Norfolk getting crowded.

[otherclive]

This afternoon I put the roof bars on and filled up the car in anticipation of a break in Norfolk for half term. Imagine my concerns when I read that after last week’s Lammergeier sightings another extremely rare bird (in U.K.) has now turned up. A Rufus Bush Chat no less. Which in my categorisation is a LBJ. So the RSPB Stiffkey Reserve has been flooded with twitchers.
And there we were looking for a quiet break in a sparsely populated part of the country. Hopefully by the time we arrive the various reserves that we visit will just host their traditional spectrum of residents and visitors.

 

[RogerL]

This afternoon I put the roof bars on and filled up the car in anticipation of a break in Norfolk for half term. Imagine my concerns when I read that after last week’s Lammergeier sightings another extremely rare bird (in U.K.) has now turned up. A Rufus Bush Chat no less. Which in my categorisation is a LBJ. So the RSPB Stiffkey Reserve has been flooded with twitchers.
And there we were looking for a quiet break in a sparsely populated part of the country. Hopefully by the time we arrive the various reserves that we visit will just host their traditional spectrum of residents and visitors.

October is a traditional month for Norfolk to get rarities blown off course during migration, depending on which way the winds are. Bird Guides has it recorded as a Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin rather than a Rufous Bush Chat which is a different bird, but both are LBJs (little brown jobs) - no doubt Norfolk will be heaving with birders tomorrow - the Lammergeier (aka Bearded Vulture) was last seen a couple of days ago heading out to sea from Beachy Head in Sussex so probably on it's way back to the Alps.

 

[otherclive]

Well you just dont know who to belive do you? James Lowen on Rare Birds Alert reckons it’s an Eastern Rufous Bush Chat. Either way it’s a pretty unimpressive LBJ.. Thanks for the information on Lammergeire I saw quite a few at a sky burial site in Bhutan But we were at 13000 ft and out of respect we didn’t venture close.

Until a few years ago we regularly visited north Norfolk in late Autumn and early Winter as the coastal areas are full of wintering birds, especially the area around Snettisham so we are looking forward to the break.

I ve never been fortunate to get a good shot of a Lammergeier but managed an Egyptian vulture when we were in Somiedo national park in Spain. We hiked for miles looking for bears but without luck, you need guides as the tracks were off bounds to unauthorised vehicles. But we were compensated for by a great fly past of the EV.

 

[RogerL]

Well you just dont know who to belive do you? James Lowen on Rare Birds Alert reckons it’s an Eastern Rufous Bush Chat. Either way it’s a pretty unimpressive LBJ.. Thanks for the information on Lammergeire I saw quite a few at a sky burial site in Bhutan But we were at 13000 ft and out of respect we didn’t venture close.

Until a few years ago we regularly visited north Norfolk in late Autumn and early Winter as the coastal areas are full of wintering birds, especially the area around Snettisham so we are looking forward to the break.

I ve never been fortunate to get a good shot of a Lammergeier but managed an Egyptian vulture when we were in Somiedo national park in Spain. We hiked for miles looking for bears but without luck, you need guides as the tracks were off bounds to unauthorised vehicles. But we were compensated for by a great fly past of the EV.

Great photo.

I think a lot of birders will go for the LBJ and let the experts fight it out about which species it actually is - we normally go to Norfolk in October but we've not taken the caravan out this year - we went up to the Peak district in September to see the Lammergeier, hard going for me but we got good views when it came in to roost

 

[otherclive]

Great photo.

I think a lot of birders will go for the LBJ and let the experts fight it out about which species it actually is - we normally go to Norfolk in October but we've not taken the caravan out this year - we went up to the Peak district in September to see the Lammergeier, hard going for me but we got good views when it came in to roost

That must have been fantastic. I just don’t know how it survived over here when you consider their natural environment. Let’s hope it makes it back to the mountains safely.