Sunday 15 September 2013

A day in West Norfolk - September 11, 2013

Dave, Roger and I set of Cley in  Norfolk hoping for some movement on the sea.  When we arrived it looked quite quiet but two Arctic Skua flew close to the shore as we were putting on coats and our hopes were raised.  It did turn out to be relatively quiet, particularly as the wind dropped mid-morning.  We did see a number of Gannets, three Fulmar, eight Arctic Skuas and twenty Great Skuas.  There was also a steady movement of waders that included Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, Knot, Sanderling and Dunlin and there were three parties of Common Scoter moved west.  There had been both Sooty and Manx Shearwaters and a Sabine’s Gull earlier but we had arrived just a little too late.  A surprise was a pair of Swallow still feeding young in the shelter.

We decided to cut our losses and move off Titchwell were we thought we would a least see plenty of birds.  We were not disappointed with good number of waders on the Freshmarsh and Volunteer Marsh.  The best were two juvenile Little Stints and four Curlew Sandpipers that were with two groups of Dunlin.  There was also a single Spotted Redshank and Greenshank on Volunteer Marsh as we walked out to the sea.
The sea was pretty quiet with just two Gannets, a party of Common Scoter moving west and two Eiders just off shore.  There were a few waders on the beach but as the tide began to fall their numbers increased with plenty of Oystercatcher, Knot, Sanderling, Bar-tailed Godwit and Redshank, with a few Curlew and Turnstone.


Curlew on Volunteer Marsh


Curlew on Volunteer Marsh

As we walked back a number of waders provided some good opportunities for photos and a got a number of nice shots of the two Little Stints.


Black-tailed Godwit on Volunteer Marsh


Black-tailed Godwit on Volunteer Marsh


Juvenile Little Stint on the Fresh Marsh


Juvenile Little Stint on the Fresh Marsh


Juvenile Little Stint on the Fresh Marsh


Juvenile Little Stint on the Fresh Marsh


Juvenile Little Stint on the Fresh Marsh


First-winter Dulin on the Fresh Marsh


First-winter Dulin on the Fresh Marsh


We couldn’t find the reported Little Gull and there was no sign of any Bearded Tits, although Dave did hear one and him and Roger also heard a Cetti’s Warbler.


No comments:

Post a Comment