22/09/19 3 Day Autumn Migration Tour in Norfolk with Marcus Nash Part 1

Autumn Migration Tour  Part 1
Norfolk
Friday 20 September 2019 to Sunday 22 September 2019

The latest visit to Norfolk provided some excellent birding moments and lots of bird species even though the warm weather and light southerly winds limited the number of migrating birds we were able to find.

Day 1

 

Snettisham

 

• On the way from our B&B in Wells to the reserve at Snettisham  we saw a little owl on the windowsill of a barn as we passed through Holkham.  Shortly afterwards we saw our fist red kite of the tour. 
   

courtesy of Marcus Nash

A great start!

 

 

At Snettisham we arrived in time for the high tide event.  It was not a Spring tide so not all of the sand was covered meaning the birds did not fly overhead to the nearby gravel pits. Nevertheless they were very close and easily seen in the scope. 

• As usual, the knot were the star attraction.  Their spectacular aerial formations were simply breathtaking - even now after many years of observing the event. 
• The supporting cast was very impressive too, with dunlin, oystercatchers, bar-tailed godwits, ringed plovers etc.

courtesy of Marcus Nash

courtesy of Marcus Nash 



• The pink-footed geese were back in force, several weeks ahead of schedule and they provided a brilliant backdrop throughout.

courtesy of Marcus Nash 



• On the gravel pits, the best scope view of the day was provided by a spoonbill with 2 spotted redshanks by its side. 

courtesy of Marcus Nash 



• A single whinchat enjoying the sunshine in the scrub at the southern end of the reserve gave me my first year tick of the tour.

So many birds!

 

 

Titchwell

 



We headed to Titchwell for lunch before starting our afternoon session.

• Small flocks of brent geese were arriving all the time we were on site.
• 2 bearded tits, moving along the base of the reeds gave us a superb start to the session.  They were just 20 metres or so away from us as we watched from the island hide The spectacle continued for several minutes, much to the delight of all present.
• There were scores of ruff on the freshwater marsh.

courtesy of Marcus Nash 



• As always, we saw several marsh harriers flying low over the reeds.
• 2 water rails were seen on the marsh.  We normally see these on the main path by the visitor centre.
• We were keen to find the little stint that had been reported here earlier.  After a short search it was seen moving along the edges of the spit, no more than 50 metres away from us.  From then on we were able to view this lovely wader at leisure.
• 11 spoonbills flew overhead as we walked along the main path and later on we saw them again as they made the return journey to the marsh.

courtesy of Marcus Nash 



• On the way back to the visitor centre we stumbled across a migrant redstart which was facing us in the bushes just a few metres away.  It appeared quite unconcerned about our presence; it was probably too tired after a long journey. 

  

  courtesy of Marcus Nash 

• Other birds of interest included avocets, common and sandwich terns, a little ringed plover, several Mediterranean gulls, a yellow wagtail, golden plover, a wheatear and lots of dunlin.

We finished the day with a brief seawatch but there was little movement to be seen.

All 9 of us were very, very pleased with our first day!

  

Day 2

 

The weather was warm again today, reaching 22C by the afternoon.  The winds had picked up too, but once again they were not conducive to bird migration, blowing from the south east. 

We got off to a very slow start but things livened up from the late morning and by the afternoon we were back in full swing and enjoyed some rather special moments.

Wells, North Point

This area, to the east of Wells, was an obvious place to look for migrants but there was nothing new there for us. 

• The highlight was finding our first great white egret, walking along the edge of the pool ahead of us.  It didn't stay long however as a grey heron flew in and chased it off.



courtesy of Marcus Nash

• Pick of the passerines was the yellowhammer which showed well at the top of a tree as we returned to the minibus

Cley

• A quick look around Walsey Hills Nature Reserve proved fruitless.
• We headed out towards the sea along the east bank but the pools had virtually dried up so there was no chance of picking up new birds there. 
• Out at sea there were a few gannets, several red-throated divers and a guillemot.

After lunch at the visitor centre we headed into the reserve where our luck changed instantly.

• A green sandpiper was soon seen on Simmond's Scrape from the Dauke's Hide

courtesy of Marcus Nash

 

•  We also had good views of a lovely juvenile spotted redshank.
• We saw 2 greenshank fly into Pat's Pool so we relocated 10 metres or so to Teal Hide where we got excellent close views.

courtesy of Marcus Nash



 

 What we really came for was a curlew sandpiper which had been seen earlier.  Eventually we spotted it at the far end of Pat's Pool but just as we were setting up our scope's it was disturbed by some dunlin and it flew to Simmond's Scrape which we had just left.

• Back in Dauke's Hide we duly found the curlew sandpiper among the dunlin at the far end of the pool and we finally settled down to enjoy the views. My second year tick of the tour!



The Brecks

One of the highlights of this time of year is the autumn, communal gathering of Stone Curlews down in the Brecks, and it seemed a good opportunity to escape the breezy conditions on the coast and head inland to see if we could find them.  It was a bit of a drive but everyone agreed it was well worth it. 

• As soon as we got out of the minibus, we could see our first stone curlew out in the bare field ahead of us. 

courtesy of Marcus Nash



• As we admired its ID characteristics, we could see several more further back near the sparse vegetation. 
• No sooner had we settled on these when 3 others flew in and then others appeared.
• By the time we left, the numbers had increased to over 20 and more birds were still appearing. 
• Had we stayed until dusk I am sure we would have seen close to the 80 birds thought to be present.

Wow!  What a finish.

 

 

 

Day 3

 

Today was even hotter, reaching 27C at one point.  The wind picked up later but it remained dry and bright throughout, despite a forecast of rain in the afternoon.

 

Burnham Overy

 

As we passed through Holkham on the way to our destination we saw the Little Owl on the same windowsill that we saw it on Friday.

• Just as we parked the minibus by the road we could see lots of action in the fields in front of us.  There was a small flock of golden plover in the middle and several grey partridge along the back edge.  A red kite flying over the fields soon scattered these birds.  In the distance we could see several cattle egrets. 

Quite a start!

 

• As we walked along the track leading towards the sea we got better views of the partridges. 
• A small flock of pink-footed geese flew overhead, followed a little later on by at least 4 newly arrived brent geese.
  

  
  

  
  

  

  courtesy of Marcus Nash

• Looking over the harbour we could see the usual waders and a single juvenile knot.
• 2 great white egrets flew over the fields towards Holkham.
• From the sea wall we got super views of the cattle egrets as they moved among the cows, enjoying devouring frogs from the now depleted pools nearby!  All in all we saw at least 6 of these lovely species.

courtesy of Marcus Nash

It is plain to see that even in my short time birding in this area that cattle egrets and spoonbills are flourishing in much the same way as the great white egrets did before them.

 

• From the sand dunes we saw a distant whinchat in the vegetation ahead of us and as we turned west towards Gun Hill we got a much closer view of this lovely migrant bird.  It was with a couple of stonechats and a flock of linnets.
• There was a Lapland bunting calling and soon afterwards it flew by us.  Alas I was one of those who missed it.

 

This has to be my favourite area and I enjoyed the spectacular scenery in almost perfect lighting conditions. 

Normally it would also be a hotspot for migrants. But not today!  There were lots of birds around but most were not new and we had already identified them elsewhere on this tour.

 

• As we walked back to the minibus the pink-footed geese in the fields took to the air as a marsh harrier came too close, providing us with a spectacular skyline. 

courtesy of Marcus Nash



 

 

Holkham Woods

 We had lunch at the new café at the bottom of Lady Anne's Drive, after which Marcus took us into the nearby Holkham Woods.  He had picked up news of some migrants further along the coast, including a few yellow-browed warblers and pied flycatchers. 

• Despite our best efforts we could not find any!
• We did get a couple of excellent views of a hobby as it soared over the pine trees.

courtesy of Marcus Nash

• Other birds included a peregrine, more marsh harriers and more red kites.

 

Wells Woods

 

A very frustrated Marcus then took us to Wells Woods where we enjoyed a welcome ice-cream break before resuming our search for migrants.  This was very unlike Marcus but he told us he now likes to include this type of break after regretting not taking up the suggestion from one of his clients on his recent trip to Greece. 

By this time the wind was picking up considerably, making it much more difficult to follow the tit flocks that were most likely to contain our target birds.

 

• Thankfully we were rewarded with a brief glimpse of a yellow-browed warbler which called from an overhead tree before flying off. 

Phew!

 

 

 

 

 

Another quite excellent trip with well over 100 species seen and some memorable birding experiences. 

 

• Bird of the trip for me was the stone curlew down in The Brecks.

 

• Best experience of the tour was, of course, the huge flocks of returning pink-footed geese.