December 2016

Back in the UK, I visited a couple of familar places as I sought to reconnect with birding in the UK after 5 years in the USA.

On the first of the month, Chosely Drying Barns hosted what appeared to be a good Rough-Legged Buzzard. Myself and two other birders ticked off the field marks:

pale head and chest and dark belly...in flight it showed contrasty underwing with distinctive from dark carpal patches, edge to primaries and belly, plus dark end to tail; small legs/feet also.

However, birders that saw it in the days after questioned whether it was 'just' a pale-phase common buzzard. Examining my photos was inconclusive and I decided to defer to my (and the other birders') in-the-field judgement.

A week or so later I visited King's Lynn Fisher Fleet and Lynn Point, two sites I visited during my earliest days as a birder. There were a hundreds of Black-Headed Gull and Herring Gull, and a Peregrine atop the main grain silo, plus Marsh Harrier at the point.

Thursday 1st, Choseley Drying Barns, Norfolk, UK.

Saturday 10th, King's Lynn Fisher Fleet, Norfolk, UK.

Saturday 10th, King's Lynn Point, Norfolk, UK.