Bittern

There's nothing better than having a good bird close to home and over the years the Bitterns wintering at Fishers Green have given me real value for the time invested in the hide waiting to see if they show. This year a lone bird has arrived on 17th January and I've spent a few hours since watching it or on occasion not seeing it but today was a good day. I arrived at 7.45 to find the bird out in the open and watched it just sitting there until 8.30 when a couple of other birders arrived and with the door opening it ran for cover. After about half an hour it returned to the open area and eventually started to hunt fish although I have to say its not the greatest as it misses most fish it darts into the water for in fact I hadn't seen it make a catch until today and even then it only got one fish. I do enjoy sitting waiting for the bird to show and then watching how it goes about its business. Saw a Black Swan today which is a first for the valley even if it isn't yet tickable (not considered self sustaining yet!)

Here's a few of the 110 pictures I took today 

Some days the bird doesn't show at all, some days you can see it hidden in the reeds but it doesn't come out and then there's days like today when it just goes about it's business forgetting people are looking at it a few feet away in the hide.

Norfolk day out

With my family stuff needing me to be around locally we don't get the days out we used to so with the full day to myself I asked Dad and Jim if they'd like to visit the Norfolk coast and nail down some year ticks for 2026 and of course they agreed as they too had a rare weekend without commitments.

I had a Barn Owl from the car on the way up and we stopped at Hunstanton first to year tick Fulmar at this regular haunt of theirs. I found a Red Breasted Merganser too for the Jims who needed it for a tick.

Next stop was Titchwell and walking out along the meadow trail we found the Tawny Owl roosting in an Ivy covered tree before headed back to the main track where the Jims picked up several ticks for their trouble whilst I just got the single tick as a small flock of Pinkies flew over. At the beach we scanned the sea and I picked up three Long-tailed Ducks drifting along with four RB Mergs, Two drake Eider flew east and on the tide line I added Sanderling and Turnstone to my year list. 

Brent Geese

Sanderling

Sanderling

Sanderling

Tawny Owl

A stop at Brancaster Staithe added Barwits whilst the Jims picked up Grey Plover too. We moved on to Morston Quay were to our surprise we very quickly found the Glossy Ibis on the marsh in front of the car park and a Greenshank gave us another tick as it walked along the creek here. 

Oystercatcher

Curlew

Turnstone

Turnstone

Turnstone

Bar-tailed Godwit

Bar-tailed Godwits

Greenshank

We drove along the beach road at Salthouse in search of Twite bur found only Snow Bunting here although with a shoot in progress on the farmland behind the A149 we scanned the fields to find dozens of Red-legged Partridge for another year tick. By now we were just six miles from Sheringham so I asked Jim if he'd like to see the Eastern Black Redstart and of course he did so we made that our next move. The bird was found as expected on the buildings behind the esplanade and we enjoyed watching it for about half an hour before calling it a day and heading home.

Eastern Black Redstart

I saw 94 species on this trip and added 13 year ticks for my trouble.

Year list now 148

Great -tailed Grackle at Holbury in Hampshire

 

Killdeer in Ripley Hampshire

Whilst sitting in the hide at Fishers Green yesterday news came through that a Killdeer had been found at Ripley farm reservoir in Hampshire. I contemplated going yesterday but the weather was awful and I didn't fancy the drive back in the rain so I put in hold seeing that the rain was forecast to be in all night and that just might keep the bird there.

I set off with Dad and Jimmy at 5.45 am and arrived in the layby at 8am to find one free space. The walk out to the reservoir was almost a mile but we made light work of it and on arrival found about fifty people had beaten us there but the news was positive and we quickly had the Killdeer in our scopes for our first new bird of 2026. There were a few Lapwing present and some Wigeon on the water. A Little Gull was reported in the large group of Black-headed Gull after we left.

Killdeer twitch 

Scoping the bird on the far bank

On the bank above the Mallards (honest)

A further crop to help with the record shot 

Just behind the left hand Shelduck

With the target achieved we headed off through the New Forest to see if we could find the Great tailed Grackle in Holbury some 22 miles away. As we pulled into the road the bird favours we found it from the car sitting on a garden fence so we parked up and enjoyed half an hour with the bird showing ridiculously well and calling from various higher posts. The bird isn't accepted as a true wild vagrant to the UK so isn't "tickable". It's thought that as the bird doesn't migrate it's likely it hitched a ride on a ship to get here and wouldn't get here naturally of it's own accord. I'm pleased we took the time to see it though whilst only 22 miles from it.

Great-tailed Grackle

A lovely morning down in Hampshire with Dad and Jim

Life list now 453

Year list now 135 ( plus the Grackle 😉)