Summary of Birding in Norfork, Cambridge, Rutland etc 22 – 28th March 2013

Summary of Birding in Norfolk, Cambridge, Rutland etc 22 – 28th March 2013

Our eight-day holiday, mixing visiting friends with as much birding as we could fit in en route, took us first to the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust site at Welney summarised here which was, disappointingly, as flooded as it had been last year. With few birds on view the highlights were probably the Avocets.

Next we had our two-day guided birding tour of the Brecks led by Stuart White. On day one despite the snow blizzard we still managed to get some good birding done and the highlights were the Black Bellied Dipper on the River Thet and magnificent views of Otters. Nice additions to our year list were Woodlark and Marsh Tit and we also had a great view of a large flock of Redwing who were actually singing !

The second day the snow abated but it was still extremely cold. We were taken to some the same places we had been the previous day but this time we had views of two Black-Bellied Dippers not one – perhaps the first time two have been seen together in the UK!  A great life tick was several views of Goshawk and we also added Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and Fieldfare as year ticks. The close views of a dead Woodcock were very interesting if a bit morbid.

The following day at RSPB Minsmere we had great views of two pairs of Marsh Harriers and fantastically close views of a Water Rail, I also had the pleasure of a life tick of Caspian Gull, the certainty that it was a real one and not just a “confused” Herring Gull was assured by an accompanying fifteen minute talk by a Gull id expert on the identifying features and taxonomy of Caspian Gulls. Additionally nice views of a Green Woodpecker made for a great visit to an iconic birding site which has lots to offer even on a wintry day before Spring has sprung.

Our visit to Halesworth gave us the year tick of Barn Owl and although our trip to RSPB Lakenheath Fen was a little lacking in sightings, at least we had a good walk and had more views of Marsh Harriers.

The following day at Rutland Water Nature Reserve we went to the Egleton Centre and the Lyndon Visitor Centre; and whilst the former was again largely too muddy to get to many of the hides, the latter gave us really good views of the female Osprey in Manton Bay – the first of the Ospreys there to return from Africa for our summer – if that ever comes because we still seem to be waiting for spring and the weather throughout and to the end of the month featured record low temperatures for the time of year.

All in all we managed to do some good birding despite it not being an ideal time of year for it and bearing in mind the cold temperatures. I had added Goshawk and Caspian Gull to my life list for the UK making a total of 201 species. The year list for 2013 which stood at 96 before we left ended at 111 species. Now we can look forward to Spring migrants and perhaps another trip to Norfolk or Cambridgeshire again later in the year.

  Summary of Bird Sightings 22nd – 28th March 2013