East Anglian Megas: Black-winged Kite, Zitting Cisticola & Hudsonian Godwit

I needed to get away for a couple of days. There are big changes afoot at Casa Gnome which I will blog about in due course but suffice it to say that there has been a lot of stress in the house and a birding trip away was very much needed as balm for the soul. In terms of what to go for, the more or less residential Black-winged Kite over in Norfolk was a long overdue lifer that was basically there for the ticking. I'd held off until now as in the past it hadn't always been that reliable and given how far away it was and how distant the views apparently were, it hadn't been quite enough to tempt me. However, it seemed to have been reliably reported pretty much every morning and and evening for the last couple of weeks so it seemed like the perfect excuse for a weekend outing. I also fancied having another crack at the residential Zitting Cisticola colony. They'd successfully bred again this year and now apparently numbered as many as 11 birds all told. Having struggled so much to see and hear them last year, it would be a good opportunity to try and get better views.

Saturday Afternoon 

As I said above, the Black-winged Kite mainly seemed to be reported first thing in the mornings and in the evening so I decided to head off to Norfolk after lunch on Saturday hoping to connect in the evening session. Available AirBnB's in the area were very thin on the ground so in the end I booked somewhere at Great Yarmouth, about half an hour away. This would mean that if I didn't connect on the Saturday evening I could come back for the morning session on Sunday without too much effort. That was the plan all set up but how would it all play out? 

After the rather long and tiring journey with some Sat Nav rerouting due to road closures, finally I pulled up in the main car park at Sea Palling shortly after 5pm. There was a bit of chilly breeze blowing (quite a novelty after the summer that we've been having) so I put on a couple of layers, gathered my birding gear and set off on the 15 minute walk to the fabled double metal gate where one viewed from. I like to do my research carefully before any trip, mindful that there might not be signal at the location so I was well versed in where the gate was and which way to go. On the way I came across a couple of birders with scopes scanning from a double gate. However, it was clearly not the right gate. After informing them of this they gratefully tagged along with me and we got chatting as you do. One was a visiting birder from Flamborough who'd been down in Cornwall for the week and was on the way back home "via" Norfolk having seen the Hudsonian Godwit and the Zitting Cisticolas earlier that day. The other was here to do some stock car racing at Snettisham the next morning and thought he'd come and see the Kite the night before. 

We eventually arrived at the gate to find one other couple there. Ominously they told us that they'd been there for three hours without any sign of the bird. I'd kind of assumed that it would be fairly straight-forward to connect so the prospect of dipping hadn't really entered my head up until now but this news did give me pause for thought. Still we had a couple of hours of daylight ahead of us so it was all eyes peeled to see if we could see it. There was almost immediately a false alarm where the stock car racer excitedly called out what turned out to be one of the many Herring Gulls that were flying about the place. There were also loads of Wood Pigeons everywhere, a couple of Kestrels and a distant Buzzard or two. It was also very hazy so viewing was far from ideal. 

The view from the double gate

About twenty minutes after we'd arrived the original couple gave up and headed off. Just a few minutes after this the stock car bod called out the bird again sitting on top of one of the many trees in the distance. This time it was a the real deal though I didn't really get on it until it moved a short distance to the nearby telegraph wires. 

The Black-winged Kite at last!

The stock car guy then dashed off after the couple that had just left which was very public spirited of him. A few minutes later they all came huffing and puffing back with the bird fortunately still on view. Indeed it was on view constantly for about three quarters of an hour from when it was first seen so we all got really prolonged views.

Happy birders watching the Kite in the golden glow of sunset

And a very nice bird it was too! As the sun got lower in the sky the haze diminished and in the golden glow the bird was very nicely lit. It was always rather distant but one could clearly make out all the salient features and the rather unique "square headed" look to it. One really striking thing was how small it was. At one point it sat right next to a Wood Pigeon where one could see that the it was in fact a bit smaller than the pigeon. 

Size comparison with a Wood Pigeon

The only other birdage of interest was a couple of Green Sandpipers that announced their presence by calling as they flew overhead. Gradually the others left until it was just me with the bird. In the evening glow I spent my time trying (mostly in vain) to take a record shot with my phone camera through the scope though it rather struggled to focus properly. After spending most of the time just looking from its wire vantage point, at one point it did have a brief hover before resettling. Then it took off again and dropped out of sight. The show was over. 

I wandered back in a contented frame of mind back towards the car, stopping briefly to walk up a path through the dunes to take a look at the sea since I was there. In the evening light it looked stunning and with the gentle sound of the waves it was all very peaceful. 

Sea Palling sea scape

Back by the car, I decided to have some fish and chips from the chippy next to the car park, reflecting on my successful first leg of the trip. Then it was back to the car and off to Great Yarmouth to my AirBnB for the night. This turned out to be a lovely quiet and well appointed room. I was rather tired and soon turned in for the night, dreaming of distant kites in the evening sun.

Sunday 

Having already seen the main target, there was no desperate need to get up too early so the next morning, I didn't leave the AirBnB until about 7:30am. I had been toying with the idea of trying for a White-rumped Sandpiper on the way to the Cisticolas at Benacre Broad but as the reports had always been of "distant views" I decided not to bother in the end. Instead I made my way in the morning sunshine along mostly empty roads back to Walberswick, etched in my memory from my trip last year. 

Walberswick tidal scenery

I parked up at the car park, got my gear together and headed off along the familiar walk back to the viewing location. On the way a Whimbrel flew past and landed in one of the pools. Apart from that there were a few Redshank and Turnstones along with some Black-headed Gulls and Lapwing. I arrived to find one birding couple and one solo birder already there with another couple having just arrived before me. The main couple looked like they knew what was going on (it's funny how you can often tell who was worth asking) and they said that there had been up to four birds on show fairly constantly. 

The salt marsh twitch vista

A short while later they picked out a couple of Zitting Cisticolas flying a long way off back towards the car park but I couldn't get on them. They also picked up one showing in a particular patch of reeds fairly regularly but somehow I couldn't get on it. Was this going to be a repeat of last time? Eventually he put my scope on the bird yet I couldn't see anything! Finally I twigged that I needed to refocusing to the reeds a bit nearer than I had been looking and suddenly I had a definite Zitting Cisticola perched on top off a branch in the distance. I watched it with great relief for a couple of minutes before it flew off. In fact the views were pretty good, given the distance and I could clearly make out the salient Cisticola features - so much better than last time when it had been just a zitting silhouette against the sky line.

This was pretty much what I saw though much more distant and hazy. Courtesy of Nick Truby

After this connection, suddenly the sightings seemed to dry up. The couple next to me stopped reporting them and soon left. Shortly after this the others started to head back as well. I decided to stay to see if I could get any more views on my own but it seemed to have got rather quiet. In fact despite staying a good half an hour after the others there was not a sniff (that I could detect) of them at all. So either I was just missing them (which was possible) or early morning was the best time for them. I did try to watch the sea briefly but the sun was shining directly into me so everything was in silhouette. I did see a few Common Terns hunting along with a single Little Tern. So I decided to head back, stopping to admire the Whimbrel again on the way back. 

Continuing my costal flora theme from my last visit, here is some Sea Pea

Back at the car I was in two minds whether just to go home or to try for the Hudsonian Godwit at Cattawade on the way back. In the end looking at the map I could see that it would such a minor detour from the route home anyway that it would be positively rude of me not to stop in for a quick look. As it had not yet been reported that day I put out a request for information on the twitching WhatsApp group I belong to and set off on the hour long journey from Walberswick to Cattawade.

I was no more than five minutes from my destination when news came through that it was still present. Hurrah! I got my gear together and hurried on the five minute walk to the viewing area where I met the solo birder from the Walberswick twitch. 

The Cattawade marsh

 

He told me that a local birder had been there and had put him on it but that it was currently out of view (of course!). However, within a few minutes he spotted it skulking at the back and managed to get me on it. There then followed a bout of "spot the Hudwit" as it crept about at the back, often out of sight before it disappeared behind a large earth mound. Suddenly everything went up and started flying around though I couldn't see what had spooked them. Some of the birds seem to head off down the estuary but then I spotted a group dropping back down on the marsh much closer to us and there was the target bird flashing its dark underwing at us as it landed much closer and out in the open. This was more like it! I even attempted some more phone-scoping with a degree of modest success.

 

I had earlier done a bit of revision from my trusty Collins app as to what the salient features were of a Hudsonian Godwit in winter plumage. I knew that the summer plumaged birds are much darker but this was less obvious for winter birds. The hot tip from the app was that the Hudwit had a modestly upturned bill (like a Barwit) and unlike the more straight-billed Blackwits. There were only about half a dozen Black-tailed Godwits about for comparison so at least there weren't hundreds to sift through.

Apart from the star bird and a few Black-tailed Godwits, there were a couple of Greenshank, a few Redshank and some Lapwing. On the estuary behind us were loads of juvenile Shelduck and some Little Egrets. Having had my fill my thoughts now started to turn to home and I wandered back to the car in a contented frame of mind, stopping on the way to admire the local scenery.

More tidal scenery

The Sat Nav was saying about 2hours and 40 minutes back home though it would involve the dreaded M25. In the end, the journey was OK though the traffic was very dense along the M25 and I found the combination of having to concentrate rather hard with the noise of the traffic (through having to have the windows open because the air con is broken) all took their toll and I was mentally exhausted by the time I got onto the M40. So I stopped at the customary Beaconsfield Services (where I usually stop on the way back from Suffolk) for some late lunch and a chance to recover. Then it was back home to Oxford, contemplating my shiny new tick and my two accompanying bonus Megas on what had been a nice three Mega trip.