26/01/2019 Ashdown Bird Group Annual Outing to Norfolk 3/4

Saturday 26 January 2019
Day 3/4

Holkham

As soon as breakfast was over we headed east to Holkham hoping to catch the Pink-footed Geese before they flew out to the sugar-beet fields for the day.

• We needn't have worried - as we got there, a huge flock of 2000+ came in and landed in the field adjacent to and west of Lady Anne's Road.



Then we were off on to the beach, heading east.  The birders returning to the car park had seen Snow Buntings but not Shorelarks.

• We were more fortunate.  As we reached the cordoned off area of the beach we saw the Shorelarks, 12+ of them, at the northern end moving around in the vegetation.  The next 15 minutes or so were sheer bliss as we watched these lovely birds.

courtesy of Marcus Nash



• The Snow Buntings, 60+ of them, were more ubiquitous.  We saw them on the ground in the vegetation and on the path and in the air flying over the vegetation, flying by the sand dunes and flying over the tree tops - you could hardly miss them.

 





• Marcus and his son Luke saw us and joined us for a short while.  As I was asking Marcus about the location of the Dartford Warbler, Luke spotted a Stonechat on top of the bushes by the path so we waited for the warbler to join it, which it duly did.  It showed several times over the next 15 minutes or so as it flitted around.

courtesy of Lee Evans and Twitter

• Unfortunately we lost track of the Shorelarks which meant that the rest of our group who had just arrived, after starting the day at Thornham Harbour to see the Twite, missed out.

 Cley

• On the way to Cley, we came across a Barn Owl, perched on the branches of a tree about 100 metres away.  It moved closer to us, obviously intrigued by our presence.  Then it gave a lovely flight display as it moved across the fields in front of us.
• We called in at the centre to check on the whereabouts of the Glaucous Gull that had been seen in the area for several days.  We headed out on the east path down to the sand dunes and, off to the right, 100 metres away was the gull sitting patiently near a Great Black-backed Gull which was feasting on a dead seal carcass. 

 

 

 



Stiffkey


Our final port of call was Stiffkey for the raptor roost.

• As soon as we arrived we saw 2 Ring-tailed Hen Harriers foraging across the marshes in front of us.  We had frequent sightings of presumably the same birds for the next 30 minutes or so. 
• Not to be outdone, the Marsh Harrier turned up and displayed at regular intervals.
• We even had a Merlin turn up.  Initially we saw it on top of a bush out in the marshes.  Then it flew to a nearby bush before flying away west.
• Then our prayers were answered when a stunning male Hen Harrier flew east across our entire field of view giving us superb views.

 

Our best day yet methinks!