An early morning at Titchwell Marsh, Norfolk - October 14, 2018

The weather forecast wasn’t very good for today but it dry when I went out and the strong southerly wind had eased.  When I arrived at Titchwell I set off along the west bank and found numerous gulls streaming away from their roost, most of which appeared to be Black-headed Gull, although there were larger gulls, which weren’t easy to identify in the dull light.  Three Western Marsh Harriers were quartering the reedbed and there was a single Egyptian Goose on the Freshwater Marsh.  As I continued along the bank there were three Eurasian Curlew on Thornham Marsh but I had seen very little else before I reached the beach.

There was a juvenile Northern Gannet resting on the sea just off shore and I found a couple of Great Crested Grebes but other than two Common Scoter flying west there was little else, and I focussed on the shore.  There were plenty of birds, mainly Eurasian Oystercatcher but there were also good numbers of Eurasian Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-tailed Godwit and Common Redshank and a single Little Egret on the incoming tide.  As most of the best feeding area was now covered and there were a few spots of rain I started to make my way back.

I stopped to look on the Tidal Marsh and found thirteen Brent Goose, six Common Shelduck, eighteen Grey Plover, a Eurasian Curlew, seven Ruddy Turnstone, 300+ Red Knot, seven Dunlin and three Common Redshank.

The water was starting to rise on Volunteer Marsh but there were still two Little Egret, a Eurasian Curlew, five Black-tailed Godwit and twelve Common Redshank feeding.

When I reached the Freshwater Marsh, the rain was a little more persistent and so I went onto Island Hide seeing three more Little Egrets on Thornham Marsh before reaching the hide.  I checked for the Jack Snipe but only found a single Common Snipe before scanning the rest of the marsh.  There were plenty of wildfowl, with Eurasian Teal being the most numerous but there were also good numbers of Eurasian Wigeon and Mallard and smaller numbers of Northern Shoveler.  I scanned through the birds and found seventy-three Common Shelduck, eight Pied Avocet, 123 Bar-tailed Godwit, twenty-four Black-tailed Godwit and forty-one Ruff but the best was a single Eurasian Spoonbill.  A final scan produced the two resident Pink-footed Geese and two drake Common Pochard.

It was raining quite heavy when I left the hide, but I did hear a Water Rail and a Cetti’s Warbler before reaching the woodland.

The rain was more persistent and much heavier at times after breakfast and continued all day making further birding impossible.