Joined up with leader Chris Mills and 5 other birders for a 3 day tour of north Norfolk.
Snettisham a.m.
An early start took us the short distance from Hunstanton to Snettisham. We were targeting winter thrush movement.- .Boy did we meet our target. Fieldfare and redwing were moving in their thousands along the coast. This spectacle reminded me of the movement of hirundines on the Sussex Coast at migration time - there were birds everywhere you looked. Bird heaven!
- We had good views of a couple of waxwings in the bushes nearby and several distant views of flocks of them on the move with the largest flock reaching 40+ birds
- On the sea, as well as the usual suspects, there were huge numbers the signature birds knot and bar-tailed godwits.
- On the pits we soon found the 2 black-necked grebes that we had targeted. A male and female goldeneye were very welcome surprises. Our luck was still in when we came across 2 drake goosanders.
A wonderful morning in a rich birding habitat.
Holme p.m.
Shorelark was our target bird when we moved to Holme for the afternoon session.- The plan was interrupted by waxwings! Just like at Titchwell yesterday we were about to arrive at our destination when we had to stop to take in another huge influx of these lovely birds. We ventured into the caravan park initially to look at 6-8 of them but soon after they were joined by loads of others and finally we counted 64 waxwings. Incredibly this was just over half of the total present at this time. The views were exceptional - just like yesterday. We even had lunch on the village green with waxwings flying around us Strangely they were not seeking out the berry laden trees, preferring to behave flycatcher like and fly just a few feet to catch flies before returning to their staring point. Click on the link to Chris Mills' video to get some idea of our experience.
- On the beach our search for shorelarks proved fruitless .......... ...... but it was not in vain as we came across 6 super snow buntings walking slowly east. We followed them for a good while before they eventually flew away.
- As the light began to fade we saw several birds from Gore Point - most notably a barn owl foraging across the fields in the distance.
Another successful experience and my 250th bird of the year - target reached and nearly 2 months still to go!
Addition to BUBO 2016 UK Bird List:
Snow Bunting (250)
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