Norfolk winter 2007

We had a great week in Norfolk. Even though the weather was cold, there was no rain and it was sunny on many of the days. The accommodation and food were great too. We saw loads of birds and recorded 107 species for the week and there were Seals too.
Highlights were many, but the best birds were Bittern, Cranes, Snow Buntings, Lapland Buntings, a Desert Wheatear, Bean Geese, Pink-footed Geese and Barn Owls.

Sunday 25th Nov
We started off at Titchwell RSPB reserve. Lots of birds including the usual ducks and waders, but also a Spotted Redshank, hundreds of Golden Plover, Avocets, a few Goldeneye and an Egyptian Goose on the lagoons with a Merlin flying past and several Marsh Harriers over the reedbeds. The coast had Sanderling, Bar-tailed Godwits and Knot on the shore and a few Eider on the sea. A flock of Snow Bunting flew past us too.
The afternoon was at Holkham Dunes. We failed to locate any Snow Bunting or Shorelark on the dunes and saltmarsh, but, at dusk, saw several thousand Pink-footed Geese come in to roost, while a Barn Owl flew past.

Monday 26th Nov
The morning was spent in Holkham Park, where we saw Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Jays and Long-tailed Tits in the woodland and Egyptian Geese, Grey-lag Geese, Pochard, and a few Pink-footed Geese at the lake.
The afternoon was spent at Cley. We popped in to Salthouse on the way and got great views of a flock of Snow Bunting with some Lapland Bunting with them. Cley was fairly quiet. There were a few Avocet among the commoner waders and Dennis found at least 2 Ruff. Several Marsh Harriers were seen, including one settled on a bush and a Water Rail was seen well by everyone. As we got back to the car park a Barn Owl flew by.

Tuesday 27th Nov
Up early and off to Snettisham. As we walked to the sea we saw lots of Grey-lag and Canada Geese, a few flocks of Fieldfare and some Goldeneye. The expected spectacle of thousands of Know didn’t happen as the tide didn’t come up as far as predicted due to weather conditions. However the area was full of birds with waders becoming more and more apparent as the tide fell. They consisted of Golden Plover, Grey Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit and Knot with some Redshank, Dunlin and Oystercatcher. From the hides we had great views of several Goldeneye. On the foreshore we spent some time looking closely at a flock of Snow Bunting and Linnets. We also saw an Egyptian Goose in fields when we got back to the car.
We spent the afternoon at Thornham looking for Twite, but it was very quiet and none were found. We did see distant views of Red-throated Diver, Red-breasted Merganser and a seal on the sea.

Wednesday 28th Nov
This morning we went on a boat trip around Blackeney to see the breeding seals. The Grey Seals were having their pups and we got lovely views of several hundred altogether. There was also one Common Seal there too. We saw many Brent Geese and commoner waders as well as a few Bar-tailed Godwit and some Red-breasted Merganser. After this everyone drove over to the Norfolk Broads for the rest of the holiday.

Thursday 29th Nov
This morning we drove over to Cantley and Buckenham to look for Bean Geese. Egyptian Goose and Barn Owl were seen on the way. We were lucky at Cantley and quickly found the flock of over 100 Bean Geese with 2 White-fronted Geese with them. We saw several Redwings flying over and some Red-legged Partridge in the fields.
We then went on to Buckenham Marshes and the wet fields here were full of birds. Many Wigeon and Teal, Lapwings, some Golden Plover, a couple of Ruff with the Lapwing, a small flock of Barnacle Geese and a Snow Goose with them, Marsh Harrier and a couple of Muntjac Deer and a Brown Hare.
In the afternoon we went to Stubbs Mill to view the Cranes flying in to roost. Today they decided to go somewhere else, but we were treated to Barn Owl flying pretty close and about 25 Marsh Harriers coming in to roost.

Friday 30th Nov
This morning we walked from Horsey Mill to the sea. Not much on the way, but a Desert Wheatear was a great bonus as we got to the dunes. On the foreshore we saw more Grey Seals and their pups – lovely. Also there were a few Sanderling here. Watching the sea we saw a few Gannets flying by and a Diver. We walked along to Horsey Corner and spent a little while sea watching here too. Birds were mostly far out, but we did see several Gannets, a Great Skua and a few Divers going past.
After lunch we had a quick walk at Horsey Mere and saw Marsh Harriers and then had a walk at Martham Broad. Here we saw a couple of Kingfisher fly over the broad as we watched the Grey-lag Geese, Goldeneye and Pochard. Once we got to a good vantage point a Bittern flew past and as dusk fell 3 Cranes were spotted by Tracy flying in the distance. The Starling roost only consisted of about 200 birds!

Saturday 1st Dec
We made our way to Minsmere this morning. Part of the reserve is wooded and it was nice to see a tit flock with Goldcrests, Treecreeper and some Siskins. On the mere we saw lots of birds, mostly the commoner ducks such as Gadwall, Shoveler, Wigeon and Teal, but there was at least one Pintail out there. Waders consisted of Black-tailed Godwit, Lapwing and a few Snipe. Dawn spotted a Peregrine with Marsh Harriers over the reeds. On the way back to the reserve centre we saw a Green Woodpecker and as we ate lunch at the centre we saw Marsh Tits at the feeders.

Simon Curson