Cley, Norfolk
Midway through an ecology lecture at the University of East Anglia, the university bird club pager mega alert went off. We covertly passed the pager round the lecture hall to all the birders present, to let them know the incredible news of a male Collared Flycatcher at Cley! Panic ensued, and about a dozen birders all stood up and quietly left the lecture hall. I have no idea what the lecturer thought!
We managed to get a lift up to the coast from a friend with a car but unfortunately the flycatcher had not been seen since much earlier. It had been seen by one observer flying in off the sea. It had landed briefly and then flown towards the visitor centre. Steve Gantlett, one of Britain's top twitchers had been fortunate enough to be present at the visitor centre when the flycatcher flew in. He got brief views before it vanished. We hung out for a few hours and saw little managing to miss an Osprey and a Crane which also flew over during the afternoon. If we missed those, what chance did we have of seeing a tiny flycatcher?
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Colney Gravel Pits
Late afternoon and the pager went off again - Purple Heron sitting in a tree at Colney Gravel Pits, at Norwich! This was our local patch, where we had missed a Purple Heron the previous week. We shot back as quickly as we could, arriving early evening. After a little while, the Purple Heron suddenly flew off the main causeway and flapped slowly round the pits giving good flight views. It circled up over the pits and away northeast towards New Costessey, probably straight over our rented house on Dereham Road! Also present on the pits, a pair of Ruddy Ducks, Common Tern, Greenshank and singing Reed Warbler.
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