Titchwell's Sightings February 2024 Sue Bryan

Titchwell’s February Sightings          29th February 2024           Sue Bryan

The days are short and dark, the weather is often cold and grumpy, and it’s easy to feel like winter will never end but February is a month of transitions, as the cold weather and short days begin to give way to the early signs of spring.

The month started with a couple of storms and what seemed like never-ending rain, causing some of our paths to disappear under water, which then turned into a squishy soup of mud to negotiate getting around the Welcome Hub and up to Patsy’s Pool. The work to repair the sluice and place the pipes in better positions continued apace, so that water levels in the different Freshmarsh compartments could be controlled more easily, benefitting the birds that stay to breed and use the islands in the Freshmarsh. By the end of the month the work was finished. Hooray! We now had many new islands suitable for breeding birds raising the total number of islands to 19. Lower water levels will also give a greater feeding area for the breeding birds as well as birds that just use the Freshmarsh for feeding on passage to their breeding grounds.

Car Park, Visitor Centre, Woodland and Picnic Area

The feeders at the back of the Visitor Centre have been kept well stocked this month which have produced sightings of the common woodland species that we would expect to see, at this time of year,either on them or feeding underneath them including: Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Robin, Dunnock, Wren and Great Spotted Woodpecker. But of course, we also like to see the scarcer species and the sightings have included Siskin on 6^th, 9^th, 24^th and 25^th, and Brambling on many dates. A Song Thrush singing delighted visitors on 1^st and 13^th.Out in the car park a Bullfinch was seen on two consecutive days on 12^th and 13^th. Goldcrest are often present in and around the woodland area but rarely reported as it was on 13^th. A Lesser Redpoll was seen on 25^th.

Brambling Photo Credit: Cliff Gilbert

Reedbed and Reedbed Pool

Marsh Harriers continue to use the reedbed for roosting. Twenty-eight birds were seen to come out of roost on 19^th. Cetti’s Warblers are beginning to be a little more vocal now with spring approaching and were recorded on 2^nd, 10^th and 12^th. Bearded Tit are not keen to show on cold, grey, windy days but were seen intermittently throughout the month. Pochard have taken a liking for the new larger Reedbed Pool and recorded from the middle of the month until the end with 42 counted on 28^th. A Sparrowhawk was seen flying through on 6^th. A Kingfisher was also seen here on 7^th. Water Pipits were recorded on 19^th and 22^nd.

Freshmarsh

Avocets have been present all month with numbers peaking at 62 on 21^st. Over 2000 Golden Plovers were counted on the Freshmarsh on 5^th. Water Pipits are popular birds to see for birders keeping a year list and were seen on several dates here up to 25^th. Mediterranean Gulls start to reappear in February and numbers grew as the month went on reaching a maximum of 77 birds counted on 27^th. Spoonbills are popular with our visitors, who like to see the birds sweeping their bills whilst feeding. Five birds were seen to roost on 10^th with 2 more seen on 28^th. Some other popular winter birds remained, and it was good to see 17 Pintail on 6^th. Brent Geese were counted on 10^th and totalled 150 birds. Three Common Snipe were present on 10^th.Other birds present throughout the month on the Freshmarsh included: Ringed Plover, Grey Plover, Black-tailed Godwit, Teal, Wigeon, Lapwing, Canada Geese and Dunlin. Ruff were seen on 1^st and 24^th. Dunlin on the Freshmarsh increased to 45 birds by 19^th. A Knot was reported on 19^th. Seventy-two Common Gulls were counted on 28^th.

Black-tailed Godwit Photo Credit: Cliff Gilbert

Volunteer Marsh

A Spotted Redshank was present on 4^th and a Greenshank on 13^th. A Kingfisher was noted here on 28^th.

Tidal Pool

Pintail were noted intermittently all month and a Spotted Redshank was reported between 1^st and 25^th. Rock Pipits were also noted at this spot intermittently all month too. A Kingfisher was reported here between 1^st and 10^th but has been seen at various locations around the reserve. A Water Rail was present on 9^th and 28^th. On 16^th, two Red-breasted Mergansers were seen here as well as a flock of 60+ Linnets. Curlew were noted on 19^th and 12 Black-tailed Godwit were counted here on 21^st. A Little Grebe was present on 21^st and a Goldeneye on 24^th and 28^th.

Beach and Sea

Red-throated Divers and Red-breasted Mergansers have been reported intermittently all month on the sea. On the 1^st Fulmar, Razorbill and Eider were noted, with Eider numbers counted as 14 on 24^th. A Peregrine flew along the beach on 1^st and a Merlin was seen by one of our regular volunteers on 9^th here too.  Goldeneye were noted on 4^th and 7^th. Black-throated Divers are scarce in Norfolk, so one on the 6^th was a pleasant surprise on the sea. A Snow Bunting was seen on the beach on 7^th. One of our regular volunteers managed to pick out a Slavonian Grebe on the sea on 9^th, 16^th, 24^th,25^th and 28^th, which is always a nice year tick for the birders to add to their lists. Reed Bunting and Linnets were seen in the dunes behind the beach on 13^th. The 16 Common Scoter present had 2 Velvet Scoters as companions on 16^th out at sea. Sanderling remained present along the tideline all month along with a Purple Sandpiper on 25^th. Two Hundred Brent Geese were counted out at sea on 21^st. Two Long-tailed Ducks were seen on the sea on 24^th and a Great Northern Diver was recorded here on 25^th. Gannet were also noted on 24^th. Up in the dunes 2 pairs of Stonechats were seen by the warden on 28^th.

West Bank Path and ditch

Water Rail is often a bird that lurks in in the West Bank ditch but seeing a dark brown bird in a dark brown ditch is not easy, so a bird present on 1^st, 4^th, 13^th and 25^th was welcomed by our visitors as it walked down the ditch looking for food. The woodland down the West Bank Path produced a Treecreeper on 7^th and a Chiffchaff on 10^th. A Stonechat was seen from here on 7^th and 13^th and a Rock Pipit on 12^th.

Fen Trail

A Tawny Owl has been present all month hiding in an Ivy-clad tree along the Fen Trail. Siskin were seen here on 1^st and 4^th along with a Chiffchaff on 6^th and 13^th. Woodcock are probably present all month but a thermal imager picked out 7 birds on 11^th. Redwing were seen on 2^nd and 7^th. A Bullfinch was present here on 19^th and 24^th.

Meadow Trail

A Chiffchaff was seen from the trail on 15^th.

East Trail, Patsy’s Pool, Old Tank Road area

Common Snipe have been reported from Patsy’s Pool on many dates but peaked at 9 birds on 6^th. Water Pipits were reported on 2^nd, 4^th, and 9^th. A Kingfisher was seen here on 5^th and a Bullfinch was seen along the trail on 6^th with 2 seen on 21^st. A Woodcock was also noted on this date.

Willow Wood

Our warden counted 121 Woodpigeons emerging from the wood just after dawn on 7^th and Red Kite were present on 21^st and 24^th.

Grazing Meadow

A Spoonbill was seen on 2^nd and another juvenile bird on the 4^th added to the scene out on the marsh. A Great White Egret was also seen here on 2^nd. Owl sightings have been very low lately so after a Short-eared Owl was noted on the 1^st and 19^th along with a Barn Owl on the 4^th, we were hoping that they would stay around to be seen more frequently. A Stonechat was recorded on 5^th. A ringtail Hen Harrier was seen on 13^th and 16^th. Wading birds in the pools included: Greenshank 13^th – 15^th and Spotted Redshank on 13^th – 16^th. A Chiffchaff was also reported. A volunteer counted 350 Brent Geese present on 19^th. A Merlin was seen here on 21^st.

Thornham Point

A ringtail Hen Harrier was noted on 7^th here and a Merlin was seen by a regular volunteer on 12^th at the point. A Short-eared Owl was present near the point on 23^rd.A Purple Sandpiper was amongst the waders down at the point on 28^th.

Flyovers

Pink-footed Geese were seen flying over the reserve on the 1^st and 21^st, a Hen Harrier on 2^nd and a volunteer and a member of staff taking a guided walk watched 5 Barnacle Geese fly along the dunes on 4^th. Red Kites were watched on 4^th, 24^th and 15^th but are seen flying over on most days but are not reported to the visitor centre. A Peregrine was seen on 4^th ,14^th and 24^th. Some Fieldfare were noted on 16^th as were 15 Common Snipe on the same date by our warden. Five Spoonbills were witnessed flying over on 7^th and another on 25^th. A Merlin was seen on 25^th along with a Great White Egret.

However, the main excitement of the month was the sighting of a White-tailed Eagle on 19^th which one of our volunteers saw flying over the dunes and radioed into the Visitor Centre, causing a mass exodus of staff, volunteers and visitors alike that got caught up with the excitement. A member of staff managed to run for her camera and managed some distant photos of it before it disappeared over the village of Thornham. The bird was mobbed by a Common Buzzard that looked so small in comparison to the eagle, which had also flushed out a Short-eared Owl sitting on the marsh.

White-tailed Eagle Photo Credit: Sue Bryan

White-tailed Eagle and Common Buzzard. Photo Credit: Sue Bryan

Other Wildlife

Four Harbour Porpoise were seen out at sea on 9^th by a lucky volunteer who puts in a lot of time sea-watching. Common Frogs are beginning to be seen now that they are moving from wet grassy fields and other areas into water ready for the mating season. Two Common Frogs were reported in the car park on 6^th.