Norfolk - missed one got one!!

Left early today for the red-flanked bluetail at Waxham. Got there at 09.15 but went the wrong way. Spent a long time on the dunes. It didn't matter because the bird wasn't there. A ringtail hen harrier quartered the nearby field.

Hen harrier

As backup, went to see the Pallas's warbler at Warham Greens. That wasn't there either. There was a yellow-browed warbler though. As I hadn't got a shot of the one I saw for a millisecond at Holkham a couple of weeks ago, I decided to see if it would show. At the 'pit' the bird had been seen a few minutes before my arrival. I waited with the others and after a while a brambling appeared.

Brambling

After a little longer the yellow-browed warbler appeared but it was very mobile and kept darting in and out of the ivy. I did get a shot but it was a little distant. I clearly wasn't going to get a better one so I headed back to the car as I had a long way to go.

Yellow-browed warbler

I had almost got back to the car when I met a couple I had seen earlier. Just at that moment the man saw the Pallas's warbler in the oak tree right by my car. I quickly got onto the bird in my binoculars, but it was even more mobile than the yellow-browed warbler!! It was in the top of the tree just below the canopy and then flitted in an out of the bushes giving tantalising views of its sillouette. Finally it flew to the bushes on the other side of the track and I was able to take a quick shot before it disappeared again. Well, the day hadn't been too bad after all.

Pallas's warbler

Tern lifer in Hyde Park and Alder flycatcher in Norfolk

Sunday was a day of ups and downs. First was the trek in the rain, with David Campbell, for 3 miles on soft shingle to see the alder/willow flycatcher on Blakeney Point. We saw it in driving rain in the strong northerly wind but it was not very satisfying. Viewing was almost impossible with rain and/or condensation on lenses, scope and camera so I got no pics at all. The trek back was just as hard, taking an hour and 25 mins each way!! We did get a brambling though (year tick)!

Back at the car, we were both sodden and I could actually pour water from my boots. We spent the rest of the day in wet clothes. David needed the red-necked phalarope so we went to nearby Stiffkey where I stayed in the car while David went off to see it.

Then to Wells-next-the-sea for the Bonelli's warbler. We joined a fairly large group looking for it in the dense woods and I was sure we'd see nothing. However, the cry went up and the bird was visible several times in as many minutes. As a bonus the yellow-browed warbler showed briefly as well. That was 3 lifers in one day. We toyed with the idea of going for the common rosefinch but it was getting late by now.

Next day, Monday, I was planning on a lazy day at home when the news of a white-winged black tern in Hyde Park came in. I jumped on the train and a few minutes after my arrival there it was (lifer). Easy! And here it is: