I visited Sheringham to do some sea-watching on the 2nd. In 90 minutes I counted seven Arctic skuas, two great skuas, a Manx shearwater and a little gull. I had just missed a sooty shearwater and, if I had arrived an hour earlier, I could have seen a Balearic shearwater as well. A purple sandpiper had been reported on the rocks here earlier in the week, but it was nowhere to be seen. Following a busy schedule I had the 15th earmarked for a visit to RSPB Bempton Cliffs to look for the black-browed albatross and for a nearby potential 'lifer', a green warbler, at nearby Buckton. However, with no reports of either by 8.00am I decided not to risk the trip (just as well, as the green warbler was not seen again) and instead headed for RSPB Frampton Marsh, where I saw the long-staying black stork (a UK first for me). With time on my hands I drove round The Wash to end up at RSPB Titchwell Marsh where, after much searching, I found a less than confiding pectoral sandpiper on the freshmarsh, as well as at least three little stints. There has been a big influx of both these wader species on passage in England this autumn (by 'big' I mean 100s of little stints and 20+ pectoral sandpipers). Another notable sighting was of 29 spoonbills at Frampton.
'Record Shot' of the Black Stork, RSPB Frampton Marsh, 15 September
Little Stint, RSPB Titchwell Marsh, 15 September
Pectoral Sandpiper, RSPB Titchwell Marsh, 15 September
Normally, my RSPB Local Group runs coach trips to bird reserves nearly every month between September and June. However, Covid-19 has changed all this, so the 19 September trip saw a small group of us heading for RSPB Lakenheath Fen in our cars. We were lucky with the weather (it stayed dry, but I had to drive home through torrential rain) and, although the reserve was generally quiet (most of the summer visitors had left and the winter visitors were yet to arrive), we did see and hear lots of bearded tits as well as a couple of hobbies hunting the numerous dragonflies, at least one great white egret and a marsh tit. A kingfisher posed for us just outside the fen hide (image) and water rails, chiffchaffs and Cettis warblers were very vocal.
Kingfisher, RSPB Lakenheath Fen, 19 September
Migrant Hawker Dragonfly in Flight, RSPB Lakenheath Fen, 19 September
I couldn't resist going back to Titchwell on the afternoon of the 24th, after reports of a juvenile rosy (formerly rose-coloured) starling roosting with common starlings on the freshmarsh. The journey took an hour longer than usual (memo to myself: never drive anywhere on a Friday afternoon unless you absolutely have to), so I didn't have time to even go down to the beach. However, the starling did appear at around 6.40pm and was kind enough to sit in front of the massed horde of several hundred starlings for long enough for me to take a few 'record shots' in the twilight. I felt a little sorry for the bird, which was being harassed by the other starlings who clearly didn't want it amongst their ranks. The pectoral sandpiper was still present (although I didn't see it) and a little stint was probing around in front of us, whilst several skeins of early-arriving pink-footed geese passed overhead, perhaps heading to Holkham to roost.
Pink-footed Geese in Flight, RSPB Titchwell Marsh, 24 September
'Record Shot' of a Juvenile Rosy Starling (Pale Bird) with starlings, RSPB Titchwell Marsh, 24 September
My final sortie in September, to see a drake American wigeon in 'eclipse' plumage near Bluntisham, north of Cambridge on the 29th, ended in failure as I couldn't find the bird in amongst hundreds of European wigeon after an hour of searching. However, it could have been sleeping on one of the islands with its head tucked in (as many wigeon were), in which case I would have had no chance of finding it. I will return!
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