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.
Day 1 of a three day Late Autumn Tour. We were blessed with nice weather today, dry with some sunny intervals, with a fresh SW breeze in the morning which dropped steadily through the afternoon.
We were just loading up the minibus outside the guest house in Hindolveston first thing this morning, when we heard ‘glipping’ calls above and looked up to see a flock of about ten Common Crossbills flying low overhead. Unfortunately they didn’t drop into the fir tree next to the minibus, despite it sporting some very nice cones, but carried on and they were quickly lost to view over the neighbouring houses. Very scarce birds here in the village most years, so a big surprise here, and a nice way to start our tour.
Our first destination this morning was Cley and we headed for the beach car park. There were a few Gannets flying past offshore as we got out of minibus. There had been a big movement of Kittiwakes offshore yesterday afternoon, thousands strong, so we wanted to see if this was continuing and if anything else was moving today. The Kittiwakes had largely dried up, although we did eventually pick up a few distant ones passing this morning, but there was still a good variety of other birds moving.
Pink-footed Geese – coming in
As we stood and scanned, a succession of small flocks of Pink-footed Geese flew in over the sea, presumably coming down from Scotland or NW England where they had stopped first having left Iceland earlier in the autumn. As they came in overhead we could hear their yelping calls. A trickle of Brent Geese and small groups of Wigeon and Teal flew past too, with a few Tufted Duck with them, plus some Common Scoter, and a single pair of Gadwall, all coming in from the continent for the winter.
A few Red-throated Divers flew past close in and a Great Crested Grebe headed west offshore. A Razorbill flew east just off the beach, catching the morning sunlight. A handful of waders were coming in too – a lone Curlew, a couple of Knot, a single Redshank, a couple of small groups of Dunlin.
Red-throated Diver – flew past
There were fewer passerines arriving today – a single Skylark came past well offshore and a Rock Pipit flew along the beach. We picked up a small bird coming in, quite a long way out, and we followed it for a while until it got closer and we could see it was a Reed Bunting. Eventually it came in over the beach next to the shelter, close to where we were standing. Amazing to think it had just made it here from Scandinavia.
Most of the terns are summer visitors and have long since left us for warmer climes, but we had seen a single late Sandwich Tern fly past us earlier. We had just packed up our scopes when someone shouted to let us know a juvenile Arctic Tern was coming, so we put the scopes up again and managed to get on it, as it turned and went back east. We were about to go again and spotted a larger flock of Dunlin flying past just beyond the beach. We noticed a darker bird in with them, a single Purple Sandpiper. Then another shout and we turned our attention to a flock of swans coming in – there were eleven of them, they looked like Whooper Swans, but they were very distant away to the NE.
Finally we managed to tear ourselves away. We decided to head to Salthouse Beach Road to look for the Long-tailed Duck which has been lingering on the pools there. However, we were just driving towards the village when we noticed a group of swans on one of the pools out on the back of the grazing marsh. We parked on the verge in front of the Dun Cow and got out to check. They were eleven Whooper Swans – the birds we had just seen flying in off the sea! They spent a bit of time swimming round and preening, before they went to sleep – very tiring, flying in all that way. They had probably just arrived from Iceland.
Whooper Swans – just flown in
There was lots of activity here too. A couple of Marsh Harriers flew back and forth over the reeds and we found a single Ruff in with the Lapwings out on the grass. Four Common Snipe flew over high, possibly fresh in. There were lots of Wigeon and Teal on the pools, flushed by the Marsh Harriers, and a couple of Canada Geese. A lone Redwing dropped out of the sky and into the grass but disappeared from view. A Stonechat kept perching up on the reeds briefly.
We drove on to Beach Road and walked west along the shingle towards Little Eye. While we were scanning the pools, one of the group spotted a Woodcock coming in over the beach and we watched it as it headed straight in across the grazing marshes and dropped down in one of the gardens in the village. Lots of Woodcock come here for the winter, some from way over deep into Russia – it would be fascinating to know where this one had just arrived from.
Long-tailed Duck – still on the pools
We quickly picked up the Long-tailed Duck on the pool. It was diving continually, but we eventually all got a good look at it in the scopes. A young bird, it lacks the long tail which is only seen on adult males, but a nice bird to see and normally found out to sea at this time of year. A Little Grebe was diving on the far edge of the water.
A small flock of Snow Buntings flew up over Little Eye, but immediately dropped down again behind. We figured they might have landed on the beach the other side, so we walked on and up to the top, and found the Snow Buntings feeding out on the shingle beyond. We walked down for a closer look – they were scuttling round in smaller groups and often impossible to see against the stone, but we eventually counted ten together. They are just arriving for the winter now – this is the biggest flock we have seen so far this autumn.
Snow Bunting – 1 of 10 today
Scanning the sea from the top of Little Eye, we picked up a female Eider diving just off the beach with Cormorants. It came up with a shellfish at one point which it was crunching on which allowed us to get it in the scopes. A single Guillemot appeared too, on the sea just beyond the beach, preening. There were still a few ducks moving offshore, and several more flocks of Pink-footed Geese flew in overhead as we were standing here.
We packed up to go and watched first a Meadow Pipit feeding on the shingle just along the edge of the grass and then a pair of Stonechats, which flicked from stem to stem ahead of us and perched up nicely as we walked back. There was some other wildlife to see here too – a late Migrant Hawker dragonfly over the grass and some large Parasol mushrooms in the field opposite back where we had parked.
Parasol – an impressively large one!
We had a bit of time still before lunch, so we decided to head back to Walsey Hills and walk in along the footpath. The NOA staff were just doing some tidying up, but we were surprised to find they had taken down the feeders here. There have been reports of rats here recently. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the bushes were quiet and there were no finches today.
We continued on along the footpath and had a quick look out over the fields at the back. It was bright and sunny and a Common Buzzard was circling up over the front of the Hangs. We noticed another bird circling above it, a Short-eared Owl! It flew back towards us, high up, with its distinctive stiff-winged rowing flight action, before we lost sight of it over North Foreland plantation heading towards the reserve. Possibly another fresh arrival looking for somewhere to feed. A Common Darter dragonfly was basking in the sunshine on a nearby post.
Common Darter – enjoying the sunshine
Walking back to the road, we crossed over and had a quick scan of the grazing marshes from the start of East Bank. As we walked up, a House Martin flew away over the reedbed. Most have long since left us for Africa, but there are increasingly records of lingering birds into November. A Little Grebe was down in the catchwater drain.
Little Grebe – in the catchwater drain
Two Marsh Harriers were hanging in the air over Pope’s reedbed, one with orange wing-tags but too far off to read, and they kept drifting over and disturbing all the birds on the pools. There were lots of ducks – Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler, Gadwall, a couple of Shelduck, and we picked out a small group of Pintail on Pope’s Pool. A couple of Ruff were feeding out on the grass with Lapwings. Three Dunlin and two Black-tailed Godwits were flushed by the harriers and flew off over the bank.
We drove round to the Visitor Centre for lunch and a hot drink. Someone has chopped the trees which provide shelter from the wind in the picnic area right down again (including the willows where we watched the Willow Emerald damselflies earlier in the autumn), but thankfully it wasn’t too windy today and we were still able to sit out to eat our packed lunches – in the sunshine in November!
After lunch, we headed back east again along the coast to Kelling. At the start of the lane, a Fieldfare flew over and landed in the top of the big fir tree by the path. We stopped and got it in the scope, with several Chaffinches dropping in too. As we started to walk on, under the fir tree, we could hear a Chiffchaff now calling above us. We stepped back out from under the tree and could see it perched in the sunshine on the edge of the branches.
There were lots of Blackbirds still in the lane, which flew back and forth across the track ahead of us. There had been a big arrival of thrushes in the last few days, coming in from the Continent for the winter, and although most had moved on, some had stopped to feed up on all the berries in the hedges. There were a few more Chaffinches here too, another species which breeds here but also sees numbers increase significantly in winter.
Egyptian Geese – on the Water Meadow
Down to the gate beyond the copse, and a pair of Egyptian Geese and several Moorhen were out on the flooded grass. The Estate here is a shooting estate – so there were several Pheasants at the front and lots of Red-legged Partridges in the field beyond, all released to be shot. A Redwing flew over and another Fieldfare landed in the trees on the edge of the copse briefly.
There was not much on the pool today – a few Shoveler and Mallard. A colour-ringed young Mute Swan had been ringed at the nest at a pond just a couple of miles inland in August 2022, and remained there until at least March this year, after which presumably it was evicted by its parents. It had only been seen once since, at Cley in mid October, before appearing here.
The path was flooded but we just managed to get around and down to the beach. A few Linnets were flying back and forth but otherwise the bushes were quiet, so we walked up onto the shingle for another quick look at the sea. The usual small group of about 20 Common Scoter were still on the sea just offshore, but a single female Tufted Duck with them was more of a surprise. Two drake Goldeneye were on the sea too, before they flew off west.
Time was getting on and we had one more thing we wanted to do this afternoon, so we made our way back to the minibus and drove round to Blakeney Freshes. We were hoping there might be a Short-eared Owl here, so some of the group elected to stay at the gate to scan the rest of us walked out to check the grazing marshes. There were lots of Marsh Harriers gathering before heading in to roost, and Common Buzzards of various shades, including both a very dark one and a very pale one perched in bushes. A large flock of Starlings was feeding in wet grass, and kept flying round in a mini murmuration, back and forth from the reeds on the other side of the bank.
Starlings – feeding in the wet grass
There have been a good number of Cattle Egrets here in recent days and now they came up from behind the reeds, from one of the fields were the cows were feeding. We counted 22 as they swirled round, before they dropped down again out of view. A Hen Harrier came up briefly, very distant over the back of the beach, so we walked on to see if we could find it again. Before we got too far, the Hen Harrier appeared again, this time lingering in view so we could all get it in the scopes. A ringtail, we could see the white square at the base of its tail as it turned. At one point, a Marsh Harrier appeared next to it, the Hen Harrier noticeably much smaller and slimmer.
Cattle Egrets – some of the 22
We carried on until we could get the scopes on the Cattle Egrets through a gap in the reeds. We could see them feeding around the feet of the cows now. We heard Bearded Tits calling in the reeds the other side of the bank, and had a quick glimpse of one as it disappeared in, but it was breezy and they were keeping down. The light was starting to go too – time to head back. As we walked back, those who had stayed at the gate picked up a Short-eared Owl which flew round over the grass briefly behind the rest of us, but by the time we had got back to them it had disappeared again.
It had been a very good first day – hopefully more to come tomorrow.
A week long tour to the Scottish Highlands, with visits up to the Moray and Aberdeenshire coasts, as well as the chance to catch up with a few additional birds on the way up and on the way back. If you like the sound of what we got up to, we are already planning the dates to head up to Scotland again in 2024 – you would be very welcome to join us!
Sunday 19th March
Travel day. Three of the group met in Norfolk early in the afternoon, for a flat and uneventful journey out through the Fens and then up the A1/A1(M). After a quick stop for coffee at Wetherby, we went on to Darlington where we met up with the rest of the group. We had an early booking in a pub in town for dinner – it was Mother’s Day and had obviously been busy earlier in the day, but we now had the place to ourselves and a chance to discuss plans for the next couple of days. Then it was an early night, ahead of the onward journey tomorrow, when the fun would start.
Monday 20th March
Normally we would make a very early start and head up into the Pennines first thing, but with heavy rain forecast on the moors this morning, we had a change of plan. After a bit of a lie in, we met at 6.30am and drove over to Redcar, getting round Middlesborough before the traffic got too busy. It was cloudy but dry and fairly bright here, as we parked at the far end of the esplanade and got out to scan the sea.
There were a few small groups of Common Eider off this end of the beach, but not the eider we were looking for, as well as several Velvet Scoter and a single Red-throated Diver. Further off to the north, we could see a much larger group of Eider and looking through carefully we quickly picked out the 2nd winter drake King Eider which has been spending the winter here. It was very distant from here, and hard to see as even though there was only a light swell the waves were breaking on the rocks in front of the ducks, which all then swam into the breakers and started diving.
We walked back along to the other end of the esplanade. By the time we got there, most of the Eider flock had come out of the water onto the rocks. There was no sign of the King Eider with them initially, but then we realised it was in the pool just in front, feeding mostly with its head down. Walking out across the beach to the shore, it was much closer now and we had some great views. A very smart bird and a great one to start the trip with.
King Eider – a smart 2nd winter drake
There were two or three Shag on the rocks too, and a female Long-tailed Duck appeared briefly in one of the pools which were forming between the reefs as the tide went out. A large flock of Common Scoter whirled round and landed on the sea, some distance off to the north across the bay. A selection of waders were on the rocks as well, including Oystercatchers, lots of Redshank, Turnstones and Sanderling. One or two of the latter two flew in and fed up and down on the edge of the sand in front of us.
It was time for breakfast and we had worked up a hunger with some early morning birding. There was nothing on the seafront open yet, so we drove round to Morrison’s and had a welcome hot drink and bite to eat in the cafe there, before resuming the journey north.
There had been an Alpine Swift at Bamburgh Castle on 17th and what could possibly be the same bird was reported again there this morning. It was only five miles off the A1, so we made a short diversion to see if we could catch up with it. Unfortunately there was no further sign of the swift, which had flown off inland before we arrived. We waited a while to see if it might come back, and we did see a Fulmar flying around the castle and a distant line of Whooper Swans heading north inland. Out to sea, we could see three Red-breasted Mergansers, a small group of Long-tailed Ducks with some smart drakes, another small party of Common Scoter and a couple of Razorbills out on the water and we picked up one or two Kittiwakes flying past. It was a lovely spot to stand and watch, down below the imposing castle, but we had a long journey ahead of us still, so we set off again on our way north.
It was cloudy but dry and bright in Northumberland, but the weather started to deteriorate as we got into Scotland. We stopped in Musselburgh to get some lunch, then drove down to the mouth of the Esk river and had a quick walk out to the edge of the sea. We were hoping to catch up with some more sea duck here, but it was drizzling now, and very misty out to sea. We could see lots of Goldeneye close in, but only about half a dozen Velvet Scoter were visible further out, along with a few Long-tailed Ducks. We did manage to find single of Red-necked Grebe and Slavonian Grebe, just visible on the edge of the mist when it lifted a little, and a lone Gannet resting on the sea in a line of gulls.
It was a slow drive then round Edinburgh and we carried on north through heavier rain on the final leg of the journey, up to Carrbridge, our base for the next few days. A nice hot cup of tea and biscuits were waiting for us on our arrival at the guest house and after settling in we enjoyed a delicious three course dinner.
Tuesday 21st March
We were all up early today for a short trip out before breakfast. We drove up onto the moors and parked on the edge of the road. The Black Grouse were already displaying on a small grassy hillside across the valley, nine males. Opening the windows, we could hear their bubbling calls. A lovely way to start the morning.
Black Grouse – facing off
Several of the Black Grouse were facing off in pairs, occasionally having a go at each other, darting forward and lashing out with bill and legs, but no contact was made and the posturing continued. There was patchy cloud this morning, but as the sun started to rise it got high enough that it was shining on the lek and the Black Grouse looked very smart now in the sunshine. There were one or two Curlews displaying here too and a Raven flew over kronking. A couple of Roe Deer were feeding down in the valley.
We still had some time before breakfast, so we decided to drive over to Lochindorb for a quick look. Scanning from the road on the way down, we spotted three very distant Red Grouse on the edge of the loch. We got out and got the scope on one. We could hear Golden Plover calling, and two flew high overhead just as we got back into the minibus. Further round, we found another pair of Red Grouse very close to the road this time. We watched them from the minibus creeping through the heather, occasionally raising their heads, the male with bright coral-red eyebrows.
Red Grouse – smart eyebrows!
We had been told that no divers had returned yet to the loch, but we stopped for a quick scan anyway, just in case. All we could find were lots of Goldeneye. Then it was time to head back to the guest house for breakfast.
After breakfast we headed out again. After a quick stop to refuel in the filling station in the village, we slowed as we headed back over the bridge and stopped to look at the river. A Dipper was down below, in the water. It came out onto a rock and posed for us to get a good look, before it flew off downstream.
With the Scottish Capercaillie population in freefall, perilously low now, we do not go in to the woods at dawn – we do not go looking for them, as the risk of disturbance is too high. However, we do venture into the pines later in the morning, to look for other specialities of the Caledonian Forest. So we drove on now, down to the woods at Boat of Garten. We checked the feeders by the road first, but there were just one or two Chaffinches coming in. The pool opposite is quite dry this year, but a couple of Teal were new for the trip list, with the Wigeon and Mallard, and a Mistle Thrush was feeding on the ground nearby. As we walked back towards the car park, twelve Pink-footed Geese flew over calling, and circled over the fields the other side of the road.
Walking into the woods, there were plenty of tits in the trees at first, mainly Coal Tits, plus Great Tits and one or two Blue Tits. A Goldcrest was flitting around in a tree above us and a Mistle Thrush was singing from the tops somewhere. There were more Chaffinches, and a few Siskins flew back and forth overhead calling. We walked on down a bit further, but the further we got from the road and the feeders, the fewer birds there were.
There has been lots of logging recently here, and there was a lot of recreational disturbance this morning too, people with dogs barking and mountain bikers. It is one thing trying to restrict early access to the woods for birders to try to protect Capercaillie leks from disturbance, but there were no signs anywhere suggesting recreational users should also stay out in the early mornings. There still seems to be a distinct lack of joined up planning and advice here.
Moving on, we stopped at the Golf Club on the other side of the village. There were three people in the car park looking as we pulled up, but they hadn’t seen any sign of the Waxwing this morning. We got out and started scanning and there it was, in the top of a small birch tree over beyond the tennis courts. We had a quick look at it through the scope before it flew down to a small bush and started feeding on berries.
We walked round on the road and viewed through the fence from the staff car park at first. One of the greenkeepers walked past along the path only a couple of metres from the Waxwing and it didn’t move, so we asked permission to go in ourselves. We walked round to the path and had great views now, without the fence in the way. It gobbled down lots of berries quickly, then climbed up into the middle of the bush and stopped, preening and digesting.
Waxwing – eating berries
The sky had cleared during the morning and it was nice and sunny now, with lots of patches of blue sky. It was warming up too, so we headed off to look for raptors. We drove up through one of the valleys and parked in a convenient gateway where we had a good view of the surrounding hills. When we got out, several Common Buzzards were circling up already. Perfect timing for a coffee break and a muffin while we scanned (we would not go hungry this week!).
A Kestrel appeared with the Buzzards, and then we noticed a Goshawk circling above. It started displaying, slow flapping high over the trees, before it eventually drifted off down the valley and we lost sight of it. A short while later, another Goshawk appeared, low in front of the hillside opposite this time. It disappeared behind some trees but then circled up higher shortly after and we had great views as it did so.
Goshawk – circled up
A Golden Eagle appeared high over the valley the other way now. It was dropping away from us all the time, and we eventually lost sight of it over the hills across the other side. After a while, one of the group spotted another Golden Eagle circling further up the valley. As we were trying to get it in the scope, we picked up a Peregrine flying over too! We got the scope on the Golden Eagle now, and it was joined first by a young White-tailed Eagle and then by another Golden Eagle, the three of them circling together for some time. It was great to see the shape difference between the two species side by side. Eventually, the two Golden Eagles broke off and drifted out over the valley. They were very high now, and we watched as they grappled talons a couple of times before breaking apart and disappearing off in different directions. What a great coffee break!
The RSPB reserve at Loch Garten had been closed last year when we were here for refurbishment of the Visitor Centre, but had reopened shortly after, so we were surprised to find it closed again. They are building a new ‘Welcome Hub’ and toilet block now, which was meant to be completed but works are running behind schedule apparently. There was no access along the path towards the Centre, so we stopped in the car park to check through the birds. There were no feeders up again, and all we could find in a quick look were lots of Coal Tits and Chaffinches, and a couple of Treecreepers in the trees at the back. There were lots of Common Frogs in the pool in the middle.
We needed a stop to use facilities, so we headed back into Nethy Bridge. It was time for lunch too now, so we stopped to use the picnic tables by the river in the village. Having spent lots of time in the minibus the last few days, or standing around this morning, we decided to go for a short walk along the river and back round through the village. There were lots of Chaffinches and Siskins in the trees down by the river and around the feeders in the gardens, but despite our best efforts we could not find a Brambling with them.
A little further on, a Dipper appeared ahead of us on the rocks in the river. It was busy feeding at first, diving under the water. Several times we saw it come up with caddisfly larvae, which it beat on a rock to remove the case before eating. Then it stopped feeding and started to sing from a rock in the middle. We had great views of it in the scope. When it started to feed again, we walked on and expected it to fly off back past us, but remarkably it allowed us to get right alongside it. It stopped just a few metres from us and started singing again – the sharper notes heard more clearly over the sound of the churning water all around. Wnbelievably obliging, stunning views.
Dipper – singing
Eventually the Dipper did fly back down stream behind us, so we walked on upstream and then cut back through the trees towards the road. There were more birds coming and going from the feeder in the gardens from here. We took a track into the woods, where there were several more feeders up. Again, we found lots of Coal Tits and a few Great Tits, Blue Tits and Chaffinches, but no sign of the hoped for Crested Tit. We walked on into the wood, but it was increasingly quiet away from the feeders so we decided to turn back.
We decided to try our luck at another wood nearby. As we walked up the hillside through the trees, we could hear Long-tailed Tits calling and a Red Kite appeared above the tops overhead. It was mid afternoon, and rather quiet now. We stopped to watch a Treecreeper scaling one of the pine trunks, then followed it down a side turning. We didn’t get too far before we came to a fence, so had to turn back. It was fortuitous we did, as back at the junction we heard Crossbills calling quietly high in the pines above us now.
We tried to locate them and as we shifted position three Crossbills flew out of the pines above us, two disappearing off deeper into the trees but a male landed high in one of the pine by the path. We had a quick look at it before it flew again, back across the path and lower down the hillside. We walked down and realised where it was when a pine cone was dropped form the treetops. Eventually, we spotted two flitting around high in the tree and then the male appeared briefly on a branch high above us. When it flew again, further back, we could still hear calling, then it flew again and disappeared off over the trees.
Crossbill – most likely ‘Scottish’
The taxonomic position of Crossbills is very complicated, and debate continues to rage over where the birds in Scotland fall, given there are Common Crossbills, Parrot Crossbills and ‘Scottish’ Crossbills all present at times. The flight call of these birds sounded more like Parrot/’Scottish’ and less like the sharp ‘glipping’ flight call of most Common Crossbills, but while the male looked largish billed, but the bill did not look big enough for Parrot. ‘Scottish’ Crossbill would appear to be the closest fit, but there are no diagnostic features which can be used to identify ‘Scottish’ Crossbills now.
Back down to the minibus, we still had a little time to play with before we had to be back. There had been a drake Ring-necked Duck on Loch Vaa the last few days, so we drove round there to see if we could find it. It had been a lovely sunny day up to now, but we could see grey cloud approaching. We found the path behind the cemetery car park and walked up over the bank and down to the edge of the loch, Where we quickly located the Ring-necked Duck out in the middle with several Tufted Ducks. Smart.
Ring-necked Duck – a smart drake
There were also four Goosander on here, two drakes and two redhead females. Two Little Grebes were laughing at us from the edge. It started to drizzle now, although thankfully not for long, but we decided it was time to head back in time for dinner.
Wednesday 22nd March
The weather forecast for today was not good, with a yellow wind warning in place and sleet showers expected, but we set out to make the best of it. We had a short pre-breakfast walk today – it was raining when we met outside but quickly cleared through on the wind which was already picking up. Down at the bridge, we heard a Dipper calling and looked downstream to see two together on a rock on the bend in the distance. They took off and flew straight towards us, the first continuing straight on underneath the bridge below us, while the other landed in the river briefly, then followed.
We walked across to the other side and looked across at the old bridge, to see both Dippers on the rocks here now. They were perched together, wing flicking, and then both disappeared into a cleft in the rock. We wondered whether they might be prospecting for a nest site, but when they came out again, one flew across the river and collected a bill full of nest material before they both flew off downstream again, and were lost to view round the bend.
A pair of Grey Wagtails appeared too, on the rocks below the old bridge, and both went to investigate the cleft in the rocks as well, before disappearing round the bend in the river. We set off along the riverside path, and could hear the male Grey Wagtail still singing below us.
There were lots of Greenfinches in the trees, still much commoner here than back home, and a few House Sparrows in the gardens. A Mistle Thrush was down on the grass in the paddocks and another was up on the wires beyond. Down from the wobbly bridge, a female Goosander was preening in the rocks on the corner of the river. We could see more dark clouds approaching from the west and the wind was starting to pick up, so we cut back along Station Road, pausing just to watch a Treecreeper in the birches across the road. We were almost back to the main road when it started to sleet, so heads down we hurried back to the warmth of the guest house for breakfast.
The sun came out over breakfast and we could see blue sky outside the window, but as we gathered outside after breakfast another sleet shower blew in. We were planning to have another walk in the woods first so we decided to drive down to Loch Mallachie and by the time we arrived, the skies had cleared once again. It was clearly going to be a stop start day with the showers, but we had only walked a short way into through woods when the sky went dark above the trees and the tops started to lash around in the wind. It looked like there might be a heavy shower coming, so we walked quickly back to the minibus, but it cleared through more quickly than we were expecting so we were able to resume our walk.
We had not gone far, when we heard Crossbills calling in the trees above us. They sounded more like Common Crossbills, but it was still windy and we couldn’t see where they were before they seemed to disappear back over the trees and it went quiet. There were a few Coal Tits and Chaffinches in the trees, more Siskins over, and we heard Crossbills over again further down, but otherwise it was fairly quiet in the trees this morning. No sign of our hoped for Crested Tits.
Common Toads – on the path
There were lots of Common Toads on the path as we got down towards the loch, but it was more open here and very windy. We had a quick scan over the water but could just see a single Goldeneye and a Mallard in the reeds at the back, so we continued on round the corner of the path and back into the shelter of the trees. As we walked back, there were several more Goldeneye in the more sheltered edge of Loch Garten. We got back to the minibus just in time as it started sleeting again.
Given the weather, we thought we would have another quick from the minibus to see if there were any tits back in the car park at Loch Garten while it was raining. There was even less activity than yesterday, but we put some seed out, and quickly the Chaffinches and Coal Tits came down to take advantage. A Treecreeper appeared in the trees behind again. When the rain started to ease, all the birds disappeared back into the trees so we decided to move on.
After a quick stop in Nethy Bridge again to use the facilities, we drove over to Strathdearn. At least the raptors might appreciaet the wind. It started to sleet as we drove up the A9, and continued heavily for quite a time to the point where we even started to wonder whether we might have to abandon the day, before thankfully it cleared through just as we got to the valley and the sun came out. The views were stunning now as we drove up the narrow, winding road. We could see some dots right on the top of the hillside opposite which turned out to be a herd of Red Deer.
We parked at the top of the valley and it was so windy at first we struggled to open the door on the exposed side of the minibus. We all got out in the lee of minibus (doors on both sides and a bench seat in the front a big advantage!) and scanned the surrounding hills from the shelter of the vehicle. Two Peregrines appeared along the ridge behind us, chasing each other.
We didn’t have to wait too long before a Golden Eagle appeared over the hills opposite, dropping down behind a ridge, then coming back up again, then disappearing from view once more. A Raven drifted over. Then the same or another Golden Eagle came up, drifting right across the valley to our side now and hanging in the air over the ridge back along the road. It started to come towards us, gaining a little height, and we thought it might eventually come right over our heads before a Peregrine powered up towards it from the cliffs below. A Common Buzzard was up too now, all three together in the same view. The Peregrine had a go at the Golden Eagle, diving at it a couple of times from above. The Eagle quickly decided to head back across valley.
The raptors were clearly enjoying the wind today, as we had hoped they would. There was a juvenile Peregrine along the ridge behind us pretty much throughout, playing in the wind and landing on the slope. We got it in the scope for a closer look a couple of times. Then two Merlins appeared, chasing around above the trees further up the valley, before towering up higher into the sky. We watched one gain a lot of height and then shoot off across valley before dropping down sharply behind the ridge the other side.
Peregrine – enjoying the wind
While we were enjoying all the raptor action, the wind had dropped a fraction. We had thought we might need to find somewhere more sheltered for lunch, but it was now nice enough we could stop and eat here, amid all the activity. Thankfully, we had finished eating and packed away before we could see the next bank of cloud coming over the head of the valley, so we decided to move on. We were lucky with the timing today!
We drove back down the valley as the rain blew in. There were still patches of sunshine and blue sky and some impressive rainbows, dropping down to the valley below. We thought there must be a pot of gold down there somewhere, but perhaps we had already seen our Golden Eagle gold! The Farr road is one of our favourites, bleak and open out on the high moors, stunning scenery and it was especially moody today. As we drove over the tops there was rain one side, and it even seemed like the cloud was below us and we were looking down on the weather, before we got to the blue sky and had some stunning views over the hills ahead as we dropped down the other side. The weather might be challenging but the views sure were special!
Back down to earth, we drove round to Loch Ruthven. A female Stonechat was on the fence as we got out of the minibus. It was nice enough now, but given the vagaries of the weather today we made our way quickly down along the path. We scanned the loch as we passed but couldn’t see anything on the water through the trees, although it was very choppy in the wind and there was a remarkable swell running across and there were some impressive waves breaking on the shore. We headed quickly to the shelter of hide.
Five Teal and a couple of Mallard were feeding in the sheltered corner in front of the hider and a female Goosander was dozing on a rock opposite, right over the far side. There were two Little Grebes over there too and a lone Cormorant appeared out in the middle. We sat in the hide and scanned round, but we couldn’t find any Slavonian Grebes from here, which was what we had come to try to find. Three Red Kites and two Common Buzzards were playing over the trees on the ridge on the far side, and a flock of Starlings occasionally whirled round, three Fieldfares with them.
Another squally shower blew in, so we closed the windows and hunkered down, before once again it cleared through as quickly as it had arrived. We decided to walk back now, and as we made our way along the path we scanned the loch through the trees again. There was a Slavonian Grebe now out on the water! In pretty much full summer plumage already, we hurried on to the small beach and got it in the scope. A nice view, ironically it then sailed out further down the loch to where we would have been able to see it from the hide. Still, it was a smart bird and it was mission accomplished!
Slavonian Grebe – on the way back
Back at the car park, it was sunny again now. Scanning the surrounding hills, we could see six more Red Kites over the clearfell and hillside opposite. One or two Common Buzzards circled up too and a Raven appeared over a distant hillside and started tumbling. We stopped to watch for a few minutes.
Given the apocalyptic forecast this morning, we had not only managed to survive the day but actually had a remarkably productive one. We had a bit of a drive back, and then had a little bit of time to relax before another delicious three course dinner tonight.
Thursday 23rd March
Before breakfast, we drove over to Nethy Bridge to have another go for Crested Tit. They can always be tricky after the winter, when they stop coming to feeders and retreat into the forests where they spend more time in the tops of the trees, but at this time of year we are on the cusp. It was not a particularly warm start to the year too this year (unlike 2022) and we had hoped we might still find some coming to food. It was chilly and damp as we walked down through the trees at first, the morning light not yet coming through, and perhaps not surprising there was nothing actually on the feeders. We could hear a Great Spotted Woodpecker calling, and looked up to see it perched in the very top of a pine. Another two were drumming more distantly, one either side.
Red Squirrel – above the path
We walked on along the path, to where it was a bit more open and there was a bit more light making it in. A Red Squirrel ran across in front of us, perhaps surprisingly the first we had seen, and up into a small pine, climbing right up into the top. We stood underneath watching, and it decided to make a dash for it. It ran down the line of trees beside the path, hopping from branch to branch, tree to tree, occasionally stopping and staring down.
There was still very little activity, even out in the open, although there was an annoying cloud in front of the sun. We saw one or two Coal Tits, Chaffinches, and Siskin over, as usual. Finally the early sun started to break through, and the light was now catching the tops of the trees, so we walked back in to the thicker trees. A Crossbill flew over calling. Back at the feeders, there were several Coal Tits… and there was a Crested Tit too. It looked like it might fly off initially but thankfully it stayed and we watched it for a minute or two on the feeder. Then it flew up into the trees behind and called, before it disappeared up into the tops of the pines.
Crested Tit – on the feeders
We waited for a few minutes to see whether the Crested Tit would come back in, but it didn’t. Then it was time to head back for breakfast. There were several Roe Deer in the fields. We looked over to the Cairngorms on our way back to Carrbridge and were surprised to be able to see the tops now for the first time. That wasn’t in the forecast! We stopped briefly to take some scenic photos, but food was calling.
Given the sunny morning, a change of plan so after breakfast we drove up to Cairngorm Base Station. There were several Chaffinches in the car park when we drove in, and by the time we had parked and got out they had been joined by a Snow Bunting on the wall. It dropped down onto the verge so we walked over for a closer look, just as another two Snow Buntings flew in and landed on the wall. Lovely close views. We had a quick look in the garden, but it was quiet, just a single Raven overhead and a few Meadow Pipits over the ski slope beyond.
Snow Bunting – in the car parkSnow Bunting – feeding on the bank
We had not thought we would be able to today, but the weather was so good we decided to have short walk up towards the Northern Corries. There had been fresh snow yesterday and overnight on the tops, but the lower slopes were still largely snow free. While it still looked very windy up on the top of the ridge (it had been gusting up to 109mph here yesterday!), it was more sheltered down here. We only had about an hour to play with, not long enough really to get high enough, but we walked for about half of that and then stopped to scan. There were lots of people out today, making the most of the sunshine, several groups of hikers heading up along all of the paths and we could see walkers already high on snowy ridges. Lots of disturbance. There was no sign of any movement on the slopes above us, apart from people. It was beautiful here though, and a great view.
Then we had to head back down to meet back up with a couple of the group who had stayed behind. We stopped for coffee down at the Base Station, and several of the group indulged in hot chocolate from the café, with marshmallows and topped with whipped cream. It was amazing to sit outside in the sunshine, with clear blue sky above – not what was forecast!
The plan was to head up to the Moray coast for the afternoon, so we had a long drive now up to Lossiemouth from here. We arrived in time for lunch, and ate on the edge of the harbour, looking out to sea. There were lots of Razorbills out on the water, some close in, some larger groups diving in unison. A few Common Scoter and Common Eider were further out and a couple of Gannets flew past. Two Sandwich Terns flew in over bay and past in front of us, our first of the year. We checked through all the gulls, but there was no sign of the Glaucous Gull around the harbour today. A succession of Typhoons came in low over town behind us, heading for RAF Lossiemouth, and a Peacock butterfly fluttered around the car park in the sunshine.
Common Eider – off the harbour wall
We could see lots of waders on the harbour wall distantly from here, mainly Purple Sandpipers. So after lunch, we walked round for a closer look. A Carrion x Hooded Crow hybrid was preening on the top of some crab pots, mostly black but with some grey patches. A female Eider was in the harbour between the boats and five more Eider were on the sea just off the end of the harbour wall, including several very smart drakes, so we got them in the scopes for a close up look. A summer plumaged Red-throated Diver was on the sea here too.
Down at the end of the harbour wall, we could just see some of the Purple Sandpipers on the edge above us. We climbed up the steps at the end and from the top could see an amazing number – we counted at least 120 Purple Sandpipers, together with a smaller number of Turnstones and a single Sanderling. They were mostly sleeping over high tide, but one or two were preening and occasionally there was a shuffle through the flock.
Purple Sandpiper – 1 of over 120 today
We scanned the sea and quickly found a Great Northern Diver offshore, an adult just starting to moult into breeding plumage, but there was no sign of any different gulls on the sea from here either. A large flock of Pink-footed Geese was circling over the fields distantly inland. The tide was already falling and as we came back down, the Purple Sandpipers were starting to head out to feed, flying right over the heads of those who had stayed down on the quay below. As we walked back round, a Rock Pipit was feeding on the stones just ahead of us.
Rock Pipit – on the quay
We stopped to use the loos overlooking the estuary and could see lots of gulls now starting to gather on the falling tide. While people used the facilities, we scanned through, but again could find no sign of the Glaucous Gull, or the Iceland Gull which has been seen here later in the day recently. There were still more gulls dropping in, but we had other places we needed to visit so after a good look through we had to move on.
As we drove on west along the coast, a Merlin shot low over a field beside the road. We pulled up to check a large herd of swans in some winter wheat and were not surprised to find they were 30 Whooper Swans. Surprisingly, our first Linnet of the trip was perched in a bush by the road too.
We parked in the car park at Findhorn and walked up through the dunes to the beach. It was beautiful here looking out across the Moray Firth in the sunshine, but it was flat calm this afternoon so most of the birds were very distant. There were good numbers of auks again, and we managed to find one Guillemot closer in as well as more Razorbills. The only ducks we could pick out were some very distant Common Scoter off here today, and we managed to find a lone drake Red-breasted Merganser some way off to our right, which then flew past in front of us, low over the breakers. A Harbour Porpoise broke the surface once briefly.
Red-breasted Merganser – flew past
There were lots of gulls feeding in the river mouth, but despite checking through we couldn’t see anything obviously different with them. There were lots of seals on the beach beyond the river, a mixture of Common & Grey Seals. Several Carrion x Hooded Crow hybrids were on the beach, sporting different amounts of grey, and one pure-looking Hooded Crow flew past in front of us, heading down to the river mouth.
On our way back, we had time for a quick stop in at Easter Dalziel to see if we could find the Green-winged Teal that has been lingering here. It had been here for over a week, although not reported for the last three days, but it hadn’t been reported daily during its stay anyway so we figured it could still be here. We took the small road down towards the site and found it had recently been closed off at the railway and there was no way through. At least 15 Yellowhammers were perched in the bushes at the back of the next door cattle field as we turned round.
We managed to find a way round, and located the flood where the grid reference indicted, but there was not much water here and only two Mallard. We turned down a side road to head back and found the next field down also had a flood, larger and better looking. There were lots of Teal on here, so we thought our luck might be in, but as we scanned with the scope we found they were all just Eurasian Teal. We had to head back now, to get back in time for dinner. A little further on a large flock of Pink-footed Geese were feeding in a wheat field next to the road.
It was just a short drive back down the A9 to Carrbridge, back to the guest house. It was a Scottish themed dinner tonight – haggis and neeps to start, followed by salmon. Aurora activity was high tonight so after 9pm a few of the group went out to check. There was a bit of patchy cloud but there was a striking glow in the sky behind. A little bit of green and maybe pink was just about visible with the naked eye, but it looked distinctly more impressive with a long exposure image from a camera which really brings out the colours.
Friday 24th March
It was forecast to rain this morning, so we didn’t go out for an early walk. After breakfast, we set off on the long drive up to Fraserburgh. It was raining most of the way but stopped as we got into Aberdeenshire and then started to brighten up as we approached the coast. Coming out of Banff, we could see swans over the ridge ahead and we drove underneath about thirty Whooper Swans as they headed out over the sea.
We parked by the lighthouse and got out to scan the sea. The Ross’s Gull had been seen late morning/early afternoon the last couple of days, so we had timed our visit to be around at that time, and it had already been reported flying past again much earlier today. There was no sign of it out over the sea when we arrived, just a steady stream of Kittiwakes moving, so we stood and continued to scan. It does only seem to appear sporadically, often just once a day.
Gannet – past the Head
There were lots of things to watch while we waited. There was a constant trickle of Gannets passing by, including some nice close ones right over the end of Kinnaird Head. There were lots of auks too, Razorbills and Guillemots, on the sea and flying past, and a large number of Shags. A few Fulmar skimmed low over the sea offshore too and a couple of Harbour Porpoise broke the surface briefly.
There were other birds moving offshore, these heading north on migration, particularly more Whooper Swans. After the ones at Banff earlier, we now had two more groups flying north out over the sea – twenty-eight and around forty. We also picked up five Skylarks flying north way out to sea and a Curlew too. It was a lovely place to sit and watch but we couldn’t wait all day. Our patience was rewarded a Puffin out on the water which was then joined by a second. It was already lunchtime but the decision was made to move on for lunch, so we drove west to Portsoy and down to the harbour.
Whooper Swans – lots on the move today
We ate lunch looking out over the sea from the dolphin statue, a lovely spot to stand particularly on a sunny afternoon. No White-billed Divers had been reported off the coast here yet this year, but we figured someone had to be the first and around Portsoy is often the main area to find them. We had a good scan while we ate but all we could see today were three very distant Great Northern Divers away to the west. Six smart Long-tailed Ducks were on the water closer in plus a couple of Eider and more auks.
We decided to try Cullen next. As we got out on the clifftop, a male Yellowhammer was singing in the bushes. Scanning the sea, we could see lots more divers. We eventually counted at least twenty-four Great Northern Divers, mostly rather distant, and three Red-throated Divers closer in, but we couldn’t find any other divers off here today. There were two or three Black Guillemots on the sea too, a nice addition to the trip list, but the biggest surprise was finding more Whooper Swans, this time swimming in a tight raft a couple of miles out to sea, presumably stopping to rest on their journey. They really were on the move in good numbers today.
Yellowhammer – singing on the clifftop
We had time for one last stop at Lossiemouth. We were too early for the white-winged gulls when we were there last time, as they only came back in the late afternoon yesterday. There were lots of gulls on the estuary now, but scanning from the toilet block end we couldn’t pick out anything in with them initially. There were a couple of Bar-tailed Godwits on the edge of the water opposite too, and two or three Grey Herons. It felt like our luck might be out today, particularly when news came through now that the first White-billed Diver of the spring had just been found only around 10 miles further along the coast. Unfortunately it was just too late for us to get there now, as we had to be back in Carrbridge in time for dinner. We had the right idea today, but we had just tried all the wrong places!
We just had time for a quick scan from the car park further down around the estuary and just as we had almost given up hope we picked up the adult Iceland Gull on the mud opposite. We could see its long, pure white wingtips and next to a Herring Gull it was noticeably slightly smaller. A nice late consolation prize.
Iceland Gull – a nice adult
We drove back inland and could see dark clouds ahead of us before we drove into heavy rain. It was very gloomy and wet across the moors We arrived back at the guest house with just enough time for a short break before our last dinner in Carrbridge – curry night!
Saturday 25th March
We were packing before breakfast, so there was no time for an early walk today. After breakfast, we said our goodbyes to Christine at the guesthouse and set off on our way back south. We arrived at Loch of the Lowes just as it had opened, perfect timing, but got out to the hide to discover that the pair of Ospreys had both just flown off. Thankfully, after only a short wait, the female Osprey flew back in to the nest and we had a great view through the scopes. We could see her shuffling, and on the pictures from the CCTV camera could see she was rearranging the nest.
Osprey – back on the nest
The Osprey flew again, dropping down behind the trees, but was back just a few minutes later and landed on the post now, above the CCTV camera. She perched there for some time, preening, then looking around and up to the skies, possibly looking for the male. For the first time, both the Ospreys had returned here on the same day this year, on 17th March, the female first and the male around 6 hours later, the earliest date the female has returned (the male was back on 13th last year). We had received regular updates from several other nest sites during our stay in Carrbridge, but strangely none of the other nest sites we had thought we might visit were occupied before we left.
We scanned the loch, but all we could see today were a few Goldeneye, Tufted Ducks, Teal, Mallard and Canada Geese, several Great Crested Grebe and a single Little Grebe, and lots of Black-headed Gulls. A few Sand Martins above the trees just beyond the Osprey nest, and a couple of times a much larger flock came up, presumably feeding over the loch just beyond trees.
We stopped outside to watch the feeders. There were lots of tits coming and going, particularly Coal Tits, and lots of Chaffinches. A Nuthatch and a Great Spotted Woodpecker came in and out a couple of times. Some of the group had been in the hide watching the Osprey when the Nuthatch visited, and we could still hear it calling in the trees when they came out. It then took ages to reappear, although we did see a Red Squirrel hopping agilely through the trees while we waited. Finally the Nuthatch called and flew in to the peanuts, then up into a nearby oak and we watched as it hammered a nut into the bark.
Nuthatch – eventually came in again
It was time to carry on south. We drove through drizzle on and off on the way down, but it brightened up by the time we got past Edinburgh and round to Dunbar. There had been three Alpine Swifts here for several days, only a very short distance off the A1, so we turned off and onto the access road down to Barns Ness to see if we could see them. Several cars were pulled up on the verge so we stopped and got out. We quickly located the Alpine Swifts over the trees, hawking low over the tops, back and forth. We had nice views in the scope of their white bellies and throats as they twisted and turned.
A major invasion of Alpine Swifts had taken place while we were up in Scotland, with birds overshooting on their way back north from Africa to Europe. We had missed the one at Bamburgh on our way up, so it was nice to get in on some of the action on our way back.
After watching the Alpine Swifts for a while, we continued down to the beach car park for a late lunch. There were still birds to see while we ate – a few Eider on the sea, two Red-breasted Merganser offshore, Gannets and Kittiwakes passing. Two Linnets landed on top of a gorse bush nearby. Afterwards, as we drove back to the entrance to the car park to use the loos, two Stonechats were on the fence. We could see one of the Alpine Swifts right over the road now, back where we had been standing earlier, but by the time everyone had finished using the facilities and we drove back, it had disappeared. There were only two Alpine Swifts now, still out over the trees and just a bit too distant for photos still.
We set off on our way south again. We were heading for Darlington, but we realised we still had time for one last stop on the way, if everything went to plan. The regular wintering Black Scoter in Northumberland has been elusive and difficult to see this year. After no reports for almost a month, it had been seen again two days ago at Cocklawburn and then at Stag Rocks yesterday, where it was still present this morning. Another message had come out while we were having lunch that it was till there and with the suggestion it was apparently ‘showing well’ now. The site is only a few miles off the A1, so we figured we would have a go.
We parked in the car park and walked up to the clifftop to scan the sea. A couple of Common Scoter and Long-tailed Ducks were out on the water. Someone then kindly drove up and wound down their window to tell us that the Black Scoter was still on the sea with three Common Scoter, further up, off the lighthouse, but had drifted a little north. We had a very quick walk up to make sure we got onto it before it drifted too far and became difficult to refind, but we needn’t have worried – it was still just offshore from the lighthouse.
Black Scoter – with three Commons
We have seen it several times further north off Goswick in previous winters, and the Black Scoter can often be very distant, out on the sea. But it was amazingly close now, and we had great views in the scope of its bulbous yellow bill, a perfect comparison with two drake Common Scoter in the same group with just a yellow stripe down the front of their bills, the difference very clear now. From down on the rocks below the lighthouse, it was even closer – and the yellow top of the bill stood out even through binoculars in the late afternoon sunshine. Closely related to Common Scoter, Black Scoter is a very rare visitor to the UK being more usually found in North America or NE Siberia. While the driver ran back to the car park to get the minibus, one of the group found some Purple Sandpipers on the rocks here too.
We had been lucky with the weather again today. Continuing on down to Darlington, we drove into more rain. We arrived just as it was getting dark, and had time for a quick break before we met up for our last dinner together to reminisce about the trip and say our goodbyes.
Day 2 of a 3-day Early Winter Tour today. It was a grey, wet and windy start, but thankfully it dried out quickly and then even brightened up from the middle of the day. The forecast suggested it would be much worse (again!).
As we met at the B&B in Hindolveston this morning, a Fieldfare flew over tchacking. Possibly another fresh arrival from the continent overnight.
Our first destination for the day was Sheringham. As we pulled up on the edge of Beeston Common, it was very grey, low cloud, windy and spitting with drizzle. It didn’t look too promising. But we looked up into the trees opposite and the first bird we saw perched right up in the top of one of them was a Waxwing! We got it in the scope, a super smart bird to start the day. After a few minutes it flew a short distance out onto the Common and disappeared out of view.
Waxwing – first, one
There had been 10 Waxwings here yesterday, so we walked up the road and round onto the Common to see if we could find any more. There were lots of rowan trees here and lots of berries – always promising! A Bullfinch flew across. And there were nine Waxwings lined up in the top of one of the trees. Enough to brighten any morning!
Waxwings – then all nine
We watched the Waxwings for a while. They were rather jumpy, and kept flying round and landing again back in the same couple of rowans. We could see a mixture of adults with brightly marked wings and duller 1st winters.
After a while, it started to rain more heavily and the Waxwings flew back towards where we had first seen the lone one. Having enjoyed such good views, we decided to move on.
We made our way down to the promenade next. Several Turnstones scooted off ahead of us as we walked along to the Tank. We stopped in the lee to scan, out of the wind, and immediately spotted a Purple Sandpiper on the next groyne up. It seemed to be mostly down out of sight on the far side of the rocks, so we walked further along for a clearer view. Several Turnstones flew in to the same groyne and when we got to where we could see the rocks we found that there were actually two Purple Sandpipers together.
Purple Sandpipers – and Turnstone
It was windy out on the prom, so we made our way back to the lee of the Tank to scan the sea. There were lots of auks moving offshore this morning – the closer ones were mostly Razorbills, with a smaller number of Guillemots. There was a steady stream of Kittiwakes passing too, and we managed to pick out one young Little Gull further back. A few Gannets flew through along with a small number of Red-throated Divers and a single Great Crested Grebe – always odd birds to see flying past offshore. A Shag was on the sea but diving and hard to see behind the breakers.
We were about to pack up when a message came through that a couple of skuas had flown east past Cley, so we stayed on to see if we could see them from here. Two Eider flew west and a couple of small groups of Common Scoter came past. Eventually we picked up a Great Skua flying towards us and we could see the big white flashes in its wings as it came past.
Pink-footed Geese – at Weybourne
Back in the warmth of the minibus, we made our way back west. We stopped briefly to look at a field full of Pink-footed Geese at Weybourne. We pulled into a gateway and scanned from the bus, as they were looking nervous, heads up. We could only see a tiny part of the flock from here, unfortunately, and there was nothing obviously different with the closer ones. Still, always an impressive to see a field full of wild geese.
We made our way down to Cley. It was still rather grey and threatening to rain again, as we made our way out to Bishop Hide first. A Marsh Harrier flew past over the reeds, the first of several we saw hanging around the reserve this morning.
Marsh Harrier – one of several
There were lots of ducks on Pat’s Pool – Teal, Shoveler and Wigeon. There were a few Avocet hanging on here too, despite the increasingly wintry weather, and lots of Lapwings on the islands. Scanning through more carefully, we found one Black-tailed Godwit, a few Dunlin and a Turnstone. Eventually, one of the Little Stints appeared from behind one of the islands further back. There have been two hanging around with the Dunlin here still recently, Little Stints are scarce birds here in winter.
This can be a good place for gulls, but there were only Black-headed Gulls here now. We could hear a Chiffchaff calling just outside the hide in the reeds and a Sparrowhawk shot past, probably too quickly to spook anything on the scrapes!
We made our way round to the middle hides next. After the recent rain, there is a lot of water on some of the other scrapes now. There were lots more ducks on Simmond’s, including several Gadwall, and we could see some small groups of Canada Geese out beyond Billy’s Wash.
Little Stint – 1 of 2
Looking out at Pat’s Pool from this side, we managed to find both the two Little Stints now and a couple of Curlew appeared.
More gulls dropped in, including several larger ones now. A young gull with a striking white head was a first winter Caspian Gull. We had a good look at it through the scopes and discussed the finer points of its identification as it preened and showed various features off to us.
Caspian Gull – 1st winter
We walked back to the Visitor Centre for lunch and helpfully it even brightened up a bit so we could still make use of the picnic tables. Afterwards, we drove along to Salthouse. The Iron Road pool has more water too, so there are not so many waders on here now – just one Black-tailed Godwit on our walk out.
As we continued on over the bridge towards the beach. we saw the small flock of Twite fly round and land on the shingle in the distance. Unfortunately, before we could get there they flew off again. We scanned from the shingle ridge and saw them flying round over the grazing marshes with a few Linnets and several Skylarks too. They dropped down out of sight, then flew up and round again. This time they disappeared off east towards Salthouse.
We hoped the Twite might come back to the shingle, so while we waited we scanned the sea. They were still a few auks, Kittiwakes and Gannets moving, but they were further out than they had been this morning.
Stonechat – on Iron Road
We were in danger of getting cold out here, and we had one last place we wanted to visit this afternoon, so we decided to walk back. As we set off, the Twite flew back in and round in front of us again with a few Linnets. They looked like they might land on the saltmarsh, but eventually disappeared off east again. A Stonechat flicked along Iron Road ahead of us.
As we got back to the minibus, we heard Pink-footed Geese calling and looked up to see wave upon wave of them flying in from the east, thousands of them. Possibly, the birds we had seen feeding at Weybourne earlier, we watched as they carried on west. Another impressive goose spectacle!
Pink-footed Geese – flew over in skeins
Our final destination for the afternoon was Garden Drove. As walked down the track, we stopped to admire the small flock of Brent Geese in the winter wheat.
Several Blackbirds flew out of the hedges in front and a Redwing dropped down to feed on the ground ahead of us. A Mistle Thrush flew up into the top of one of the bare trees. Down at the far end, more Blackbirds and a couple of Fieldfares flushed out of the bushes.
There were a few people already gathered on the edge of the coastal path here, so we joined them to scan. We could see several Curlews and Little Egrets and a single Great White Egret out on the saltmarsh. We were all hoping that the Pallid Harrier might put in another of its erratic appearances here, but the omens were not so good as it had not come in last night.
A rather dark juvenile Peregrine flew in over East Hills and disappeared off east. A ringtail Hen Harrier appeared briefly and distantly, going away from us, but helpfully then flew back and round over the saltmarsh in front of us, giving us good views. A grey male Hen Harrier remained more distant, over the spartina bed further back. A Common Buzzard flew past too. An excellent selection of raptors and a great return for the hour we spent here, but unsurprisingly there was no sign of the Pallid Harrier again tonight.
The light was starting to go, so we decided it was time to head back. There was a nice sunset over the fields away to the west, and then several skeins of Pink-footed Geese flew through heading out to the mudflats to roost. A great sight to end the day.
Day 1 of a three day Late Autumn Tour. After a cold start, it was a lovely day – bright, sunny, with lots of clear skies, although with a rather cold NNW wind. We set out to make the most of the good weather.
Our destination for the morning was Cley. We parked at Walsey Hills and had a quick scan of Snipe’s Marsh. There was no sign of any Jack Snipe today, but we did see Pied Wagtail and Robin and a Jay flying across at the back.
From up on the East Bank, we stopped to scan the pools. There were three Little Grebes, a Gadwall, Coot and Moorhen on Don’s Pool today. A Water Rail flapped across the corner and disappeared into the reeds at the far end.
Little Grebe – on Don’s Pool
We could hear Bearded Tits calling, but they didn’t show themselves – it was probably a bit windy this morning. We heard several Cetti’s Warblers shouting too, but they remained typically hidden. A couple of Reed Buntings flew round and there was a trickle of finches on the move – a few Chaffinches and a couple of Greenfinches flew through heading west.
A couple of small groups of Pink-footed Geese flew over calling, and a larger flock dropped down in the middle towards the hides. When all the birds flushed off the scrapes, we looked over to see a Peregrine flying over and watched it head off inland. A Marsh Harrier circled over the reeds, and another flew up out of Pope’s reedbed the other side and in over Pope’s Pool flushing everything.
We stopped at the south end of the Serpentine to scan. There were lots of Wigeon and Teal along the far edge. Several Black-tailed Godwits were feeding in the water, and a small group of Dunlin on the small pool in the wet grass.
Some of the group were walking on ahead when we noticed another wader close to the bank at the north end of the Serpentine, the Long-billed Dowitcher. We had been planning to go round to the Iron Road to look for it later this morning, but it does sometimes get here on the Serpentine too. It is often much closer here, so we got the scope on it and had some great views. Rather like a dumpy grey snipe, we could see its plain-centred tertials and long bill with slightly drooping tip. It has been here for over 2 weeks now – it will be interesting to see just how long it stays.
Long-billed Dowitcher – on the Serpentine
After watching the Long-billed Dowitcher for a bit, we continued on to the shelter overlooking Arnold’s Marsh. It was nice in here to get out of the wind. We had only just started scanning when we noticed a small, dark waders on one of the shingle islands – a Purple Sandpiper, not something we usually see here. They spend the winter on rocky coasts, typically here on coastal sea defences, but they are just arriving now and can sometimes turn up elsewhere. A nice bonus!
There were also several Grey Plover, Oystercatcher, Redshanks and Curlews on Arnold’s. A small group of Cormorants and a couple of Great Black-backed Gulls were on the larger island towards the back. A lone juvenile Brent Goose was feeding on the saltmarsh off to the side, presumably having been separated from its family. A female Stonechat flicked up onto the top of the suaeda in front of the old shingle ridge.
A scan of the Brackish Pools behind revealed two Pintail upending on the water. Lots of Shoveler were dozing around the edges.
There had been some skuas and a couple of Little Auks reported past Cley beach earlier, blown in by the brisk wind, so we made our way out to the beach for a look. There were several Red-throated Divers offshore, but they were not always easy to see in the swell. Several small groups of Razorbills on the sea were slightly more obliging. More Razorbills flew past, along with one or two Guillemots but we couldn’t see any other auks now. A steady succession of Gannets passed by too.
There was wildfowl moving this morning too – we saw several flocks of Wigeon and Teal coming in over the sea, and a few lines of Brent Geese, all arriving here for the winter. A lone Sanderling, a Turnstone and a few Dunlin flew past too. We watched several Skylarks coming in off the sea, and a Rock Pipit flew west along beach, presumably also fresh in.
Snow Bunting – just one
We hadn’t been out on the beach too long when someone kindly came over to tell us there was a Snow Bunting on the old shingle ridge just a short distance away. We walked straight over, and had some great views of it feeding on the weedy vegetation growing out of the shingle in the sunshine.
We decided to head back and try somewhere else now. Three Marsh Harriers circled together close to the path out over the reedbed now. A gaggle of Canada Geese on the grazing marsh were an addition to the day’s list.
Marsh Harrier – over the reedbed
There have been some Shorelarks at Salthouse in recent days, but they have been very mobile. They had been reported west of Salthouse beach this morning, so we went round there to look, but by the time we got there it appeared they had flown off. We could see some people we knew along the beach to the east, so while we tried to find out where they had gone, we had a quick look out to sea. Offshore passage seemed to have slowed, although there were still a few Razorbills and Gannets moving.
The Shorelarks had apparently flown off west, so we decided to make our way back to Cley, and have a quick look on the reserve before lunch. We made our way out to Bishop Hide. There were lots of ducks on Pat’s Pool – Wigeon, Teal and Shoveler. In amongst them, we found several Ruff. A Little Stint flew in and landed on the closest island, giving us really good views as it worked its way around the edge feeding. Another Little Stint appeared a bit further back, along with a couple of Dunlin.
Little Stint – the closer of the two
We managed to find a Common Snipe on the far bank, amongst the ducks and several Lapwing but it flew and we lost sight of it. Another Lapwing dropped in on the bank right in front of the hide.
Lapwing – in front of the hide
There were several gulls loafing on one of the islands, mainly Black-headed Gulls but accompanied by a few larger gulls. There were several Herring Gulls and we could see a couple of Lesser Black-backed Gulls too, but one sleeping gull caught our eye. It was very white headed, and appeared to have a dark beady eye and rather spindly fleshy legs.
We had a good idea it was an adult Caspian Gull and then it shifted and we could see the pattern of the underside of the far wing – a long white tip, a narrower black bar and then extensive whitish inner web. A characteristic of adult Caspian Gull.
Caspian Gull – showing off its wing
Eventually the Caspian Gull did wake up and flashed its long and rather parallel-sided bill.
A Water Pipit called, and dropped down to land on the bank right in front of the hide. It only stayed for a minute or so, looking round nervously, then flew again. It landed on the bank to the right of the scrape but walked straight down into the reeds on the edge of the mud and disappeared. An amazingly productive hour here!
Water Pipit – dropped in front of Bishop Hide
We made our way back to the Visitor Centre for lunch. A couple of Marsh Harriers drifted over the reedbed and across the scrape, flushing everything. A flock of Golden Plover towered up over us, twisting and turning over the fields behind. A Common Buzzard flew over the picnic tables and a Sparrowhawk came in high over the reedbed and circled up inland. A flock of House Sparrows came out of the bushes by the road and shot over to the far side of the car park.
After lunch, we headed back to Salthouse, this time parking in the village and walking back to the Iron Road. Some people were leaving just as we arrived and said there had been no sign of the Long-billed Dowitcher, though thankfully we had enjoyed such good views of it earlier we were not especially worried. It seemed to be our lucky day for it though and we had just arrived at the gate when the Dowitcher walked out from behind the grass right on the front edge of the pool. We had actually been hoping for a Jack Snipe here, but all we could find on the back edge at the moment were several Common Snipe. It was probably still a bit early.
The Shorelarks had been seen again, while we were having lunch, but had flown south from the beach at the north end of the Iron Road. We checked out the field opposite the pool, where they had been frequenting a couple of days earlier. There were lots of Linnets and a few Skylarks, but no other larks here now. The Lapland Bunting appeared from the dense vegetation briefly, but immediately disappeared back in and we couldn’t find it again.
We wanted to have a look at the harrier roost to end the day, so we drove west now to Stiffkey. A Merlin was perched on a distant low suaeda bush when we arrived and got out of the minibus. There was a bit of haze this evening, and a distant dark bird on the shingle ridge beyond the saltmarsh turned out to be a rather dark juvenile Peregrine when it eventually took off. It set off in pursuit after a Woodcock, presumably a tired migrant just arrived in off the North Sea, quickly caught it in midair, then turned and flew with it out to the beach and disappeared from view.
Merlin – in the haze
There were several Marsh Harriers out over the saltmarsh, but the Hen Harriers were slow to come in tonight, probably because the weather was so nice. We did eventually see a ghostly grey male Hen Harrier distant towards Wells briefly, which was still out hunting rather than coming in to roost. A Barn Owl was more obliging, flying right past us over the near edge of the saltmarsh. It was getting dark, so we decided to call it a night. As we started to drive back towards the main road, another Barn Owl flew across in front of us and we watched as it worked its way off over the field the other side.
Day 4 of a four day Autumn Tour in Norfolk, our last day. The weather was much better than yesterday – the showers much less frequent and even some nice bright intervals and patches of blue sky. There was a rather fresh and cool NW wind though on the coast today which made it feel a little colder.
Our first destination for the morning was Kelling. There were several Chaffinches and a couple of Greenfinches around the village as we got out of the minibus, and a small group of Goldfinches feeding in the tops of the birches by the school. We could hear more Chaffinches calling in the next hedge over as we started down the lane, and several flew out of the bushes ahead of us. They had possibly arrived from the Continent overnight and roosted here.
There had been reports of a large movement of Redwings inland at dawn, and we had thought we might see some thrushes on the move here today. But they had clearly come in overnight and moved quickly through. There were none moving now on the coast, and all we could find here were several Blackbirds in the bushes down the lane. We could here Bullfinches calling and several Robins ticking in the hedges as we walked along.
We stopped at the gate north of the copse to scan the Water Meadow. A Brown Hare ran across the field beyond. A family of Mute Swans, two adults and five dusky grey cygnets, were wading through the wet mud in the middle of the meadow. We remarked how good it was looking for a Jack Snipe now, how if you could walk about in the middle you would be sure to flush one, but despite a good scan we couldn’t see anything in view from the gate. There were lots of places to hide and they are always most active at dawn and dusk too.
A Marsh Harrier was flying over the field the other side of the track, flushing lots of Red-legged Partridges from stubble. A Reed Bunting flew ahead of us along the hedge as we continued north. There were more Blackbirds and finches in the bushes as we got out into the open.
A couple of dogs came past us and ran down the track, their owner following a couple of minutes later. Lots of ducks and Curlew came up off the Water Meadow as the dogs raced round the corner. Some of them resettled, but a flock of Teal flew off west.
Curlew – flew up from the Water Meadow
With a mixture of dark shower clouds and patches of blue sky, it was a good day for rainbows. Our first of the day was a corker – a double, with the inner one double sided too. The first of many today.
Rainbow – it was a good day for them today
When we got to the gap in the hedge where we could see across to the water, several of the Curlew had landed again on the grass. There was a mixture of ducks on the pool, still a couple of Teal, several Shoveler, one or two Gadwall and a small group of Wigeon feeding in the grass. A single Little Grebe was diving continually out in the middle.
We stopped to scan the Quags from the crosstracks. Two Common Snipe came up from the beck and disappeared off west. A Stonechat flew in and landed in the dead umbellifers on the bank, then across into the reeds in the beck. A single Egyptian Goose and two Little Egrets were out in the middle.
As we carried on down to the corner, another Common Snipe came up from the edge of the Water Meadow. A couple more Reed Buntings chased each other in and out of the reeds, and another Stonechat was perched up in the top of the brambles in the corner, a smart male. We had a look in the grass in the corner of the Water Meadow where it had been trampled by the cattle, but there was no Jack Snipe here either.
Stonechat – perched in the top of the brambles
Continuing on down the track, a Linnet landed in the brambles briefly. We could already see small groups of Gannets passing just offshore, beyond the shingle ridge, so we carried on up and over to the beach to see what else we could see.
Standing on the shingle ridge, we could see small groups of auks whizzing past offshore – this continued pretty much all the time we were on the beach. There were a few auks on the sea closer in too, so we continued down to the lee of the pill box and set up the scopes. We had a nice view of a couple of Razorbills on the sea, up and down riding the waves. A Guillemot was close in too and a Red-throated Diver.
There was steady passage of Gannets past all morning too. One small group stopped and spent a few minutes shallow diving offshore. A juvenile Gannet was resting on the sea very close in, just beyond the breakers. We had a great look at it as it drifted past us with the tide. After a while, it took off and flew further out.
Gannet – resting on the sea just offshore
The wind was not really strong enough to get other seabirds close inshore, but we did pick up three or four Great Skuas passing by. The first was very distant, but later we had one closer in, chasing a Great Black-backed Gull, trying to get it to regurgitate it’s last meal. We could see the Great Skua’s white wing flashes. A single Arctic Skua flew past very distantly too, and what was presumably the same bird paused briefly to chase a distant tern.
There was a trickle of wildfowl moving west this morning – always interesting to see migration in action at this time of year. Two groups of three Brent Geese, and several small flocks of Wigeon and Teal flew past, birds arriving here for the winter from Russia and across Northern Europe. We picked up a distant flock of Common Scoter too, but then we had two lone birds much closer flying west which were much easier to see, the first a pale cheeked female or juvenile, then a black male.
Brent Geese – arriving for the winter, coming in from Russia
There were not many waders moving today, but there was quality rather than quantity. The first wader we spotted, a small dark bird flying west just behind the breakers, was a Purple Sandpiper. Not a common sight passing by here, although we do get small numbers which spend the winter along the coast. Otherwise, we singles of Knot, Curlew and Oystercatcher.
There were a few passerines moving too. Several Rock Pipits flew west along the beach just in front of us. A Skylark came in over the beach calling too.
We could have spent all day here, watching the birds moving, arriving. It is slightly addictive, you never know what will come past next. But we could see lots of gulls off Weybourne beach, so with a shower approaching in over the sea we decided to head back and drive round there for a closer look. A Brown Hare was sheltering from the north wind behind the brambles on the hillside above the track, looking towards the sun and enjoying a bit of warmth as it poked out between the clouds.
Brown Hare – enjoying some sunshine, sheltered from the wind
As we walk back up the lane, we stopped again at the gate. There were a couple of people here now with scopes and they thought they might have seen a Jack Snipe. They were not sure though, and it could have been a Common Snipe. We stopped to scan, but they showed us where it had disappeared into a very thick area of rushes. A Brambling called overhead as we waited but despite giving it a few minutes, the Jack snipe didn’t reappear, so we decided to move on.
Round at Weybourne, there was only a small group of gulls on the beach to the west, beyond the fishermen – Herring, Great Black-backed and Black-headed Gulls, we couldn’t see anything of more interest. There was a black bird on the beach further west, preening. It was hard to see clearly through the spray coming off the sea, but it looked like a Shag through the scope. We walked over the shingle and up onto the low cliffs beyond for a closer look., but by the time we got there the Shag had gone, presumably flown back out to sea. A small group of Turnstones were busy feeding on the top of the cliff, flicking over the small stones.
Turnstones – turning stones on the top of the beach
Looking to the east, we could see many more gulls scattered all along the base of the cliffs towards Sheringham. Again it was hard to see far, with the combination of the misty spray off the waves and the shade from the cliffs. We scanned through the closer ones, but couldn’t see anything unusual.
We needed to use the facilities, so we drove back to Cley now. It was time for lunch too, and we wouldn’t say no to a welcome hot drink from the cafe. Thankfully it was dry now so we could sit outside on the picnic tables to eat. From up by the Visitor Centre, we scanned Pat’s Pool. There were lots of ducks, particularly Gadwall, and several Shelduck. Two lingering Avocets were feeding in the shallower water. A Marsh Harrier flew past over the reeds beyond.
A message came through that there was indeed a Jack Snipe at Kelling, from the gate where we had looked earlier, though it was hard to see. So after lunch, we went back for another look. The Bullfinches were still calling in the lane as we walked along, and this time flew across in front of us, the male flashing pink underneath in the sunshine. A Chiffchaff was in a hawthorn overhanging the lane now too.
There was no sign of the Jack Snipe from the gate when we arrived. They can be very elusive at the best of times, so we scanned carefully around the tussocks and wet mud. A Common Snipe came up out of rushes and flew off, and a little later what may have been the same or another dropped back in to the same area. Several Curlew flew in too. A Grey Heron was walking about between a couple of cows further back. Three Pied Wagtails were flitting around in the mud.
It was starting to look like we might be out of luck again. Then the two cows started to come a bit closer, and they had still not made it to the wet mud when they flushed a small bird from the thick grass at the back – a Jack Snipe. It towered straight up, and broke the skyline above the hillside beyond. As well as its small size, we could see its shorter bill compared to Common Snipe. It turned and dropped straight down again, down into the thickest rushes and brambles at the back.
We figured the Jack Snipe might not come out from there for a while, so we set off back. We were told that a Purple Sandpiper had been on a small pool back along the coast at Salthouse, maybe the one we saw past Kelling earlier. It can be very disturbed here, but we thought it worth a look as we were passing.
When we got to Beach Road, we had a quick look through the gulls in the field opposite, but there was nothing different with them here either. We could see lots of people walking out along the shingle towards Gramborough Hill now, right past the pool, and several dogs, so we didn’t fancy our chances. We had a quick look anyway, and not surprisingly there was nothing there now.
It was exposed out by the beach and very blustery here in the wind. Another shower blew in as we walked back to the minibus, so we decided to head inland for the rest of the afternoon. We drove down to the Brecks to look for Stone Curlews.
We stopped by an empty rutted field and scanned over the hedge. There was no sign of any Stone Curlews initially, but a little further along the field we found some. A small group were very close, and flew up when they saw us peering over the hedge, but thankfully they circled round and landed straight back down again. Some others were still standing in the field, and as we scanned across we counted at least eleven here, although some were hard to see in the ruts.
We had a great view of a couple of the Stone Curlew now through the scopes, their bright yellow legs, irises and bill bases catching the afternoon sun. Well worth the journey down to see them.
Stone Curlew – good views in the bare field this afternoon
The Stone Curlews gather together in large groups at the end of the breeding season. Numbers are dropping now, as they head off to Iberia or North Africa for the winter, but we knew there had been more than this here in the last few days.
We drove further down the road and stopped in a gateway to scan across to a distant bare stoney field. There were more Stone Curlews, further away than the ones we had just seen, but we counted at least twelve. There were lots more places for them to hide here though, so there were probably quite a few more. Always a nice way to wrap up a trip this time of year, with the autumn gathering of Stone Curlews.
There were a few other birds here too. A large flock of Linnets out in the middle, kept flying up, whirling round and dropping back to feed in a weedy strip on the far side of the field in front. We had seen a big flock of sparrows here a few weeks ago too, but there was no sign of them now. Carefully scanning the nearby brambles we did find a small group of sparrows though, three Tree Sparrows with single House Sparrow. They perched up nicely on top, giving us a good view in the scopes.
There had been several Red-legged Partridges out in the closer field, and we were just about to leave when one of the group spotted a covey of seven Grey Partridges off to the right. They came out into the open and ran out across the middle of the field to the far side. A nice view and a nice late bonus.
Grey Partridges – part of a covey of seven
It was time to head back now. As we drove back north, we admired the last rainbows of the day as we drove towards and then into a brief heavy shower.
Day 2 of a three day Winter Tour today, and we spent the day in North Norfolk. It was a rather windy day today, mostly cloudy and grey, but dry and mild.
Our first destination for the morning was Holkham. As we drove up along Lady Anne’s Drive we could see some Pink-footed Geese in the field by the road, so we stopped for a closer look. We could see their pink legs, even if their feet were hidden in the grass, as well as the pink band around their bills, rather like the orange of the Tundra Bean Geese we had seen yesterday. Thousands more Pink-footed Geese came up off the marshes the other side of the Drive, in several waves with a cacophony of yelping calls, and headed off inland to feed.
Pink-footed Geese – we got a closer look at some at Holkham today
There were a couple of Egyptian Geese out on the grazing marshes too, and a large flock of Wigeon. We carried on to the north end where we parked and headed through the pines. A tit flock was working its way across the gap as we walked along the boardwalk and we stopped to watch. As well as the Long-tailed Tits and Blue Tits, a pair of Coal Tits were chasing each other round and round the trees and a Treecreeper climbed up a pine trunk in front of us.
When we got out onto the saltmarsh, we walked east on the path. Three people ahead of us stopped, pointing, and put up their scopes. We had a good idea what they had seen and, sure enough, when we got over to them, they were watching the Shorelarks. They are feeding in the taller vegetation at the moment, not in the cordon, and can be very hard to see. Eventually we saw some movement and managed to get the scope on them.
Every now and then, one of the Shorelarks would stop and put its head up, at which point we could see its distinctive yellow face with black mask. Then it would put its head down again and resume feeding, at which point it would disappear. They were moving all the time. Eventually, one or two came out more into the open and everyone got a good view through the scope.
Shorelark – harder to see out in the taller vegetation on the saltmarsh today
Watching them creeping around in the vegetation, you could have been forgiven for thinking there were only around five or six Shorelarks there. But when something disturbed them and they all flew, we realised there were actually 26!
We could see another flock of small birds whirl round from time to time over at the far end of the cordon, so we carried on along to there. They were Snow Buntings, and when we arrived they were feeding on the sand along the edge of the water at the very back of the cordon. We had a look at them in the scope, after which they very helpfully flew round again and landed much closer to us, where we had much better views.
We counted twenty-two Snow Buntings today. Looking closely, we could see there was a variety of different coloured birds in the flock, some paler than others, with much more white in the wings as they flew up. Others were much darker, browner. The juveniles are darker and the adults paler, and the males are whiter than the females, but there are also two different races which mix here in the winter, with Snow Buntings from Scandinavia paler than those from Iceland. Lots of scope for variation!
Snow Buntings – feeding on the edge of the cordon on our way back
Continuing on out onto the beach, the tide was in and the sea was rather choppy. We couldn’t see a lot out on the water today. A single Common Scoter was rather distant, and a Red-breasted Merganser and a couple of Red-throated Divers flew past. We stopped for a bit and admired the beach, before making our way back. The Snow Buntings were feeding now on the near edge of the cordon and were unconcerned as we walked past a few feet away.
Back at Lady Anne’s Drive, we stopped at The Lookout café to use the facilities. Several flocks of Brent Geese flew in and landed out on the grazing marshes below, and we could see a group of Curlews in field behind. But the highlight was a little covey of Grey Partridges feeding down in the grass just below us. It was great to get such close views of this often rather elusive species.
Grey Partridges – very obliging, feeding on the edge of the grazing marsh
Looking out across the marshes on the other side of the Drive, we stopped to look at a very pale Common Buzzard perched up in the bushes (which is very often mistaken for a Rough-legged Buzzard!). A Great White Egret appeared on the edge of a reedy ditch – we could see its long, dagger-shaped yellow bill – and a Grey Heron was sheltering from the wind behind some brambles.
We had a quick look at the old pitch-and-putt course along the Beach Road at Wells, but there had been a lot of disturbance earlier from a helicopter over the town and there were very few geese here today. We did find more of the flock of Brent Geese in a winter wheat field just east of Wells, but they had typically found the one spot in the field where we couldn’t see most of them hidden behind a ridge.
Cold and windy is not good weather for owls, but we diverted inland to see if we could find a Little Owl on our way east. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there was no sign of any today. We did find a nice field full of Lapwings, which also included several Golden Plover and four Brown Hares.
Back down on the coast at Cley, we had a drive up along Beach Road. There was another big flock of Brent Geese here, which were slightly more obliging out on the grass. There had been a Pale-bellied Brent reported in with the regular Dark-bellied Brents earlier but there was no sign of it now.
We continued on down to the beach car park, where a flock of Pintail and several groups of Wigeon flew over as we got out of the car. We could see a large flock of Common Scoter offshore, which were constantly flying up in small groups, leapfrogging to the front of the flock and landing again, before diving to feed. Every now and then, we got a flash of a white panel in the wing of some of the otherwise very dark, blackish ducks. These were Velvet Scoter and apparently there had been sixteen of them in total when the whole flock had taken off earlier, though we could only see five or six at a time.
Scanning the rest of the sea, we found several Red-throated Divers, a Great Crested Grebe and a Guillemot all out on the water. There were quite a few people looking at the sea from here, as there was a ‘Bird Race’ taking place at Cley today. Apparently there had been a Glaucous Gull on the sea earlier, which we had hoped to catch up with, but we were told it had flown off west some time before we arrived.
We stopped for lunch in the beach shelter, out of the wind, and afterwards we headed round to the Cley Visitor Centre. We didn’t want to go out onto the reserve today, but we had a quick look out at Pat’s Pool from the terrace. Most of the Avocets leave Norfolk for the winter, but seventeen are currently hanging on here and we could see them feeding out in the water. There were also several Black-tailed Godwits out here and the usual selection of ducks, including a pair of Gadwall, and lots of Black-headed and a few Great Black-backed Gulls.
Avocets – 17 are hanging on for the winter at Cley
On the board at the Visitor Centre, there had been a Glaucous Gull feeding on a dead seal pup at Salthouse earlier, as well as several sightings around Cley, although it was difficult to tell whether one or two birds were involved. We had a quick look at the beach at Salthouse just in case, but as we got to the top of the shingle we could see only a young Great Black-backed Gull feeding on the seal carcass and no sign of the Glaucous Gull. Perhaps it was the one we had missed past Cley earlier.
We continued east along the coast to Sheringham. Down on the prom, we quickly located one of the Purple Sandpipers, feeding on the rocky sea defences below. We had a great view of it as it fed on the algae growing on the rocks.
Purple Sandpiper – feeding on the sea defences at Sheringham
The Purple Sandpiper was on its own today, so we walked back to the ‘tank’, where several Turnstones were feeding on the rocks and more were bathing in a pool below the freshwater outflow on the beach. There were lots of gulls gathering offshore now, mostly Black-headed and Common Gulls. The tide hadn’t gone out far yet and there were just a couple of groups on the beach. There were a few more Herring Gulls here, but nothing different in with them.
The plan was to spend the last part of the day looking for owls, so we headed back to the car and made our way inland. When we arrived, there was no sign of the Barn Owl out hunting yet. We walked down along the footpath, but it was still all quiet around the owl box too. The Barn Owl was late tonight – possibly put off by the wind.
We walked on a little further and scanned the meadows in case one of the other owls was out here, but there was no sign of anything here either. Then when we turned round, the Barn Owl had appeared on the front of the box. It still looked very sleepy, and perched on the platform hunched up with its eyes closed. It was in no hurry to head out hunting tonight.
Barn Owl – dozing on the platform on the front of the box
A Tawny Owl hooted from the wood at the top of the hill and we were just thinking we would have to leave and head off into the trees. Finally the Barn Owl took off, flying back to the sheltered corner of the meadow out of the wind, where it landed on a post. We walked back and watched it flying round hunting – great to watch. When it flew across the path and up the hill, it caught the wind, and we watched it getting buffeted as it turned and tried to come back down. It landed on a post again, then disappeared into the trees, presumably to try to find somewhere more sheltered.
Barn Owl – finally started to hunt as the light faded
We walked into the trees. It was very windy here and the ivy-covered tree where the Tawny Owl likes to roost was swaying from side to side. As we stood and waited, waves of Pink-footed Geese flew over the trees calling, heading up to the coast to roost. We could see them silhouetted against the last of the light.
The Tawny Owl didn’t hoot before it emerged tonight, as it normally does. Instead, we heard a quiet bubbling call, then it dropped out of the thickest ivy, but landed out of view in the ivy again the same tree. We waited for a few minutes then silently it took off and flew away through the trees. We watched it as it headed off towards an area where it normally likes to perch and hoot for a while. We walked further, along the path, but there was no hooting at all from it this evening, and the trees were all quiet tonight. Perhaps it was just too windy now.
It was getting rather dark in the trees now so we decided to call it a night. As we walked along the path through the edge of the wood, the Barn Owl appeared ahead of us in the gloom, flying down the path. Presumably it was trying its luck in the shelter of the trees.
Day 1 of a three day long weekend of Early Winter Tours today. It still had a distinctly autumnal feel this morning, misty and grey first thing. The cloud gradually lifted a bit and even though it remained cloudy, it was dry and mild.
As we made our way east along the coast road, we could see a couple of large skeins of Pink-footed Geese flying in from the coast. They landed in a field by the road and through the hedge we could see thousands of them already packed in there. Unfortunately there was nowhere to pull in and we had someone else right behind us, so we couldn’t stop.
Our first destination for the morning was Blakeney. As we got out of the car by the harbour, it was rather misty further out across the saltmarsh. A lone Curlew was busy feeding down in the harbour channel. We stopped by the wildfowl collection briefly – amongst all the captive exotics there were lots of opportunists come to help themselves to all the seed put out, mostly Mallards and Black-headed Gulls.
Curlew – feeding in the harbour channel at Blakeney
A gaggle of Brent Geese was feeding out on the saltmarsh in the middle of the harbour, so we got the scope on them for a closer look. There was a gathering of gulls next to them, again mainly Black-headed Gulls with one or two Common Gulls in amongst them. A couple of Lesser Black-backed Gulls were perched on the top of the masts of the yachts pulled up at the far end of the car park.
A slightly paler backed large gull was swimming down in the harbour channel. It was not pale enough for a Herring Gull, and too dark for a Lesser Black-backed Gull, with legs neither pink nor yellow, but a rather insipid fleshy colour. It is a regular here, and has been coming back for years, having found rich pickings on the seed in the wildfowl collection. It is a hybrid, probably Lesser Black-backed x Herring Gull.
Looking out across the grazing marshes, we could see three Marsh Harriers circling in the mist, slow to get going this morning. One perched in the top of a bush so we could look at it in the scope. A Common Buzzard flew over, heading for the trees over by the village. Then out over the saltmarsh, we spotted a Merlin hunting, flying across low and fast. We got several flashes of it as it darted back and forth and then it eventually landed, perched on a dead branch out in the middle.
The pools below the bank held a few Teal and one or two Redshank. A Little Grebe was busy diving on the largest of them. A Water Rail squealed from deep in the reeds and a couple of Reed Buntings flew up and across to the saltmarsh. A flock of Linnets was feeding out on the edge of the harbour, and whirled round from time to time.
A pipit flew in over the bank calling, and dropped down onto a small puddle in the cut grass on the edge of the Freshes. It was a Rock Pipit – come in from the salty side for a bathe. As it fed round the edge for a couple of minutes beforehand, we could see it was wearing a yellow colour ring and through the scope we could read the black letters. It is probably from Norway – the Rock Pipits which spend the winter out on the saltmarsh here are of the Scandinavian race, littoralis.
Rock Pipit – a colour-ringed bird, probably from Norway
Looking out into the harbour from the corner of the seawall, we could see lots of waders on the more open mud. Hundreds of small Dunlin were scurrying around busily, with a scattering of the larger Grey Plover standing or walking slowly around in amongst them. Two slightly larger and dumpier grey birds in with the Dunlin were two Knot. There were more Redshank and Curlew too. When something flushed lots of waders from further out in the harbour, a flock of Black-tailed Godwits circled round and we spotted three Common Snipe which came calling out of the mist.
This is a good site for Twite in the winter and there has been a group here for the last few days. As we stood scanning the harbour, they flew in and landed down by the path in the wet grass briefly. Unfortunately, just at that moment, two people decided to walk down the path and flushed them.
Thankfully the Twite didn’t fly far and landed again in the low vegetation a little further along. We walked over and got great views of them in the scope, sixteen of them in total (although they are very well camouflaged even in the low vegetation and not easy to count!). We could see their yellow bills and orangey breasts. Three Skylarks were picking around in the low vegetation too.
Twite – there were 16 at Blakeney today
On the walk back to the car, we found a pair of Stonechats feeding in the reeds just below the seawall. We stopped to watch them, fluttering up from the tops, flycatching, before landing back and flicking their tails.
Continuing on east along the coast, our next stop was at Sheringham. We wanted to try to see the King Eider which has been lingering offshore here for a couple of weeks now. It has been favouring the water off the west end of the prom, so we started our search there. There were several Great Black-backed Gulls and Herring Gulls on the groynes below the cliffs and a 1st winter Caspian Gull flew past, heading west towards a couple of crab boats which were hauling up their pots away to the west, surrounded by gulls.
Looking out to sea, we could see lots of Starlings coming in over the water, in small groups or larger flocks of 50 or so, birds arriving from the continent for the winter. They seemed to be streaming in constantly. Several groups of Starlings came in right towards us and over the cliffs where we were standing. There were a few thrushes in with them, Redwings and Fieldfares. One or two Blackbirds came in low over the sea too.
We picked up a Woodcock coming in next. It seemed to head straight into the face of the cliffs, but a couple of seconds later it circled over the top and came along the path straight towards us. At the last minute it saw us, just before it crashed into us, panicked and went to land on the path just a couple of metres away, then changed its mind and flew up over the bank and off across the golf course. There was a great variety of migrants arriving this afternoon – this Woodcock had possibly come in all the way from Russia for the winter.
There was no sign of the King Eider on the sea off the lifeboat station, so we walked a little further west along the cliffs until we had a better view beyond. We stopped to scan and could see a few Gannets circling out over the water. A small group of Red-throated Divers flew past. There were a few ducks moving offshore too – a flock of Wigeon, then a line of Common Scoter with several Teal following behind – more migrants arriving for the winter.
Finally we spotted the King Eider, but it was a long way back to the east of where we were now. We had a quick look through the scope, but it was rather distant. So we walked back towards the prom to try to get a closer look. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, it had disappeared again. A crab boat had motored out to where it had just been.
There are normally one or two Purple Sandpipers which spend the winter here, so we decided to walk down along the prom to see if we could fine one, while keeping our eyes peeled for the King Eider. Half way along, we met a couple of other birders who had found the King Eider again, but it was now a lot further out. Apparently, it had moved offshore in response to the crab boat. It was also steadily drifting east. We had another look at it, but figured we might be able to get a better view from the east end.
We scanned the rocky sea defences as we made our way further. There were lots of Turnstones along the prom, perched on the wall, or feeding on chips thrown down onto the concrete for them. When we got to ‘the tank’, we looked over the railing and could see a Purple Sandpiper feeding with one of the Turnstones on the seaweed covered rocks below us.
Purple Sandpiper – feeding on the sea defences along the prom
Thankfully we had already enjoyed good views of the Purple Sandpiper, before something spooked all the birds along the prom – gulls, feral pigeons, waders, the lot. We couldn’t see any likely threat here, but the Turnstones flew off and took the Purple Sandpiper with them.
Finally, we got a good view of the King Eider from here. It is an immature male, still moulting out of eclipse plumage, but over the last couple of weeks it has been here it is gradually starting to look a bit brighter. We could see the bright orange frontal lobes at the base of the bill, between its regular dives to look for crabs.
King Eider – the immature male was still off Sheringham
King Eider is a high arctic species, which is very rare this far south. They breed in arctic Russia and winter along the north Scandinavian coast. Presumably, once this bird completes its moult, it will make its way back north. But in the meantime, it seems to be finding plenty to eat here.
Back at the car, we stopped for lunch in one of the shelters on the top of the cliffs, overlooking the sea. Afterwards, we started to make our way back west.
When we got to Salthouse, we turned towards the beach. There were lots of Wigeon on the pools on the edge of the grazing marsh. We parked and walked up over the shingle until we could see the sea. A few Gannets drifted past offshore and one of the first birds we found on the sea was the Great Northern Diver which had been reported here earlier. We had a good look at it through the scope between dives – a big diver with a heavy bill and black half collar.
Great Northern Diver – on the sea off Salthouse today
There were several Guillemots and Razorbills further out on the sea today, all busily diving too. A group of at least 18 Pied Wagtails were feeding further up the beach on the top of the shingle, fluttering about looking for insects on the stones.
As we made our way back to the car, we bumped into one of the locals who informed us that the Yellow-browed Warbler was showing well just the other side of Sarbury Hill. We found somewhere to park and walked along the footpath to where it had been. There were a couple of other people there watching it and after a minute or so it flew up into a sycamore in the hedge.
Yellow-browed Warbler – in a hedge along the footpath between Salthouse & Cley
The Yellow-browed Warbler was hard to see at first, flitting around in the back of the tree and occasionally disappearing down into some thicker hawthorns next to it, but eventually everyone got a good look at it. This is rather late for a Yellow-browed Warbler – they are regular now between mid September and the end of October, but few linger this long. Hopefully it will still find enough food to fuel up before continuing on its journey.
We headed round to Cley beach next, in the hope we might catch up with a Short-eared Owl here. Half way along Beach Road, we stopped to talk to a couple of people up on the West Bank looking out over the marshes beyond. They had just seen a Short-eared Owl, but it had gone down into the vegetation out along the start of Blakeney Point.
We continued on to the car park, intending to have a look out to sea from here while keeping one eye out for the owl. As we got out of the car, a large flock of Golden Plover whirled over the Eye Field, breaking up into smaller groups and joining up again, before drifting away. Their yelping calls alerted us to several skeins of Pink-footed Geese flying in from the west. We watched as they whiffled down onto the grazing marshes. Through the scope, we could see a flock of Brent Geese, a couple of Canada Geese and all the Pinkfeet in one view.
Pink-footed Geese – whiffling down to the grazing marshes
Turning our attention to the sea, a quick scan revealed three Velvet Scoters offshore. Through the scope, we could see the two white spots on their dark brown faces and the white in the wing forming a diagonal white stripe on their flanks. A female Common Scoter appeared with them and several Guillemots were offshore too.
With no sign of the Short-eared Owl reappearing, we decided to walk along the shingle to see if we could find the flock of Snow Buntings which had been along here earlier. We had just started walking away when we got a phone message to say the owl was up again and headed our way. We turned back, and had another scan which quickly revealed the Short-eared Owl perched on the top of a post, against the skyline.
One everyone had enjoyed a good look at the Short-eared Owl through the scope, it was off again hunting, flying with distinctive stiff wing beats. It disappeared round behind some gorse bushes and didn’t come out the other side so presumably had landed again. We could see several Marsh Harriers starting to gather over the marshes beyond, before going to roost.
It was getting dark fast now, not helped by the grey and overcast afternoon, but we decided to have a quick look for the Snow Buntings anyway. We got as far as the point where the vegetation is thickest on the top of the shingle, between the pill box and North Scrape, when we head a ‘crest calling and turned to see it fly right past us. It was either a Goldcrest or a Firecrest, though it sounded perhaps more like the latter, presumably fresh in off the sea. It circled round, but unfortunately we lost sight of it in the gloom as it dropped down into the vegetation. We had a quick look where it seemed to go down but there was no sign.
The light was clearly going now, so we decided to call it a day and head back to the car. With more birds arriving this evening, it will be interesting to see what tomorrow brings.
Day 1 of a 3 day long weekend of Late Autumn Tours in North Norfolk today. It was a glorious sunny day today, with blue sky and with winds falling light. A great day to be out.
As we made our way west along the coast road, we stopped briefly just outside Burnham Overy Staithe to admire a large flock of Pink-footed Geese in a stubble field by the road. We could see their dark heads and small, mostly dark bills.
Pink-footed Geese – feeding in the stubble as we drove past this morning
Our first destination for the morning was Holme. As we got out of the car, a large flock of Starlings flew low over us, heading west. It was to be a feature of the morning, with a constant stream of Starlings moving, many passing low over the beach. These are birds arriving from the continent for the winter, coasting here before turning inland.
There were small numbers of Chaffinches moving too first thing, and three Jackdaws west over the beach looked like they might be migrants too. A Skylark was singing, but others looked like they might be fresh arrivals, also on the move. As we walked across the golf course, a Sparrowhawk flew low over the fairway and into the dunes, presumably hoping to find some tired migrants in the bushes.
When we got over to the saltmarsh, we could see several people with binoculars and telescopes walking through the vegetation. They flushed several small groups of birds as they went – mainly Skylarks and Linnets. But as one flock came up, we heard a Shorelark call and it seemed to drop over the dunes towards beach with all the other birds.
We walked over the dunes but all we could see were a couple of Skylarks down on the high tideline. We couldn’t see where everything else had gone.
We stopped to scan the beach, looking through the waders dotted about on the sand. There were lots of Oystercatchers and Redshank, several Turnstones, silvery white Sanderling running up and down in front of the waves and a single Knot. All along the shoreline, Cormorants were standing, drying their wings in the morning sunshine.
There were lots of dog walkers out now, particularly on the beach towards Old Hunstanton. As the dogs raced around on the sand, they flushed all the birds down that end, which flew up past us. As well as lots of Oystercatchers and Brent Geese shining in the morning light as they passed by, we could see a couple of Bar-tailed Godwits with them too.
There didn’t seem to be much on the sea, looking out from here. A lone Red-breasted Merganser flew past. As we stood and watched, we started to notice flocks of Teal coming in low over the waves, 20-50 at a time. They poured past all the time we were watching, hundreds by the time we left, all birds arriving here from the continent for the winter. Several skeins of Pink-footed Geese came in off the sea too – we watched one flock all the way in from out towards the wind farms. Real migration in action
Then we noticed a large, dark bird coming along the beach straight towards us. It was a juvenile Pomarine Skua, presumably blown inshore by last week’s storms and now scavenging along the shoreline here.
There was no sign of any Shorelarks out on the beach here, so we started to walk back the other way. As we did so, a Shorelark flew over calling and we watched it drop down over the far side of saltmarsh, on the edge of the dunes. Unfortunately, by the time we got round there, we found two people walking along the tideline, and there was no sign of it. We turned back to continue east and we hadn’t gone more than a few metres when the Shorelark flew past again.
This time it dropped down on an open area of saltmarsh, and we could see where it landed. We walked over and had a good look at the Shorelark through the scope out in the open, before it ran across and disappeared into the vegetation. We made our way round to the other side, to see if we could find it again, and it ran out of the saltmarsh right in front of us. It was just a few metres away and we had a great view of it through our binoculars. We could see its bright yellow face catching the sun as it turned, with a black bandit mask.
Shorelark – we could only find one on the beach today
Eventually the Shorelark ran back into the vegetation. There has been a flock of over ten here in recent days, so this one was probably looking for the rest of them. We decided to walk up a little further along the beach, to see if we could find the flock and to have a look at the sea up towards Gore Point.
We didn’t quite get that far, but we stopped to scan the sea from the beach. There were lots of Great Crested Grebes offshore, their white winter faces and necks shining in the morning light as they crested the waves. There were three grebes together not far offshore, diving and drifting with the tide. One looked much smaller than the others and through the scope we could see it was a Slavonian Grebe with two Great Crested Grebes.
Otherwise, all we could see off here today was a young Gannet diving offshore, way off in the distance. We decided not to continue along the beach, so we turned and headed back to the car. As we got there, we heard Fieldfares chacking, and looked up to see a large flock flying over. They were quite spread out, but they continued to pass overhead for several seconds. A couple of Redwings flew over with them, teezing.
Fieldfare – a large flock flew over as we got back to the car
Our next stop was at Thornham Harbour. All we could find in the channel by the road was a single Common Redshank, perhaps because there were several people walking around here now, out enjoying the lovely morning. There were a couple more Redshank by the sluice and further out along the edge of the harbour, two Greenshank were roosting on the muddy bank. They really stood out, their much whiter underparts glowing in the sunshine.
Up on the seawall, we made our way along to the corner where we stood for a while and scanned. A large flock of Curlew flew past with a single Bar-tailed Godwit in with them. They circled round and landed down on the saltmarsh out in the middle, joining an even larger group which was already roosting there, well camouflaged in the vegetation. There were two Grey Plover feeding down on the muddy island in the harbour channel and they were joined by a couple more Bar-tailed Godwits which gave us a chance to get a good look at them in the scope. Further out, a couple of Ringed Plover were roosting on the edge of the channel.
Looking out to the middle of the harbour, we could see lots of gulls roosting, mainly Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls. Around the edges of the channels, we could see lots of Brent Geese, lots of Wigeon and a few Shelducks. A Little Egret flew in, flashing its yellow feet, and landed in the mud just below the bank.
Little Egret – flew in and landed in the muddy channel next to us
Several Linnets flew back and forth across the saltmarsh, in small groups. But when another four small finches flew past, their distinctive call immediately attracted our attention. They were Twite, once a common wintering bird along the coast here, but now mainly restricted to a handful of sites of which this is the best.
The Twite flew past us and out over the saltmarsh, getting almost to Holme before they circled back round and flew in past us again. They had picked up a few friends, as there were eight of them now. They wouldn’t settle though, and they circled round and back out towards Holme again. When they came round past us for a third time, this time they headed for their favourite tree in the field nearby and landed. They were silhouetted against the sun though, so it wasn’t a great view.
The Twite showed no sign of moving, so we turned our attention back to the harbour. Eventually, they took off again and we heard them calling as they flew in behind us. This time, two of them dropped down to the puddles on the seawall to drink. We had a quick look at them through the scope – their yellow bills catching the sun – before they flew off again and disappeared out over the saltmarsh.
As we made our way back, a small flock of Linnets flew in and landed on some seedheads on the edge of the saltmarsh below the path. Through the scope, we could see they were duller and darker, with grey bills. Tide coming in fast now.
Our final destination for the day was Titchwell. It was time for lunch when we arrived, and we ate watching the finches and tits on the feeders by the Visitor Centre. After lunch, we made a quick trip back to the car park to get the scope, where a Chiffchaff was calling in the sallows by the path.
Walking out along the main path, we couldn’t see anything of note on the former pool on the Thornham grazing marsh, which is now getting very overgrown. A Cetti’s Warbler was calling in the reeds, but there was nothing at all on the reedbed pool. A couple of Coot were feeding in one of the reedbed channels.
Avocet – there were still seven on the Freshmarsh today
The Freshmarsh looked rather quiet today, when we arrived. The reeds in front of Parrinder Hide looked freshly cut, so we suspected the wardens had been clearing vegetation on here and had probably scared a lot of birds off. There were still a few waders on here, most notably seven lingering Avocets and a small flock of Bar-tailed Godwits which had presumably flown in to roost from the beach on the rising tide. A single Dunlin was feeding in front of Parrinder Hide.
While we were watching, a few Ruff flew in and landed down onto the mud, winter adults with pale scalloped upperparts. Several groups of Golden Plovers dropped in too, but they were rather nervous and wouldn’t settle, flying up again and whirling round in the sunshine, flashing alternately golden brown and white. Great to watch!
Golden Plover – a large flock whirled round over the Freshmarsh
Small groups of Brent Geese commuted in and out from the saltmarsh too. There are plenty of ducks here now, as birds have returned for the winter – Teal, Shoveler and Wigeon. The drakes are now moulting out of eclipse plumage and back into their breeding finery, slowly getting back to their best. A single Greylag and one of the two injured Pink-footed Geese, which have spent the whole year here, were feeding on one of the closer islands. There were two Egyptian Geese here too.
We had already seen one Red Kite, very distantly hanging in the air over the fields inland. Then when everything flushed from the Freshmarsh, we looked up to see a Red Kite drifting over. It made a beeline directly out towards the beach, and was swiftly followed by a second Red Kite which followed it.
Red Kite – one of two which passed over the Freshmarsh this afternoon
It was nice in the sunshine up on the West Bank path today, so we didn’t feel any rush to go into the hides. With the weather so calm and the light so good, we decided to head straight up to the beach. The tide was in when we got to the Volunteer Marsh, but a nice close Common Redshank was feeding along the muddy edge just below us.
Common Redshank – showing well on the Volunteer Marsh on the way out
All the waders were roosting on the one remaining island on the no-longer ‘tidal’ pools today, which was why they were not on the Freshmarsh. There were lots of Oystercatchers, Grey Plover and Dunlin. Several much paler birds really stood out and through the scope, we could see they were four Spotted Redshanks and three Greenshank. We had a good look at the Spotted Redshanks, noting their longer, needle-fine bills and white stripe over the lores.
Carrying on to the beach, the sea was in and covering all the mussel beds. The Turnstones had taken to roosting on the concrete blocks of the old bunker and looking more closely we could see there was a single Purple Sandpiper hiding in with them. We walked down the beach and got it in the scope for a closer look.
Purple Sandpiper – on the concrete blocks out on the beach
The Purple Sandpiper dropped down to feed on the beach with the Turnstones, picking around in the pile of razorshells left behind by last week’s storms. There were several Sanderling running around on the sand too, in and out of the waves like clockwork toys, and a larger group trying to roost on the beach further down. A couple of Bar-tailed Godwits were feeding along the edge of the water.
Looking out to sea, we could still see lots of Great Crested Grebes, but with the sea much calmer than this morning they were all now very distant. Three Razorbills in a small group were diving offshore, not easy to see despite the gentle swell, and three Common Eider flew east offshore. There were still more small skeins of Pink-footed Geese coming in off the sea – we could hear their high-pitched yelping calls as they flew in over the beach.
As we walked back along the main path, we stopped to admire one of the Spotted Redshanks which had now moved to the Volunteer Marsh. It was feeding with a Common Redshank in the channel just below the bank, very close to the path, giving us a great, close-up, side-by-side comparison. We could even see the small downward kink in the tip of the Spotted Redshank‘s bill through our binoculars – it was too close for a scope!
Spotted Redshank – showing very well on the way back
A Little Egret was fishing here too. As the tide was going out, small fish and invertebrates were trapped in the pools or trying to escape over the small weirs created by the mud, providing easy prey for the birds. We watched the Spotted Redshank catch a large shrimp. It seemed to play with it for several minutes, dropping it back in the water, picking it up and turning it in its bill, then dropping it again. We thought it might lose it at one point but eventually it seemed to have enough and with a bit of effort, managed to swallow it.
Lots of other waders had gathered in the wider channel which runs back away from the path too. We stopped to admire a Bar-tailed Godwit on the mud, and a couple of Black-tailed Godwits feeding in the deeper channel nearby. A Grey Plover was positively glowing in the last of the afternoon’s light, and there were plenty of Redshank and a few Curlew here now too. A couple of smart drake Teal swam past.
Suddenly a large dark shape came hurtling towards us low over the Volunteer Marsh. It turned at the last minute and crash-landed on the path beside us, just a couple of metres away. It was a Woodcock, presumably a fresh arrival in off the sea from the continent. It took a couple of seconds to get its bearings, saw us, and then flew off quickly over the bank.
Back at the Freshmarsh, the gulls were starting to gather to roost. We stopped to look through them. They were mainly Black-headed Gulls, with an increasing number of larger ones, mainly Herring Gulls and Lesser Black-backed Gulls. One caught our eye – slightly darker than the Herring Gulls but not as dark as a Lesser Black-backed Gull. It was chunky too, with a heavy bill, and a rather white head with limited and fine dark streaking around the eye. It was an adult Yellow-legged Gull, but unfortunately it waded into the deeper water and hid its yellow legs from view.
The Marsh Harriers were gathering to roost too now. We could see three or four over the back of the reedbed or over the trees beyond. The light was starting to go, so we made our way back to the car. As we got back to the car park a flock of Long-tailed Tits was feeding in the trees and we managed to pick out a Blackcap feeding in the sycamore with them just as we packed up to go.
Day 1 of a weekend of Autumn Tours today. It was a wet and windy day, with a cold and gusty northerly bringing squally showers in off the North Sea. Perfect seawatching weather – but we had a few other things we wanted to try to do today as well.
With seawatching in mind, we made our way over to Sheringham first thing. It was a big tide this morning and with the strong north wind, the waves were crashing over the prom. It meant we couldn’t get along the prom to the shelter, so we had to drive round to the other side, and it also meant there were already a lot of people taking shelter here. We managed to find a spot out of the wind and settled in to scan the sea.
It was immediately clear there was a lot of wildfowl moving this morning, birds arriving from the continent, coming in over the North Sea to spend the winter here. We saw a steady stream of flocks of Wigeon and Teal flying past, mostly low over the waves. A couple of groups of Common Scoter coming past further out, and then some flew through with a group of Teal, providing a nice size and colour contrast.
The Brent Geese are arriving for the winter too at the moment, flying in short lines, and there were a small number of Shelducks, sometimes mixed in with them. Two Goldeneye flying past were the wildfowl highlight.
There was a steady movement of commoner seabirds passing by this morning too – mostly Gannets, Kittiwakes and Guillemots, blown inshore by the wind. Two dark juvenile Arctic Skuas came through reasonably close and disappeared off east. A single Manx Shearwater was too far out for everyone to get onto. A Great Northern Diver flew west, typically flying strongly well above the waves, despite the wind. But there was no sign of any Pomarine Skuas or Little Auks while we were watching, which we had thought we might see this morning.
There are always a small number of Purple Sandpipers along the shoreline here through the winter and a much larger number of Turnstones. The Turnstones will often run along the prom but the Purple Sandpipers are normally down on the rocks below. However, the crashing waves were obviously too much even for the hardy Purple Sandpiper today, and a couple of times it was pushed up onto the prom in front of us. When it flew back down onto the rocks, we had a good look at it over the railings.
Purple Sandpiper – on the rocks just below the Prom
We only spent an hour seawatching this morning, then with other things we wanted to try to see, we decided to move on. As we drove west along the coast road, we could see a large flock of Pink-footed Geese in a stubble field. We found somewhere to pull in and would down the windows. The geese nearest us flew up and settled again towards the back of the field, out of view, but it was clear we couldn’t get out of the car without flushing the rest of the flock. We could still see quite a few geese from the car, but most of them were hidden now in a dip in the field.
There were several Red-legged Partridges feeding in the stubble too, and we heard Skylarks calling as we opened the windows. A couple of smart Yellowhammers perched in the hedge nearby, calling..
Continuing on to Salthouse, we parked by the duck pond. As we got out of the car, a Woodcock shot past. It felt like it might almost have crashed into us, but veered round, over the road and into the gardens beyond. Another bird arriving from the winter, possibly from as far away as Russia, presumably fresh in and looking for somewhere sheltered to rest. Several Black-tailed Godwits were standing around in the pools behind the duck pond.
There has been an ‘Eastern’ Stonechat here for the last week or so, which we were keen to see. As we walked down along the track, we could see quite a crowd gathered already, but they didn’t seem to be looking at anything in particular, mostly standing around chatting. Apparently the Stonechat had not been seen for the last 15 minutes – it was clearly keeping down out of the wind today.
We walked up to where it had last been seen and scanned the edge of the grazing marsh, but couldn’t see any sign of it. Then we walked back to where it had been favouring in previous days, out from one of the field gates. It wasn’t out there either, but scanning back along the reedy ditch which runs beside the path, we spotted the Stonechat down in the vegetation.
It was obviously more sheltered down in the ditch but you could only see the Stonechat looking back from the gate and it kept disappearing into the reeds. When it did finally venture out onto the edge of the grazing marsh where it was more visible, a Sparrowhawk promptly appeared just beyond it, flying out low over the grass. The Stonechat sensibly dived back into the reeds, but then went made its way further back along the ditch away from us, where we couldn’t see it.
About half the group had managed to see the Stonechat, but there was a big crowd by the gate so not everyone had got onto it. Climbing up onto the top of the bank, we walked along level with where it had been. After a few minutes scanning, we spotted it again out in the middle of the grazing marsh this time.
The Stonechat was well camouflaged against the dead sedges, shades of orange and brown. But the wind seemed to have dropped, and it became more active, perching up on the top of the vegetation like a good Stonechat should! Finally, we all got nice views of it through the scope.
‘Eastern’ Stonechat – this photo taken yesterday, hopefully DNA will confirm its identity
‘Eastern’ Stonechat is the name currently being used for a group of species, including Siberian and Stejneger’s Stonechats, both of which can turn up here. It used to be much simpler, as they were all lumped together under the title ‘Siberian’, but DNA analysis has shown Stejneger’s to be distinct from Siberian and it is now treated as a full species in its own right. Unfortunately, our ability to identify these birds in the field has not kept up with the pace of taxonomic change driven by genetics!
The Salthouse Stonechat appears to be a Stejneger’s Stonechat – at least it looks similar to Stejneger’s Stonechats which have been confirmed by DNA testing recently. Hopefully, DNA has been collected and will be able to confirm it’s identity. If it is not Stejneger’s, then it will be back to the drawing board with the ID criteria!
Either way, it is an interesting and well travelled bird. ‘Eastern’ Stonechats breed across Russia to Japan and China, mostly wintering on the Indian subcontinent, with the range of Stejneger’s being further east than Siberian.
Once we had all enjoyed good views of the Stonechat, we drove on to Cley and stopped at the Visitor’s Centre for an early lunch. There were lots of birds on the scrapes and, with the wind having dropped a bit, we could even eat at the picnic tables overlooking the reserve.
A Marsh Harrier drifted across the scrapes, causing a mass panic, flushing lots of Black-tailed Godwit and Wigeon. Thankfully, as it drifted off, the birds all seemed to settle back down. Two Lesser Redpoll flew over calling and eight Golden Plover circled over. The surprise here was a Gannet circling over the fields behind the Visitor Centre, presumably blown inland on the wind.
Marsh Harrier – circled over the scrapes, flushing everything
After lunch, we could see black clouds approaching from the north, so we decided to head out to the hides, where we could get some shelter. As we walked along the Skirts path, a Spoonbill flew past over the reserve. Most of the Spoonbills which spent the summer here have departed now, with many of them heading down to Poole Harbour for the winter. There are only one or two still lingering on, so it was nice to see one today. It circled over the scrapes and looked like it might land, but then continue on east.
Spoonbill – flew east as we walked out to the hides
By the time we got out to Dauke’s Hide and looked out, we were surprised by the comparative lack of birds, particularly compared to the masses we had seen when we were eating lunch. Talking to one of the volunteers in the hide, it seems the Marsh Harriers had made several more passes over the scrapes and eventually succeeded in scaring off most of the birds. We could still see a couple of Marsh Harriers quartering the reedbed in the distance.
There were still a few waders left. A couple of little groups of Dunlin were picking around on the muddy edges of the islands. Several Black-tailed Godwits were feeding in the deeper water. The Lapwing were mostly asleep on the grass and a lone Avocet was standing in the water behind one of the islands. Like the Spoonbills, most of the Avocets have gone south now for the winter, but a very small number always try to remain as long as it doesn’t get too cold. A Common Snipe dropped in at back, but quickly disappeared into grass.
Avocet – just the one left at Cley now
There were still a few ducks left on the scrapes too, mainly Wigeon and Teal, along with a few Shelduck. The Black-headed Gulls were joined by a couple of Common Gulls and a single Lesser Black-backed Gull was asleep on one of the grassy islands. The Spoonbill came back west and headed off towards Blakeney Harbour.
While we were in the hide, it started to rain, so we stayed in the dry until it eventually eased. Then we headed back to the car, and drove round to the East Bank car park. As we got a short distance up the bank, it started to sleet, so heads down, we walked quickly up to the shelter overlooking Arnold’s Marsh.
The forecast was for heavy showers, but the weather seemed to set in for a while now. There was lots of water already on Arnold’s Marsh, which was good for the ducks, presumably with many coming over here when they were flushed from the scrapes. There were lots of Wigeon and Teal again, but with a few Shoveler here too. Scanning through carefully, we found a female Pintail and four Gadwall in with them. A group of Brent Geese dropped in, possibly fresh arrivals stopping for a rest. With the high water levels, the Black-tailed Godwits were feeding in the tall vegetation around the edges.
We had been told about two Snow Buntings feeding at the end of the bank, by the beach. When the rain finally eased again, we walked up to look for them but as we arrived we could see two walkers had just come up off the beach and gone right through the area. There was no sign of any Snow Buntings, presumably having been flushed.
We set off east along the grassy part of the old shingle ridge, but there was no sign of them along here. When we got back to the East Bank, the Snow Buntings flew up from the shingle ahead of us, presumably having flown back in. They landed back on the north end of the path just a few metres ahead of us and we had nice views of them as they fed on amongst the stones, picking around the clusters of vegetation. They were looking a bit bedraggled, but we were probably too!
Snow Bunting – out on the beach, looking a bit bedraggled
While we were watching the Snow Buntings, we noticed a large dark bird drifting west right past us, with the gulls over the beach. It was a Pomarine Skua. We watched it as it hung in the wind – we could see it was heavy, bulky, especially compared the Arctic Skuas we had seen earlier. It landed on the beach and we could just about see it in the scope from here through the sea spray, so we walked over for a closer look.
After we had all had a good look at the Pomarine Skua in the scope, it took off and flew further west again. It looked like it went down towards the beach car park, so we decided to head back to the car and drive round there to see if we could find it again.
As we walked back along the East Bank, we could hear Pink-footed Geese calling and looked up to see a small skein coming in from the east. They came in overhead and dropped down towards the reserve. Four Marsh Harriers were already gathering to roost out over the reeds.
Pink-footed Geese – flying in to the reserve, late afternoon
By the time we got round to the beach car park at Cley, the Pomarine Skua had taken off and gone further west again. Looking out to sea, there were still lots of Kittiwakes & and Gannets pouring past. Lines of Brent Geese were still moving west offshore too.
We were just about to leave when someone seawatching there shouted that there were two Little Auks on the sea. They were in the surf just offshore, drifting west towards us, but despite being close they were still hard to see in the crashing waves. We managed to get the scope on them, and you could see them as they rode up the face of the waves.
They seemed to swim a bit further out and we lost sight of the Little Auks. Then we noticed a Great Black-backed Gull drop down into the breakers, followed by three more. When they came up again, one of them was carrying a Little Auk in its bill! We didn’t see what happened to the second one, but Little Auks are always vulnerable when they are blown in by gales. They breed in the Arctic and spend the rest of their lives far out at sea, away from predators like gulls. They are often exhausted when they are close inshore and easy pickings for the gulls.
That was a fairly gruesome end to our seawatching today – nature red in tooth and claw! We still had one more stop to make on our way back. With the blustery wind and rain, the Peregrine was in its usual spot on the sheltered side of the church tower, tucked in an alcove between the stone pillars. We stopped and had a nice look at it through the scope.
Peregrine – tucked in out of the wind, on the south side of the tower
We had done well today, despite the wind and rain. The weather forecast is a bit better for tomorrow, so let’s see what the wind had brought us!
The Bird ID Company 