Trumpeter Finch - Norfolk
June 3, 2008
A first-summer male TRUMPETER FINCH has been present on Blakeney Point (Norfolk) since Sunday 1st June, frequenting a rich area of Thrift flowers, 250 yards SE of the Seawatching Hide. This area is best observed from a distance from the dune-edge bordering the shingle beach, the finch being readily detected as it busily feeds on seeds on the open area of shingle beach at the base of the ridge.
To access this area, it is best to walk out at low tide along the beach, 2.2 miles west of the Cley West Bank Beach car park, taking between 27 minutes (if you run all the way) to 1 hour 15 minutes (if you take a more leisurely walk). There are many nesting Oystercatchers, Ringed Plovers and Little Terns on the upper shingle ridge west of the car park, so please take extreme care when walking away from the tideline. Alternatively, there are regular boat trips to Blakeney Point from Morston Quay, costing just £8.00 return, and these can be pre-arranged and booked with ‘Bishop’s Boats’ on 01263 740 753.transparent;”>This bird constitutes the first-ever Trumpeter Finch for Norfolk and represents the 13th British record
Previous Occurrences in Britain (see Evans, Rare Birds in Britain and Ireland, pages 465-466). Those highlighted # were widely twitched.
# 1971 Suffolk Minsmere Dunes, first-summer male, 30th May intermittently to 19th June (British Birds 67: 342 & 70: 45-49: Ibis 120: 410).
1971 Sutherland Handa Island, 8th-9th June (British Birds 67: 342 & 70: 45-49; Scottish Bird Report 1971: 160; 1973: 279).
1981 Orkney Sanday, male, 25th-29th May (British Birds 76: 523; Scottish Bird Report 1981: 49).
# 1984 West Sussex Church Norton, Pagham Harbour, first-summer male, 19th-23rd May, when taken by a Eurasian Sparrowhawk (British Birds 78: 581; 79: 299-300, 580).
1985 Essex Foulness Island, 21st September (British Birds 79: 580; 80: 499-500).
1987 Northumberland Holy Island, male, 1st August (British Birds 81: 589).
1992 Caithness Balnakeil, near Durness, male, 4th June (British Birds 86: 528-529, plates 198-199; Scottish Bird Report 1992: 67).
# 2005 Suffolk Landguard Point, first-summer male, 21st-26th May (British Birds 100: 97, plate 35).
# 2005 Kent Whitstable, male, 24th-25th May (British Birds 100: 97
2005 Kent North Foreland, male, 9th June (British Birds 100: 97).<
# 2005 Kent Dungeness Beach, male, 11th-13th June (British Birds 100: 97).
2008 Outer Hebrides North Rona, first-summer male, 25th May.
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