A day in West Norfolk - October 13, 2018

Dawn was breaking when I left The Ship and headed for Tutchwell Marsh and I arrived just 07:00 after seeing a Common Kestrel as I passed through the village.  After parking I went to the West Bank and started to walk towards the sea seeing a male and female Western Marsh Harrier over the fields to the south of Thornham Marsh.  There were several skeins of Pink-footed Geese passing over that involved c.190 birds.  Three Little Egrets were observed on Thornham Marsh as I continued along the path and seven Common Shelduck flew over.

When I reached the Freshwater Marsh, I looked for the Jack Snipe but there was no sign and I started scanning the rest of the marsh.  A Grey Heron was observed, and I counted sixty-six Ruff but the light wasn’t brilliant due to the rising sun and I continued onto the beach.

As I walked past Volunteer Marsh it was obvious that the tide was coming in but there was a single Eurasian Curlew and nine Common Redshanks in the channel.  When I reached the beach, the tide had already covered the rocky area but there were plenty of birds on the shore that included 150+ Eurasian Oystercatcher, six Bar-tailed Godwits, sixteen Ruddy Turnstone and five Sanderling.  As I scanned the sea, three juvenile Gannets came quite close and there was another two observed further out.  Circa fifty European Golden Plover flew over and I found a pair of Red-breasted Merganser on the sea and saw two Common Scoter flying east.

Just after three Common Shelduck flew over I started to make my way back along the path and found a concentration of waders on the Tidal Lagoon.  It wasn’t easy viewing these as the rising sun was making the conditions poor, but I did manage see twenty-three Grey Plover, five Eurasian Curlew, c.200 Red Knot and eight Dunlin.  Volunteer Marsh was now pretty high and there was very little and so I moved onto the Freshwater Marsh.

When I reached the Freshwater Marsh, I found three Pink-footed Geese, that included the injured bird, seven Pied Avocet, 120 Bar-tailed Godwit and fifty-three Black-tailed Godwit and there was also forty-two Common Shelduck.  I checked for the Jack Snipe but there was no sign although there was a single Common Snipe in the same area.

As I continued walking along the path I heard a Bearded Tit, a Water Rail and a Eurasian Siskin calling, and a Common Chiffchaff was heard singing.

After breakfast, my wife and I took the Coast Hopper bus to Holkham with the intention of walking through the pines and then back to Burnham Overy Staithe.  When we arrived, we walked along Lady Anne’s Drive seeing a couple of Common Kestrel and numerous Pink-footed Geese before we reached the new centre, where we had a coffee before continuing our walk.

There had been at least two Yellow-browed Warblers reported earlier but the pines were generally quiet except for the constant calling of the Pink-footed Geese and I expect there must have been at least 1000.  We did see a Eurasian Jay and I heard a Goldcrest but there was no sign of any Yellow-browed Warblers, although several birders were still looking.

On reaching the end of the pines there were a couple of Common Kestrel over the dunes, but we hadn’t seen anything else of note when we reached the path back to Burnham Overy Staithe.  There was another Common Kestrel towards Gun Hill and two Eurasian Curlew and a Little Egret on the saltmarsh and between there and the village I saw thirty-five Brent Geese, a Little Egret, a Eurasian Oystercatcher, two Grey Plover, two Common Ringed Plover, twenty-four Eurasian Curlew, a Red Knot, a Dunlin and eighteen Common Redshank.

Once back at The Ship I went to Titchwell again still hoping to catch up with a Yellow-browed Warbler as two had been heard earlier this morning.  When I arrived in the car park eight Pink-footed Geese flew over and when I got around towards Fen Hide there were several birders looking for the Yellow-browed Warbler.  It hadn’t been seen but there was a mixed flock of birds coming and going and I saw a Coal Tit, several Blue Tits, two Great Tits, at least half-a-dozen Long-tailed Tits, a Common Chiffchaff, two Goldcrest and several Common Chaffinch but there was no sign of the target bird.  The flock eventually dispersed, and I moved on to view Patsey’s Pool seeing another 150 Pink-footed Geese before reaching the screen.  There were far fewer birds than yesterday and nothing of note but three Common Pochard flew in before I went to the West Bank.

There were another six Common Pochard, along with three male and three female Red-crested Pochard on Reedbed Pool.  I then noticed that several birders were interested in something on Thornham Marsh and found out that there was a bird of prey on the ground, which they were struggling to identify.  It was quite a dark bird and I thought it was most likely to be a male Western Marsh Harrier, particularly when I saw it had a grey tail.  Others mentioned Northern and Hen Harrier and also Common Buzzard, but the head showed no obvious markings, which would rule a ring-tailed harrier of any species and it was not grey enough for a male Northern or Hen Harrier, although Common Buzzard couldn’t be totally ruled out, although the grey tail wasn’t typical.  Eventually most birders dispersed thinking it was a Common Buzzard, but the finder, a lady, still wasn’t convinced.  I went a checked out the gulls on the Freshwater Marsh but didn’t find anything of note and the Jack Snipe wasn’t showing and I went back and joined the lady.  As we were talking the bird flew and we were able to confirm that it was a male Western Marsh Harrier, albeit a dark specimen.  As I stood watching the harriers gathering before going to roost I counted eighteen and there were twenty-nine Little Egret in the trees.  As the harrier numbers fell I walked back to the car hearing both a Water Rail and a Cetti’s Warbler as I did so.