I was out with Dave and Roger
today and we had decided to visit Northwest Norfolk. Roger was driving today and our first stop
was at Wolferton and hopefully Golden Pheasant as two males had been showing
well recently. After about thirty
minutes with no sign we moved off to Hunstanton cliff-top where we found two
Shag and Fulmar but no sea duck.
We continued around the coast
to Burnham Overy Staithe where we met Steve Lister who informed us he had seen
Golden Pheasant at about 08:30, which is about the time we arrived. I had already picked up a Barn Owl hunting
over the marshes and we had a Red Kite, at least four female Marsh Harriers and
a single Buzzard but there was no sign of the hoped for Rough-legged
Buzzard. There were also a large numbers
of Brent Geese but there were very few Pink-footed Geese, although five
Barnacle Geese were unexpected. We drove
a little further east to Lady Anne’s Drive at Holkham but a quick drive up and
down the drive failed to produce anything with no sign of any geese.
We then started to comeback
west and called at Burnham Norton where we had two more female Marsh Harriers
over the marsh and a male was observed just before we turned back onto the A149
and headed towards Titchwell.
A visit to Choseley Barns was
decided to before we went to Titchwell, which proved quite rewarding. As we drove up the hill towards the barns we
noticed a large flock of birds that dropped from the hedge into a stubble field. We stopped for a closer look and I soon
noticed several Brambling amongst the Chaffinch. We drove a little further to look back on the
birds and realised there must have been about thirty Brambling amongst the
Chaffinch. Dave then picked up two Grey
Partridge and we then found a third and there was also circa sixty Linnet and a
few Skylarks in the same field. Grey
Partridge was a year-tick and a species that is becoming quite difficult to
see, even in Norfolk.
We had lunch at Titchwell
before walking down along the main track to the beach. There were a lot of birds at both feeding
stations particularly Chaffinch and Greenfinch and we did find three
Brambling. There was also good numbers
of Goldfinch feeding in the alders but we were unable to find any Siskin or
redpolls.
As we walked down the path
there were quite a few waders feeding in the grass meadow towards Thornham and
we saw Golden Plover, Lapwing and Curlew.
The small pool to the left of the path was drained and the few puddles
of water had attracted a Redshank and two Knot.
Further down on Reedbed Pool there was a female Red-crested Pochard and
a couple of Coot. The Freshwater Marsh
was pretty full but had plenty of birds on it including Avocet, a single Ringed
Plover, a few Dunlin and Black-tailed Godwit and the wildfowl included several
Pintail but we were unable to find a female Long-tailed Duck.
We continued to walk to the
sea and found a Spotted Redshank on Volunteer Marsh and Roger also found the
Bar-tailed Godwit of the day. There was
also quite a gathering of Redshanks and a couple of Grey Plover.
Spotted Redshank on Volunteer Marsh
Spotted Redshank on Volunteer Marsh
Spotted Redshank on Volunteer Marsh
Spotted Redshank on Volunteer Marsh
We continued to the sea and
what a treat when we reached the beach, there was literally hundreds of waders
feeding just a couple of meters away feeding amongst a wreck of razor
shells. There must have seen several hundred
Sanderling, a hundred plus Turnstone and several Knot. They provided an excellent photo opportunity
and both Dave and I were soon clicking away.
On the shoreline there were more Sanderling and several Oystercatchers,
Grey Plovers and Bar-tailed Godwits but the sea appeared very quiet. There was a large raft of Common Scoter way
out towards the wind farm and must have easily exceeded 2000 birds. Roger did find a single Eider and there was
also a Goldeneye and a Great Crested Grebe.
Dave and Roger decided to walk up the beach to search for Twite but I
decided to stay put. After they had gone
about two hundred meters five Twite dropped on the beach quite close. I tried ringing both Dave and Roger but they
both had their phones off but fortunately Roger thought he saw me on the phone
and switched his phone on and I was able to get him at the second attempt and
we were able to get good views.
Knot on the beach
Knot and Sanderling on the beach
Knot on the beach
Sanderling on the beach
Sanderling on the beach
Sanderling on the beach
Sanderling on the beach
Goldfinch on the beach
Twite on the beach
Twite on the beach
As we walked back we found a
second Spotted Redshank on the Volunteer Marsh and also Long-tailed Duck on the
Freshwater Marsh. We bumped into Steve
Lister again who informed that a male Bearded Tit was performing well on
drained lagoon being seen on the ground out in the open.
When we arrived back the crowd
had dispersed and there was no sign of the beardy but we did have a Water Rail
and two female Marsh Harriers over Thornham Marsh and a third was observed over
the reedbed to the east.
Black-tailed Godwit on Volunteer Marsh
Spotted Redshank on Volunteer Marsh
Spotted Redshank on Volunteer Marsh
Dave had returned to the
centre before Roger and I and had seen Siskin at one of the feeding stations
and fortunately it was still there for Roger and I to see.
We decided that it might be a
good idea to call at Wolferton again and give the Golden Pheasant another go on
route home.
Song Thrush near the feeding station
We arrived back at Wolferton to found two cars perked so we parked up so we could see down the road. After a few minutes a superb male Golden Pheasant appeared and walked slowly across the road giving excellent views. What a superb bird these are with their gaudy colours and extremely long tails.
We were now on a high and decided to call at Roydon Common and hopefully a Hen Harrier and we were lucky again with views of a ring-tail as it came into roost.
We also saw two more Barn Owls as we traveled back to Leicestershire.
No comments:
Post a Comment