The number of small birds on site has been increasing rapidly over the last few weeks with the arrival of many Meadow Pipits, Linnets and Skylarks.  This must all be enticing to birds of prey and indeed a Sparrowhawk has been regularly seen harrying the flocks along with up to 3 Kestrels.

A particularly large 'dump' of small birds - including a 300+ strong flock of Linnets - seemed to occur on 12th with misty, damp conditions during the first part of the morning.  I stationed myself on the track and, as I have done many times before, imagined a Hen Harrier skirting the back edge of the big field before hunting over the main pit weedy margins.

The raucous cries and caws of Rooks and Carrion Crows startled me from my day-dreams and I put my binoculars to my eyes and...picked up a ringtail Hen Harrier, making its way along the back edge of the large field!  It then began to hunt over the weedy area at the back of the main pit before dropping down into ground cover.  I couldn't quite believe it!

I took some very distant and somewhat shakey record shots and video to confirm that it was indeed a Hen Harrier and not a rarer form.  Unfortunately the corvid ranks were not as delighted as I was and rallied to drive the poor harrier up high and away offsite heading southeast.  I assumed that was the last we'd see of it but a message came in later on that the neighbouring farmer had seen it over his fields in the afternoon.

Others re-located it in the rough fields adjacent to Cromer Hyde Farm that had previously hosted 4 Short-eared Owls.  Unfortunately the mobbing continued and the harrier was last seen heading south just before sunset.  The harrier takes the site year list to 130 and is the first record at the site since one on 24th October 2022.

With the continuing abundance of potential prey items at the site it was perhaps no surprise that the next day saw another bird of prey visit - a Merlin (#131 for the site year).  Rather obligingly it perched up just 50 yards away on the new fence along the track.  The video below records some of my best views of the species ever - likely to be a juvenile bird.

The presence of so many flocks of small birds on site has brought an air of excitement to the recent visits, spiced up by the activities of these scarce raptors.  With the first flocks of Redwings and Fieldfares arriving in the county this state of affairs will hopefully continue for the next few weeks.  Autumn is in full swing but worthy of note also was a late Sand Martin on 6th October.

While the search for the recent Pectoral Sandpiper proved predictably fruitless it did however yield some nice autumn birds.  I'll take these as consolation prizes and proof that it's worth keeping looking.

First up, were 4 Stonechats followed by a late first-winter Wheatear enjoying the newly dug drainage pipe mounds.  Skylarks and Meadow Pipits continue to move through the site along with an increasing number of Reed Buntings.  Three Little Grebes continue to frequent the deep pool along with a Grey Wagtail and it was while observing this latter bird that I notice the star bird of the day - a Rock Pipit!

A pretty scarce bird in the county, Stanborough Gravel Pits does well for this species with Rock Pipits visiting annually and this the second record of the year following a Spring bird on 16th March.  In classic form, it crept along the edge of water, taking a bath at one point before preening on the bank.

Some photos of the Rock Pipit with a video of it preening below.

I mentioned the Wheatear enjoying the newly dug drainage pipes and this work represents another major step in the site's 'restoration' to farmland.  Many hundreds of metres of perforated pipe are being laid underground every 20 metres or so on all the slopes.  These then feed into main drain pipes that will take run-off water to both the main pit and deep pit.

While the work is fascinating to watch I can't help feeling that an awful lot of plastic is being buried in the soil and that good old-fashioned ditches might have been a more environmentally suitable solution.  Whether these drains work long-term or not remains to be seen and hopefully some water-logged areas will remain for over-wintering Snipe and Jack Snipe.

I believe there may be a Golden Rule of patch birding - never leave your patch with the added consequence that, if you do, chances are the 'Big One' will turn up!  Well, there's nothing like learning that lesson the hard way...

Taking the opportunity to work remotely and catch up with some coastal autumn birding I headed down to Cornwall for a week on 28th Sep.  I left as the first hints of winter birding were beginning to appear at the pits.  Teal numbers had grown to 15, the odd Snipe was flying around while 5 Golden Plovers made a brief appearance on 23rd and a Wigeon was seen on 24th.  The Dartford Warbler had last been seen on 25th, a Reed Warbler on 26th and a Wheatear on 30th.

It seemed to be quietening down - or so I thought - but I perhaps should have taken the hint when Andrew Steele queried a wader he was struggling to ID on 25th.  Neither of us could relocate it and his distant photos were inconclusive and suggested an odd-looking Green Sandpiper.  It did, however, get me wondering about Pectoral Sandpiper as a possibility.  That said, I don't think Andrew's bird was, HOWEVER, late in the evening on 30th another observer reported 2 Green Sandpipers and 1 probable Dunlin...

Sure enough, I received a message from Steve Pearce the next morning saying he had an 'interesting wader' at the pits.  His description sounded a perfect fit for a Pectoral Sandpiper so I put the suggestion out on the WhatsApp group asking if anyone else could investigate.  Remarkably quickly, another local birder, John Yates, located the bird and from his photos it became clear that Stanborough was playing host to a PECTORAL SANDPIPER!