England 01.Nov.2011

The last day I went out birding with Ed was for me probably the best. Not due to that we got to see many rare birds, but because I have been bitten by the gull-bug. I tried for as long as I could to stay away from falling in love with these winged problem-ID's, but I am now stuck with them. The best bird for me this day was without doubt the Mediterranean Gulls (Svartehavsmåke) at Great Yarmouth. Thirty-or-so birds were just waiting for us to feed them with bread from a local shop. To get to see all three age-groups of these were also nice, given the fact that it is not a common bird in Norway. And after having spent some time with them I have to admit that it is among the prettiest gulls I know.
Also a location that stood out was Minismere. To be able to walk around in the Heather-covered hills and look at Dartford Warblers (Vinsanger), with a short walk to the seafront and the reedbeds, made a really nice end to the day. Long-tailed Tits (Stjertmeis) of the Brittish subspecies made nice balls of fluff to look at, and the Kingfisher (Isfugl) that did not want to move from its perch was a very welcome sight. Marsh Harriers (Sivhauk) and A single Hen Harrier (Myrhauk) gave great views, and it was also nice to get to hear and briefly see the Marsh Tit (Løvmeis) again.

The trips around to different birding-locations with Ed really was worth the time it took, nad I am very grateful that he bothered to go birding with a guy who is used to watching birds on the open tundra, and in icy fiords.

I can also mention in this post that I photographed two cr-ringed Mediterranean Gulls at Great Yarmouth, which both had originally been ringed in Belgium, but had been present at Great Yarmouth for several years. I am still waiting from the ringing-details from the Stonechat from the last blog-post, and from a Herring Gull.

Mediterranean Gull / Svartehavsmåke, 1cy

Mediterranean Gull / Svartehavsmåke, 1 cy

Mediterranean Gull / Svartehavsmåke, 2 cy

Mediterranean Gull / Svartehavsmåke, 2 cy

Mediterranean Gull / Svartehavsmåke, adult

 

Mediterranean Gull / Svartehavsmåke, adult

Mediterranean Gull / Svartehavsmåke, adult

Herring Gull / Gråmåke, 3/4 cy, ssp. argenteus

Purple Sandpiper / Fjæreplytt

Starling / Stær

Ruddy Turnstone / Steinvender

Kingfisher / Isfugl

Long-tailed Tit / Stjertmeis

Long-tailed Tit / Stjertmeis

Dartford Warbler / Vinsanger

England 31.Oct.2011

A slightly wet and grey day in England is nothing that I was not expecting, but it did make the birding rather slow. But no matter how the weather was, Ed and I got to see quite a few birds that I find quite nice.

Ed is Ed Parnell, a guy who I guided around Longyearbyen when he was up here last summer, and who offered to show me around in the UK when I was there at some point. And due to the fact that he lives near Norwich, and since my girlfriends family lives in Norwich, it was a great opportunity to take him up on his offer. So we ended up spending two very nice days birding in Norfolk and Suffolk.

This first day we went north from Norwich, and visited wonderful birding-sites. Amongst them were Cley, which I find to be one of the best birding-sites I have seen so far. Beraded Reedling (Skjeggmeis) was a new species in the UK for me, and there were lots of other nice birds around as well. The bird that we had the most fun with was probably the Cetti's Warbler (Cettisanger), since I have never actually managed to see one, only heard, we tried to get around one to see it. It must have looked rather strange to other people when two grown men were walking around a bush with no apparent reason. And off course the bird was not seen by any of us.

Probably the best bird for most birders this day wa the Cattle Egret (Kuhegre) that we saw at approximately a kilometre distance in some coastal pastures.

Stonechat / Svartstrupe

Pintail male / Stjertand hann

Dark-bellied Brent Goose / Ringgås, mørkbuket/ssp. bernicla

England 29.0ct.2011

After we came back from the Andaman Islands, we spent a week together with my girlfriends family in England. And since I am not to sure about driving on teh "wrong" side of the road, I was kind of restricted to where I could go birdwatching. But since we were spending a weekend in Suffolk I thought that I at least had a little chance of getting some birding out of it. We stayed in the middle of the country-side, and it was a perfect place to go birdwatching for birds of farmland. Pheasants (Fasan) were everywhere, and I managed to spook out a litter of Red-legged Partridge (Rødhøne) wich I have not seen before in the UK. Large flocks of Wood Pigeons (Ringdue), smaller flocks of Collared Doves (Tyrkerdue) and singles of Stock Dove (Skogdue) were nice, and gave more pleasing than the large flocks of Rooks (Kornkråke) that were on "every" field. A couple of Fallow Deer (Dåhjort) came running by at a few meters distance after they got spooked by a man walking his dog, and a Rabbit (Kanin) tried to hide as well as it could in the three centimetre long grass. The trip was finnished in the beautiful light of teh setting sun showering a few Wood Pigeons sat in a tree just outside the house we stayed in.

Fallow Deer / Dåhjort

Wood Pigeon / Ringdue