The Zoologist/4th series, vol 2 (1898)/Issue 681/Ornithological Notes from Norfolk for 1897

by John Henry Gurney Jr.

 

ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM NORFOLK
FOR 1897.

By J.H. Gurney, F.L.S.

 

It will be remembered that last year the autumn migration was very marked indeed, such exceptional visitors as the White-winged Tern, Greater Shearwater, Barred Warbler, Gull-billed Tern, Icterine Warbler, Bluethroat, Aquatic Warbler, Sabine's Gull, Greater Spotted Cuckoo, Pallas's Willow Warbler, Blackbreasted Dipper, and Red-breasted Flycatcher followed each other in Norfolk in bewildering succession, to say nothing of what occurred further along the coast. The autumn of 1897 was a contrast to that of 1896; August produced a Pectoral Sandpiper and a Barred Warbler, and October one Tawny Pipit, while September and November were quite uneventful. The saltwort bushes at Blakeney were reported by visitors as being very destitute of birds, day after day "not a bird in them," to quote from a letter. The only approach to a rush was on Oct. 22nd (T.E. Gunn), and the next day Mr. Caton Haigh marked the influx of birds at Humbermouth ('Naturalist,' 1898, p. 26). The explanation of this dearth of migrants must be sought for in the unusual weather, and the wind. From the returns made by Mr. Arthur Preston, F.R.Met.Soc, it appears that in 1896 the prevailing wind in September was S.W. (mean estimated force 3.7); in 1897 it was N.W. In November, 1896, it was N.E.; in November, 1897, S.W. From his notes the annexed table is abridged (Trans. Norf. and Nor. Nat. Soc. vi. p. 196 et seq.).

	1895.	1896.	1897.
August	W.	N.	W.
September	S.E.	S.W.	N.W.
October	W.	S.W.	S.
November	S.W.	N.E.	S.W.
	Medium Migration.	Strong Migration. (Twelve rare birds).	Slight Migration.

But, as was pointed out last year, Norfolk naturalists have not yet altogether learnt how winds govern the visits of rare migratory birds. What we have learnt is that rain and wind and mist and unsettled weather bring birds to Cley and Yarmouth more than fine open weather. These conditions delay a great many Warblers, Bluethroats, &c, on their south-westerly journey, and blow Gull-billed Terns and Greater Spotted Cuckoos out of their proper course, so that Norfolk obtains them. When, on the other hand, the weather is fine, the autumnal migration proceeds on its regular normal east to west course, the travelling birds pass high over Norfolk and Suffolk without descending, and for the most part by night, and no one sees them. Now 1897 has had an autumn and winter of quite exceptionally mild and open weather, in Mr. Preston's words, the "persistence of anticyclonic conditions resulting in an almost entire absence of strong winds on our east coast." To this fine weather we may fairly attribute the paucity of all kinds of migratory birds, without seeking for a further reason.

 

January.

1st.—Two Common Gulls.

7th.—Shoveller at Hillington.

8th.— Green Sandpiper at Intwood.

9th.—Bean Goose at Yarmouth (A. Patterson).

11th.—Two Green Sandpipers at Haddiscoe (L. Farman).

13th.—Seventeen Shelducks on Breydon (A. Patterson).

23rd.—Snow-storm from the east. Partridges sheltering under hedges. Reports of Wild Geese and a supposed Polish Swan.

28th.—Good skating. A Little Auk brought alive to my brother at Northrepps, and about this time twenty others were notified in different places, one of which struck against a shed (Patterson), and another was picked up in a sheepfold, leading us for a few days to expect a repetition of 1895. Seventy Scoter Ducks were shot off Hunstanton; and seventy-eight Wood Pigeons were netted at Hempstead, which in some cases were voraciously filling themselves with the miserable remains of turnip-tops left by the farmers as too bad for pulling.

30th.—My son saw a Great Crested Grebe at Cley, and about this time Mr. H. Pashley—to whom these Notes are, as usual, very much indebted—announced a marked migration of Sclavonian, Red-necked, and Great Crested Grebes, all driven by the frost to the open water of the harbour. Local observers were reminded of the influx of Red-necked Grebes in 1865, and the same desire was observed on the part of everybody to kill them! I believe the migration extended to Boulogne, on the other side of the Channel.

During January a drake hybrid between the White-eyed Duck and the Pochard was taken on Saham Toney mere, and was subsequently recognized by Mr. A.W. Partridge as the so-called Paget's Pochard. It is now alive at Keswick, and agrees very well with my father's specimens of 1845 and 1859, which, with others, are fully described in Suchetet's 'Oiseaux Hybrides,' pp. 152, 711. It has a yellow eye, the breast, instead of being black like a Pochard's, is a rich rufous, both head and neck the same, and a white bar on the wing not quite so distinct as in Mr. Wolfs plate in 'The Birds of Norfolk.'

 

February.

2nd.— Quickly succeeding the Grebes, and from the same cause, flocks of Sky Larks were seen passing along our coast, escaping from the hard feeding-grounds inland, which after a fortnight's continuous frost and snow threatened them with starvation. At Sheringham, Beeston (H. Fitch), and Cromer numerous flocks were to be seen, winging their way S.E., and against the wind, no doubt as far as Yarmouth, where Mr. Patterson saw them, together with Fieldfares and Redwings, and on to the Suffolk coast.

3rd.—Sky Larks still coming over Yarmouth (Patterson).

4th.—Larks passing Blakeney, Cley, and Salthouse in thousands (Pashley), just as in January, 1879, when the same phenomenon was seen.

5th.—Larks still passing Cley.

8th.—Solitary Snipe shot near Cley (Pashley); an unusual date.

26th.—Wind strong. Egyptian Goose shot at Shadingfield (Daily Press).

 

March.

9th— Chiffchaff and Wheatear at Cley ('The Field').

23rd.— Chiffchaff at Earlham (T. Southwell) and Rollesby.

25th.—Norfolk Plovers already extremely plentiful at Thetford (W.G. Clarke, Zool. 1897, p. 248).

26th.—Swift at Lowestoft, seen by Professor and the late Sir E. Newton; a remarkably early date.

29th.—Yellow Wagtail at Haddiscoe (L. Farman).

31st.— Several Martins at Hickling (M. Bird).

 

April.

1st.—A cock Serin Finch caught in a garden on the Caister road, Yarmouth, and another seen, the pair having been about some days, and being at first taken for Siskins (W. Lowne), would, if let alone, possibly have nested. This is in every way a brighter example than the female, also in my collection, caught in April, 1893. The Serin seems to be an easy prey to birdcatchers, but, though often imported to London as a cage-bird, it is believed these occurrences are reliable, and, unless the birdcatchers have duped us, it has now turned up at Yarmouth six times. It is a common spring migrant to Switzerland, where it may be seen on fruit trees in gardens, but not after the fruit. [As additional to those enumerated in Suchetet's 'Oiseaux Hybrides,' three recently taken hybrids between the Linnet (Acanthis cannabina) and Greenfinch (Ligurinus chloris) may be here placed on record. On April 19th Mr. Connop obtained one of these anomalous birds, said to have been quite recently caught by a birdcatcher on Caister denes. On Oct. 26th another was taken at Rottingdean, in Sussex, and submitted to me by Messrs. Brazenor, of Brighton, who also received yet another, considered by its plumage to be a female, on Dec. 11th. Neither of these Sussex hybrids so much resembles a Greenfinch as the one my father had alive for some time. No. 10 of M. Suchetet's list.]

2nd.—Ten Shoveller Ducks, probably just paired, and a Garganey Teal, doubtless a summer migrant, arrived on Hickling Broad (M. Bird).

8th.—Grey Shrike shot at Barton Bendish (R. Clarke).

20th.—A Spoonbill arrived at Breydon, and remained a few days.

A Dipper seen at Selbrigge Pond, Hempstead, this month by Mr. Upcher; the second time only that this species has occurred in April.

 

May.

1st.—Mr. R. Gurney saw five pairs of Shelducks at Cley, and also washed-up bodies of a Sclavonian Grebe, a Little Auk, a Gannet, and several Puffins, Razorbills, and Guillemots.

2nd.—Two Spoonbills on Breydon (S. Chambers).

3rd.—Spoonbills still on Breydon, flying from there to Hickling (W. Lowne).

4th.—Thirty Great Crested Grebes on Ormesby Broad (W. Lowne).

6th.—Two Kestrel's eggs in a hollow alder tree at Hempstead; from these, though exposed to the sky, the old bird must, owing to the depth of the hole, have had considerable difficulty in rising. This example is perhaps worthy of being added to Mr. W.G. Clarke's abnormal nesting sites (Zool. 1897, p. 449). The eggs were only lying on chips.

12th.—A small flock of Curlew Sandpipers, some in very ruddy dress (H. Slater).

15th.—A youth of eighteen paddling his canoe on the Yare was attacked by a Mute Swan which had a nest: the craft was upset, and the canoeist had a narrow escape from drowning.

19th.—Five young Ray's Wagtails thrown out of their nest by a Cuckoo at Sutton, and about this time some young Pied Wagtails at Keswick were similarly ejected, but no Cuckoo was seen.

21st.—One Reeve, seen at a former well-known breeding place on our principal broad, by Mr. Lee.

23rd.—Spoonbill on Breydon (Chambers).

25th.—Perhaps the chief event of the year was the discovery this day of a nest of the Common Sandpiper (Totanus hypoleucus) with its four unmistakable eggs. It was found by Mr. Oswin Lee under a gooseberry-bush in the garden of an inn by the side of one of our broads, where he was photographing. The bird was plainly identified. This is a discovery of more than local interest. Cf. J.E. Harting, 'The Field,' April 28th, 1877, though there can hardly be a doubt that the Sandpiper has nested in Lincolnshire (J. Cordeaux, Zool. 1893, p. 304); with this exception, these are the first authenticated eggs in the eastern counties south of the Humber, and the particulars have been communicated to Mr. Howard Saunders. Mr. Lee was too familiar with this nest in Scotland to require the eggs, which he therefore left to the old bird, but we never learnt if they hatched off. Mr. Lee had also the chance of watching a pair of Montagu's Harriers which were breeding, and of seeing the grey male hover some seventy feet above the marsh where the female was sitting, and then drop prey—probably a mouse—which its mate quickly rising caught in the air. Another discovery was a Willow Warbler's nest at Cringleford, almost five feet from the ground; Mr. Mitchell, however, refers to nests in Lancashire at heights of sixteen and fourteen feet. Here I ought to mention the abundance of Nightingales, which were also recognized by my son in April in Morocco, being then on their way to England. Also the finding of a Pied Wagtail's nest at Cringleford containing two young Cuckoos, and of a Spotted Flycatcher's nest at Braconash, also tenanted by two young Cuckoos, one of which ejected the other.

27th.—The Jackdaws have been uncommonly troublesome, taking fourteen young Pheasants from one coop; like Books, they are always worse in dry weather.

28th.—Dotterel, female, "telegraphed" at Holkam.

29th.—Spoonbill on Breydon (Patterson).

 

June.

11th.—Hooded Crow seen by Mr. H.M. Wallis.

14th.—A pair of Tufted Ducks on Wroxham Broad (Wallis).

23rd.-— A Green-backed Porphyrio, male, shot at Martham Broad, about two miles from the sea; taken to Mr. E.C. Saunders (cf. 'The Field,' 1897, July 3rd).

 

July.

2nd.—About one hundred Redshanks on a mud-flat near Duffell's Road, Breydon, considered by Mr. Patterson to be locally bred, the date being too early for migrants.

3rd.—Another Green-backed Porphyrio, male, shot at Martham Broad (Rev. M. Bird; cf. 'The Field,' 1897, Aug. 7th).

9th.—Five Shoveller Ducks on Breydon (Chambers).

12th.—Wind E.⁠At eleven a.m. a Spoonbill appeared on Breydon, where at four o'clock it was to all appearance asleep, with a guard of about a hundred large Gulls on the uncovered mud, head to wind, the Gulls sitting, the Spoonbill standing with beak snugly tucked away into its scapular feathers. It permitted an approach to within seventy yards, and then flew, stretching its legs out behind with its long neck extended in front. The watcher says it remained on Breydon Broad until the 31st, when for security he drove it away, but in a few days, apparently liking its old quarters, it returned with two companions. On the north or Norfolk side of the broad the close time ends on Aug. 1st, but on the Suffolk side it lasts till the end of the month, so there a Spoonbill is, or ought to be, safe for some time.

20th.—A young Short-eared Owl shot at Horning, which had not quite lost the down (T. Southwell)—perhaps from the nest which was reported in May at Hickling.

21st.—A Green-backed Porphyrio, female, shot at Barton Broad (T.E. Gunn).

31st.—Spoonbill seen on Breydon (Patterson).

 

August.

3rd.—Another Porphyrio at Barton, as I am informed by Mr. W. Lowne, who received it, and perceived signs of confinement, of which more presently.

13th.—A Great Skua seen at Cley by Mr. Pashley, who also reported some Manx Shearwaters, and two young Buffon's Skuas.

18th.—Spoonbill seen at Cley by Mr. Barclay, and about this time one at Kessingland (T. Southwell). Pectoral Sandpiper shot on Breydon (Zool. ante, p. 25).

27th.—An adult female Barred Warbler shot by the Rev. Henry Slater as it dodged out of a bush on one of the sandhills on our coast ('Ibis,' 1898, p. 148). There can be little doubt that this is a species which is moving westward, and will become commoner.

30th.—A Richardson's Skua with white carpal joints and edgings to the elbow of the wing, the chin and patch on the belly also white, brought to Mr. Pashley. Probably the first of this albinic variety which has been obtained in Norfolk—an interesting bird wherever killed.

 

September.

11th.—Another Green-backed Porphyrio shot at Barton Broad, as I learnt from Mr. Southwell while absent in Scotland. This is the fifth of these unfortunates in the same locality; but it is impossible to claim them as genuine migrants, for, though with one exception in perfect condition and plumage, they are probably some turned out by the Duke of Bedford at Woburn Abbey, in Bedfordshire. Mr. H. Saunders and I make it only 120 miles on the map in a straight line from Woburn to Barton Broad; the instinct which led so many to the same place, and that place so suitable to their requirements, is very remarkable. Whether they began their journey together, or not, it is morally certain that they did not all arrive at the Broad district at the same time, being far too noisy and conspicuous to remain long hidden. The first, on June 23rd, had probably just escaped, but in August Mr. E. Meade Waldo,—who, together with the Duchess, have kindly given every information,—informs me there were about sixty of these splendid "Poules sultanes" at large, fullwinged, and already quite wild in Woburn Park. None were reported anywhere but in Norfolk, so far as I could learn, but a Purple Porphyrio was killed in Yorkshire (J. Cordeaux). If any more are turned out it would be a good plan to put dated aluminium rings on their legs, and we could then be sure of their owners and trace their wanderings. We can only promise them the same inhospitable reception they met with before, so long as the reed-mowers are allowed guns, for they, like all the rest of the tribe of Norfolk gunners, are incapable of leaving any bird alone, and the persecution of Montagu's Harriers and Barn Owls is especially regretable. If these Porphyrios had been unmolested they might possibly have nested, as they did in a semiwild state at Mr. Meade Waldo's place in Kent.

21st.—A Shag, caught alive at Grimston Road by the side of the railway, is the only item in my diary calling for notice, a strange contrast to the list of rarities recorded for September, 1896, and to many of the same months in previous years.

 

October.

7th.—Wind S.W. Grey Phalarope at Breydon Broad (B. Dye).

9th.—Wind N.W.⁠A female Tawny Pipit in somewhat faded plumage was netted on Yarmouth denes, and exhibited at the next meeting of the Norf. and Nor. Nat. Soc. by Mr. Southwell, who took the opportunity of giving a résumé of the present status of Norfolk ornithology. It has been added to Mr. Connop's extensive collection, a catalogue of which Mr. Southwell has recently published (Zool. ante, p. 96).

12th.—An old Muscovy Drake attacked a Canada Goose with such ferocity that it completely disabled the latter, though three times its own size; the goose died from the wounds it had received.

19th.—Another of the chestnut Partridges—the variety named Perdix montana—shot by Mr. H. Galton at Sparham, about eight miles from where some were seen last year. The present specimen I am informed has the back and wings a uniform reddish brown colour without markings, breast bluish white, legs yellow, head normal. Two of those obtained by Col. Vivian last year had the whole of the breast and belly a rich dark chestnut, almost chocolate-colour, reminding me of a Grouse (cf. 'Field,' Jan. 15th, 1898). This is a more striking variety than the bluish or stone-grey variety, which is a pale bird with a cream-coloured chin, which also turned up this autumn in one or two places in Norfolk.

29th.—An Eider Duck watched on Breydon Broad by Mr. Patterson.

 

November.

Two Goosanders and four Mergansers are about the only things to be noted in this month; one Velvet Scoter, and an Eider Duck killed with a stone at Hemsby. Some hybrids between Anas pœcilorhyncha (the Indian Spot-billed Duck) and a Wild Duck on ponds at Keswick may be mentioned, though I do not think any of them are likely to escape and confuse county avifaunists.

 

December.

10th.—A Coot on the river at Keswick (very unusual) and some Siskins on the alders, a bird of which there have been an unusual number at Yarmouth (Lowne). Two Magpies at Northrepps about this time, and a Waxwing catapulted at Wells (Col. Feilden).

31st.— A flock of about ten Shore Larks at a certain favourite corner by the sea sheltered from the north-west. This spot for years has been very seldom without these winter visitants, which have never numbered more than nine or ten. Here they stand by choice on the hardest mud, which the Sky Lark never seems to do. I have kept two or three Shore Larks for some time, and had one which developed a partiality for orange marmalade, being much annoyed by its stickiness, though liking its sweetness.

This month an adult Long-tailed Duck was shot at Wisbeach (Bland), and a crippled Pink-footed Goose was picked up.