Dave, Roger and I had decided
to have day’s birding in West Norfolk and set off heading for Salthouse where a
Richard’s Pipit had been present since last year. There was a light breeze as we were on our
way just before dawn but fog soon developed and was quite dense in places. As we approached Kings Lynn it began to clear
and there were a few snatches of sun but it remained patchy until we reached
the coast when it was reasonably clear.
It was our first visit to the
part of Norfolk since the storm surge hit the Norfolk coast in early
December. As we drove down the beach
road at Salthouse we found the car park completely covered in shingle that came
up to the top of some of the fence posts.
We parked the car on the road and walked to the top of the shingle to
view the sea but found nothing except a few gulls. We walked towards Gramborough Hill to search
for the Richard’s Pipit as it had been reported in the field to the south. There were a few Skylark and Meadow Pipits
around but other than a Little Egret there was little else. Dave Holman and another birder spoke to us as
they walked beyond Gramborough Hill and towards Kelling. I few minutes later they called us as they
had seen the Richard’s Pipit fly behind a single bank. We walked to towards the area and picked up
the pipit feeding on the footpath. It
was quite distant and the path was partially obscured by some grasses. I got
the bird in the scope and had some reasonable views as walked away from us on
the path before it flew further towards Kelling. Walking further along Dave then picked it up
feeding along a tide line that had been created by the tidal surge. It then continued to show on and off as it
fed along this tide line before disappearing into some longer grasses. The other birder then spent a few minutes
showing us actually where the tidal surge had reached and it was incredible to
see just how far it had gone and much debris it had carried. One of the signs from Cley Reserve and a
small boat could be seen on the edge of the extent of the surge. Dave and the other birder then walked on and
we decided we would return to Gramborough Hill and have another look at the
sea. As I turned I picked up a falcon,
which was quite close, but flew rapidly across the marsh heading in land to
settle for a while on a distant bush. It
was a Merlin and the second good bird of the day. From Gramborough Hill we found at least five
Red-throated Divers and several Brent Geese flew by.
One of thirty Turnstone on teh shingle at Salthouse
Calling at the NNT Centre at
Cley we established that there was little on the reserve but we could see
plenty of Golden Plovers and Dunlin on Pat’s Pool and found a single Avocet
amongst a party of Lapwings. A female
Marsh Harrier then flew over before landing in a bush on the marsh.
We moved on towards Titchwell
and stopped for a while at both Holkham and Burnham Overy Staithe. At Holkham there were masses of Pink-footed
Geese and Wigeon with smaller numbers of Greylag Geese, Canada Geese, Egyptian
Geese, Shelduck, Teal and Mallard and I did find three Pintail but I suspect
there were more. There were also good
numbers of Lapwing and Curlew, with one group of Curlew containing at least
fifty birds. A female Marsh Harrier was
causing havoc amongst the wildfowl and waders with both frequently flying.
At Burnham Overy Staithe there
were more Pink-footed Geese and Wigeon and we also had two more female Marsh
Harriers, two Buzzards and a nice Barn Owl.
There was also at least 1000 Golden Plovers on the meadows.
Continuing on towards
Titchwell we called at Choseley Barns but were unable to find either of the target
species Grey Partridge and Corn Bunting.
There were plenty of Red-legged Partridges and we did find a nice party
of circa thirty Bramblings and a single Buzzard.
At Titchwell we had lunch
before setting off down the west bank.
Thornham Pool was empty and just held four Redshanks and the Reedbed
Pool held just a single Tufted Duck and a couple of Coot. Thornham Marsh was very quiet as we continued
to the freshwater marsh, which was quite high and not particularly suitable for
waders. There were plenty of ducks on
the water that included Shelduck, Gadwall, Teal, Mallard, Pintail, Shoveler and
Pochard. There were c.200 Golden Plover
amongst the Lapwing and four Ruff were observed. There was at least twenty-five Avocet and
several Black-tailed Godwits and a single Grey Plover were also present.
The tide was out and Volunteer
Marsh was proving a good feeding area for Shelduck and Redshank and there were
also more Black-tailed Godwits and several Bar-tailed Godwits. The tidal marsh held three Little Grebes and
more Black and Bar-tailed Godwits and a single Water Rail was observed.
On reaching the beach there
appeared to be few waders on the exposed beach to the right, which is normally
covered in waders at low tide. However
to the left there were numerous waders feeding on the more sandy shore. These included 1000+ Dunlin and good numbers
of Grey Plover and Bar-tailed Godwits and smaller numbers of Curlew. There was however a noticeable lack of
Oystercatcher, Knot and Sanderling, three species that can be quite common
here. In fact I could only find a single
Knot and a Sanderling. I have seen
reasonable numbers of Grey Plover in the past but have never seen as many
Dunlin on the beach before. Two Ringed
Plovers, my first of the year, were also observed. The sea was relatively calm
and there were three distinct groups of Common Scoter, which must have
contained 2000+ birds and we did see a couple of Velvet Scoters in flight. There was also good numbers of Red-breasted
Mergansers with thirty-five being counted.
Other birds seen on the sea included a Tufted Duck, a Red-throated Diver
in flight and several Goldeneye.
Brambling on the feeders at the centre
Brent Goose over the beach
On walking back to the car
park there was no sign of the hoped for Spotted Redshank but we did hear a
Cetti’s Warbler and had some nice views of the second Barn Owl of the day.
Barn Owl on Thornham Marsh
On route home Dave picked up
two Grey Partridge close to Anmer, which eased the disappointment of Choseley
and was a good end to a reasonably successful day’s birding. A Little Owl was observed on route at Sculthorpe.
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