10th March 2024 – Winter & Brecks, Day 3

Day 3 of a 3-day Winter & Brecks tour today. After two days of nice weather, it was perhaps no surprise that today was different – grey, damp and rather breezy. Thankfully, the rain was only light, spitting with drizzle on and off and only up until 11am this morning after which it stopped, and the wind was nowhere near as bad as forecast. And we had a very successful day, despite the weather, to wrap up our tour.

With the forecast of rain, we headed over to Titchwell this morning, where we would at least have the benefit of the hides if we needed shelter. We cut across inland and as we dropped back down towards the coast, lots of birds flew up from a wild bird seed crop behind and landed in the hedge beside the road. We pulled up and could see they were mainly Brambling, including several smart, black-headed males, with smaller numbers of Linnet and Goldfinch too.

Song Thrush – in the car park

When we arrived at Titchwell, the car park was unusually quiet – probably something to do with the weather today! A succession of Mediterranean Gulls flew over calling as we got out of the minibus and a Song Thrush flew up from the middle of the car park and perched obligingly on a branch on the edge. As we walked up towards the Visitor Centre, we scanned for Woodcock under the trees but it was all rather along wet here today and we then had to pick our way round the flooded path to get past the Welcome Hub.

There weren’t many birds on the feeders today, so we carried on round onto Fen Trail. More scanning this side finally produced a single Woodcock hiding under the sallows. It froze, watching us, relying on its camouflage, while we got it in the scope. It was a fill-the-frame view! Obligingly it waited just long enough for everyone to get a look at it through the scope before it finally decided it had had enough and scuttled off further in.

Further on along Fen Trail, the Tawny Owl was in its usual tree again but today we could at least see more of it. From the first place we set up the scope, we could just see its breast and belly feather, marked with dark streaks. We adjusted position and after a couple of attempts found somewhere we could see a half its face and a dark eye staring back at us from between the ivy leaves.

Tawny Owl – hiding

We continued on round to Patsy’s Reedbed. A couple of Common Pochard were diving over towards the far corner, a couple of Tufted Duck were out in front and a Little Grebe was lurking in the reeds at back. There was a pair of Gadwall too – we got the drake in the scope to admire its intricately patterned plumage. A single Common Snipe was hiding in the cut reeds, before it flew off. There was not much activity out over the reedbed, not a surprise given it was still spitting lightly with rain, although a lone male Marsh Harrier did come up briefly at one point but quickly dropped back in

We walked back round and out via Meadow Trail to the main path. It was windy out when we got out of the bushes and the rain seemed to be getting heavier again. We made our way quickly on to Island Hide. There were not many birds on the Freshmarsh again today. A few Avocets were trying to feed up to their bellies in the deep water. A small group of Black-tailed Godwits was feeding further back, and at one point three flew in and landed closer in front of the hide. Three Dunlin were picking round the muddy edge of the nearest island.

Avocet – wading

There are not many ducks left on the Freshmarsh either. We did find a pair of Pintail upending over towards the back, along with a few Teal and Shoveler. Gull numbers are down too, at least on the islands closest to the hides, with just a few Black-headed Gulls on the nearest compartment, although a pair of them were displaying.

We braved the weather and walked quickly round to Parrinder Hide. A Scandinavian Rock Pipit was bathing by the bricks as we walked into the hide, then flew up on top briefly before flying off. Then another dropped in right in front of the hide and, after hiding behind a small alexanders plant growing out of the mud, worked up the courage to walk down to the water’s edge to bathe. Nice to see it up close, the Scandinavian Rock Pipits are starting to get pink on the throat and breast, more like a spring Water Pipit and a pitfall for the unwary.

Scandinavian Rock Pipit – starting to turn pink

There were a few more gulls on the islands over on the back compartment, including several smart adult summer Mediterranean Gulls with the Black-headed Gulls. We got them in the scopes, admiring the more extensive jet black hoods and thicker white eye-liner on the Mediterranean Gulls, along with their heavier red bills and white wing-tips. There were a couple of Dunlin on the mud in front of the hide and two Knot dropped in to bathe in front of Avocet Island.

It had stopped raining again, so we headed out to brave the path on to the beach. A large flock of Brent Geese was feeding out on the saltmarsh and several Redshanks, Curlews and a couple of Grey Plover were on the muddy channel on Volunteer Marsh.

Grey Plover – on Volunteer Marsh

The tide was out so there were no waders on the Tidal Pools, but we did stop to admire several close Pintail, which even started to display at one point. There was a pair of Red-breasted Merganser here too, the male preening on a tiny island before going to sleep and the redhead female diving along the far edge.

Pintail – a smart drake

Out at the beach, we got ourselves into the shelter of the dunes. There were a few waders down on the shore – several Bar-tailed Godwits, Sanderling and Turnstones. A small raft of Common Scoter were just offshore, but kept disappearing in the waves. One of the volunteers was seawatching and got a message on his radio to say that there was a Spoonbill on Thornham saltmarsh. We couldn’t see it from here but as we made our way back, we kept scanning and picked it up when we got to the Freshmarsh, feeding in one of the saltmarsh pools. It was hard to see, feeding most of the time with its head down, but we got it in the scope, and it lifted its head from time to time so we could see its bill.

Further back, we stopped to look for some Pink-footed Geese which had been reported on Thornham grazing marsh, and quickly found three of them in the grass. We could compare them with some Greylag Geese in the same field too. We turned the scope on a Chinese Water Deer out on the saltmarsh as well.

We were just saying that it was not a good day to look for Bearded Tits, it was too windy, when we heard them calling and turned to see four climbing up the reeds just behind us. They were moving quickly along the back edge of the borrow pits, but we had great views of them out in the open, particularly when one of the males stopped to climb up a reed stem and perched in full view for a few seconds, giving us a good chance to admire its black moustache.

Bearded Tit – despite the weather

Back at the Visitor Centre, we were planning to have an early lunch on the picnic tables, but we found that the picnic tables by the Centre were standing in water and the picnic area was flooded too. We decided to head back east and find somewhere else. We had a quick stop at Brancaster Staithe first, adding Ringed Plover to the list, and getting closer views of Bar-tailed Godwits. We watched the Oystercatchers picking through the discarded mussels, and Turnstones running around the car park too. A 2nd winter Mediterranean Gull was standing on the mud with three Herring Gulls.

Mediterranean Gull – a 2nd winter

Continuing on, there was no sign of any Cattle Egrets in the fields at Burnham Norton, but a quick look from the layby at Burnham Overy Staithe revealed several closer Pink-footed Geese in with the Greylags by the road. We had a much closer view now and could see their pink legs! Further on, seven White-fronted Geese were in the field by the road at Holkham today, so we stopped and got out. Again, it was a much closer view compared to yesterday. Three Barnacle Geese flew in again too.

White-fronted Goose – much closer today

We stopped at Lady Anne’s Drive and walked up to The Lookout for a later than planned lunch. At least we could get out of the chilly wind, even if it wasn’t raining any more. Afterwards we drove round to Wells beach car park. We thought it might be very windy out on the edge of the harbour today, looking out to the east, but it was actually not as bad as expected. There were a couple of Bar-tailed Godwits, a Grey Plover and a Curlew on the near edge of the channel and lots of Oystercatchers on the sand beyond.

Two male Red-breasted Mergansers came swimming quickly up the channel, one chasing after the other. The chasee swam on, and then started displaying to itself, while the chaser eventually turned back and joined up with two females which had appeared behind.

Red-breasted Merganser – a drake displaying

Round at the old lifeboat station, there were more waders on the mussel beds and mud opposite – a distant flock of Knot and Dunlin was feeding at the top of the beach, along with Ringed Plovers and Grey Plovers, and a flock of Bar-tailed Godwits whirled round the other side of the channel and landed again, but we couldn’t find any Greenshank today.

Back to the minibus, and we still had time for one last stop this afternoon. The Glossy Ibis had been seen on the flood east of Stiffkey village for the last couple of days, so we decided to have a look for it. We parked in the layby and crossed the road onto the permissive path the other side of the hedge. We were just walking down the path and turned round to answer a question from one of the group when we noticed a large bird of prey flying over the trees behind us. It looked big for a Buzzard and then we realised – it was a juvenile White-tailed Eagle!

White-tailed Eagle – the Dutch-ringed juvenile

We watched it fly across the road and out over the field the other side, stopping to do a quick circle, before it then continued on inland. Over the wood beyond, it flushed all the corvids and a Common Buzzard came up too for a nice size comparison. The White-tailed Eagle really was huge!

This bird is a Dutch-ringed juvenile White-tailed Eagle which was born in 2023, and then taken into care following a collision with a wind turbine and ringed, before being released. At some point it crossed over to the UK and spent most of the winter in Suffolk, before setting off north a couple of weeks ago. It has since been wandering the North Norfolk coast, though often disappearing inland. We had hoped to see it this weekend, but there had only been a couple of brief sightings of it flying over different places on the last couple of days so we were very lucky to catch up with it here now.

We continued on down to the corner of the footpath to view the flooded grazing marshes. As we came out of the trees, we realised the Glossy Ibis was very close, feeding in the pool right by the path. We edged out slowly, being careful not to spook it or all the other birds feeding on the pool and then we were able to watch it feeding in the shallow water. It caught a stickleback, washed it and then swallowed it. Then it flew slightly further back.

Glossy Ibis – with stickleback

The flood waters have started to recede a little now, and there were lots of waders here enjoying the fresh mud. Lots of Black-tailed Godwits included some smart rusty ones getting into breeding plumage already. There were groups of Ruff too, one striking bird with a buff head was probably a white-headed bird which had somehow stained its feathers. There were lots of ducks as well, Wigeon and Teal, and a couple of Pintail asleep further back.

With everyone heading off this evening and with long drives ahead, it was time to head back now. It had been a great way to wrap up, with a White-tailed Eagle and the Glossy Ibis, and it had been a very enjoyable three days with lots of good birds.

9th March 2024 – Winter & Brecks, Day 2

Day 2 of a 3-day Winter & Brecks tour today. It was a lovely, bright and dry day with plenty of sunshine. The forecast cold E wind didn’t really pick up until later in the morning and even then was nowhere near as blustery as predicted. We spent the day along the North Norfolk coast.

With the wind lighter than forecast, we decided to head first down to the cliffs at Weybourne. As we walked along the clifftop path, several Skylarks fluttered up singing from the grass and one landed on the top of a small clump of bright green alexanders. There were a few gulls out on the sea – a Great Black-backed Gull, a few Herring Gulls and a young Common Gull – and a winter adult Common Gull flew past close in below the cliffs.

Walking up to the edge of the cultivated field next along, we suddenly realised there were several Snow Buntings hunkered down right in front of us, just a few metres in from the edge of the grass. They started feeding, picking around on the bare ground, great views. Then a Meadow Pipit flew over and they took off, whirling round before landing further back.

Snow Bunting – feeding in the field

We continued to scan to see if we could find the Lapland Buntings which have been here for the last few weeks. We could see more birds further over, including more Skylarks, but we were looking into the sun from here, so we decided to walk on up the path. One of the locals who had walked on ahead of us waved us over now. He had found a couple of the Lapland Buntings but they were right over the far side of the field and tricky to see, disappearing in and out of the shallow furrows, so we got our scopes on the right area and concentrated on getting everyone onto them.

There were several Rooks and Carrion Crows along the back edge of the field too, which at times provided useful markers for the buntings! A few Curlew were feeding in the back of the block of fresh green barley nearby and a pair of Grey Partridge were feeding in front of the bank over the far side, very well camouflaged in with the clods of grey clay earth. We couldn’t find the large flock of Linnets here today, but there were still some little groups of them feeding in the field and we managed to locate a very distant Twite briefly too at one point. There were more Skylarks and Snow Buntings feeding here as well, which made it even harder to pick out the Lapland Buntings. A couple of adult Gannets flew east low over the sea behind us.

It was nice here in the sunshine this morning, but it took some time for everyone to get views of the Lapland Buntings that they were happy with. Many of the birds were now starting to work their way closer across the field so we stayed and continued to scan, eventually locating a Lapland Bunting a bit closer. Unfortunately it flew up with a couple of Skylarks before everyone could get a look at it and landed over a ridge in the middle of the field.

Lapland Bunting – came a bit closer

We decided to start walking back along the path, in the direction it had flown. As we got over the ridge, the local we had spoken to earlier now waved us over again, as he had located another Lapland Bunting out in the field. This one was quite a bit closer and easier to see and now, finally, everybody got a good look at it, before it flew again and disappeared.

We walked back along the clifftop. The flock of Curlews flew over and seemed to be heading out to sea, before turning back overhead and dropping back down into the fields. Scanning the sea, we picked up a small flock of Brent Geese flying east close in over the water, presumably starting off on their long journey back to Siberia for the breeding season. They were joined briefly by a drake Common Scoter, which quickly changed its mind and peeled away, flying back west.

Curlew – flew over

Back at the minibus, we drove back west to Cley. We stopped at the Visitor Centre to use the facilities and had a quick scan from the terrace. There were lots of Avocets out on Pat’s Pool, along with Black-tailed Godwits, a flock of Dunlin and a couple of Ruff. Two Lesser Black-backed Gulls were in with the Black-headed Gulls. A Marsh Harrier swept in and out low over the reeds, landing a couple of times but mostly out of view. We could see some Brent Geese distantly out on North Scrape, but couldn’t see anything in with them. Some more Brents flew in from the direction of Blakeney and dropped down with them, but there was nothing different with them either.

The young Red-breasted Goose which has spent the winter ranging widely along the coast had reappeared at Cley a few days ago and then spent a couple of days feeding with the Brent Geese on Blakeney Freshes. It hadn’t been seen yesterday, but we wondered whether anyone had ventured out to look in the blustery wind, so we decided to try our luck there. As we drove down along Back Lane, a Brimstone butterfly flew over the road in the sunshine, our first of the year. Down by the quay, a male Marsh Harrier flew round out over the grass right next to where we had parked, having a tussle at one point with a Kestrel which had been hovering nearby. Lots of Wigeon were feeding out on grass, whistling.

Marsh Harrier – a male

We saw a small flock of Brent Geese flying over and they dropped down with a larger feeding flock out in the middle of the Freshes. We decided to have a quick look from the top of Friary Hills, just in case the Red-breasted Goose might be in with them. A Greenfinch was wheezing away in the hedge and a Common Buzzard drifted over the trees. Up at the top, there is a great view out across the grazing marshes to Blakeney Point beyond. We could see the flock of Brent Geese clearly now and there was nothing with them. We could also see more Brents over towards the bank by the harbour, and although most of the flock were hidden behind some reeds, a Pale-bellied Brent stood out even at that distance amongst the regular Dark-bellied Brents we could see.

Our initial plan was to walk out on the harbour wall so we walked back down and past the duck pond, which is largely empty now after an outbreak of bird fly last year. Out on the bank, the wind had picked up noticeably now and it was decidedly chilly here. We walked out until we could see the Brent Geese here, but again nothing was with them either. There were a few Redshanks and Curlew in the muddy creeks and a Great White Egret flew over, dropping down out of view on the saltmarsh. It was very busy here now, too many people, everyone seemed to be out walking their dogs today! It meant as well as being cold it was very disturbed, which meant it was rather quiet for birds. We decided to try our luck elsewhere.

Curlew – in one of the creeks

We drove on west and had just pulled up to scan the floods east of Stiffkey when we got a message to say that the Red-breasted Goose was back at Cley with the Brent Geese there (which would be why we couldn’t find it at Blakeney!). We did a quick u-turn and headed back. As we got to Beach Road and got out, all the Brent Geese flew up but thankfully landed again just one field back. We could just see the Red-breasted Goose from the side of the road but from up on the to of the West Bank we had good views of it feeding with the Brents. A very smart goose! A scarce visitor here, which should be wintering in Romania, and one of the highlights of the last few months here.

Red-breasted Goose – taken previously at Cley

When all the geese flew up, one of the group who was looking the other way asked what was the large bird flying over. We turned round and looked up to see a Common Crane in the sky! It flew straight through without stopping and continued off east, later being tracked all the way along the coast as far as Trimingham at least. A great bonus and a proper wild bird here, the Cranes which spend the winter in The Broads often start to wander further afield on sunny days in early spring.

We drove round to the Visitor Centre for lunch. It was a bit breezy in the picnic area, particularly as all the bushes which give it some shelter have been cut right back down, but thankfully it was not too bad in the sunshine. Afterwards, we headed back west along the coast to Holkham. As we got out of the minibus on Lady Anne’s Drive, there were lots of Wigeon, Teal and Shoveler on the grazing marshes in front, along with a couple of scaly-backed Ruff.

The Shorelarks had been feeding west of the Gap this morning but on our way out through the pines we met someone coming back who told us they were not there now. So we decided to try down in the cordon instead, along the path to the east. There were several Meadow Pipits feeding on the saltmarsh as we walked past and we were almost there when we met someone else walking the other way who told us they had just seen four Shorelarks back in the cordon. Good news!

As we arrived at the fence, we saw a Shorelark scurrying towards the deeper vegetation out in the middle, so we turned towards the dunes and scanned from the fence there, but couldn’t see it now. Then we realised there were five more Shorelarks further over, closer to main path. After a quick look from here through the scopes, just in case they flew, we walked round to the other side where they were feeding. We stopped and got the scope on four of them, then noticed another Shorelark was right in front of us, just a few metres away. We had great views now, their yellow faces glowing in the low sunshine. Then the rest of the Shorelarks flew out from the thicker vegetation in the middle of the cordon and joined the five, and now we watched all thirteen feeding together.

Shorelark – stunning views

We walked on to the dunes now and had a quick look at the sea. The Common Scoter flocks were very distant in the mist – we could see long lines of black dots bobbing on the water, too far out to make out anything else in with them today. A Great Crested Grebe in breeding plumage was on the water much closer in and when three ducks flew past, we could see they were a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers followed by a female Pintail.

After walking back to the minibus, we drove round to check the grazing marshes the other side. In one of the grassy fields by the road, we could see several Barnacle Geese in with the Greylags but no White-fronted Geese here now, but at our next stop, we did manage to find some White-fronted Geese, feeding on the grass in the distance over in front of the remains of Joe Jordan hide. We could see the white surround to their bills and their black belly bars. Most of the Pink-footed Geese which spent the winter here have departed Norfolk already and headed north, but we did manage to find three very distant Pinkfeet now, over on Burnham Overy Grazing Marshes.

A distant white spot in the trees was a Spoonbill, doing what Spoonbills like to do best and sleeping – we could see its bushy nuchal crest but not its bill. Several more were even better hidden in the sallows but after a while one or two flew round and eventually one perched awake in the open so we could see its spoon.

There were several black-hooded Mediterranean Gulls on the large pool along with a small group of feeding Pintail. A couple of distant Great White Egrets were out on the smaller pools on the grazing marsh, one with a Grey Heron alongside for size comparison. Several Common Buzzards drifted overhead from the trees behind and two Red Kites circled over. Then it was time to head back for tea and cake again, but we still had one more day to look forward to tomorrow.

21st Feb 2024 – Winter & Brecks, Day 1

Day 1 of a 3-day Winter & Brecks tour in Norfolk. It was a rather wet and increasingly windy day, but as usual nowhere near as bad as the apocalyptic forecast from the Met Office and BBC Weather, and we made the most of the opportunities to get out, particularly when the rain stopped in the afternoon.

Given the forecast, we headed for Titchwell this morning where we could get out of the weather in the hides if need be. We cut across inland on our way there, and stopped to look at a flock of finches whirling round over a field corner sown with a bird seen mix. They were all Bramblings, maybe a hundred or so of them – we could see the white up their backs and the brighter orange shoulders of the males as they twisted and turned in flight. Then they dropped into the crop and disappeared. A couple of Stock Doves were on the verge nearby.

It was drizzling when we got to the car park at Titchwell, so we donned our waterproofs. A quick look in the trees on one side produced a brief Woodcock, which unfortunately disappeared in before we could get a proper view and another was lurking very deep in the sallows on the way to the Welcome Hub, too tricky to get an angle on it, so we decided to try our luck along Fen Trail.

The feeders behind the Visitor Centre were quiet, so we carried on round towards Fen Hide. There was no sign of any more Woodcock along here at the moment and the Tawny Owl was hiding in its usual ivy-covered tree but had secreted itself completely today, probably trying to get out of the rain, so the best we could see was half a wing!

Common Snipe – in the cut reeds

The path to Patsy’s has had some new gravel put down so we were able to get round there despite the rain. There were a couple of Common Snipe in the cut reeds in front of the screen, which we got in the scope, and a selection of Gadwall, Mallard, Coot and Mute Swans out on the water, but the Marsh Harriers were keeping down today and there was no activity over the reedbed.

As we made our way back round on Meadow Trail, we found another Woodcock hiding under the sallows. Again, it was not easy to see but we managed to find a spot where we could get the scope on it. Most of the group managed a look before it disappeared deeper in. The Woodcock were still very active this morning, so we figured we might stand a better chance of getting one more static later in the morning.

Woodcock – before it disappeared in

There was no sign of the Water Rail in the ditch by the main path – there was even more water in there this morning, with all the rain, which probably didn’t help. A couple of Cetti’s Warblers shouted at us from the reedbed and a quick scan of the reedbed pool produced a few Common Pochard, Tufted Duck and a couple of Little Grebes.

It was still drizzling steadily though, so we pressed on to Island Hide. There was a digger working out on the main bund today, and the increasing wind didn’t help, so there had been a bit of a clearout on the Freshmarsh. A large group of Avocets were on the island nearest the hide and flew round before landing again. There were a few Black-headed Gulls too and a single adult Mediterranean Gull with a nearly complete black hood dropped in for a quick bathe before flying off inland. A lone Lapwing was on the bund nearest the main path.

Avocets – numbers increasing

There was still no sign of the heavy rain which was forecast, so we decided to press on and see if we could get out to the beach. There were a few ducks, Teal and Shoveler, in the NW corner of the Freshmarsh, as well as a small flock of Dunlin feeding busily in the shallow water. A single Common Snipe was on the bund by the Dunlin and another five flew up from one of the weedy clumps on the island.

There were a few waders out in the channel on the Volunteer Marsh, so we stopped for a quick scan – Redshank, Curlew and a Grey Plover which we got in the scope. There were fewer birds than usual on the Tidal Pools too – a couple of Black-tailed Godwits in a small pool towards the back, more Wigeon on the islands but only a single drake Pintail in with the Shoveler. Turning round, we realised the rest of the Pintail had decamped to the saltmarsh and were feeding on the grass today, presumably to get out of the wind.

Pintail – feeding on the saltmarsh

The dunes provided us with a little bit of shelter to scan the beach and sea. There were several Bar-tailed Godwits along the shoreline and Turnstones and Oystercatchers on the mussel beds. Three Sanderling flew past. Looking out to sea, there were a few Common Scoter close in and a Great Crested Grebe just off the beach in front of us. A couple of pairs of Red-breasted Merganser more distantly off towards Brancaster were harder to see as they kept diving and the scope was constantly getting wet from the drizzle.

On the way back, we were walking into the wind and the drizzle had a sting to it, so it was a case of heads down and make a beeline for the shelter of the trees. Back at the Visitor Centre, there were now lots of birds on the feeders, so we made use of the shelter (which was no being used) to watch the comings and goings. There were several Bramblings on the ground here now, including two or three brighter orange males and a couple of greyer females. A Greenfinch dropped down onto the feeders but the Redpoll we could hear calling in the trees didn’t come in.

Brambling – a male under the feeders

It was time for lunch and it was still drizzling, and we were very kindly allowed to eat our packed lunches inside the cafe at the Visitor Centre. As we walked back to the minibus to collect our lunches, we spotted a Woodcock lurking under the trees close to the path. They can be surprisingly hard to see, as they are so well camouflaged, but we had fill the frame views in the scope now. It was asleep at first, but then woke up and looked at us, assuming it was well protected and we probably couldn’t see it. We could see droplets of water on its back and after a while it shook itself down and walked further in behind some branches.

Woodcock – on the way to the car park

There had been no sign of the heavy rain which was forecast all morning and we slightly worried it might just be late arriving, but after lunch we went back outside and it had stopped. On the way back to the minibus, the Woodcock was back where it had been before. As we drove east along the coast to Holkham, there were more raptors out now – a male Marsh Harrier quartered a field next to the road, a few Red Kites hung in the air, and several Kestrels were perched on the wires.

As we neared the Park, we looked out towards the pines and could see a flock of white birds flying up out of the trees in the middle and gliding round over the grazing marshes. We parked in a layby and got out and confirmed our suspicion they were Spoonbills. They landed on the grass and we got them in the scope, twenty-two of them. There were four different Great White Egrets on the small pools on the marshes too.

Spoonbills – some of the 22 here

Further off towards Burnham Overy, we could see a larger group of up to a hundred Russian White-fronted Geese loafing in a grassy field with some Pink-footed Geese and through the scope we could see their pink bills with the white surround around the base.

Russian White-fronted Geese – out on the grazing marshes

There is a lot of water on the grazing marshes by Lady Anne’s Drive now, and still good numbers of Wigeon and Teal enjoying it, but we couldn’t see anything else in with them. We walked through the pines and out onto the saltmarsh and turned east. The Shorelarks had mostly been on the beach to the west in recent weeks, but had been reported back in the cordon this morning, so we thought we should try there first and hope for the best.

There were lots of Brent Geese out on the saltmarsh, mostly the regular Siberian Dark-bellied Brents but looking through we found a single Pale-bellied Brent with them. A small group of Rock Pipits flew round calling and landed briefly and a few Skylarks were feeding out on the saltmarsh too. It was still rather grey, and it started to drizzle again now but thankfully it was just a shower and quickly stopped again.

Dark-bellied Brent Geese – on the saltmarsh

As we got out to the cordon, a couple who had walked out ahead of us waved us over. There were nine Shorelarks down at the far end and we got them in the scope, getting a good look at their yellow faces and black bandit masks. They were quite mobile and flew up and round several times, landing back each time in a different place. Fortunately we had chosen the right direction to walk!

Shorelarks – out in the cordon

Having enjoyed the Shorelarks, we decided to have a quick look out to sea. There has been a nice mixed flock of scoter off Holkham this winter, although numbers dropped sharply when most of them moved back west towards the Wash two weeks ago. The Black Scoter continues to be reported though, and had been a couple of hours earlier, although all we have been able to locate here since the number of Scoter plummeted have been a couple of lookalike Common Scoter with more yellow than usual on their bills. Still, we hoped we might at least find one or two Velvet Scoter in the flock, but when we got out to the beach and into the lee of the dunes we found the Scoter were very distant and visibility was very poor. There was no chance of picking out a Velvet, let alone a Black! We did have nice views of a couple of female Common Scoter which were very close in and there were several Red-breasted Merganser and a couple of Great Crested Grebes not too far out in the bay too. A few Sanderling were running up and down on the shore.

Looking back at the cordon, the Shorelarks had disappeared now, so we walked back around the far end and over to the lee of the pines and walked back. When we got back to Lady Anne’s Drive, it was still not raining but we were still rather damp from earlier. It was very cloudy and grey though and the light was starting to go. Everyone quite liked the idea of heading back for tea and cake so we decided to call it a day and head for home. We had done remarkably well, given the weather.

8th-10th Jan 2024 – Three Winter Days

A 3-day Private Tour, with some specific targets we wanted to see. It was cloudy and cold on Monday, though the wintry flurries were thankfully brief and light, but with a very blustery and cold NE wind which hampered us at times. Tuesday and Wednesday were much brighter with some nice long spells of winter sunshine, though the wind only eased slowly.

Monday 8th January

Our primary target today was to see if we could locate the Red-breasted Goose. Figuring it didn’t fly out from the saltmarsh to the fields until around 10am yesterday, we decided to head down to Wells first and have a look in the harbour. We could see the trees being lashed around when we arrived in the car park and as we got up past the lifeboat station, we were face on into the biting cold wind. We had a quick scan from the slipway – four distant Red-breasted Mergansers were in the outer channel, and a couple of Bar-tailed Godwits and a Grey Plover were feeding along the near edge in front of us. A Curlew was on the shore the other side, and lots of Dunlin were running around on the wet sand behind.

Red-breasted Merganser – in the channel

We walked back and round behind the new lifeboat station and managed to get some shelter from the wind behind the groynes. Three more Red-breasted Mergansers were in the channel much closer here, two males and a female, and the males started displaying briefly.

There were more waders opposite here, a few Knot, Ringed Plover, more Bar-tailed Godwits. A Greenshank was in the mouth of the small channel opposite before it disappeared round behind the sand. Further up, lots of Oystercatchers were roosting on the sandbar, with a big group of Knot in a tight flock in amongst them. A group of Shelducks were sleeping on the sand too.

Oystercatcher & Knot – roosting

We got a message now to say that the Red-breasted Goose was already in the fields where we had looked for it yesterday afternoon, so we walked straight back to the minibus and drove over. Before we got there, apparently the farmer had already been out and flushed all the Brent Geese. Most had flown off, but there were still a few hundred there, though unfortunately they were super nervous now and took off again as soon as we drove up, landing out of view behind a hedge.

We drove round to the next road over and looked back. We couldn’t see the field where the flock was at first, but there were lots of Lapwings in the field in front of us and several Fieldfares feeding in with lots of Starlings. The Brent Geese came up again, off in the distance, and whirled round, before dropping down again out of view. We wouldn’t be able to see them from this side.

We made our way back round to where we had started, and the Brent flock was back in a field visible from the road now. They were more distant from the road but once again they took off as soon as we slowed to pull up. It felt like it might be another frustrating wild goose chase, but thankfully this time they landed again still in view just a little further back, far enough that we could even get out of the minibus to look through with the scopes.

The Red-breasted Goose was in the flock with the Brents but it was very hard to see at first, as it sat down in the middle of the group. Before we even had a proper chance to look the farmer was back on his ATV to flush the geese, presumably attracted by our presence. Kindly he at least allowed us a couple of minutes before he drove, and all at least had a quick look at the Red-breasted Goose before the Brent flock took off of their own accord and flew off over the road further up.

Red-breasted Goose – taken elsewhere recently!

A good start, but we wanted to see if we could get better views. The farmer rode off and we continued on down the road to see if we could find where the Brents had landed. They were a couple of fields over, behind a hedge, and pretty much out of view. But we noticed a gap in the hedge, found somewhere to pull off the road, and set up the scope. Remarkably, there was the Red-breasted Goose in the gap! We had a better view of it now, for a minute or so, before all the geese moved further back in the field out of view again.

There were some light wintry flurries and it was very cold in the wind, so we got in the minibus and made our way back down to the coast. We stopped at Holkham – the Shorelarks had been reported again this morning, so we thought we would look for those, and we particularly wanted to look for Velvet Scoters too. When we got out to the saltmarsh, people walking back told us the Shorelarks had been flushed by a Merlin and flown off high west. We scanned the beach around the Gap, but couldn’t see anything out there, so continued on out to the dunes.

We managed to find a spot out of the wind and quickly located the Common Scoters. They were quite close in, several thousand of them, but the sea was rough, so it was tricky to pick out anything in with them on the water. Thankfully, they had split into several groups and birds were flying between the flocks. The Velvet Scoters were easy to see in flight, with the bright white flash in their wings, and we eventually counted at least 15 of them before the scoters all settled down again.

On our way back, we had a quick look out on the saltmarsh west of the Gap, but there were no birds there at all, so we cut back in through the pines to the Lookout for lunch. After lunch, as we drove back up Lady Anne’s Drive, we could see lots of waders feeding on the flooded fields, so we got out for a closer look. We could see a good number of Ruff and Black-tailed Godwits, Redshanks, and a couple of Dunlin too.

Barnacle Geese – probably from the Park

Back out on the main road, we stopped to look at the geese in their usual field. There was a big flock of Barnacle Geese in here today, at least a couple of hundred, which seem to be the feral Holkham breeders which have returned early this year. There were at least 50 White-fronted Geese too, mostly over the back of the field but a small group were much closer. A couple of Pink-footed Geese and the usual Greylags made for a very good goose selection! We made our way on west, with a quick stop to look at four Grey Partridges in a field by the road, and on to Titchwell.

White-fronted Geese – by the road again

The car park at Titchwell was remarkably quiet. Once we got out of the trees on the main path, we could see why – the bitter wind was gusting 36-37mph in off the sea and across the open marshes. We couldn’t see any Water Pipits on the reedbed pool, just a few Pied Wagtails, but it was just too cold to linger long here this afternoon. The Freshmarsh was pretty much empty, as birds had presumably sought shelter elsewhere. We continued on to check the Tidal Pool and were rewarded with another Greenshank. There were lots of ducks roosting on here, but no sign of any Pintail. It was hard to keep the scopes still, so we decided to head back to shelter.

The light was already starting to go. We had a quick look at Thornham Harbour, hoping we might pick up something coming through, heading to Titchwell to roost, from the shelter of the minibus but it was too blustery. Time to head for home. We had one last surprise – as we drove back inland, what looked like a piece of white rubbish blowing across the road ahead of us turned out to be a Stoat in full ermine as we got closer and we could see it in the base of the hedge next to the road.

Tuesday 9th January

We had a particular request to try to see a Long-eared Owl, so we headed over to the Fens this morning. It was a lovely sunny morning for the long drive with wall to wall blue skies, and just a light frost. When we arrived and disembarked, it was nice to find that the wind was a lot lighter inland too. As we walked in along the track, a Fieldfare flew up from the verge and landed in the hedge beside us. A Green Woodpecker laughed behind us and landed in the top of a dead tree.

Fieldfare – in the hedge

We walked down to the hide and opened the flaps. A quick scan revealed a Long-eared Owl tucked in the ivy, very close to the hide. We could see two eyes staring back at us, until it went back to sleep, and most of one of its ear tufts, between the leaves. There was probably a second Long-eared Owl deep in the ivy too.

Long-eared Owl – trying to hide

There were not so many ducks as normal on the main lake, only a few distant Goldeneye and no sign of any Goosander, as well as the regular Gadwall, Wigeon, Teal and Tufted Duck. There were a couple of distant Common Pochard too.

Goldeneye – on the main lake

There has been a Glossy Ibis on site for the last week or so, so we went on to look for that now. Out on the riverbank, the pools it had apparently been on were frozen over, so we walked downstream to look at the west pit. The wet grass around the edges of that were frozen too, and there was a work party out there over the far side, cutting trees and having bonfires, so probably no chance of it feeding on there today. We walked back up and another birder appeared who pointed out that that the Glossy Ibis was along the side of the river further upstream. You had to stand in just the right spot to see it between the trees, but we got it in the scopes now and had a good view.

Glossy Ibis – on the edge of the river

We made our way back to round to the hide, and the Long-eared Owl we had seen earlier had shrunk back into the leaves. We could see another one more clearly now, but where it had chosen to perch, we could see its bottom half but its head was completely hidden.

We had options to spend the rest of the day exploring the Fens, but with nothing on the particular target list elsewhere here, the decision was made to head back in to Norfolk. As we were passing, we stopped briefly on the King’s Lynn bypass to check the Hardwick flood lagoon. There has been a Black-throated Diver on here for a couple of weeks, but we couldn’t find it now. It may have been out of view in one of the bays or behind the reeds. It had been much calmer inland but we were back in the blustery wind now, and it was time for lunch, so we decided not to hang around.

We only had a couple of hours left this afternoon, so we made our way up to Titchwell again, to see if we could find some of the birds we had missed in the weather yesterday. After a quick lunch in the picnic area, we headed out onto the reserve. It was very windy out on the main path beyond the trees again, if anything worse than yesterday, though at least it was still bright and sunny today. There was no sign of the Water Pipit again and the Freshmarsh was empty – probably a combination of the wind and diggers working on the marsh at the moment, currently fixing the east bank sluice.

We continued on out past the Volunteer Marsh. Four Pintail flew in past us, circled over the Freshmarsh behind us, and then headed back out towards the beach, a nice addition to the trip list. Out at the Tidal Pool, there were lots of birds but it was next to impossible to keep the scope stable enough in the wind. The birds were all facing away from us too, into the wind. There were more Grey Plover sheltering on here today, and more Common Redshanks, but we still couldn’t find any sign of the Spotted Redshank. We had a quick look at the sea from the lee of the dunes, which was cutting up quite rough. The Sanderling were still running up and down along the shore.

Woodcock – hiding in the sallows

We headed back to the shelter of the sallows and cut in along Meadow Trail. There have been some good counts of Woodcock coming in to roost very early in the mornings here in recent days, so we thought we might be able to find one roosting under the trees. The first bird we found was a Water Rail feeding on the edge of a small pool deep under the trees. Then a little further on, we found a Woodcock too. Success! It was tucked in amongst the branches, but by moving around we could get a good view of most of it, We spent some time watching that, before it moved deeper in. Then a little further on, we quickly found a second Woodcock too, feeding close to the path. It was a little too close though and quickly disappeared back in between the branches.

A member of staff walking past told us that the Water Rail was back in the ditch by the main path, so we walked round to see that. Good views even if the light was now starting to go. A very successful couple of hours here, and the sun was setting now as we walked back to the car park.

Water Rail – back in the ditch

Wednesday 10th January

On our way down to the coast, we drove round via Wiveton. A lone Cattle Egret was still in one of the flooded fields by the road, despite the absence of any livestock. We wanted to look for the Velvet Scoters along the coast east of Cley this morning, as they have been close in at times. The wind was meant to drop today, which would make viewing ducks on the sea easier, but it hadn’t gone down as much as forecast and it was still rather blustery when we got out of the minibus.

We had a quick look at Salthouse first, as the scoter flock had been down this end yesterday afternoon. We couldn’t see any off the beach here – a young Grey Seal was hauled out near the top of the shingle and looked up at us as we came over the crest. A flock of 11 Red-throated Divers flew past out to sea, catching the early morning light.

Grey Seal – on the shingle

The scoter are more regularly off Kelling, so we headed round there next. As we parked in the village, a Grey Wagtail flew up out of the beck. The top part of the lane was quiet – the verges have been mown to within an inch of their lives, all the seedy vegetation is gone along the beck, and the hedges shredded back again. Presumably so it looks ‘tidy’! As we got down to the crosstrack, two Grey Partridges flew out of the field ahead of us, landing briefly on the path before flying off again. There were lots of Rooks feeding out on the Quags, which looked particularly smart in the low winter sunshine.

There was a nice selection of ducks on the Water Meadow pool. As the high water levels of recent days are receding, there is some nice wet grass appearing round the edges. As we looked over the hedge in the far corner, a Common Snipe came up from the vegetation. Just beyond, a couple of Brown Hares had taken shelter from the wind behind a small bramble clump and were warming themselves in the morning sun.

Brown Hares – sheltering from the wind

As we climbed up to the top of the shingle, there was a large raft of Common Scoter quite close inshore, but they were very nervous and flew before we could down from the skyline the other side. There was no sign of any Velvet Scoters in with them, and they landed further east with another larger raft. We scanned through them, several hundred strong, but they were mostly facing into the wind, so away from us, and diving continually. We picked up a smaller group just to the west of us, which was easier to look through and found a smart drake Eider in with them. We had some really nice views of the Common Scoters now too.

The scoter started to drift back inshore and gather in front of us, but were flushed again by two people walking along the shoreline and went off east again. We waited and scanned, and gradually they returned once more. We could see them much better now and finally we started to find the Velvet Scoters in with the Commons, at least three of them though it was hard to keep track. Lovely views new, quite close in, with the Eider alongside them at one point too.

Eider & Velvet Scoter – with the Common Scoter

It was cold out on the beach, so we decided to head back and warm up. A Water Rail scuttled across between clumps of rushes as we passed the pool. We had a couple of options now – we could go back to Holkham to have another go for the Shorelarks, or we could head out to Stiffkey Fen to see if we could relocate a Glaucous Gull which had been seen earlier, distantly out on Blakeney Point. We knew the latter would be a long shot, but the preference was to have a walk out there.

As we got up onto the seawall, a Greenshank was on the mud in the channel in front of us, along with several Redshanks and a tight flock of Dunlin which flew up and whirled round. The water level on the Fen is very high, so we made our way straight round to the corner of the coastal path overlooking the harbour and found a sheltered spot out of the wind.

There were lots of gulls out in the harbour, but no sign of the Glaucous Gull. We could see several groups of Great Black-backed Gulls out on the sands beyond, feeding on a number of seal carcasses, and those were just the ones we could see from here so there was plenty of food around. More gulls were roosting in larger groups on the mud closer to us. The light was really good and there was a nice selection of waders out in the harbour, plus a good number of roosting Pintail and several distant Red-breasted Mergansers out in the Pit.

It was time for lunch, so we made our way back. A Stonechat was getting chased around on the seawall by a Robin now. We decided to head round to Stiffkey Greenway where we could look out over the saltmarsh. On the way, we pulled up briefly in the village opposite the Red Lion. The Glossy Ibis was feeding out on the grass on the near edge of the flood today, so we had really good views of it as it probed its long bill into the grassy tussocks, better than the views we had yesterday.

Glossy Ibis – better views than yesterday

When we arrived at Greenway, a Red Kite was hanging in the air over the saltmarsh and drifted across right in front of us. We could see its was carrying a white wing tag and managed to grab a couple of photos so we could read the code. It turned out to have been ringed further east in Norfolk last June. There was a bit more raptor action while we ate – a juvenile Peregrine chased a small wader round and round high over the saltmarsh for a while, but showed its inexperience, as it kept missing it; a female Marsh Harrier flew past in front of us too.

Red Kite – wing tagged

It was heading for 2pm, so given the raptor activity, we decided to go straight round to Warham Greens now to see what we could catch up with there. We had just pulled up on the concrete pad, and were looking through the birds in the nearby hedge, when we had a glimpse of a harrier over the field behind. It was a ringtail, so we leapt out and got to the field entrance where we could see it going away from us over the field – a ringtail Hen Harrier. It banked over the hedge and we lost sight of it as it went round behind the old barn. A good start!

Down at the edge of the saltmarsh, one person was already there. Apparently we had just missed a Merlin and as we scanned back and forth it was now rather quiet. There were one or two distant Marsh Harriers over the back of the saltmarsh and a Peregrine briefly over East Hills. As we got closer to 3pm, raptor activity picked up again. A few more Marsh Harriers flew in and then a smart grey male Hen Harrier drifted across and landed out on the saltmarsh. A ringtail Hen Harrier flew past over the back of the saltmarsh too.

Just after 3pm, we picked up a ringtail harrier flying out from the fields to our left. As it turned, we could see its slim wings and pointed ‘hands’, with only four visible primary tips, the Pallid Harrier! It flew across low over the saltmarsh towards us, and we could see it had a bulging crop, so it had fed well. Then it dropped down onto the saltmarsh out of view behind some bushes.

Pallid Harrier – flew in early

We waited a couple of minutes to see if the Pallid Harrier might come back up quickly, but it could sit there now until it was time to roost. We had already been here some time and it couldn’t be called warm, so with mission accomplished we decided to call it a day.

As we made our way back up the track, several skeins of Pink-footed Geese flew in over the fields calling. A lovely sight – and sound – against the pink-tinged clouds and a fitting way to wrap up our three days.

9th Dec 2023 – Winter Tour

A single day group tour in North Norfolk. The weather was challenging – it rained in the morning, though perhaps not quite as hard as had been forecast, and even though it cleared up early afternoon, it was increasingly windy. Still, we made the most of it and by the end, everyone agreed we had enjoyed a remarkably productive day.

It was already spitting with rain when we met and given the forecast, we decided to head for Titchwell first thing where we could make use of the hides. Very unusually, we were the only people in the car park when we arrived. As we walked down past the Visitor Centre, a charm of Goldfinches whirled around above us and disappeared into the alders. There were several Chaffinches along the start of the main path, as we walked along slowly, scanning the ditches. We quickly found what we were looking for – a Water Rail was picking around in the leaves on the edge of the water in the bottom of one of the ditches. Unconcerned by us standing on the path, looking down, we had some very nice views of this usually very secretive species.

Water Rail – in the ditch

There were just a few Mallard today on the reedbed pools and the nearby channels, so with thicker cloud now approaching from the south, we walked up to Island Hide where we could get some shelter. After the recent rains, the water levels are now very high right across the Freshmarsh, but we started to scan round to see what we could find. There was a nice selection of ducks, several on the island closest to the hide, which we got the scope on for a closer look – a pair of Gadwall, we admired the intricate plumage patterns on the drake, several Teal and more Mallard.

Feeding in between the ducks in the flooded vegetation were at least three Common Snipe, which were good to watch, probing their long bills vigorously into the wet mud. There was a Lapwing too, always nice to admire up close. Further back, over in the far compartment, we could see a flock of Dunlin feeding busily on one of the islands and a single Grey Plover in with them.

Common Snipe – between the ducks

The rain was still light, so we took the opportunity to make our way round to Parrinder Hide without getting too wet. There were lots more ducks on the far compartment, mostly Teal but we did put the scope on a male Wigeon and a Shelduck which were both swimming round in the water between the islands. The Dunlin were still running around busily on one of the spits and while there was no sign of the Grey Plover with them, there were two Ringed Plovers with them now. A lone pair of Avocets were standing on the end of one of the islands further back – most of them have left us for the winter, gone south to find milder conditions, but always a handful of intrepid ones try to cling on.

The rain got heavier for a few minutes now, and when it eased a couple of Marsh Harriers came up out of the reedbed and chased round between the bushes. A grey male appeared briefly too – they were obviously not in any hurry to leave the roost today, and who could blame them!

A Curlew dropped in, in front of the other side of the hide, so we moved across to get the scope on it. It had a good bathe, flapping its wings in the water, and then stepped back to the edge of the island to preen. There were a couple of Redshanks on here as well, which we got the scope on too. After a while, when it had finished its ablutions, it flew off again, taking the Redshank with it. Two more Common Snipe were on the edge of the island now, and several Lapwing and the flock of Dunlin were further back.

Curlew – bathing

There was just some misty drizzle now, but the wind had already picked up noticeably. We decided against walking out to the beach this morning, figuring it would be pretty unpleasant out there, so we made our way back out to the main path. The wind was in our faces, so we put our heads down and walked back quickly towards the shelter of the trees. The rain picked up again just as we got past the reedbed, so we hurried on to the Visitor Centre where it was nice to get into the warm, update the staff on what we had seen, and have a quick chance to check out the Christmas stock for those that wanted to.

As we walked back to the car park, the rain had eased off again and it had gone back to spitting. We boarded the minibus and decided to have a drive round to look for geese, so we could remain in the warm and avoid getting too wet again. Cutting inland, we drove round to a recently harvested sugar beet field. There were fewer geese here today than there have been in recent days, but there were still some nice groups of Pink-footed Geese and Greylags. We got out and got the scope on them – a good comparison between the two, the Pink-footed Geese noticeably smaller and darker headed, with a more delicate and mostly dark bill.

Pink-footed Geese – with Greylags

Looking across to the other side of the field and into the next one over, we could see that there were hundreds of Fieldfares and Starlings, feeding on the ground or up in the hedge. The Fieldfares are winter visitors here from Scandinavia, so we turned the scope on them for a closer look.

Moving on, we headed off to another area where we had been told a large flock of Brent Geese were feeding. There has been at least one Red-breasted Goose with the Brent Geese in Norfolk since November, but with the geese now feeding inland on winter wheat, they are hard to find and seldom seen. It doesn’t help that the flocks of Brents get moved on constantly by the local farmers. There were only a couple of small gaps where we could see through the hedge and the geese were nervous so we couldn’t get out, but we eventually all got a view of the Red-breasted Goose in with them.

Red-breasted Goose – with the Brents

It was time for lunch, so we dropped back down to the coast at Holkham. As we parked at Lady Anne’s Drive and got out, it had stopped raining completely now. There were lots of Wigeon, Teal and Shoveler out on the grazing marshes and a few Pink-footed Geese flying in and out of the fields further over. A Red Kite flew across behind us too. As we walked down towards The Lookout cafe, there were lots of Redshanks feeding in the now very wet grass just beyond the new (and annoying, as it spoils the view of the birds) bridlepath fence.

Redshank – behind the new fence

We ate in The Lookout – the group all bought hot drinks and were very kindly allowed to eat their sandwiches in the warm, as the wind had blown straight in through the slats and the tables outside the cafe enclosure were very wet. A lone Tufted Duck was on the pool beyond the cafe. While we were eating an unfamiliar yellow orb appeared in the sky – the sun showed itself through the clouds, which were starting to break up!

After lunch, we headed out towards the saltmarsh to look for the Shorelarks. They hadn’t been seen in the cordon this morning, and as we walked up towards the pines, another birder coming back said there was still no sign of them. A bit disappointing, but we figured we would walk out anyway now we were here – it was drying out a bit, and you never know. We scanned a couple of other places they have liked to get recently, but there was no sign, so we set off to walk down to the cordon.

Out beyond the Gap, we could see lots of black birds flying back and forth over the sea – lots of Common Scoter. Then looking behind us, we could see there were some very ominous dark clouds approaching over the pines – we had hoped we would remain dry now – and then the wind picked up significantly like it does when it is about to rain. We cut into the trees to get some shelter but thankfully the clouds blew quickly overhead and the sun came out again.

Back out onto the path along the edge of the saltmarsh by the start of the cordon, we began to scan across and quickly noticed a group of small birds on the sand over the far side, in front of the dunes. Getting the scope on them quickly, we could confirm our suspicions – they were the Shorelarks! We had a quick look from here, just in case they flew off, then walked out to the far side of the cordon and looked back. The Shorelarks were working their way towards us and with the sun now low in the sky behind us, their yellow faces shone in the late sunshine. We all had a good look, then when we took our eyes off them for a second to talk about them, they disappeared back into the saltmarsh.

Shorelarks – on the saltmarsh

We had a quick look at the sea, but the Scoter were now a long way out and with the wind still very blustery, the water was very choppy. We decided to make our way back and when we got back to Lady Anne’s Drive, there was a dramatic sunset over the park, the light shining between the clouds, flocks of Lapwings and Pink-footed Geese flying across in front. A couple of thousand Pink-footed Geese flew in and dropped down in the distance, the other side of Decoy Wood.

The light was already starting to go, but we figured we had time for one last stop, so we went for a quick look at the grazing marshes. We eventually found some White-fronted Geese, but they were distant, beyond Decoy Wood, and we could just make out their white fronts when they lifted their heads. There were a couple of Egyptian Geese on the grass a bit closer. We found a Great White Egret too and had a nice view when it came up out of the pool where it had been feeding.

Sunset – over the grazing marshes

There were already lots of Cormorants in the trees, and then a couple of huge flocks of Jackdaws flew out and landing in the trees in the wood to roost – an impressive sight in the scope. A couple of Common Buzzards flew past and up into the park – time for bed for them too. It was around the time for the Pink-footed Geese to come in to roost, so we waited to see when they would arrive. They were 5-10 minutes later than usual today, and most came in from the east, still impressive to watch as several thousand filled the sky and then whiffled down onto the grazing marshes.

A nice way to end the day, it was time to head back.

3rd Dec 2023 – Early Winter Tour, Day 3

Day 3 of a 3-day Early Winter Tour in Norfolk. It was forecast to rain for much of the day today and fortunately at least that was wrong. However, there was some light sleet still first thing and some light drizzle late afternoon and it remained very grey all day.

We started the day down at Blakeney. It was still sleeting a little when we parked at the west end of the quay and got a surprise when we got out of the minibus and what we thought was a puddle was actually sheet ice overlain with fresh sleet. The gravel parking bay was black ice and treacherous! We parked again where it was a little better, and kept to the road which was safer, until we got onto the tarmac quay. There were a few Wigeon, Teal and Brent Geese along the edge of the harbour channel and a Grey Plover on the sand the other side.

The National Trust car park was sheet ice too, so we went out onto the road again and up onto the bank the other side. The path was not much better, so we walked gingerly out along the grass either side. There were several Marsh Harriers up over the saltmarsh beyond the harbour channel and we had a quick glimpse of a Merlin chasing pipits in the distance towards Morston, which unfortunately did not reappear. A large flock of Brent Geese were feeding on the saltmarsh close to the path before they were spooked by an alarm calling Curlew and flew out into the middle.

Brent Geese – feeding on the saltmarsh

We made our way slowly out along the bank. There were quite a few Canada Geese out on the grazing marsh behind Little Barnett and another small flock of Brent Geese too. In with the Brents, we could see three Barnacle Geese too so we stopped to get the scope on them. We were aiming to get out to the NW corner of the Freshes bank, but it was getting increasingly icy so we stopped short and scanned the harbour. A couple of Red-breasted Mergansers surfaced briefly in between the boats and we could see lots of waders further up on the open mud, Dunlin, Grey Plover, Redshank and Curlew.

Barnacle Geese – with some Brents

We were hoping to catch up with the Twite here, but at first all we saw was a flock of Linnets which flew round and round out over the saltmarsh and eventually landed so we could confirm what we thought they were. There were a few Skylarks, Reed Buntings and pipits flying round too, but after a while another flock of small finches appeared out by the edge of the channel, bouncing up and down like they were on elastic. They landed on the stays of the mast of a yacht which was sticking up out of the suaeda and we could get the scope on them and confirm they were indeed the Twite we had been waiting for.

The Twite quickly dropped down into the vegetation below, then flew up again and disappeared out into the middle of the harbour. We thought that might be it, but the next thing we knew that were flying back in and landed again on the mast. This time they lingered there a little longer, allowing most of the group a chance to look at them in the scope. The light wasn’t great, but you could just about catch the yellow bill on one or two.

Twite – landed on a mast

Having seen the Twite, we decided to head back to the minibus to warm up. On the way, the ice seemed to have started to melt and it stopped sleeting and began to brighten up a touch from the west. While we stopped to use the facilities opposite the NT car park, we scanned the saltmarsh out beyond the harbour. There were still several Marsh Harriers up and then we noticed a smaller, slimmer one which appeared briefly – a ringtail Hen Harrier. It came up again and we managed to get it in the scope, but it was keeping typically low.

We thought we might have a better view from the bank at the west end of the quay, so we hurried round. As we passed the boats, a Kingfisher shot out from behind one of them and disappeared into a small channel opposite. We found it perched on the rope tying up another smaller boat hidden in the channel. There was no further sign of the Hen Harrier now, but scanning through the goose flocks, we did find an interesting Brent Goose in with one of the flocks, possibly a Dark-bellied Brent x Black Brant intergrade.

Kingfisher – around the harbour

Back in the minibus, we drove west to Stiffkey. The Glossy Ibis had been reported again yesterday on the flood by the coast road, so we parked in the layby on the corner and set off to walk down the permissive path to see if we could find it. A large flock of Woodpigeons came out of the trees and we picked out several Stock Doves in with them. There were lots of Curlews and several Lapwings in the grass field opposite. Down at the flood, we had just started to scan, when the Glossy Ibis walked out from behind the bushes on the east end of the flood, close to the footpath. That was nice and easy!

After a good look at the Glossy Ibis through the scope, we had a quick walk down the footpath to check the pools further along. The Ibis was even closer from here, at least until it was flushed by a cow, but there were not many waders today – just a couple of Lapwing, a Redshank and a Curlew. A flock of Long-tailed Tits was high in the trees above us. We turned to walk back, and a Goldcrest was feeding in the tangled branches above the path.

Glossy Ibis – still on the flood

There was still some time before lunch when we arrived at Holkham. Having had our visit cut short by the heavy sleet on Friday, we thought we might have a quick look at the sea today. As we walked out around the saltmarsh again, the Shorelarks were in the same place we had seen them before, at least until they were flushed by a couple of loose dogs and flew off across the Gap. A couple of Scandinavian Rock Pipits flew up calling and landed again on the saltmarsh, where they disappeared back into the vegetation.

Looking out through the Gap, we could see thousands of Common Scoter which came up from the sea and flew round before appearing to move off west. When we got out to the dunes we could see why – a shrimp trawler was ploughing across the bay, presumably doing considerable damage to the seabed and churning up the shellfish which the scoter had gathered here to feed on. There were still lots of Common Scoter out on the sea, but they were now scattered more widely and most of them were much more distant.

We scanned the sea from the top of the dunes. There were a couple of Great Crested Grebes offshore, fewer than we would normally expect to see here, but initially we struggled to find a single diver. Eventually we picked up a very distant Great Northern Diver a mile or two to the west, and then a single Red-throated Diver just off the beach only a little bit closer.

As the shrimp trawler ploughed off east, the Common Scoter slowly started to come back in a little closer. Now we picked up four Velvet Scoter flying in with them, the white in their wings instantly giving them away. They landed slightly separate to the Common Scoter flock at first, which made them easier to see, but then swam in to where the flock were diving.

The shrimp trawler had turned around and was heading back to where all the ducks were feeding. It was time for lunch too, so we decided to head back. As we passed the cordon, we could see someone scoping the far end. As we scanned across, a flock of small birds flew round – we counted 14, one more than the 13 Shorelarks we had seen earlier, and as they landed, we could see one was a smaller Snow Bunting which had joined with them.

Back at the Lookout, we stopped for lunch on the picnic tables. It was still dry and the temperature seemed to have gone up a few degrees, even if it was still rather grey. Afterwards, we still had a little time before we wanted to be at Warham, so we went to look for White-fronted Geese. As we drove along the coast road, we could see lots of geese in the field by the road so we turned round and parked in the layby. We counted at least 77 White-fronted Geese, with a smaller number of Greylags and a single Pink-footed Goose for comparison. We admired the distinctive black belly stripes of the adult White-fronted Geese.

White-fronted Geese – some of the 77 today

We were hoping to catch up with the Pallid Harrier coming in to roost at Warham this afternoon, so we headed round to Garden Drove. When we got down to the edge of the saltmarsh, it hadn’t been seen yet so we thought we might be in with a good chance. The light was already quite gloomy, but we quickly picked up a Merlin flying across the back of the saltmarsh and scanning with the scope, we found it perched distantly on a bush.

There is normally quite a bit of harrier activity here in the afternoon, but we just had a single Marsh Harrier which flew across the saltmarsh before it started to drizzle. It was only light, but it seemed to put a cap on any more activity – we continued to scan, but it seemed like we were going to be out of luck. We waited until the other highlight of the evening here – we heard the calls of Pink-footed Geese behind us and turned to see several thousand flying in over the fields. They were a bit to the east of us today, as we watched them drop down over the saltmarsh and out towards the beach.

The light was going, so we started to walk back. Another wave of Pink-footed Geese came in over the field beside the track, then another further to the east again. It is always a nice way to end the day, watching and listening to the Pinkfeet coming in to roost, but there was one last surprise tonight. As we drove back down towards the coast road, we could see a shape in the headlights on the track ahead of us – a Woodcock. We slowed and then it flew up in front of us, over the hedge and dropped into the field the other side.

It had not been the best of weather this weekend, but we had made the most of it and had seen a load of good birds too, despite the best efforts of the conditions to put us off.

1st Dec 2023 – Early Winter Tour, Day 1

Day 1 of a 3-day Early Winter Tour in Norfolk. After a very frosty start, we had some nice bright sunny spells but also some heavy wintry showers, which were not really in the forecast. We managed to largely dodge them until later in the afternoon.

We are currently enjoying an influx of Waxwings, so with a group reported in Holt the last few days we decided to swing round via there on our way to the coast first thing. It was a very cold and frosty morning, and when we got out of the minibus there was no sign of any Waxwings – were we still too early? We walked up to the top of the Close, where a Coal Tit was calling in the trees at the far end as we walked underneath.

We figured we might have to try again later, but as we walked back towards the minibus we noticed a shape perched in the top of a tall tree between the roofs of the houses. A lone Waxwing! It dropped down to feed on the berries on a smaller tree, right next to where we had parked, and then flew up into the top of another tree further up. We had a nice view of it here through the scope, as it perched looking round. Perhaps it was looking for the rest of the flock?!

Waxwing – just one to start

We were just thinking we might have to settle for only the one when a flock of birds appeared flying in low over the roofs. More Waxwings, another 17 of them. They landed on the TV aerial of one of the houses, quite a sight packed in tight together, then started to drop down to feed on the berries below.

Waxwings – on the TV aerial

They didn’t stay long, and then flew back up, some moving on to a nearby tree where they perched preening in the early winter sunshine. Great light now, through the scope. A Red Kite flew in from the other direction and over the Waxwings, which barely batted their spiky crests. Then an ominous dark cloud drifted over and it started to snow. We decided to get back in the warmth of the minibus and move on.

Waxwing – in the sunshine

By the time we got down to Cley, the sun was out again and the skies were blue. We parked at Walsey Hills and as we walked past Snipe’s Marsh, the sun was catching the tops of the reeds, a classic winter scene. Up onto the East Bank, a pair of Gadwall were down in the Catchwater Drain, looking very smart in the low winter sunshine.

Gadwall – in the catchwater drain

A rather grey-backed Robin was flitting back and forth across the start of the Skirts path, presumably a continental bird arrived to spend the winter here. As we walked on, a couple of Marsh Harriers flew round low over the reedbed and while we were watching one of them, a Kingfisher shot past and dropped down into the ditch beside the bank ahead of us.

It seemed like a perfect morning for Bearded Tits, but they were a bit slow to get going this morning. About half way up, we heard some calling close to the path but there was no sign in the tops of the reeds. We stopped to see if they might appear – a Cetti’s Warbler called in front of us and another shouted from back along the bank, a Reed Bunting called further ahead, but the Bearded Tits had gone quiet. We thought we might stand a better chance on the way back.

We scanned out across the Serpentine towards Pope’s Pool. There were lots of Wigeon whistling on the grazing marsh and more Teal and Shoveler around the edges of the water. A couple of small flocks of Pink-footed Geese flew over calling. There were lots of Lapwing in the grass too and we turned the scope on a group to admire their metallic green upperparts which glowed in the sunshine. A small group of Dunlin were feeding around the mud in front of them.

Continuing on, we heard the Kingfisher again and it flashed across the path ahead of us and disappeared off out over the reedbed. Up to the main drain, and a Curlew was feeding on the bare mud where the diggers have sculpted the new cut. A Little Grebe was in the water in front.

Kingfisher – on the brackish pools

We could see more ominous clouds out to sea and it was clearly sleeting away towards Sheringham already, so we decided to stop here and scan rather than continue on to the beach just yet. There were lots more ducks on the brackish pools but we couldn’t dig out a Pintail this morning. Another Kingfisher was hovering over the water close to the path further up – it kept hovering and then moving position, then hovering again. It landed in some dead plant stems just beyond the water for a quick break, then resumed its fishing, eventually catching something and then disappearing off over the reeds.

As it started to sleet, we moved into the shelter overlooking Arnold’s Marsh, where there were more ducks but nothing we hadn’t already seen. Still no Pintail! A Weasel occasionally appeared out of the long grass in front of the shelter as it made its way past. At least we were out of the weather – the wind picked up and it was driving sleet for a few minutes, but thankfully the dark clouds moved through fairly quickly. Once it stopped, we headed out to the beach for a quick scan of the sea.

The shingle ridge has taken another battering from the storm last week and moved another few metres inland. Looking out to sea, four Common Scoters flew past, followed shortly after by five Eider, but otherwise there was very little out on the sea. We could see the heads of a couple of adult Grey Seals in the water and looking left, we could see a Grey Seal pup on the beach, which flopped down into the breakers. A Turnstone landed on the shingle in front of it.

There was a bite to the cold out on the beach, so we decided to walk back. Four Avocets had dropped in on Arnold’s Marsh while we were looking at the sea and when we stopped to look at them we finally found a pair of Pintail too, over in the far corner. It was still sleeting, although light now, so we made our way back quickly to the warmth of the minibus.

By the time we got to Wells, we could see blue skies again to the north-east and after a quick break to use the facilities, the sun was out again. We walked up past the lifeboat station to scan the harbour. Groups of Brent Geese were feeding on the near edge of the channel and a Grey Plover and a Curlew were in amongst them.

Bar-tailed Godwit – in the harbour

There were lots more waders on the mud beyond – lots of Oystercatchers, Bar-tailed Godwits, small flocks of Knot, Sanderling running up and down, Ringed Plovers, Turnstones, Dunlin and Redshank. A couple of Common Gulls were picking around on the stones on the low ridge opposite and a Herring Gull was trying to smash its way into a mussel by repeatedly flying up with it in its bill and dropping it on the stones.

A Razorbill surfaced in the channel in front of us a couple of times and was then carried by the outgoing tide further out to the outer channel. We could see a couple on Red-breasted Mergansers a bit further up so we walked round to the site of the old lifeboat station. We had great views of them here now, diving in the shallow water. Several flew off downstream but then came back – after a while we had seven Red-breasted Mergansers together. The males started displaying to the females, pointing their heads skywards and then throwing their rear ends up out of the water. Great to watch.

Red-breasted Mergansers – displaying

There is usually a Greenshank around in the harbour, but we hadn’t found it yet. After a while, it flew in from further up the channel, past us and landed further down on the small pools which had formed in the sandbar.

It was time for lunch. The picnic tables at the beach cafe were still very wet, so we headed round to Holkham, where the tables in front of the Lookout were a bit drier. As we drove up Lady Anne’s Drive, a couple of Marsh Harriers, a Red Kite, and several Common Buzzards were flying round in the sunshine. There were lots of Wigeon on the grazing marshes either side, but no sign of any Grey Partridge again – they seem to have largely deserted their favoured corner this winter.

Wigeon – in the sunshine

It was definitely a day where the weather couldn’t make up its mind today – blue skies and wall to wall winter sunshine now, we ate outside. A large flock of Pink-footed Geese came up from the grazing marshes behind the Lookout, flushed by one of the stockmen driving out, and they circled round yelping. A Mistle Thrush flew over and landed in the pines.

The Shorelark had been reported in the cordon just before lunch, but we asked some birders just coming back from the beach and they told us that they had only been seen there briefly and had flown off again. We walked out through the pines and as we got to the saltmarsh we scanned any likely areas as we walked east. We hadn’t gone far when we picked up some very distant small birds on the shingle on the east side of the Gap. They were partly hidden behind the bushes but they were the Shorelarks and from up on the edge of the dunes we could see them distantly through the scope.

The channel out in front of the Gap still looked to have quite a bit of water in it and we didn’t want to get feet wet, so we decided to go the long way round. We walked down to the start of the cordon and cut across towards the beach, before walking back on ourselves in the lee of the dunes. We could see more dark clouds now out over the sea, so we quickened our pace. The Shorelarks were still feeding on the beach and we got the scope on them. We had some lovely views in the low afternoon sun, their yellow faces catching the light.

Shorelarks – in the sun, before the sleet arrived

The dark clouds eventually caught up with us and it started to sleet again. We were in the lee of the dunes and could see some brighter sky beyond so we hoped initially that it might be another brief shower. However, a quick look from the top of the dunes and it was clear the bright sky was not enough to make a sailor a pair of trousers and was rapidly being covered away to the north of us. There was some very ominous thick cloud approaching. We decided we had to make a run for it, and head straight back. We found a shallow place to cross the channel and at least we had the wind largely at our backs as we crossed the saltmarsh.

We tried to have a quick scan of the grazing marshes from the warmth of the minibus, but it was hard to see much in the driving sleet now. It was brightening up away to the east, but the light was starting to go now, so we decided to head back and dry out.

11th Nov 2023 – Late Autumn Day Tour

A group Late Autumn single day tour in North Norfolk today. It was a cloudy start, but with some nice spells of late autumn sunshine. There was a brisk WNW wind with a bit of a chill to it this morning, but it eased off during the day.

There had been some Waxwings at Wiveton yesterday, and with the news that a small group was still present there this morning, we decided to call in first thing on our way to the coast. As we got out of the minibus in the car park, we could see the Waxwings perched in the top of a large tree on the other side of the green. We got them in the scope and had a look from here, just in case they should fly off before we got across.

Waxwing – a nice start to the day

Once everyone had a look at the Waxwings, we walked across the green and got the scope on them again. It wasn’t long before they dropped down to feed in the cotoneaster in the back garden of the pub, a couple of them landing on the wires above first, before joining the others. They quickly gobbled down some berries and then flew back up to the top of the tree. A Mistle Thrush flew past too. Then suddenly the Waxwings were off – they flew up and away over the green, six of them at first, but joined by two more which seemed to come up from the other side. We lost sight of them as they flew off calling over the trees. Perfect timing – they would not be seen again until late afternoon!

It looks like we are about to have a Waxwing Winter, the first for several years, when large numbers of Waxwings come over here from Scandinavia, normally in response to a failure of the berry crop over there. Fingers crossed, that will mean lots more Waxwings to come in the months to come! One of the locals had told us there was a nice bank of Wrinkled Club fungus on the other side of the green, so we walked round for a quick look on our way back to the car park.

Wrinkled Club – fungus

Then we dropped down to the coast and parked in front of Walsey Hills. A pair of Gadwall were on Snipe’s Marsh and a Cetti’s Warbler shouted from the ditch across the road.

Gadwall – the connoisseurs’ duck!

Up on the East Bank, a couple of Marsh Harriers drifted out across the reedbed. There was a nice selection of wildfowl out on the grazing marsh – we stopped to look at some of the Wigeon and listen to them whistling. There were lots of Teal too, plus a few Shoveler and a pair of Shelduck on Pope’s Pool, along with a single female Pintail. There were fewer waders here today – still a few Lapwings out on the grass, four Dunlin on the edge of the Serpentine and a lone Black-tailed Godwit on Pope’s Pool.

Marsh Harrier – flew over the reedbed

We bumped into a couple of birders from the village by the main drain and were joined by George the Warden from Cley Marshes. We could see all the machinery and piles of spoil out towards North Scrape and as we hadn’t yet discussed the works which are currently underway, George very kindly gave us a short explanation. It all sounds very exciting, particularly the prospect of a new hide overlooking a rejuvenated North Scrape!

A drake Pintail flew over the bank and dropped down on the Brackish Pools and as we walked on we could see several around the water. One drake was busy upending and we could see that it had not yet finished growing its long pin tail. Twelve Little Grebes were out on the water too. Arnold’s Marsh is very full with water at the moment, and apart from more ducks, all we could add was a Curlew asleep at the back.

There were a few birds moving this morning. As we walked out, a succession of small flocks of Starlings flew over and continued on away to the west, presumably freshly arrived from the Continent for the winter. Several Skylarks flew over too and a single Rock Pipit – they have all been coming in off the sea in recent days too, so at least some of them were presumably active migrants.

It was cold out on the beach in the breeze. We had a look out to sea, but despite the WNW wind there was very little apart from gulls moving now. A Great Crested Grebe and a single Razorbill flew past, but there didn’t seem to be anything much on the water today. We had a good scan up and down the shingle bank but all we found was a single Stonechat. There were quite a few people walking up and down and no sign of any Snow Buntings. We decided to head back and get out of the wind.

Glossy Ibis – still at Stiffkey

Next, we drove west and stopped just before Stiffkey. We walked down along the permissive path to the corner of the flood and scanned, quickly locating the Glossy Ibis which was feeding out on the wet grass. It was joined at one point by a Curlew – we admired both their long, downcurved bills. Otherwise, there were lots of Wigeon and Teal and a small gaggle of Greylags out on the flood. We had a quick look further down the footpath, put could only find a pair of Egyptian Geese and half a dozen Redshanks, so decided to move on west.

Our next stop was at Wells. After a short break to get a coffee at the Beach Cafe and use the facilities, we walked up to the harbour. The tide was out but we could immediately see the two Common Scoter asleep down in the channel. Scanning further up, we found two Shags and after a while, a single Red-throated Diver appeared too, all diving continually. One of the Shag eventually walked out onto the shore just beyond the channel and we could see that it was colour-ringed. There have been lots of Shags displaced south down the North Sea this winter so far, most that have been ringed have been from colonies in the Firth of Forth, so it will be interesting to find out where this one had come from. A single Common Seal was floating out in the middle.

Common Scoter – these two are lingering in the harbour

There were lots of waders out on the mud. The highlight was a single Greenshank in the edge of the water opposite, a scarce wintering species here, with a small group of Redshanks. There were a couple of smart Bar-tailed Godwits and a Grey Plover on the near bank in the sunshine. Scanning the other side of the water, we could see lots of Oystercatchers and Turnstones, a few Knot and Dunlin, and a few Ringed Plover. There were several Sanderling on the sand way out towards the beach, then one appeared on the edge of the water the other side of the entrance to the moorings, where we could get a much better look at it as it ran around on the sand like a clockwork toy.

Bar-tailed Godwit – in the harbour

There were lots of Common Gulls and Herring Gulls out on the mud across the harbour, and several of them were picking up shellfish from the beach. They kept flying up a short way and dropping it onto the shingle below, hoping to break it. It seemed to take several goes before they managed to crack into them. Five Red Kites were chasing each other round over the edge of East Hills.

There were lots of Brent Geese loafing around in the channel back towards town – we had a quick scan through them as we drove past the quay earlier, to see if one of the Red-breasted Geese might be with them. Now we walked back halfway along the harbour wall towards Wells to have a better look, but we still drew a blank. There were more Brent Geese on the saltmarsh beyond, but we couldn’t see anything different in with them either. It was time for lunch, so we headed back to the Beach Cafe and made use of the picnic tables there.

After lunch, we drove on west to Holkham. Scanning the grazing marshes, the first thing we found was a Great White Egret out on one of the small pools. After a while it flew, chasing a second Great White Egret up from further over and the two of them flying back to the trees. Most of the cattle seem to have been brought inside already, but we could see a distant herd still. We scanned around the feet of those we could see, but there was nothing white obviously with them. Then a little while later, we picked up a Cattle Egret flying past in the distance, which then passed another one heading in the opposite direction.

Looking through the Greylags we found a few White-fronted Geese in with them. Through the scope, we could see the white surround to their pink bills and the black belly bars on the adults. A small group of Pink-footed Geese flew over calling and disappeared off inland. There were several Chinese Water Deer out on the grass too and we saw several Common Buzzards and a couple of Marsh Harriers, plus two Sparrowhawks which came out of the trees.

White-fronted Geese – in with the Greylags

A few finches kept flying round and landing briefly in the tops of the trees, before dropping down out of view, presumably to feed. At one point, a single Brambling appeared with a Greenfinch, and then a small flock of Siskin dropped in. A tit flock came through the bushes and past us too, Long-tailed Tits, Blue Tits and Great Tits, and a Goldcrest flew between us into the hedge the other side. A flock of Stock Doves came up too and circled round, before disappearing off east.

Our last destination for the afternoon was Warham Greens. As we got out onto the edge of the saltmarsh, there were already several people scanning. Apparently, no one had managed to find either of the Red-breasted Geese with the Brent Geese out here either. We walked a bit further east, stopping to look at a Redwing which perched up briefly in the hedge. Several small flocks of Golden Plover came up from the fields inland and overhead, before dropping down out on the saltmarsh. There were also Little Egrets, Curlew, Redshank and three Grey Plover around the pools, as well as several more small groups of Brent Geese.

There were a few Marsh Harriers out over the far edge of the saltmarsh, but otherwise little raptor activity at first this afternoon. It seemed like, with the nice weather, the birds were taking advantage to stay out hunting later. We did have a brief Merlin which shot out low over the saltmarsh, before turning and disappearing off east.

We made our way back to where the others were standing, and were just walking up when someone called out ‘it’s up’. We turned to see a ringtail harrier heading straight away from us, before landing out on the saltmarsh again. The Pallid Harrier had apparently reappeared a little earlier and just flown up again. We got the scope on it, before it took off again, flying further back and this time landing out of view.

A few more Marsh Harriers came in, but there was no further sign of the Pallid Harrier for a bit. We figured it still needed to fly to its roost site, so we waited a little longer. Then we heard Pink-footed Geese calling behind us and as they got louder we realised there were skeins and skeins, several thousand of them. They came high overhead before whiffling down towards the sands. We watched them landing on the beach through the scope. Amazing to watch.

Pink-footed Geese – thousands came over our heads at dusk

The Pallid Harrier came up again, and flew back further again, dropping down out of view presumably to roost. The light was starting to go now, so everyone decided to call it a day and we walked back to the minibus. There were still more Pink-footed Geese to come though, and as we got back to the concrete pad we stood and watched another huge succession of waves of geese fly over calling. Even as we eventually managed to tear ourselves away, there were still some smaller skeins of Pinkfeet coming in to roost. A stunning end to the day.

5th Nov 2023 – Late Autumn, Day 3

Day 3 of a three day Late Autumn Tour. It was a much brighter day, with some sunny spells in the afternoon. A very blustery W wind in the morning eased gradually during the day.

With the wind forecast to go round to the WNW and gust up to 40mph this morning, we headed over to Sheringham first thing, where we could find a shelter on the seafront to get out of the wind and see what was passing over the sea. When we got down on the prom, it was very windy already, but perhaps with not as much north in it yet as forecast. A small group of people had already gathered at the shelter, so we joined them out of the wind.

There were a few Gannets passing offshore and we quickly picked up a some Little Gulls too. They were rather distant at first, but eventually one came in much closer where we could get a much clearer view of its black underwings. There were a few lingering terns again too – a couple of juvenile Arctic Terns flew past, the second accompanied by a juvenile Common Tern, so we could see the whiter trailing edge of the wing on the Arctic Tern. A small number of skuas flew past further out – 3 Arctic Skuas and a single Great Skua.

Shelduck – coming back from moult

There was a nice selection of wildfowl moving this morning – small flocks of Wigeon and Teal, a few Brent Geese arriving from Siberia, and more Shelducks returning from their moult holiday on the Continent. Seaduck passing included a couple of Eider, a Red-breasted Merganser, a few Common Scoter and the highlight a single Velvet Scoter.

We saw a small number of waders coming in too – several Knot, a single Dunlin, and a couple of Common Snipe, one low over the waves, the second flying past high. Several Turnstones ran around on the prom in front of us, being buffeted by the wind – unfortunately we didn’t have any chips for them today! A small group of Starlings flew in off the sea and disappeared over the town.

Turnstone – on the prom

The wind still didn’t seem to be going round, so we decided to look for a Purple Sandpiper. A small number spend the winter here, feeding on the sea defences, but speaking to the locals it sounds like just one is here so far, and it has been erratic in its appearances. We walked round to check their favourite spot in front of The Mo, but there was no sign of anything on the rocks. It felt like our luck as out. We started to walk back, and had just stopped to scan through the Turnstones on the shingle beach with the gulls, when the Purple Sandpiper flew in and landed in front of us.

It landed on a small bank in the shingle just in front of the breaking waves at first, and stood there preening. When a wave crashed over it, it jumped and ran up the beach, and started feeding on the tideline right below us. It was almost too close for photos! The Purple Sandpiper then flew up and landed on the edge of the prom with a couple of Turnstones and then ran up and down between us. Fantastic views.

Purple Sandpiper – great views

Back to the minibus, we drove west to Wells. On the way, we slowed down to check the flood by the road at Stiffkey as we passed – there had been a Glossy Ibis out on the saltmarsh nearby a couple of days ago, and this has looked the perfect place for it to end up. There is nowhere to stop along here though, and we had a car behind us now, so we had to press on. It was only when we got to Wells that we got a message to say that the Glossy Ibis had just been found on the flood!

After a coffee break in the Beach Cafe, we walked up to the new Lifeboat Station. There has been a Black Redstart lingering here for the last few days and we quickly located it in the bushes just behind. It was getting chased continually by two Robins and kept disappearing into the bushes. From time to time it flew up and landed on the RNLI roof or the fence below. A Song Thrush, a couple of Blackbirds and two Dunnocks were in the bushes too, some of which were probably migrants freshly arrived from the Continent.

Black Redstart – probably a 1st winter male

We then walked further round to see what we could find in the harbour. Immediately, we could see a Red-throated Diver just off the beach, and two Common Scoter just beyond. A couple of Common Seals bobbed up, daintier looking with a shorter nose than the Grey Seals we see more regularly.

Scanning further out, we found three Razorbills, two Great Crested Grebes, and three Shags. One of the Shags made its way in down the harbour and then swam right up to us on the shore, before turning back.

Shag – swam right up to us

Then a Razorbill appeared in front of us chasing fish just off the beach, which in turn seem to attract the Red-throated Diver which surfaced right in front of us. Amazing views, so close to us. A second Red-throated Diver appeared in the boat harbour behind us, but dived and completely disappeared, presumably having resurfaced in amongst the boats.

Red-throated Diver – surfaced right in front of us

Across the harbour on the sand the other side we could see lots of waders. Some large groups of Oystercatcher and smaller numbers of Bar-tailed Godwit were roosting over high tide. A big flock of silvery grey Sanderling was catching the sunlight, and there were some smaller groups of Knot and a few Dunlin, Curlew and Redshank. Lots of Brent Geese were scattered around the edges of the harbour, and while we were looking through the waders we picked up a single Pale-bellied Brent among the commoner Dark-bellied Brents, a subspecies tick for the trip list. A flock of Starlings flew in from the direction of the sea.

It was time for lunch, so back at the cafe we sat down to eat on the picnic tables. Afterwards, we drove back to Stiffkey. This time we parked in the layby east of the flood and walked back down the permissive path to the north-east corner. The Glossy Ibis had apparently been down the far end with four Little Egrets, but we couldn’t see them initially. That was because they had been disturbed and the Glossy Ibis had flown down to the near end with a single Little Egret. Unfortunately, they were spooked again by something almost immediately and flew back down to the far end where they had been. It was rather distant and looking into the sun now, but we had clear views of the Glossy Ibis in the scopes, feeding in the flooded grass.

Glossy Ibis – on the flood

There were lots of ducks out in the middle too, Wigeon and Teal, and a small group of Greylag Geese. Several large skeins of Pink-footed Geese flew over calling. Three Red Kites circled up with a Common Buzzard over the wood beyond, in the sunshine. A couple of Stock Doves flew over and landed briefly in the wet grass.

We made our way back to Holkham next, and pulled up at the start of Lady Anne’s Drive, where several Cattle Egrets were feeding in with the cows right next to the road. More great views, we counted nine Cattle Egrets and at least four Grey Herons. We watched the Cattle Egrets catching frogs around the cows’ noses.

Cattle Egret – feeding around the cows

There were a few gulls around the flood in the field opposite, Common Gulls with the Black-headed Gulls. A pair of Egyptian Geese was out on the grass beyond. There was a small group of sheep out on here too, and then we noticed a striking silver-grey ‘Brown’ Hare feeding in between them. Also known as a ‘Blue’ or ‘Ghost’ Hare, it appears to be a rare colour mutation which produces a washed out grey coat. Several Red Kites and a Marsh Harrier drifted over.

‘Blue’ Hare – or ‘Ghost Hare’

Continuing on down to the far end, we stopped to look at the grazing marshes. There are lots of Wigeon here now, as more birds have returned for the winter, along with smaller numbers of Teal, Mallard and several Gadwall. Some very large skeins of Pink-footed Geese flew up from further and disappeared off inland over the park. A Sparrowhawk perched on a post at the back of the grass showed nicely in the scopes. We were hoping to find the Grey Partridge here, but there was no sign again today. They have been very erratic so far this autumn, and hopefully they have not been disturbed by the building of a new bridle path for the car park right through their favoured feeding area!

As it was our last day, we had to be back promptly, so we decided to have a quick look at the grazing marshes at the west end of the pines. There were lots of geese out on the grass, mostly Greylags, but looking through we quickly found at least ten White-fronted Geese in with them. Lots of Cormorants were gathering to roost in the trees and lots of Lapwing were scattered around the pools. Several Chinese Water Deer were feeding in the grass.

A flock of Long-tailed Tits came down the hedge past us, and we found a single Goldcrest in with them. A Chaffinch and Siskin flew out from the tree above us. We were hoping we might find the lingering released White-tailed Eagle from the Isle of Wight here, but we couldn’t see it here now. There were mpre Red Kites and Marsh Harriers out over the marshes and then a young Peregrine flew in over the fields and off over the trees inland, a last addition to the trip list and one we had only a little earlier been discussing that we had not come across yet.

Light was already fading and it was time to call it a day. It had been an exciting and varied three days, with good birds and good company.

19th Oct 2023 – 4 Days of Autumn, Day 3

Day 3 of a 4-day Autumn Tour. It was a cloudy morning, with a brief shower at one point, but it brightened up around the middle of the day with some sunny intervals in the afternoon and lighter winds. Another pleasant day to be out.

Our desitination for this morning was Holkham. As we got out of the minibus, a very pale Common Buzzard was perched in a bush by Lady Anne’s Drive and we stopped to look at it in the scope. Regular here and a pitfall for the unwary, they often get reported as something rarer. A Marsh Harrier was quartering beyond. There as no sign of any Grey Partridges first thing but there has probably been quite a bit of disturbance from the construction of the new path from the horse box parking which goes right through what has historically been their favoured feeding area. Hopefully the works will only prove to be a temporary deterrent.

Common Buzzard – a pale one

As we walked west along the track before the pines, we could hear a Brambling calling over the trees and a few Redwing and Starling flew in overhead. More freshly arrived migrants, here for the winter. A succession of Jays flew back and forth, presumably looking for acorns. A couple of Red Kites were hanging in the breeze over the edge of the pines.

We stopped at Salts Hole where a couple of Little Grebes were diving just in front of us. There were quite a few Gadwall and Mallard out on the water, and a couple of Teal, but nothing else of note here today.

Little Grebe – on Salts Hole

A little further on, we stopped again at the gate which looks out over the grazing marsh. There were several Curlews feeding in the long grass and a Brown Hare which crouched staring at us for a couple of minutes before racing off. A Chinese Water Deer disappeared into the ditch. A Mistle Thrush was perched in the top of a dead elder on the edge of the reedbed and a male Stonechat was flycatching from the top of the brambles at the far side of the grass.

Fortuitously, we got in to Washington Hide just as it started to rain. It was just a brief shower, but from we sat and scanned and picked up two Great White Egrets and a single Cattle Egret out with the cows.

Great White Egret – with the cows

It quickly brightened up again, so we headed back out again to make the most of it. We walked on down to the end of the boardwalk to look at the beach. There were lots of Common Scoter out on the sea in various rafts, a scattering of Razorbills and Great Crested Grebes, and several Red-throated Divers, including one still largely in breeding plumage with a red throat. A few Gannets flew past in the distance, and we caught the tail end of a Manx Shearwater which flew west. We could see a few lines of Brent Geese coming in out over the water, more small flocks of Starlings (a bit of a recurring theme at the moment), and a couple of little groups of Skylarks arriving too.

Back to the track the other side of the pines, we carried on our way west. With an easterly wind overnight, we were hoping we might find more migrants freshly arrived today, but the trees were disappointingly quiet. It appeared that the tit flocks were also feeding up in the pines and not in the trees along the south edge this morning too. There were still lots of Common Darter dragonflies enjoying the sunshine and a Red Admiral butterfly on the brambles.

The Joe Jordan hide is still closed – we understand that a replacement is planned, but there is no sign of it coming yet. We looked over the wall and had a quick scan of the grazing marsh, but we couldn’t see anything of note in the trees today, so we carried on.

One of the wardens had told us that there had been a Yellow-browed Warbler calling earlier in the sallows just beyond crosstracks but there was no sign of it now, despite the trees here being nicely sheltered from the wind. We did a quick loop of the ‘Bluetail Trail’ then continued on to the west end, hearing more tits calling from up in the pines on the way. A brief look from the gate at the end of the track failed to produce anything, so there was nothing to encourage us to to walk on into the dunes today.

Walking back, some of the tits we had heard on our way out now dropped out of the pines into the sallows the other side of the track, including a couple of Coal Tits and a Treecreeper. We followed the flock back to the trees by the crosstracks. The Yellow-browed Warbler called again but it appeared to come from deep in the sallows. We waited to see if it might show itself, but it had gone quiet again and there was no movement in the trees. A Chiffchaff called from the sallows behidn us. A Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over our heads and landed in a tall pine nearby where we could see it was a male, with a red band on the back of its neck.

As we walked back to Lady Anne’s Drive, the sun finally came out. We had to go to the minibus to get our lunches, and as we made our way back to the picnic tables by the Lookout, the covey of six Grey Partridges had now flown in. We had some good views of them as they fed in the grass.

Grey Partridges – flew back in

We ate lunch on the picnic tables outside in the sunshine. Another couple of Red Kites drifted past along the edge of the pines, as did two Ravens, one harried by a Carrion Crow. Later we found two Red Kites and what were presumably the same two Ravens on the ground out on the grazing marsh – presumably there was some carrion out there which had attracted them down. There were still a few thrushes and Starlings coming in over the pines too.

Raven – harried by a Carrion Crow

As we were walking back to the minibus after lunch, we noticed a bird drop in on the new scrape out on the grazing marsh and we were surprised to find it was a Green Sandpiper. It didn’t stay long, then flew up and circled round before appearing to land again behind the Lookout Cafe. A nice bonus – most of them have gone south already or moved inland to spend the winter.

We made our way round to the pools the other side of Wells, at North Point. The water levels are up after the recent rain, and there are lots of ducks on here now for the winter – Wigeon, Teal, a few Shoveler and a good number of Pintail. Some of the Pintail started flying up in small flocks and off out over the fields towards the saltmarsh. There were quite a few Black-tailed Godwits and Ruff in with the ducks towards the back of the pool east of the track too.

Black-tailed Godwit – feeding on the pools

We walked down the track to scan the rushy edges of the pool and found a couple of Common Snipe on the edge of the water. Another flew in and dropped down on the near edge, but disappeared into the rushes. A small group of Black-tailed Godwits were feeding in the water along the near edge, where we had a very good view of them.

Six Pink-footed Geese flew over and a short while later we heard more calling behind us and turned to see several thousand come up over the fields inland. An impressive sight. Several hundred flew in overhead, and dropped down over the fields towards the saltmarsh.

Pink-footed Geese – several thousand came up from the fields

We normally like to finish our last day at this time of the year with a trip down into the edge of the Brecks, but with weather for tomorrow forecast to be challenging, we decided to head inland this afternoon to look for Stone Curlews. The number of birds at the closest of their regular post-breeding gathering sites is down this year, probably because some of their favoured fields have tall vegetation in them at the moment making them unsuitable.

After a long walk this morning, everyone was pleased of a bit of a rest as we drove down to the Brecks. At our first stop, we could immediately see one Stone Curlew distantly in the field, but it walked out of view before everyone could get a look at it through the scope. We drove a bit further on, and could see more now – we counted at least 13 Stone Curlews, and there were possibly even more hidden from view. Some were back on, standing facing in to the wind, away from us, but others turned, and we could see their staring yellow eyes.

Stone Curlews – some of the 13+ this afternoon

There were lots of Lapwings in the fields here too, including several close to the road in the winter wheat opposite. There were several Brown Hares and a large number of Red-legged Partridges in the field too. After struggling to import them from France last year due to bird flu, many gamekeepers seem to be trying to make up for it this year by releasing larger than ever numbers – they are everywhere!

Lapwing – in the winter wheat

A Greenfinch flew out of the hedge and round over our heads calling, still a rather scarce bird these days. A large flock of Linnets was feeding in the pig fields, and a good number of Starlings and three Stock Doves landed on the wires above. A huge flock of Jackdaws circled up at the back calling loudly. It was a nice way to end the day here watching all the birds in the sunshine.