 Stable periods of high pressure, easterly winds and very little rain have made for a slow passage this Spring. Glaringly absent from the roll-call are waders such as Black-tailed Godwit, Ringed Plover, Curlew and Whimbrel. But Spring is not yet over and there have been some highlights over the last few weeks. Perhaps top of the bill was a female Marsh Harrier that spent a few hours early morning hunting over the middle pool on 26th April. It was constantly harassed by Carrion Crows and Red Kites but nevertheless spent some time on the ground. At one point it sat next to a Brown Hare and they just stared at each other! A short video clip of the hunting Marsh Harrier on 26th April April 21st saw a little bit of movement with the arrival of the first Common Sandpiper of the year and a high count of at least 6 Wheatears on site. The Common Sandpipers increased to 2 birds on 6th & 7th May but just one remains on 11th May. At least 3 Wheatear hung around but the last bird was seen on 6th May. Common Sandpiper & Wheatear In other wader news, Greenshank have been a feature so far this Spring with singles on 21st, 22nd & 28th April followed by 3 birds on 7th May and another single on 11th May. Unringed Green Sandpipers were also seen on 22nd, 27th & 28th April with a very late bird on 10th May. It is likely that these are passage birds rather than from the local overwintering population. Three Common Snipe were seen on 1st May and at least 2 remained on 7th May. Little Ringed Plovers seemed to have settled into pairs with at least 4 pairs on site and starting to sit on nests. Green Sandpiper & Greenshank April 22nd saw a Great Crested Grebe visit the site and the next day a late White Wagtail put in an appearance. Good numbers of Yellow Wagtails remain on site but most seem to have paired up and moved out to the fields, hopefully to breed. A pair of Meadow Pipits have also been displaying and favouring the weedy area so it's hoped they might breed too. A common species in the winter they are a scarce local breeder. The site's resident pair of Grey Partridge were seen on 23rd April and again on 11th May. Clockwise from top left: Great Crested Grebe, White Wagtail, Meadow Pipit & Yellow Wagtail Swifts arrived back on 26th April with at least 8 birds present. Thereafter they have once again become a regular feature of the skies with overcast weather bring a flock of over 100 in the past weeks. Sand Martins have established at least 12 holes in the quarry workings with at least 30 birds regularly on site. Hopefully their nests will be unaffected by quarry works.  Swifts flying in tandem post copulation! While many birds are still getting underway with breeding there have been some early successes with a female Mallard appearing with 7 ducklings (now sadly down to just 2) and a pair of Canada Geese with 6 new goslings. Hopefully they are the first of many fledglings with at least 7 pairs of Lapwing on site and the Mandarin Ducks vanished to the woods to hopefully return with offspring. With the new additions the site bird list stands at 114 species for the year. In non-bird news, Brown Hares continue to be abundant on site but less visible now the crops have grown and courtship is dying down. Painted Lady butterflies have been seen along the track a few times while a Small Copper butterfly was seen on 1st May.  A Small Copper Butterfly on 1st May
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 Despite the cold and quiet past few weeks of February little signs of Spring are beginning to creep in to view. Easterlies have dominated the month so far with temperatures struggling to get above 5 degrees Celsius. The cold, overcast conditions have not proved conducive to early Spring passage but finally, mid-month, it feels like we may be on the brink of Spring. The sun actually came out yesterday and this coming week promises a new and warmer weather system. By the last few years' standard, returning Oystercatchers are now officially late but little clues to early movement have appeared. Today the lone and patient Coot was joined by another - I assume they can now get to the business of courtship and nest-building but I'm sure challengers will arrive! Tufted Ducks have returned with numbers now up to 13 birds and just yesterday, 3 Mandarin Ducks arrived with 5 today. Despite their love of parkland pools with mature trees for their nests these ducks seem to really enjoy the bare gravel pits and appear to find plenty to nibble at on the stony ground.  Wildfowl numbers in general have fluctuated and never seem to have recovered from the shooting onslaught unleashed by the farmer on his pet Mallards. Unfortunately, the more savvy wild ducks are quick to leave and while occasionally visiting soon vacate the site once they spot human visitors. These have included around 30 Wigeon, similar numbers of Shoveler, a few Gadwall, a single male Teal and female Pochard. Other regulars have included the 2-3 pairs of Stonechats, 2 Green Sandpipers and varying numbers of Egyptian Geese arriving to roost in the evenings. A high count of 24 birds was noted on 5th Feb. A Chiffchaff was also foraging with the Stonechats on 5th. Highlights of the first few weeks of February include 2 Jack Snipe flushed along with 10 Common Snipe on 10th Feb and an adult Yellow-legged Gull on 4th Feb. A Little Owl was also calling from its usual area on 5th and a Little Egret was noted on 1st Feb. A Great Crested Grebe on 8th Feb and a pair of Grey Partridge on 9th were also new for the site year list. With a pair of Red-legged Partridge seen on 15th the site total now stands at a healthy 85 for 2025.  Adult Yellow-legged Gull on 4th Feb 2025 One final highlight of the month so far has been the continuing sighting of Marsh Harriers with a wing-tagged bird on 13th and a male on 14th. The male has been presumed to be an immature - possibly a 3rd calendar year bird - with contrasting underwing and dark trailing edge to it wings. However, it does not appear to be the same as a similar bird seen in November 2024 that had darker wings with dark ends to its tail feathers. In addition a full adult male was seen on 26th June last year along with a juvenile and female bird. Assuming some of the sightings are of the same birds it seems that there may have been 5-6 individuals involved over the last 12 months. With records in every month for a whole year it seems to bode well for a possible breeding attempt somewhere in the area at some point. Below are 4 of the birds seen over the last year: Having recently been introduced to a paper on Marsh Harrier identification I am less sure about ageing Marsh Harriers as the paper suggests it is nigh on impossible! The paper can be found here and makes for interesting reading.
Whatever the case, hopefully these birds will continue to be seen in the area and one day stay to breed.  It feels like it's been a slow autumn passage this year at Stanborough GPs but that may also be to do with the continuing in-filling work at the pits. Very little open water is left but just enough to retain the Mallards and a surprising number of Little Grebes (10+). The expected passage of Wheatear peaked on 8th Sep with at least 7 birds on site and a Whinchat too. Notable too has been the evening roost of Egyptian Geese which rose to a record 65 birds on 11th Sept - possibly a County record. The species seems to be going from strength to strength and may well be set to overtake Greylag Geese populations. The evening of 13th Sept saw the largest flock of Meadow Pipits this autumn with over 200 birds flying around the site and over the main field. With just one of two birds on 11th these birds are fresh in from the north. An additional highlight of 13th was a flyover Golden Plover that dropped down into fields south of Coopers Green Lane.  The real highlight cam yesterday evening, however, with a (presumably) returning female-type Merlin hunting over the site. Initially perched on the track it then hunted Meadow Pipits over the large field, giving chase right into the trees towards Cromer Hyde Farm. As I prepared to leave the site I noticed it was perched back in the field much closer and I was able to take some photos and video in the fading light. The Merlin seemed quite dark suggesting a juvenile bird. The same evening also saw a roosting juvenile Dunlin at the site (see title picture) and an arrival of at least 7 Mandarin Ducks to roost - absent from the site in the last month.
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November 2025
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