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.
A week after not seeing a great deal at Santon Downham, I returned. The previous day I had taken my girls to Brandon Country Park via the Goshawks where they happily watched a film while I happily watched 3 Goshawks. Good view of a brown young bird overhead which tussled with a Sparrowhawk and Buzzard a bit later a cracking male cruised across the woodland. These birds were up and down all morning and we certainly got our money's worth. Ben had seen the Lesser 'peckers earlier that morning and we arranged to go again next day. They didn't disappoint and along with a ridiculously confiding Otter, several catch-ups with the Parrot Crossbills and a return visit for more Gos action al made for a memorable morning.
I hadn't been home long when I was drawn swiftly from my cup of tea and stalling on starting garden chores as a drake Ring-necked Duck had been found in the Ely10 on the Washes at Chain Corner. Always great birds, it showed well, diving constantly quite away from most other Aythyas, I was on borrowed time so after half an hour returned home at the end of a very fulfilling weeks off work.
After the Norfolk trip the family headed northwards to York for a couple of days with my folks. Two stunning, frosty mornings were spent with my Dad at Yorkshire Arboretum at Castle Howard where Hawfinches were in abundance. Feeding on seed scattered into the leaf litter beneath assorted clusters of trees, these finches allowed prolonged viewing. The first morning we visited the frozen lake first where Goosander and Goldeneye were the best of the wildfowl packed into the small area of water remaining free of ice.
At the Arboretum dog walkers and volunteers stocking the bird feeders led to dispersal of the finches into several flocks which made a count hard, I estimated 80+ Hawfinch and enjoyed lots of good views but the light was becoming hazy and none of the birds that showed closely stayed for long.
The next morning we arrived earlier and I counted 108 Hawfinch on the ground and then a flock of 40 flew over and up into the tall trees along the approach road. I have seen large flocks of Hawfinch before in Spain and Morocco but this experience was exceptional and unlikely to be repeated given the unprecedented influx this winter. A few Brambling were dotted amongst the other finches including a male in almost summer finery. A couple of Hawfinch came near and stayed and stayed to be enjoyed in detail. A fantastic treat.
Albatros is moored up on Wells quayside and turned out to be a funky place for an overnight stay during a winter birding trip with great birding pals. It was the re-convening of a Cambridgeshire Bird Race team of many moons ago as Jono Leadley travelled down from the northlands to join me, Mark Hawkes and big bad Ben Green for a few days out in Norfolk. Saturday was drizzly and grim to start and got progressively damper during the day. We started optimistically around Santon Warren but failed to connect with Parrot Crossbills, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker or any Otters. We did have some excellent views of several Water Rail along the riverside which were a delight.
Our optimism continued unabated as we took lunch at a Goshawk spot, it was never going to happen. As the drizzle turned to rain we moved to Great Massingham where we did see some of the Hawfinches that have been feeding in the churchyard Yews. Heading to the coast we stumbled upon a big flock of Pink-feet and following some group reflections upon our search images for Tundra Bean Goose and possible short cuts when scanning big flocks of pinks, Jono aced some bright orange legs. The rest of the features quickly snapped into place once we had all pinpointed the bird amongst the masses. The rain teemed down and curtains of water were drawn across the fields, this was not fair weather birding.
We continued with birding from the car and drove down to the quayside at Thornham where we watched a posse of Twite buzz around and watched a few of these beguiling finches , "yellow nebbed linte" as they're called in Caithness, more closely as they fed on saltmarsh seed heads. Onwards through the cold and gloom to look for a Hooded Crow reported around Choseley. We found this bedraggled and wet enough to look black in all the wrong places suggesting a hybrid, pictures of the bird over following days revealed a better suite of plumage for a Hoodie. This was our last birding of the day before boarding the Albatros settling into our cabins and then heading out for some well earned beers and food.
Next morning dawned bright, we had an unfortunate but swiftly changed flat tyre and headed out to Holkham Gap where we had a lovely quarter of an hour with 9 Shore Larks, who were happy to move closer and closer towards us. They (and we) were not so happy when some folk with big lenses arrived who were only too happy to move closer and closer towards the birds which sent them skittish and away across the marsh. We left, as they continued in pursuit and we made our feelings clear and known.
After a really hearty cooked breakfast back aboard the Albatros we pottered along the coast to Kelling where we couldn't find a Redpoll never mind anything starting to look like any of the Arctic Redpolls that have been here. We cut our losses and went to Letheringsett with seeing Arctic Redpolls still our aim. We did have more luck here with views of one of the Arctic's but not for long enough to really drink in, or even photograph. With the sun up and a breeze we decided that Goshawks might fancy some display and headed back to the Brecks. By the time we got their the clouds had drawn in and drizzle threatened. I saw a Gos clipping the skyline and a couple of Buzzards, Red Kite and a Peregrine kept the interest up. A repeat walk around Santon Warren did not live up to our hopes but did mark my resolve to return on a pristine morning to give myself half a chance of seeing Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers. We were home late afternoon, not exactly tea and medals but we'd had some good birding in fits and starts and enjoyed a great catch-up.
In the noughties I lived in Walthamstow for a couple of years before heading to the fens. I came up to Cambridgeshire quite a bit but my patch was Walthamstow Reservoirs. I never loved the place but it did allow a space to follow the seasons and get out birding nearby. We still visit regularly as the in-laws are still in the stow and todays visit allowed me a chance to pop out and have a look for the Little Bunting that has taken up residence. I was quite shocked at the change of visiting arrangements, the place was heaving with a large car park and visitor centre directing folk around the reservoirs. In my day it was a coded padlock and use of the anglers car park and portacabin. There was a crowd waiting for the bunting to show and after a half hour or so the bird popped up into the bushy tangle and then flew to a nearby tree before heading back down into the weedy waste ground. I had some very nice but brief views but following this showing the entire gathering dispersed, I was much relieved and the following hour the bird flew up to perches on 4 more occasions. I had some great views, never longer than a minute and frequently ticking anxiously with wing flicks ready to fly at any given moment.
definitely not this one
nor this one
there we go
I have enjoyed Black Terns, Osprey, Turnstone, Red-necked Grebe against Canary Wharf skyline back in the day.
Snazzy visitor centre - beware, the site is crawling with hipsters of varying ages getting their nature fix - you know, in the wild.
The sewage farm at Ely has provided some interseting Chiffchaffs over the last few winters- it's almost suspiciously consistent in turning up pale grey-buff birds that contrast with the dingy olive collybita. Last weekend's bird was no less compelling- Dunc's first response was to compare it to a Booted warbler. There was no umming and arring about the question of when olive becomes brown, or when yellow becomes buff- this bird was brown and buffy white. Although distant, other features were just as obvious. The bold supercilium and pale cheeks, the fine pale wingbar and dark bill and legs.
I recorded my impression of the bird in this rough sketch below, with a collybita for comparison.
The weather has been fairly unpleasant, and it wasn't until Thursday that i returned for a proper look for the bird again. The morning sun had already disappeared by the time I got there, and after a few minutes scanning the bushes in the compound, I was beginning to think that the brisk wind was forcing the warblers to stick to the shelter of the underbrush. Remembering that in the past I'd encountered Chiffchaffs in the brambles just outside the sewage farm compound, across the railway line- I thought it was worth a quick look. A passing fellow asked what i was looking for, and almost before I'd got the words "possible siberian" out, a pale flash flitted to the top of the bramble thicket. It moved quickly and was soon lost, only to re-emerge further along the railway embankment. The light was grey and I only managed a few shots before the first spattering of rain started falling, but the results are, I think, quite convincing. Little details like the white eye-ring and a milky-lemon tint to the wing feather edging add to the evidence that supports this bird being Siberian- but it didn't call, and I wonder if, as Dunc mentioned, diagnoses can be made certainly without sonographic confirmation. If this bird isn't a Sibe- they can't be done on sight alone.
