I joined up with Chris Mills, our guide for the 2 days, as well as fellow birders, Helen from central London, Patrick from Portsmouth, Nick from Lymington, John and Ben from Leicestershire and Adrian from Lincolnshire - all of us staying at the Burleigh in Hunstanton.
RSPB Snettisham
After an early breakfast, we were in place at Snettisham for the high tide at 08.15 and boy what a delightful 3 hours we had! The place was awash with birds - no pun intended. Nothing particularly rare - just so many birds around. Kevin, a friend of Chris' joined us for the Snettisham slot.
- Predominantly there were Knott, Dunlin and Bar-tailed Godwits present in their thousands on Pit 4, viewable from the Shore hide but better still from the southern end of this stretch of water.
- As we were watching these birds we received a real bonus when some 40+ Arctic Terns flew in over the pits before heading seawards, out over The Wash towards the Lincolnshire coast.
- By now the tide had receded considerably and the main birds began to fly back onto the mud appearing in the bay. This was similar to my experience here in January with thousands of birds flying low overhead.
What a start!
Snettisham Coastal Park
As we retreated from the pits to the Coastal Park, Kevin came into his own. He has been monitoring this patch for over 30 years and knew just about everything there was to know about it.
- He quickly put us in an area where a Grasshopper Warbler was "reeling". Alas, we couldn't see it - probably due to the fact that several birders were there and were encroaching too much. He moved us on to a nearby second site where we soon enjoyed uninterrupted, close views of one singing its heart out. This is a real hot spot for this species and we heard at least 5 birds over the course of the next couple of hours. So after several failed attempts at Coldwaltham, in Sussex, I was enjoying Grasshopper Warbler heaven here in Norfolk.
- I was one of two who missed the brief views of a Ring Ouzel.
- Lesser Whitethroats were present in good numbers too! We enjoyed extended views of one of them before moving on.
- A lovely Cuckoo announced its presence before showing itself to everyone.
Amazing!
Ringstead
- After a late lunch at Holme, we headed out to Ringstead to view the 50+ Yellowhammers and a similar number of Corn Buntings feeding of the crop residue in the field.
- Interestingly they had company - some 11 Whimbrel!
A terrific half hour!
Choseley Barns
- Our final port of call, Choseley Barns, saw us add to our action-packed day even further. We enjoyed over an hour watching 2 Turtle Doves from close quarters. Initially, they weren't there but we didn't have to wait long for them to turn up. They alternated between feeding on the concrete drive to the side of the barns and perching on the nearby trees.
- As a sideshow, we had yet another 40+ Yellowhammers feeding on the drive or in the adjacent field. Interspersed with these were a few Corn Buntings and several Meadow Pipits.
A truly grand finale!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.