Report from Martin Cracknell

All week the weather had been deteriorating. A couple of hours in the afternoon on Monday 20th were spent on the beach at Salthouse in the sunshine. With a brisk northerly breeze Id seen my first Manx Shearwaters of the autumn, 40+ Gannets, 2 Guillemot, 7 Arctic Skuas, 1 Great Skua and a lone Sooty Shearwater effortlessly cruised past.

Tuesday we went to Great Yarmouth. Consolation for enduring the hordes was a side-trip adding White-rumped Sandpiper to the year list at Breydon Water.

Tuesday afternoon the weather really began to close in, the rain started falling, the wind picked up more and began gusting strongly from the NorthEast.

Just in time for my parents to arrive for a few days that they hoped to spend on the beach with their Grandchildren!

By late that afternoon the pager was beginning to sound like nest of hornets, buzz, buzz every few minutes. Great Snipe - Blakeney Point, Pied Flycatcher Sea Palling, Greenish Warbler, Barred Warbler, Icterine Warbler Blakeney Point etc etc

Wednesday tried to dawn but thick scudding clouds streamed overhead and the rain was falling. Buzz, buzz went the pager. Moan, moan everybody went. "We cant go outside in this!" I was itching to get out and about.

Thursday was a carbon copy of Wednesday. Buzz, buzz went the pager. Moan, moan went the troops. We decided to brave the elements and drove along the coast to Titchwell where everyone enjoyed a hot drink in the tearoom whilst I got soaked looking round a reserve that appeared to have had 90pct of the birds blown away. Everyone was dripping wet and miserable when we got back in the cars and drove back along the coast. The mood was not improved when I imposed an additional stop at Cley for an equally wet and miserable looking Juvenile Red-backed Shrike.

I was genuinely concerned that the bird might not survive the night. Having flown across the North Sea in atrocious conditions and with the wind and rain it cannot have found insects easy to come by. Never the less a couple of birders were chasing it up and down the Beach Road trying to get within a couple of feet to photograph it. When I left, it had been chased wearily from fencepost to fencepost and down into the soaking grass so many times I feared the worst. Fortunately my fears were unfounded and it stuck around for several days showing very well. I still wish those people on the Thursday had thought about what the bird needed rather than the chance of a photo in near darkness and wind/rain.

The forecast was for better weather on Friday, but the morning dawned wet and windy once again. At lunchtime my parents went home with a car full of wet clothes. 2 hours after they left the weather broke, late Friday afternoon was warm and sunny. The pager was still buzzing away and with up to six Greenish Warblers reported that afternoon on Blakeney Point I resolved to get up at dawn and visit.

At 05.30 the following morning I was the first car in the car park at Cley Coastguards and with all my birding gear on my back I set off with the first rays of the sun warming my back from a clear blue sky.

For those who have not walked Blakeney Point, its difficult to describe how walking several miles on loose gravel saps the strength out of your legs and how the 4 miles or so to the further reaches of the point can seem like twice that.

By far the worst part is the initial stretch to the incorrectly named Halfway House.

Incorrectly named because its less than a third of the way to where you are going. Never the less it is nice to feel some solid ground under your feet again and with two Greenish Warblers being reported from the sueda hereabouts the previous evening, I had a quick recce round. Not finding anything of note beyond a Common Whitethroat I was a little fearful that a clear night had seen all of my target birds continue their migration.

Keeping close to the sueda on the landward side of the point I continued along towards The Hood area. My spirits were raised by the presence of numerous Wheatear.

At one point I had 10+ being driven along in front of me. I skirted round the southern edge of The Hood seeing my first Whinchat. I was just about to climb up and cross the hood to see if I could strike lucky and find a Wryneck in the dunes when a bird flushed from the sueda almost at my feet. I had only a brief glimpse of the rather plain looking back of a largish passerine disappearing into one of the sueda bushes. 10-15 minutes of patience were rewarded with several brief views of a typically skulking Barred Warbler.

With my confidence restored that not every bird had moved on overnight I pushed onwards through the Long Hills/Yankee Ridge area resolving to reach The Plantation as soon as I could.

I reached The Plantation having seen more Wheatear and a few Whinchat on the way.

I settled down in front of The Plantation and waited to see what was there.

The famous Plantation of Blakeney Point is a tiny fenced-off area of about 3 stunted Sycamores no taller than c.10-12 foot tall and a few other assorted bushes nestling in the lea of a dune complex near the old lifeboat station which is now used as a visitor centre by the National Trust.

This area of scrub, sitting as it does towards the farther reaches of the Point, and the only cover much taller than waist high for miles, is a powerful magnet for scarce and rare migrants having held some famous visitors over the years.

Today, whilst not exactly alive with birds, it was not going to disappoint me.

The first bird to jump into view was a Garden Warbler, closely followed by a Spotted Flycatcher, then a second Spotted Flycatcher.

Suddenly flitting out from one of the sycamores came a small, fairly compact warbler. It moved quickly round the tree and suddenly hovered almost hummingbird-like with tail downwards and bill uppermost picking insects from the hanging bunches of keys (seeds). This was definitely a Phylloscopus Warbler but which one? Obviously I hoped it was Greenish but unless it sat still I was going to struggle. Fortunately it did on occasion stop to catch its breath and I was able to see the broad supercilium, grey/green upperparts, pale belly, flanks and finally the thin, pale wingbar that conclusively identified it as a Greenish Warbler.

I spent 20-30 minutes trying to photograph the bird performing its hovering trick which it did every so often. Unfortunately I only succeeded in filling half a memory card with blurs and sycamore leaves. At one point during this time the bird was joined by another Greenish Warbler which proceeded to sing!

It didnt occur to me that I might hear the birds singing and so I had no idea what to expect but it was a short, fairly loud, high pitched jingling, almost rattling tune. Possibly with a touch of a trill to it also, almost as if a Wren were mimicking a Common Whitethroat.

Also present in the Plantation was a juvenile Willow Warbler, interesting to note how yellow it appeared in comparison to the Greenish.

Having seen, not a soul all morning up to this point I finally saw another birder appearing out of the dunes and, happy that I had a few shots of the Greenish Warblers, decided to start heading back. A fruitless search through the dunes in the area of the Plantation and the Long Hills revealed nothing more unusual than more Wheatear and a Whinchat to show for it and saw me heading back.

The tide had fallen sufficiently to uncover firm sand along the waters edge and grateful not to have to trudge back through the shingle I started the long walk back. Before long I had the good fortune to encounter a Black Tern flying close in to the beach picking from the surface of the sea and managed to rattle off a few shots before it turned round and headed east.

The Greenish Warblers I saw were part of an invasion in late August reportedly containing at least 33 birds. Later that afternoon I was able to show the family another individual that had appeared at Walsey Hills NOA. With clear blue skies all day and overnight, virtually all of the birds were gone by the following morning.

All images copyright of author.