Sunday was one of those strangely unpredictable days that seem all too familiar here at Minsmere. Despite a poor weather forecast, we were actually treated to good weather, resulting in lots of visitors - avian as well as human.
For some it started early. John Grant, familiar to many as a volunteer guided walk leader and guide in a hide, settled down near the sluice at 7.30 am for a couple of hours of seawatching. For those of you not initiated in the 'art' of seawatching (and I guess that's most readers), this is not simply a case of watching the sea. It is, in fact, a type of birdwatching with a small but dedicated following. The aim is to count all birds flying offshore. The goal, is to find a real goody - like the king eider found last September, or even the possibility of an albatross.
Minsmere is not the best location for seawatching as it sits within a shallow bay rather than a headland, but nevertheless it can reward the patient observer. John's final tally included Manx shearwater, four arctic skuas, several gannets and a selection of gulls, terns and waders, all heading south into the wind.
Around lunchtime, another volunteer was shown photos of a bird seen earlier in the sluice bushes. He was confident about the identification of the mystery bird, but without a field guide to check the key features he snet the visitor back to the visitor centre for confirmation. On seeing the photo, wildlife artist Steve Cale and i confirmed the identification as rose-coloured starling. The bird, a juvenile, had spent five minutes in the sluice bushes before flying south, but was later relocated twice in the North Bushes. Sadly, it's not been seen since.
Although adult rose-coloured starlings are stunning pink and black birds, the youngsters are typically much plainer. They look essentially like a young common starling, but they are paler and have a yellow bill, as Charles Cuthbert's photos below show. These are birds that breed in central Asia, occasionally erupting westwards to breed in some numbers on the Hungarian plains. Every year, a handful (usually youngsters) arrive in the UK. This was only the second Minsmere record, so it was disappointing not to catch a sight of it.
Another rare visitor arrived on Sunday too. This was a pectoral sandpiper, from North America, and an annual visitor at Minsmere. It remained mobile on the Scrape all day, so was hard to locate. By Monday it had been joined by a second bird, and at least one remains today. Pec sands, as they are often known by birdwatchers, are similar to dunlins, so need an expert eye to pick them out. Not so our more familiar, but less wild, flamingo. Fiona remains on the Scrape today and continues to attract admiring glances.