15/02/14 Ashdown Bird Group in East Anglian Day 3

Saturday 15th February 2014

The weather was fine, but very windy and overcast, early on with a forecast of heavy rain from lunchtime.  The  forecast turned out to be accurate which impacted greatly on our day.

An early sea watch from Sherringham was reasonable with Common Scoters a couple of Red-breasted Mergansers and various gulls seen on the sea.  Along the shoreline there were lots of Turnstone but no sign of the Purple Sandpipers.

Our attempts to locate the Glossy Ibis just outside of Cley proved fruitless.

Things picked up for us at Holkham where we saw thousands of Pink-footed Geese (159) from Lady Anne's Drive.

Pink-footed Geese
Library picture

 We moved round to the hide to get better views and were there when the heavens opened and there was a torrential downpour.  We passed the time looking at Hen Harriers and geese until it was safe to head back to the cars.  On the way we saw Grey Partrdiges and Red-legged Partridges in the sodden fields.  As we left we saw 4 or 5 Egyptian Geese in the nearby fields.


Our final port of call was to the marshes at Stiffkey where we were delighted to see at least 4 Ring-tailed Hen Harriers over the duration of our hour-long stay.  It was a pleasure to watch these birds go about their business in the distance totally unaware that they were being watched.  Thankfully the rain held off and we were one of the few from our group to return to the hotel in dry clothes. 

Considering the awful weather conditions we had a remarkably productive day!



Addition to 2014 UK Bird List:
Pink-footed Goose (159)