Birds of Natural Surroundings

The list cover the period September 2014 to date (i.e. the period since Simon & Anne took over).

Little Grebe
Resident on Bayfield lake.

Cormorant
Regular on Bayfield lake and often seen flying over; occasionally also on the River Glaven, where birds are sometimes surprised at close range.

Bittern
One wintered on the Bayfield Lower Meadows from December 2018 until 27 February 2018 (the first day of the ‘beast from the east’). It was relatively tame and gave better and better views as time went on, attracting lots of photographers; indeed, the last sighting was of the bird flying off after it had been flushed by a couple of photographers.

Little Egret
Seen in very small numbers on the Lower Meadows and the River Glaven.

Great Egret
Seen flying over on a couple of occasions, and one was perched in trees by Bayfield lake.

Grey Heron
Regular in small numbers.

Mute Swan
Resident on Bayfield lake and at the Glandford end of the Lower Meadows, and often seen flying between these two sites.

Pink-footed Goose
Abundant in Norfolk during the winter, we see variable numbers (sometimes thousands) flying over anytime from early September to March.

Greylag Goose
A flock of around 50 is resident in the Glaven valley and we see a noisy flock flying over often during the winter months (mostly towards dusk).

Brent Goose
Surprisingly rare, we have seen flocks in flight on just a few occasions.

Egyptian Goose
Regular is small numbers flying overhead or in nearby fields.

Shelduck
Odd birds fly over from time to time and in the spring there are often several birds in the sloping grassy field immediately NE of our boundary.

Wigeon
Small numbers on the scrapes in the Lower Meadows during the winter months.

Gadwell
Resident in the area, with birds on the floods in the Lower Meadows during the winter and noisy flocks flying over.

Teal
Small numbers on the scrapes in the Lower Meadows and on the River Glaven during the winter months.

Mallard
Resident in small numbers, in the spring we find Mallards on our smallest ponds, even on the pond-dipping pool in the tea garden.

Shoveler
Small numbers from time to time on the floods on the Lower Meadows during the winter months.

Tufted Duck
Small numbers from time to time on the floods on the Lower Meadows during the winter months.

White-tailed Eagle
An immature bird flew south down the valley over Natural Surroundings on 29 October 2018.

Red Kite
Resident in the Glaven Valley at Bayfield, with a pairs calling noisily present on a daily basis in autumn 2019.

Marsh Harrier
Single birds seen occasionally hunting over the Lower Meadows.

Sparrowhawk
Regular at Natural Surroundings.

Common Buzzard
Common at Natural Surroundings, with up to seven in the air together.

Kestrel
Resident at Natural Surroundings.

Hobby
Occasional sighting during the summer months, sometimes two together.

Peregrine
Seen occasionally.

Red-legged Partridge
Common on the Bayfield Estate, with odd birds in our gardens.

Common Pheasant
Large numbers are released on the estate, and all too common in our gardens, especially in the late autumn and winter, where they do quite a lot of damage.

Water Rail
One or two winter along the ditch and River Glaven and in the Lower Meadows. They are heard calling from time to time, but sightings are rare.

Moorhen
Resident at Natural Surroundings, but surprisingly shy.

Oystercatcher
May breed in nearby fields and sometimes seen flying over.

Golden Plover
Very occasionally single bird are seen flying over.

Lapwing
Rare, with just a handful of sightings.

Common Snipe
Regular in winter and especially early spring on the Lower Meadows, but their favourite area to rest up is one the winter ‘stubble’ of our meadows, with up to ten at a time flying off in the early mornings.

Woodcock
Flushed occasionally in the wet woodland and along the river bank during the winter months.

Curlew
Single bird are occasionally seen flying over.

Greenshank
Very occasionally single bird are seen flying over.

Green Sandpiper
Odd birds seen in winter, either flushed from the river bank or flying over calling.

Common Sandpiper
Very occasionally seen on the river during the autumn.

Mediterranean Gull
Singles and small flocks fly over in the early spring, easily identified by call, but none were seen in 2019.

Black-headed Gull
Good numbers fly over.

Common Gull
Odd birds fly over.

Lesser Black-backed Gull
Seen flying over during the warmer months.

Herring Gull
Small numbers fly over.

Great Black-backed Gull
Odd birds fly over.

Feral Pigeon
Small flocks fly over.

Stock Dove
Resident in the park and often heard calling, but we also see one or two below the bird feeders by the café, a great opportunity to see this beautiful pigeon at close range.

Woodpigeon
Abundant, breeding all year round. Woodpigeons do quite a lot of damage in the garden!

Cuckoo
In recent years (2018 plus) there have been very few records, even of calling birds, most of which are well down the valley towards Glandford.

Barn Owl
Resident at Natural Surroundings, breeding in our nest box and often visiting the ‘donkey shed’ during the night. Most often seen in the winter in the late afternoon, sighting may well be dependant on how many voles are available; when vole numbers are high they probably hunt almost exclusively at night.

Tawny Owl
Up to three calling males in the woods around Natural Surroundings, they are very vocal in mid winter. Sometimes seen during the day sitting in our owl nest boxes.

Swift
Rarely seen.

Kingfisher
Resident on the River Glaven, but not always visible at Natural Surroundings. At other times, however, regular on the river and also visiting the ditch and even the wildlife pond.

Green Woodpecker
Resident in the park but much more often heard than seen.

Great Spotted Woodpecker
Resident at Natural Surroundings and seen daily.

Skylark
Odd birds fly over in the autumn and winter, and in the summer heard singing distantly over nearby arable fields.

Swallow
Seen in small numbers, one was present in November 2019.

House Martin
Large flocks appear from time to time on summer afternoons, feeding over the tops of our tall trees.

Meadow Pipit
Odd birds fly over in the autumn and winter.

Grey Wagtail
Resident at Natural Surroundings and seen all year; has even bred on the bridge over the River Glaven.

Pied Wagtail
Much scarcer that Grey Wagtail, and mainly seen in the autumn and winter.

Dipper
One seen briefly at the overflow of the lake in winter 2017-2018.

Wren
Resident and common at Natural Surroundings.

Dunnock
Resident at Natural Surroundings.

Robin
Resident and common at Natural Surroundings.

Stonechat
Seen on a few occasions during the winter on the Lower Meadows.

Ring Ouzel
A male in spring 2019.

Blackbird
Resident and common at Natural Surroundings, with a noticeable increase in numbers during the late autumn and winter.

Fieldfare
Seen occasionally in the winter.

Song Thrush
Resident at Natural Surroundings, but quite shy and retiring, especially when we are open.

Redwing
A common autumn and winter visitor, often in flocks in the top of the taller trees.

Mistle Thrush
Resident in the park, and heard singing the late winter and early spring; a Mitle Thrush often holds territory in the Holly by the Hydraulic Ram, driving off other thrushes.

Cetti’s Warbler
Resident along the River Glaven in the Lower Meadows, and sometimes holding territory by our hide.

Grasshopper Warbler
A singing bird just to the north of Natural Surroundings one spring.

Sedge Warbler
Several pairs breed in the Lower Meadows, including at Natural Surroundings.

Reed Warbler
A single record of a migrant.

Lesser Whitethroat
May breed in the northern part of the Lower Meadows and sometimes seen or heard from Natural Surroundings.

Common Whitehroat
Several pairs breed in the Lower Meadows, including at Natural Surroundings.

Garden Warbler
A single record of a migrant.

Blackcap
Several pairs breed at Natural Surroundings

Yellow Browed Warbler
Recorded in October 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2018.

Wood Warbler
One sang for a few days in the car park in May 2015.

Chiffchaff
Several pairs breed at Natural Surroundings and one or two may winter along the Glaven as we have records from late December.

Willow Warbler
A scare migrant in spring.

Goldcrest
Resident at Natural Surroundings.

Firecrest
Odd sightings at Natural Surroundings, including singing birds.

Spotted Flycatcher
Probably breeds close by as we see odd birds or pairs in the spring and summer and have recorded family parties.

Long-tailed Tit
Resident at Natural Surroundings.

Marsh Tit
Formerly resident at Natural Surroundings, but absent in summer 2018 and 2019, although returning in the autumn and conspicuous through the winter.

Coal Tit
Resident at Natural Surroundings.

Blue Tit
Resident and very common.

Great Tit
Resident and very common.

Nuthatch
Resident and seen pretty much daily.

Treecreeper
Resident at Natural Surroundings.

Jay
Uncommon at Natural Surroundings.

Magpie
The keepers make sure that this is a rarity in the Park, and we have just 1-2 sightings.

Jackdaw
Common at Natural Surroundings.

Rook
Fairly common around Natural Surroundings.

Carrion Crow
Increasingly regular at Natural Surroundings.

Raven
Seen in spring 2019, and heard the following day.

Starling
Odd birds seen flying over.

Chaffinch
Common at Natural Surroundings.

Brambling
Small numbers in the autumn, mostly calling from the top of the taller trees, and then a few through the winter. Sometimes seen at the bird feeders.

Greenfinch
Seen just once.

Goldfinch
Common at Natural Surroundings.

Siskin
A large flock is regular in winter in the Alders along the river, but rather scarce at our bird feeders; Siskins are more often seen coming down to the wildlife pond (or the tiny pond in the wildlife garden) to drink.

Redpoll
A few records, either flying over calling or at the feeders.

Bullfinch
Resident at Natural Surroundings, but typically discrete.

Yellowhammer
Sometimes heard singing from surrounding arable fields.

Reed Bunting
Just one or two pairs in the Lower Meadows.