Norfolk Wildlife Trust looks at rare birds heading to county

The Norfolk coast’s wonderful landscape and blend of habitats attracts birdwatchers all year round, but its draw significantly increases in the autumn. 

Jutting out into the North Sea, the Norfolk coast is often the first landfall for struggling migrant birds in poor weather.

It provides them with an opportunity to rest, shelter and find food, before continuing their arduous journey south.

Our county’s coastline has long been known as a hot spot for rare migrant birds, and as such, attracted some of the early pioneers of British ornithology.

The marsh, which is now Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s nature reserve at Cley-next-the-Sea, was purchased in 1926, primarily for its resident breeding birds and winter wildfowl.

(Image: Lynne Warner)

Although, among local birdwatchers, it was already considered the jewel in the crown of the North Norfolk coast, particularly during autumn migration.

More ‘first records’ of rare vagrant birds have been found along this stretch of coast than anywhere else.     

October is when rarity-hunting birdwatchers really start to twitch.

Any manner of unusual migrant bird, from as far as Siberia or North America, can turn up; and like a Martini cocktail, anytime, anyplace, anywhere.

The internet has allowed information on rarities and their location to travel fast, causing hundreds of birdwatchers to descend on a ‘mega rarity’ within hours.

Of course, prior to text and WhatsApp, there were pagers, and in the eighties, birdwatching hotlines.

Those of us of vintage, recall having to rely on our bird news from the noticeboard in the old café at the end of the beach road at Cley.  Some birdwatchers, the ‘twitchers’, will drop everything at a moment’s notice on news of a rare bird they haven’t ‘ticked’ before.

Fortunately, improved etiquette, better organisation and quality telescopes mean that people tend to keep their distance and try not to disturb the bird. Anyone getting too close, is quickly reminded of their error.    

(Image: Lynne Warner)       

To my mind the true and dedicated birdwatcher will consider the conditions, study weather patterns and persistently dedicate themselves to a local patch; for finding one’s own rarity is far more rewarding than a tip-off on social media.

Of course, many serious twitchers that chase rarities are also excellent birdwatchers, contributing to their conservation and study.  

The early part of this autumn saw assertive north-easterly winds blow in.

If, as happened, they suddenly drop off to allow an early morning sea fret to form, it can result in a ‘fall’ of migrant birds, and the North Norfolk coast is renowned for these events.

The coastal bushes and scrub at NWT’s Holme Dunes can be festooned with unusual birds, appearing as an avian Christmas trees, bedecked with all manner of warblers, pied flycatchers and black redstarts.

Holme nature reserve recorded several continental vagrants this autumn, including icterine warbler, greenish warbler, yellow-browed warbler, red-breasted flycatcher and wryneck.

October and November are generally considered the best months for the strange and unusual to drop in, and at the time of writing Norfolk has already had a few to send twitchers’ pulses racing.             

An Asian desert warbler appeared for a few days in early October at Natural England’s Winterton Dunes reserve, the sandy habitat perhaps a reminder of its far-off homeland. Its closest breeding ground is east of the Caspian Sea, and it should have been heading to Arabia for the winter. How this poor bird got its migration so incredibly wrong is astounding.

(Image: Ron Scott)

After being spied upon and photographed by hundreds of birdwatchers, it moved on after a couple of days – to where? who knows!

knows! It goes to prove that nature reserves are vital, not just for our resident wildlife, but as stopping off and ‘re-fuelling’ points for migrant birds and insects, wherever they come from, or are going to.   

The term ‘rare’ can be rather confusing to non-birdwatchers.

A bird can be rare due to its low numbers in a particular region, or it could have a very low population across its whole range.

Birds such as the Asian desert warbler may be common in Asia, but unusual in Britain.

In fact, this was only the 14th record for the UK. Another example is the hoopoe. Found here occasionally during migration, it is a bird many of us are more familiar with from summer holidays in the Mediterranean. 

It always draws attention, even from those unacquainted with it, due to its striking cinnamon plumage, black and white wings, and impressive crest. A rather obliging individual spent a week in North Walsham, a report of its stay even making it into this newspaper.

Most ‘lost’ birds eventually find their way to their wintering grounds.

Sadly, some of the smaller displaced birds will eventually perish. A few never find their way home, but hang around for months, even years, becoming quite an attraction.

Climate change and habitat loss is shifting bird distribution across Europe, and we are already witnessing changed patterns and routes, with some bird movements measurably altered.

Providing suitable undisturbed space for birds has never been more important, as the pressures on land for development, particularly along our coast, may restrict this most important and primal part of bird behaviour.