. This was the first Blackcap I’d heard this spring, but of course with many over wintering birds these days it’s hard to say if this was a ‘true’ returning spring migrant or not. Read the rest of this entry »

Tuesday 30th March, 2010

After a morning of prolonged showers of rain, I took a brief hour or so walk along the coastal dunes and scrub area that runs adjacent to Hunstanton golf course between Holme & Old Hunstanton.

The rain had finally stopped and when the sun finally showed it turned into a very mild spring afternoon.

The birds seemed to make the most of the sunshine as well with at least 8 Swallows moving above the dunes. All but 2 were heading in a westerly direction.

Amongst the many Meadow Pipits and Skylarks in the area, a couple of lovely Stonechats gave good views. The male birds always  look good in their colourful breeding plumage. A few Chiffchaffs were around, their distinctive songs can be heard a fair way off.

What surprised me the most though was the Northern Wheatears observed. I saw at least 13 different birds along the dunes and feeding on the short grassy areas. Both male and female birds were present but they weren’t hanging around. All the birds were seen as I walked towards Old Hunstanton, but on the return to the car walking through the same area no more than twenty or so minutes later, only 1 female could be found!
It’s really nice to see these classic early spring migrants. I always wonder where they finally end up, whether it’s in the UK or further north or east in mainland Europe.

Plenty of gulls were flying above the tideline, plus Oystercatchers and Redshanks with a few Knot feeding on the coastal pools. Further back towards Holme Dunes I noticed at least 5 Avocets and a single Little Egret feeding in the marshes.

To round off my short trip, I had good views overhead of 2 Common Buzzards circling and drifting west after being mobbed by a single, brave Carrion Crow!

I arrived home a short time later, and within five minutes it started raining again!

After visiting the Coastal Park on 17th March hoping for some early migrants, I didn’t have to wait too much longer to find some!

Whilst enjoying a short but unfortunately wet walk on Saturday afternoon (March 20th), I finally connected with my first Wheatears of the spring.

A couple of birds were present along the dry tideline at the very top of the beach. They kept active moving between the beach and adjacent marram grass.

Further along the coastal scrub, a pair of Stonechats had also recently just arrived. A male & female bird, the male looking stunning in his breeding plumage.

Also, although viewed from a distance, 500+ Pink-footed Geese were on the nearby Ken Hill Marsh.

Wednesday March 17th, 2010

With the wind swinging around to the south-west, I was being very optimistic about the possible arrival of an early spring migrant or two. So a couple of hours checking the coastal park whilst walking our cocker spaniel was in order!

On leaving the car park I checked the area of short-cropped grass that would normally hold a Wheatear or even a Read the rest of this entry »