A celebration of birding and natural history, generally within a 10 mile radius of Ely Cathedral, Cambridgeshire, UK.
It would be great if you wanted to share your Ely 10 birding news, experiences, photos, art and video through this blog. Please contact hairyfolkster@gmail.com with your post or to join the authorship, I'll get you on the list quicker than a fly over Alpine Swift.
In my late teens I remember a cracking May weekend in Norfolk with the York YOC group led by a dear old friend and local birding hero Harry Hulse, sadly departed many years ago now. The wind was easterly and the skies clear, a ploughed clifftop field at Happisburgh was full of Wagtails - Pied, White, Yellow, Blue-headed and Grey-headed. Accompanying this cosmopolitan Flavafest were 2 rosy chested Red-throated Pipits, it was a fantastic treat and I've seen nothing like it in the UK since.
Yellow Wagtails are the passerine version of the large white headed gull complex but for one reason or another the spiders web of complexities and riddles in their identification just don't do it for me - aside for spring males, on aesthetics alone. Chiffs, Gulls, Golden Plover and Redpolls, yes, but Canada Geese, Stonechats and Yellow Wags - show me them but I won't linger, someone else can collect their DNA. I'm sure if my patch were some eastern med fish ponds with shores teeming with flava then it might be different but until then....
The recent BB paper and subsequent enthusiasm for identifying Eastern Yellow Wagtails has somewhat passed me by so when the variant of Blue Headed Eastern Yellow Wagtail popped up on the news feeds for Norfolk I didn't think much about it, perhaps burying my head in the sand as I didn't really know they existed. The photo's looked nice though and it was a very distinctive bird. Following the Xmas festivities we usually head to the nearest coast for a family blow out if the cobwebs, often in Yorkshire. This year we stayed in Ely so popped over for fish and chips at Hunstanton and took an afternoon walk in the Harrier infested gloom to the beach at Titchwell, where we bumped into Ade Long again with Andrew and Ben Balmford. Fortuitously, the composting mound frequented by the Wagtail was en-route and it would have been churlish not to have a peek as it strutted atop it's chosen heap.
The solstice is the true midwinter and I got a couple of hours out to enjoy one of my favourite winter rituals - a Hen Harrier roost. The Wicken Fen roost is a joy in the gloaming and in some years there can be as many as seven joining the Marsh Harriers to find a nights rest as far away from the predation risk of Fox as possible. In the past there was a romance to ascending the creaking stairs of the thatched Tower Hide and peaking out across the sedge and reed.
The past couple of years, to reduce footfall along the soggy peat, the path to the Tower Hide has been closed and a temporary viewing platform has been constructed. This gives a great vista across the fen and being an open platform a sense of space (pic care of National Trust)
The Harriers came in early and after a brief survey of the area a beautiful, ghostly male Hen Harrier dropped into the reeds in front of the platform and, being a still evening, I was not surprised that it didn't take wing again. Later a ringtail put on a show but the light was failing, now thankfully to be strengthening daily from here on until midsummer. Ade Long provided chat, tales and plans of observatory trips to Cape Clear and beyond and as we reached the car park two Woodcock hurtled over us intent on finding a place to feed in the dark.
Returning from the Pallas's Warbler twitch the kids asked if I wanted to go to a hotel in Norfolk that night. I said "No" but it turned out Ange had all but booked us into The Feathers in Dersingham, so "Yes" it was.
Dropping the family at the visitor centre at Cley for a late lunch I ploughed on down the East Bank to the shingle protecting Arnold's Marsh from the inudation of the storming North Sea. What an iconic spot this is, a place of childhood dreaming. Jono tells a good tale - as teens we found a Broad-billed Sandpiper with a couple of Dunlin one May day, we had some kind of hamlety cigar to celebrate and an old boy appeared as if from nowhere to give us a light, he then dissappeared, just like that - a ghostly encounter with the guardian of the East Bank Richard Richardson !!
No cigars or ghostly goings on these days but still great birds. I had kept an eye on the lengthening residency of an Isabelline Wheatear that had arrived a week or two earlier. It was very confiding at times which added to the appeal. My first views were distant but within minutes it flew straight towards us an dropped in a short distance away. What a belter.
It proceeded to sit atop fence posts and cross beams allowing full enjoyment of it's finer features and movements.
The following morning I did one of my favourite things and walked out to the beach at Titchwell in the gloaming and then took a saunter back enjoying the reserve without having to dodge the crowds. The sea was mill pond still but there wasn't huge numbers of birds, 8 flambouyant drake Long-tailed Duck being the highlight. On the freshmarsh troops of Plover and Avocet looking glorious.
A female Kestrel surveyed the grassland and showed well.
After a hearty breakfast we pottered along the coast taking in roadside Glossy Ibis, Cattle Egret, Great White Egret and the second showy Rough-legged Buzzard of the fortnight. I also got to photograph a dazzling Starling in it's finest garb. Happy Days.
A very dull and dreary Saturday morning was brightened by the prospect of seeing Cambridgeshire's first living Pallas's Warbler. I remember vividly, back in the day - 1998, being sat in my car outside the mirror clad English Nature (as it was) offices in Peterborough waiting to pick my wife up after work and getting a pager message - Pallas's Warbler picked up dead at English Nature Offices, Peterborough - flown in to window. Close but no cigar. 21 years on and a result, an early start paying off with really good views of the gorgeous sprite before 8am at Paradise Nature Reserve, a charming tangle of willow and fen pond alongside the river in Cambridge. A dead battery in the SLR and some rubbish finger work, which meant I took a rubbish photo of branches at the start and finish of what looked like some reasonable phonescoped video, meant I left with only my memories. I saw Simon Stirrup after the initial sightings and hoped he'd get some photos of the bird to share but the sprite did a dissappearing act until the afternoon. However I have taken a cheeky snip of Neil Bramwells picture from the Cambridge Bird Club photos.
It'd be great if the bird winters, the habitat should certainly provide enough aphids until the frosts kick in. Another chance to spend some time with the bird would be much appreciated.
A beautiful sunday morning with all plans leading to a riverside cycle and pub lunch had to accommodate a local twitch when a photo of a juvenile Rough-legged Buzzard at Chain Corner was posted on the local What's App group. I was there in 15 minutes and after a check of suitable spots I found the very smart bird, which took a short flight back to the low hedge and allowed a fantastic 20 minutes of views. I'd been able to drink the bird in fully, my best ever views of one of my favourite raptors and was able to return within my hour window - some good going.
The previous week I'd taken a few hours out at Welney where, in the last warm hours of sunlight, Tree Sparrows were starting to nest build in the eaves of the visitor centre.
Out on the washes there were plenty of waders to enjoy with 1000's of Black'wit on the islands and Ruff, Redshank, Dunlin, Curlew and Snipe adding some variety. Herons were noteworthy as Cattle, Great White and Little Egrets were all present and a Bittern did a fly past before making a sprawling plunge into the reeds at Friends Hide. The last of the years Common Darters were making the most of the weak warmth but I couldn't find any Willow Emerald, which I have seen into November in recent years.
This years dalliance with the Northumbrian coast continued in late October. We stayed right on the coast at Cresswell at the southern end of Druridge Bay. With the coast, wetlands and scrub all in walking distance there was plenty to enjoy on the doorstep. A northerly aspect to the wind on arrival prompted a look at the sea which was jam packed with Re-throated Divers, a posse of Little Gulls were feeding offshore and a drake Long-tailed Duck sped north. On the beach an emaciated Redwing proved the North Sea can be a formidable barrier for even our most abundant arrivals.
Although the wind was turning towards the south I felt good about a dawn vigil at the point next day. It turned out to be a corker. As dawn broke Pink-footed Geese streamed southwards, totalling several thousand birds at sea. Auks were moving in huge numbers too, all northwards. I did minute counts through the watch never going lower than 120 per minute, a conservative minimum would be 10,800 passing in the hour and a half. Amidst this alcid blizzard a couple of northern bullets, Little Auks whizzing north were hoped for and enjoyed. Duck were on the move too with flocks of Wigeon, Teal and Scoter joined by Goldeneye, Mergansers Eider and Velvet Scoter. A Merlin came straight in off the sea, whilst a Peregrine harried Gannets further out. Even better a ringtail Hen Harrier also came in from far offshore and winged to make landfall in the bay. A couple of late Arctic Terns and Swallows flew over a Med Gull on the sea. There was so much going on I was full of birding bliss. I did tear myself away to check the pools and bushes but a Little Stint was the best I could muster.
I checked the sea the next morning to see if the auk movement was a daily spectacle, although there were still hundreds moving it was clear that the previous mornings movement had been "a thing" a re-orientation of birds displaced by the recent northerlies. Although the birds had slowed the sunrise was a spectacle and I was able to enjoy watching the waders and gulls assembled on the rocks, which included some smart young Meds and pristine Purple Sandpipers.
Later that day we headed up to Lindisfarne and Bamburgh. A large flock of Pale-bellied Brents fed amongst the waders out on the mudflats but there was not much else of note despite a good look around the village trees and shore, not too surprising in SW breeze. I headed back that way next morning to look for the returning Black Scoter at Goswick which was a lot of hard work, however the site was beautiful, a wild and desolate coast and there was an abundance of waders, gulls and geese, including a hundred strong gaggle of Barnacles, and a few good views of the North American vagrant.
The last morning of our trip I joined my dad to watch the sunrise, a striking arc of colours. We had to pack our cars and leave by 10 so I didn't check Cresswell Pool - a shame as I'll never know if the Long-billed Dowitcher found next morning had actually arrived a bit earlier.
Our potter back to York took in a visit to St Mary's Island and Whitley Bay where the family enjoyed rock pools, Seals, a cracking adult Med Gull and some showy Lapwing, one of the worlds best looking waders.
It was a fairly quiet Autumn, with no great falls of migrants. The few that did arrive appeared with little fanfare, struggling against an almost constant headwind from the Atlantic that kept the Norfolk coast free from the gawping crowds. On a visit to Stiffkey, the strong winds made for a fairly miserable and somewhat frustrating few hours. The wood at the campsite was damp and empty - until a flurry of Long Tailed Tits suddenly appeared, dragging with them two Yellow-Browed warblers and a buzzing of Goldcrests. Once the flock had moved on, I was left face to face with a pied Flycatcher that soon skulked off into the dense foliage of a thick bush.
The Rain poured.
When it ceased, I wandered along the coastal path. The walk was punctuated by Dunnocks and Linnets, but very little else. A Blackcap, then a Chiffchaff - but then at the whirligig, just as the mizzle started gaining strength again, a small pale brown warbler dashed up from under a gorse branch and was lost in the dense brambles. Booted Warbler! surely! There was absolutely no defining pattern or variation to the bird. No flash of white or glimmer of wing bar. Not grey enough for lesser Whitethroat - no green tones suggesting a typical phyllosc.
The rain poured.
The wind whipped up again, and I was forced to take shelter - there was no way the bird was going to reappear in the immediate future. The shower was over soon, and I hung around, hoping. maybe I should have had the patience to wait at this one patch of bramble until the bird emerged - but this was no balmy summer morning. There's only so long you can stare at leaves before going insane. So I wandered on, reaching garden Drove, where A Spotted Flycatcher showed itself, before it too shot off into more dense cover to escape the now cutting wind.
And that was it. Previous autumnal seasons have found me at the coast most weeks, but this year I have taken the soft option and sat in the dry, looking out the window onto my garden.
Fortunately, it's been a pretty good view. A violent rainstorm dropped two male Bramblings right onto the feeders, and a few days later a female arrived and hung around for a few days. Redwings are there- though they are being very secretive in the hedge - bullied by the Blackbirds and wary of the Sparrowhawk. Just a couple of days ago a Treecreeper turned up, and seems to have stayed.
The most prominent birds have been the Tits, with good numbers of Great and Blue Tits the result of a productive season this year - and with them a Coal Tit. It's not the first time Coal Tit has visited - but whereas they usually don't hang around, this one likes it here. I'm hoping it's the fact that I bought a hanging "tray" style feeder especially with it in mind - it seems to have taken to it with great relish. It doesn't have to fight for room, and flits back and forth all day, grabbing a sunflower heart and retreating to eat it - then back for another.
It's Swan Season again, and yesterday was the first dawn count, with a tour of the fens afterwards tracking down the various flocks as they feed. Most flocks were fairly small - up to a couple of hundred strong, and spread out from Pymoor to Southery. But as the afternoon began to fade, we came upon a huge gathering west of Littleport. Nearly 2000 birds across two fields, shepherded by the busy tractors as the land was worked. The wet weather has delayed farmwork, and as a result, the swans have arrived with the landscape in flux. Of course, the other effect of the rain can be seen on the wash itself. The water level is high, and the road is cut.
It is fitting, therefore, that thirteen "sea duck" blew in on Sunday. Common Scoter are at their most spectacular when in large numbers - and while thirteen is a good number for an inland site, one of the few highlights of this Autumn was the discovery of a big shoal just offshore at Burnham Ovary. As the waves lolled onshore on a mild morning, the duck busied themselves, diving and displaying as they drifted along the coast.
Well there's been plenty of galavanting away over the past months but I have been plodding away steadily at enjoying the homelands too. The siege of Cranes on the Washes peaked at well over 40 birds at Welney where Simon Stirrup took these lovely flight shots, they ranged up and down the Washes before moving North to the Nene.
In August, regular moth trapping in the garden confirmed the continued presence of White-spotted Pinion, national rarey and Elm specialist of the Fens and during one of many potters around Wicken Fen a Pied Flycatcher seemingly dropped out of the sky, landed atop the roof tiles of Dragonfly cottage, flicked it's tail and wings and continued southward. Hirundines flocked in the late summer sun, swirling around the willows like embers from a fire.
As autumn kicked in Redwings started with a nocturnal trickle from late September and poured in through mid October. Following an exhausting Ofsted inspection at work I opted for a lie in on Sat 5th Oct and didn't surface until after midday, I had seen the winds turn to the east but certainly wasn't expecting to hear the emphatic calls of a Yellow-browed Warbler coming from the garden. I grabbed the kitchen bins and caught the tail end of a tit flock moving through the oak and hawthorn. I put a bluetooth speaker on and played a Yellow-brow call on a loop to try and hold the flock and attract the bird, to no avail. Later in the afternoon I heard the sprite again near ghe village park but couldn't get eyes on the rascal. Nonetheless a fantastic bird to add to the garden list.
Next morning, the breeze still to the east but with rain falling steadily, I headed out to walk the length of Holkham Pines and out onto Burnham Overy Dunes. There were thrushes dropping out of the flocks overhead and within 5 minutes the first Yellow-brow showed itself. A couple of Ring Ouzel passed over loudly, due to the inclement weather I had the place to myself, aside from a sizeable fall of Yellow-brows and the arrival of all manner of passerines from the continent.
By the end of my 4 hr walk I had seen Sprites over 30 times, including two flocks of five birds, a conservative estimate of 12 individual birds for the morning, a fantastic experience. In addition 7 Cattle Egret and 3 GW Egret glowed like bleached spots against the murky green wash of tbe grazing meadows and 6 or more Ring Ouzels had made their presence known.
Completely sodden I headed home early afternoon and was thankful nothing rarer turned up to make me regret my decision to leave or to draw me back out into the rain.
In 2015 I missed the few Long-tailed Blues that battled across the channel and set up brief residence on the cliffs at Kingsdown in Kent. There have been annual sightings since and but as the neither the adult, eggs or pupa can survive the British winter the occurrence of this beautiful butterfly is reliant upon their strong migratory strategy.
2019 proved to see arrivals along the Sussex coast through August and as much egg laying was recorded I knew that this year I should be able to see a British bred Long-tailed Blue. This was going to involve a bit of a drive and I needed the weather. A pristine, fresh male was photographed in Wanstead and looking at the days ahead the blue skies of the weekend looked good for an emergence. I did an early run down to Brighton and by 9 o'clock I was scanning sparse clumps of everlasting sweetpea, the food plant of the caterpillars, across the grassland around Whitehawk mast.
I didn't take too long to get a flypast but it didn't linger, locating suntraps away from the easterly wind proved successful and a territorial battle saw two spiral high into the sky and then rocket back down to a sunny tangle, another was found then another. The emergence was happening and over the next 4 hours a small group of us watched up to 10 blues going about their frenetic business. When they did alight it was brief but they did show well and were in very good condition, their tiny filament tails shivering in the breeze.
Simon Stirrup, ace photographer around these parts, sent these belting photos of a Great Green Bush Cricket at Aldreth.
I have only seen one of the emerald beasts before, many summers ago at Marazion in Cornwall. I searched out the pics as I remember getting my little Lumix snappy camera down into the grass to get a Crickets eye view.
Staying on the Cricket front this Speckled Bush Cricket was brought to me by one of the children at school, not unusual but the first I've seen.
