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With so many people spending time last weekend watching their gardens for Big Garden Birdwatch, I am sure there were a few new species added to garden lists. With the recent cold snap, scarcer species such as fieldfare, redwing, bullfinch, redpoll and even waxwings have been moving into gardens but here...

Following the mild conditions over the festive period, we have now had the reminder that is it still mid-winter!! Snow has been on the ground here for the last two weeks and with temperatures as low as minus 11 o c, much of the fresh water remains frozen solid. Despite the harsh conditions, it has...

One day last week I was walking towards the sea, on the main footpath, with some colleagues, when someone with a scope pointed out that there was a Lapland bunting in the open ground just to the left of us. A quick sweep through the crowd of birds, with binoculars located several meadow pipits, skylarks...

Most birdwatchers keep a list of some kind, it may be for their garden, local patch or county; it may just be a yearlist. For the yearlisters, it is important to get off to a good start so, with up to 80 species possible, Jnauary 1st is a busy day at Titchwell. This year we were lucky to have a waxwing...

If you have ever been to Asia, you will have probably been past or even birded a local rubbish dump (I kid you not!) and seen large numbers of gulls, storks and raptors feeding on leftovers. It is an amazing sight watching hundreds of black kites circling in the air together. Well we have something...

Now I have got your attention, let’s talk about gulls!! Not necessarily everyone’s cup of tea but they are a fascinating group of birds especially the larger species. Despite being a common sight they can be a nightmare to identify in all their different plumages, ages and races and a...

In the first month of my stay I had a good chance to think about the birds I’d like to see while here at Titchwell and, with Paul, the warden's, help I arrived at this list: waxwing, brambling, yellow-browed warbler, snow bunting, twite, long-tailed duck, velvet scoter, hawfinch, Slavonian...

The stretch of coast between Hunstanton and Holkham is well known in the winter for its large numbers of sea-ducks, divers and grebes. The sea in this area is comparatively shallow with a sandy bed that is excellent for shellfish making it ideal feeding grounds. Numbers are beginning to build up but...

Well with a bit of careful management here and there we will give it a good go... So what am I talking about I hear you ask? Over the last couple of winters our wildfowl numbers have been on the increase. Since 2009 our peak teal count has risen from just over 900...

As part of a national monitoring scheme run jointly by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and the Hawl and Owl Trust, we have been counting the harriers that roost on the reserve over the last winter. The main aim of the scheme is to get an accurate assesment of the number of hen and marsh harriers...

The roost of harriers at the reserve this year is phenomenal! This is not an exaggeration, despite my propensity of sometimes displaying this characteristic. Who can forget the bazillion waders on the fresh marsh, or the starling roost that was so huge it blocked the sun out and brought forward dusk...

Since the start of the New Year, we have seen a dramatic increase in ‘diving’ ducks, especially pochard, and it could be down to several factors. In general, diving ducks are very scarce at Titchwell due to the lack of deep water but since late-December we have been experimenting with...

We managed to get all the last few cleaning jobs done in the Parrinder Hide this afternoon and were able to get the security fencing down to allow a few people into the hides before dusk. THE VIEWS ARE AMAZING!!! Helped by an amazing winter light, there was a large gull roost including at least one...

For the first time in the 8 years I have been at Titchwell, all of the open water on the reserve (except the sea) was completely frozen over yesterday. It is not unusual for the fresh marsh to freeze but to see the tidal pool covered in ice is a very rare sight indeed. With the lack of open water...

The weather over the last couple of days has been fantastic and what winter should be all about. Crisp, frosty mornings giving way to clear blue skies and beautiful sunsets. The good weather has allowed us to crack on with the winter management work and the first section of reed cutting has been completed...

In the last week, there has been an amazing westerly movement of waxwings through the reserve. In the last 7 days, we have recorded over 200 birds passing through. Waxwing is a species that breeds in woodlands throughout Scandinavia east through Siberia towards the Pacific but leaves these areas in...

This weekend sees over 600 volunteers walking over 2000 km of the British coastline to count bird corpses. Not the most attractive job you may think but as well as providing valuable data for monitoring oil pollution and other unusual causes for death amongst seabirds, it's also a great chance to...