BLOG

15 June 2026 Elation/frustration

My most treasured bird list is my 'self-found' list, i.e. the bird species that I have discovered for myself somewhere, without need for twitching. Essentially, finding birds is a combination of observer competence, spending time in the field, and being in a decent location - with a decent seasoning of good fortune thrown in. The second and third of those permit a modest degree of planning. I reckoned, for example, that if I walked the Weaver's Way near Hickling Broad in Norfolk during balmy nights in late April, I would at some point come across a reeling Savi's Warbler. And so it proved, even if it transpired that the bird had been found by someone else a dozen days earlier, but (understandably, given it is a rare breeding species) kept quiet. Arguably, the Hume's Warbler that I found last November might squeeze into that camp: in decent easterlies, in Norfolk, at that time of year mean there should be a Hume's somewhere in the Wells/Holkham area (mine was at Burnham Overy Dunes).

In Norfolk, between May and July, Caspian Tern also pretty much falls into this camp - as there always seems to be at least one in the Broads/Breydon Water area (occasionally venturing further inland, such as this one that Dave Andrews found on the outskirts of Norwich). Jim Lawrence reminded me of this last weekend when we were twitching the Western Reef Heron. I was asking him what his next targets were for his Norfolk year list, and he cited Caspian Tern and Marsh Warbler. This inspired me to plan an east Norfolk raid on Sunday 14 June, checking suitable waterbodies for Caspian Tern - starting at Hickling, then Potter Heigham and Horsey, then the Trinity Broads and finally Breydon Water. The plan was slightly scuppered when, with my brain focused on Saturday league cricket, I heard that Rob Wilton had found a Caspian Tern at Breydon.

Nevertheless, I headed to Hickling early the following morning (although not early enough, as it transpired). Scanning Brendan's Marsh from one of the elevated platforms at 06h55, I was astonished to find an adult Caspian Tern standing in the water next to a couple of Black-headed Gulls and some Shoveler. Get the **** in! A plan, delivered! Elation! I took a couple of record shots, sent the news into RBA, messaged Jim Lawrence and put the news on the Norfolk WhatsApp group.

At 07h08 my phone beeped: RBA delivering news of a Caspian Tern at Brendan's... but the sighting was timed at 06h30, rather than 06h55. Huh? Checking the Norfolk WhatsApp group (which I keep muted, to avoid interruption and distraction, particularly from messages on common birds, which contravene the moderators' guidelines), I scrolled up above my message... and found that the bird had been found at 05h25 (by Phil Heath, per Dave Holman). The find wasn't mine after all. From elation to frustration in not very many minutes.

A couple of birders soon arrived. Over the next half hour, the bird had a couple of fly-arounds when other birds flushed, probably by a Marsh Harrier, but returned to Brendan's Marsh. I wandered off about 07h35, and apparently the bird flew high east at 07h53. One was reported at RSPB Hollesley in Suffolk, just under three hours later - the same bird? And then, come early morning on Monday 15th, the Caspian Tern was back on Brendan's Marsh.

The situation reminds me not just of the Savi's Warbler mentioned above, but also of a pair of Black-winged Stilts Mark Pearman and I found at RSPB Cliffe in Kent (which had been discovered the previous night, but were being kept quiet given the prospect of breeding), and a Red-rumped Swallow that I photographed fly past Cley Windmill one December, completely oblivious to it having been watched flying west over East Bank a few minutes earlier. I count both encounters on my self-find list, but in neither case is my name attached to their discovery in the relevant official reports.

The experience prompts food for thought. Can I count the find as mine? In Punkbirder rules, 'ignorance of news' is no defence. That said, there was no news on RBA (who don't start work until 07h00) and as I keep the county WhatsApp group muted, there was no way I could have known about the bird. Even if I had hatched a plan to find a Caspian Tern, I was genuinely surprised to see it work - and literally gawped when I found the bird. That 'genuine surprise' stands me in good stead to legitimately, and with a clear conscience, add the species to my self-found list.

More to the point, at best, my encounter was very likely 'only' a relocation of Rob Wilton's bird from Breydon the night before. (We'll need to compare photos to confirm this, but it seems very likely.) From elation to frustration indeed...