Expectation grew through to the end of the week, the winds were easterly in origin, swirling off from northern Scandanavia and onto Shetland, the Northern Isles were coming alive with Sibes - passerines from Siberia. Thursday evening pub talk focused on what might be, Mark Peck was planning to pull a Bluetail out of the nets at Wicken, I hoped I could wangle a few hours at the coast. In the end I had a full day pass - I was eager to see waves of migrants arriving.
There was a bit of debate about whether Norfolk would be the best place for an intensive days search for migrant birds on the move. Lincolnshire and Suffolk were mooted but our lack of detailed knowledge of the potential sites led us to familiar turf. Mark Hawkes and I arrived dawnish at Wells in a moderate South-Easterly breeze with low cloud and drizzle. It was evident birds were arriving, Song Thrushes ticking almost everywhere, Brambling wheezed and passed over low. We set out slow, seeing birds in most areas we looked. A tit flock in the Dell proved hard to grill- birds appearing a dissappearing quickly. Thrushes rolled over the leaf litter and a Redstart and Lesser Whitethroat occupied the corner birches.
The seemingly resident Red-backed Shrike sat out along the fenceline bushes for a while, but it didn't show again. We continued to check each area thoroughly, a Pied Flycatcher zipped about and a Hawfinch flew over. It was mid morning by the time we reached Lady Anne's Drive and we'd barely seen another birder. I grabbed a coffee and Ben and Rich turned the corner, we compared notes - we were missing sprytes, they'd found 3. It didn't take long to catch up with one though and the next tit flock held one, they tumbled into our laps after that with at least 6 birds west of the drive. We separated out and while enjoying the Cattle Egret flock feeding between the handsome Belted Angus we got a phone call telling us of an Olive-backed Pipit heading our way. We had a good look around where it had dropped in, finding a Spotted Flycatcher for our troubles. A bit later a yell went up telling us of the OBP again, this time overhead, with 2 Meadow Pipits, I saw these but could do nothing with them. This was not to be the last of frustrating pipitry.
We reconvened with Green & Dale on the edge of the bomb crater and headed out onto the dunes. The predicted afternoon wave of arrivals started overhead with Redwings, Larks and Finches pulsing from the sky. A couple of fenceline Whinchat, bushtop Redstarts, flyover Lapland Buntings and an uncooperative Ring Ouzel gave flavour - I was looking for this when I got a shout from the others. I got onto a pipit flying towards me which gave several arresting "tzeeep" calls. We followed it down and moved, with a plan, towards the trees it had landed near, up again and over the dune. Two birders had joined us and were checking "sounds like OBP right" there was some consensus forming. With some height we watched as it flew and landed on a bush. All scopes swung on to it and it looked good, from the front, for an Olive-backed Pipit - orange wash to the chest, strong marks across the breast and a clear white spot and dark spot in the ear coverts. It dropped to the ground and weaved between short tussocks, in this view it all fell apart - the bird had a streaky brown mantle. A Tree Pipit. We were really dissappointed, felt a bit robbed and perhaps a little silly for getting carried away. It wasn't just us though as an OBP was reported in the same area later in the day and there were several reports from the woods during the day.
As we meandered, around a tad forlorn, a Barred Warbler popped up in front of a departing birder. We got some brief but good views as it bombed between bushes, a bit if a beast, all told. We carried on to Gun Hill admiring washed out Chiffs and a luminous young Willow Warbler, a Short-eared Owl rose from a dune hollow and away. In the creek between us and Scolt Head Island a couple of female type Goosander loafed.
Our walk back was speedier than our laboured searching on the way out, it was late and there was not a lot of daylight left. We heard a couple more sprytes in the trees and enjoyed a peachy, newly arrived Brambling.
Nearing the Dell we stopped to investigate a reasonable roost of Song Thrushes in a single tangle over hung by a mid size sycamore, a whirr of movement zipped up into a branch and I whipped my bins on to it to see the lovely eye rings and cutesy open face of Red-breasted Flycatcher. Mark had seen it fly up but not got a view, I called it and it melted away, surely to roost. Aching legs were soothed some by quayside Fish and Chips, Lilt and Vimto. It was a belter of a day all told but no biggie, although we missed Arctic Warbler and a Raddes Warbler seen during the day. The greatest surprise where how few other birders we saw given the weather - 6 aside ourselves. I now run my birding days past my fifteen year old self as a reality check - Red-backed Shrike, Barred Warbler, Red-breasted Flycatcher, 6 Yellow-brows, Lap Bunts, Pied Fly, 6 Redstarts, Hawfinch, Cattle Egret, Great White Egret, Short-eared Owl and lots of birds on the move - I could barely dream of days like that back in 1990.
