Warham Greens
I spent a wonderful afternoon watching the Brown Shrike at Warham Greens, which Alex Berryman found yesterday and congratulations to him, what a find! I saw the first for Norfolk at Weybourne Camp on 21st October 2018 and had only one short view, so wasn't very memorable. The Brown Shrike just west of the north end of Garden Drove at Warham Greens was stunning to watch, as it perched in the hedgerow and caught various bees and insects in the sunshine – it was truly magical to watch and was joined by a Redstart and a Robin. Nice to bump into some familiar faces including Dick Filby, Carl and Tania Chapman, Cat and her family, Mike E., Paul H., Keith T. and Jill W. amongst others. Just before I left for the mega news, there was only around half a dozen of us left, which increased our opportunity to get better pictures as the Brown Shrike started to come closer, but......
News broke on the pager of a YELLOW-BREASTED BUNTING at Wells Woods, so most of us promptly left and marched back to our cars! I saw the first one for Norfolk at Holme Bird Observatory on 19th and 20th September 1992 (28 years ago to the day!) – it was a massive twitch and I remember my father being very angry with my mother, as she had been putting tons of bird seed down daily for weeks on end and my father was worried something big would turn up, which of course it did! My father was not a lover of Twitchers at all, as I'm sure some of you know and he was not a happy bunny that weekend!
Anyway, back to today's bird! I speed walked back along Garden Drove with retired dentist Mike E. who sympathized with my awful dental experience this week – we both jumped in our cars and headed to Wells beach car park. Arriving on site, long story short......there was news that it wasn't 100% and that it was only a 'possible' – bother!!! I popped an hour's worth of money in the machine and walked to The Dell to find lots of other birders – I didn't see the Red-breasted Flycatcher, even though it landed close by and Steve G. did see it and photographed it later on! Neither did I see any Yellow-browed Warblers or anything else that was on offer today, but did see a very smart Pied Flycatcher in the birches in The Dell area. I searched the area where the possible Yellow-breasted Bunting had been seen at dusk, but the light was fading fast and I made my way back to my car. I asked the ticket man what time the gates are open in the morning for the car park and he said they open at 5.45am. The daily parking costs are as follows: Up to 1 hour £2.00, Up to 2 hours £3.50, Up to 4 hours £6.50 and All Day £9.00. I'm hoping the car park will be packed out with birders in the morning, as then there won't be a dog in sight!!!
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