The first vagrant wheatear to turn up in Norfolk was the Isabelline. Often stated as a ‘birders bird’ this is a straight standing mainly concolourous wheatear with a pot belly, short tail and dark lores. The tail itself shows a black distal half with no ‘T bar’ like our Northern Wheatear. The alula feather at the bend of the wing often appears dark and isolated. This one on Burnham Over Dunes was a classic. The first in Norfolk for many years.
One of the Wheatears in Norfolk this October was the Desert Wheatear. Occupying the same dunes as the Isabelline this female was the forerunner of a male at Cley. I always feel that Desert Wheatears are the closing curtain on the autumn migration period. Once these late migrants arrive on our shores it’s more or less the end of bird migration until next spring. However; … I have a feeling there may just be a sting in the tail this year.
After a patient wait the other week a shouty Yellow browed Warbler came into the near side of the apple tree at Burnham Overy. A rather quieter bird at Salthouse was equally elusive but in surprisingly little cover. It seemed to frequently employ a cloak of invisibility.
Notice the long supercillium and the prominent median crown stripe on the lower Salthouse bird. Not completely out of kilter with what you would expect for a yellow browed …but still something that made me look twice!
It’s shaping up into a very good Autumn!
Despite it being quite grey and sometimes wet I felt quite privileged yesterday. We were watching and photographing the three Red breasted Flycatchers at Burnham Overy. They showed better than I have every seen this species previously. Here’s a little indulgence of photographs.
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As we looked out of the window this morning the weather vane had moved around to the north east. It screamed rarities.
A quick call to the South of Northrepps; a good 10 yard walk from the car and we were greeted by the coal tit like drawl of a Yellow browed Warbler – untypically elusive this Siberian traveller did not show again. We moved on.
Given the weather Blakeney Point seemed like a good idea. It was dismissed as some of us didn’t like the sound of the 4 mile walk on shingle. After we changed destinations several times Gun Hill further west on the coast won the vote. We were looking for a Pechora Pipit – for no other reason than it seemed like a good target to have in mind.
Having worked hard in the garden yesterday I was aching and it seemed appropriate to leave my heavy camera behind. As we dressed for the weather at the back of the car it could have been one of my companions or a voice in my head that said “you’ll regret not taking your camera”. Do birds know when you haven’t got your camera?
Walking along the sea wall it was Tim who first saw a pale warbler skip along the path side vegetation. It looked interesting. Twenty minutes and several brief sightings later it still looked interesting but we were no further forward with what it was. It changed genus several times before Booted Warbler was settled upon. It was decided to put the news out as a probable Booted Warbler … just in case we’d made a horrible blunder and misidentified some eastern race chiffchaff.
Leaving the warbler ranging over a 100m stretch of vegetation we went back to the car to have a warm drink … and to collect the camera before returning along the seawall. This was a little in vein as it never showed as well as it did originally but a nice bird to see never-the-less.
Letter From Norfolk 