Norfolk Tour Day 3 - Marcus Nash

Look out for an unfortunate Puffin, a very special Little Auk and how I purchased my large print Collins Guide on the beach at Cley  in Marcus's report below.   

28th Nov 2021 – Early Winter Tour, Day 3

Day 3 of a three day Early Winter Tour, our last day. It was another cold and windy day but thankfully the wintry showers first thing dried up quite quickly, and after that they were much fewer and further between for the rest of the day.

When we got down to Wells beach car park it was sleeting quite steadily, so we stopped in the minibus for a couple of minutes while we waited for it to pass over. Once it had stopped, we walked up to the lifeboat station.

The tide was just coming in, and we scanned the mud on the far side, where there were lots of waders. Large areas were covered with Oystercatchers and Knot, and there were several Grey Plover and Ringed Plover scattered around too, along with groups of Sanderling and Dunlin. A few Turnstones were picking around the patches of shingle. Five or six Bar-tailed Godwits were working their way along the near edge of the sandbar opposite us.

Waders – out in Wells Harbour

We had a quick look in the outer harbour, to see if anything had been blown in but we couldn’t see anything out on the water. A Red Kite was hanging in the air over the beach opposite.

Back to the car park, we crossed over to the other side and continued on into the woods. We stopped to scan the boating lake. There were several Tufted Ducks diving in the middle and a few Little Grebes around the edges, plus three Coot and a single Moorhen. A Kingfisher was perched on a briar stem over the edge of the water by the channel opposite. It looked stunning in a brief moment of sunshine, before it shot off low over the water.

Kingfisher – perched by the boating lake

We carried on along the track towards the trees, but hadn’t got much further when we noticed a stunning pink male Bullfinch perched in a bramble-draped hawthorn ahead of us. Looking more closely, we could see a browner female feeding on the brambles, just below. A couple of dogwalkers came past us and unsurprisingly the Bullfinches flew off as they approached.

Making our way into the birches, a Jay flew up from the grass under the trees. We flushed a couple of Blackbirds, but otherwise there was no obvious sign of any new arrivals having come in from the continent, despite the favourable winds.

When we got to the corner of The Dell, we came across a tit flock. We looked up to see several Long-tailed Tits flick up into the birches. We climbed up the slope onto the top of the dune ridge on the north side, where we were on eye level with the birds. They were moving through the branches very quickly, but in among the mix of tits, we picked up a couple of Goldcrests, Treecreepers, and at least one Chiffchaff too.

We followed the tit flock round the east side of the Dell, where the same or another Chiffchaff flicked through the birches ahead of us, and out onto the main track again. We flushed a Reed Bunting from under the brambles by the path, which perched deep in cover for a few seconds flicking its tail before flying back into the trees. A little further along, we found three Chiffchaffs together now. Unfortunately they didn’t stop long enough for us to see whether any of them might have been more interesting, before they disappeared deeper into the trees.

We crossed over into the open area south of the main track, and stopped by the gap in the bushes to scan the grazing marshes. There were no geese on here today, but we did see a Red Kite over Holkham Park in the distance and a Common Buzzard circled over the edge of the caravan park.

There were a few more Blackbirds in the bushes here and we came across a single Redwing in the far corner, but it flew off ‘teezing’ as we approached. A juvenile Peregrine drifted over the pines. As we started to cut back through the birches towards the main track, a Woodcock flew up from the grass and shot off into the trees.

One of the group was interested in fungi, and we stopped to look at some growing by the path now. A large Brown Birch Bolete looked like it was easy enough to identify, but some of the others would require a bit more study. We took a few photographs as we made our way back towards the car park.

Brown Birch Bolete – growing under a birch tree

We were just heading over to the beach cafe when we got a message to say that a Little Auk was to be released at the lifeboat station at midday. Perfect – time for a coffee in the cafe first!

Coffees duly drunk, we were just getting ready to go up to the lifeboat station when we got another message to say there was a Puffin now in the harbour channel. Sure enough, there it was bobbing around on the water off the lifeboat station. It was an adult too, with a very bright bill still. Everybody had a look through the scope and we had then taken our eyes off it, when someone else announced that a Great Black-backed Gull had dropped onto the water out where the Puffin was. Horrified, we looked back to see the gull with the Puffin in its bill. Even worse, after drowning it, the gull seemed to lose interest and flew off, leaving it behind. All a bit gruesome – but nature red in tooth and claw. It also highlights why these auks generally live far out to sea, and something is normally already wrong if they are brought inshore.

Puffin – in the harbour channel

Two people arrived carrying a large plastic box, with an entourage of curious onlookers following. The Little Auk had arrived! It had been found in Reepham, about 15 miles inland, last night, presumably disoriented and blown there by the gale force winds. Mostly these birds do not survive overnight, but it was apparently livelier now than it had been when it was found, which was an encouraging sign. It wriggled and squirmed as it was picked up to be released.

Little Auk – being released

The Little Auk flapped out onto the water and looked back at the people gathered on the shore watching it. It swam slowly further out into the channel and then started diving – another encouraging sign. Fingers crossed for it.

Little Auk – swam actively out into the harbour

Back to the minibus, it was still a little early for lunch, so we drove round to Holkham and stopped to scan the grazing marshes. We could see three Great White Egrets out with the Belted Galloway cattle immediately and it was not long before the two Cattle Egrets appeared too, from where they were hidden behind the cows. They flew round and landed again out of view.

There were lots of geese out on the grazing marshes but looking through them most were Greylags, plus a pair of Egyptian Geese. Scanning round, we eventually found the White-fronted Geese we were looking for, tucked down in the corner, keeping their own company. Noticeably smaller and darker than the Greylags, through the scope, we could see the white surround to their bills from where White-fronted Geese get their name. Numbers are starting to increase slowly now, as we get into winter, and we counted twenty four here today.

White-fronted Geese – out on the grazing marshes

There were several Marsh Harriers and Common Buzzards around the grazing marshes too. A juvenile Peregrine circled overhead, before disappearing over the Park behind us. Then another Peregrine, this time an adult, appeared distantly over pines. As we watched, it accelerated and stooped towards something over by Lady Anne’s Drive.

We headed round to Lady Anne’s Drive ourselves, for a late lunch in The Lookout. There were just a few Greylags on the marshes here again today, but a small skein of Pinkfeet did come over calling while we were eating.

We didn’t have much time left now, but with a couple of requests to see if we could get better views of Glaucous Gull, we headed back to Cley where one had been reported again earlier this morning. When we got to the beach car park, we asked some of the locals seawatching but unlike yesterday, there had apparently been no further sign of it since early morning. The lingering Black Guillemot had been seen earlier too, but there was no sign of that either now. A Grey Seal pup had come up over the beach and proceeded to go straight past everyone into the car park.

The seawatchers had thinned out now and we managed to get into the front of the shelter, to scan the sea. There were still a few things moving – a steady movement of Common Guillemots past, a few Red-throated Divers and several Eider – a couple of small groups past close in, and a much larger flock of around thirty a long way out.

Eider – there were still a few moving this afternoon

There were lots of gulls offshore, feeding in the surf. Gradually they started moving back west along the coast, heading back towards the harbour to roost. We figured there had to be an outside chance we might catch a Glaucous Gull heading in with them, as the two had done yesterday. Scanning through, we did manage to pick out a 1st winter Mediterranean Gull on the sea, and another, this time an adult, flew past, but no sign of anything rarer. We had probably exhausted our luck for this weekend!

The light was starting to go now. Somewhat bizarrely, we had managed to arrange a book delivery for one of the group, which was very kindly dropped down by WildSounds to where we were seawatching! Personal service! Once it arrived, it was time to head for home.

What an amazing few days it had been!

Norfolk Tour Day 2 - Marcus Nash

This time the limelight is shared by the Snow Buntings and the fantastic seawatch.  Marcus's report is shown below in full. 

27th Nov 2021 – Early Winter Tour, Day 2

Day 2 of a three day Early Winter Tour. With a Met Office ‘yellow warning’ in place for high winds, the original weather forecast for today was looking very rough, but by the day the worst prognostications had been revised and even then the outcome was nowhere near as bad as it could have been. Again!

It was drizzling on and off as we drove east to Cley, but once we arrived and parked at Walsey Hills, it had stopped. A dead Water Vole in the layby looked like it had unfortunately been run over. A quick scan revealed a pair of Gadwall with the Mallard on Snipes Marsh, a Canada Goose on the grazing marsh opposite and a pair of Mute Swans in the channel, all new birds for the trip list.

While it was dry, we decided to walk up East Bank first. There was not much on Don’s Pool, just a couple of Shelduck, and a Marsh Harrier was quartering the reedbed beyond. We could see dark clouds away to the west, and a rainbow over the hides.

Rainbow – looking out over the reedbed

We stopped to scan Pope’s Pool there were lots of ducks and a few Cormorants on the islands. We could make out several Dunlin with a couple of Redshank along the near edge. There were more ducks on the Serpentine, mainly Wigeon and Teal. Another flock of Dunlin flew in and dropped down on the mud.

We could see another rainbow ahead of us now, and more dark clouds coming in off the sea straight towards us. So we hurried on to the shelter overlooking Arnold’s Marsh.

Out of the squally wintry shower, we could scan the pool at our leisure. There were a few more waders on here, more Redshank and a couple of Curlews. Lots of Dunlin were trying to find shelter behind the vegetation on the shingle islands, along with a single Grey Plover and one Turnstone. Four more Turnstone dropped in, as did a couple of Ringed Plovers.

Redshank – one of several on Arnold’s

There were more Cormorants on here too, presumably taking a break from the raging sea beyond, and a few Great Black-backed Gulls. We talked about the identification of large gulls and took a closer look as we waited for the squall to pass.

Scanning the brackish pool behind, ten Little Grebes were swimming together and diving out on the water. There was a good selection of ducks – lots of Shoveler, and more Gadwall, but we couldn’t see any sign the Pintail on here today.

A dog walker had passed us on our way out, carrying a pair of binoculars, and we could now see him watching the Snow Buntings out on the shingle ridge, the birds occasionally flying up and whirling round. As he made his way back, he popped into the shelter to tell us they were there, so when the weather cleared, we headed out to see if we could see them a bit closer.

A Little Egret was huddled behind the reeds on the pool down below the path, but flew off as we approached. We had a quick look at the sea when we got to the shingle, but it looked quite quiet – bird-wise at least it was quiet, the sea was predictably very rough. A Gannet flew past just offshore. We turned east and dropped down out of the wind into the lee of shingle ridge.

The Snow Buntings were very mobile at first. They were in a large flock, about 60 of them, and we could see them whirl round as we walked out and then land on the beach side of the ridge. We looked over the ridge where we thought they had dropped but spooked them again as we stuck our heads over. They flew and landed on the shingle again a little further along. We approached carefully, but then noticed another dogwalker coming the other way and sure enough they flew off again as he approached. This time they went much further, landing some way out in the fenced off area north of Sea Pool.

We walked over to the far side of their favourite feeding area, to position ourselves for when they flew back in. As one of the group walked up, he almost trod on one Snow Bunting which hadn’t flown off with the others. It didn’t seem in the least worried and continued feeding just a couple of metres from us, totally unfazed. Amazing views!

Snow Bunting – amazingly tame

While we were admiring the lone Snow Bunting, the rest of the flock flew back in and landed very close to us too. The single bird then picked its way round past us to join them, and we watched the whole group feeding now at close range. It was interesting to see the mixture of dark and paler birds – as well as variation due to age and sex, there are two races of Snow Bunting which mix together in winter here on the coast, paler Scandinavian nivalis and darker Icelandic insulae.

Snow Buntings – the rest of the flock flew back in

We kept one eye on the sea, but there didn’t appear to be much moving offshore, a steady passage of gulls, and a few divers past. We could see very dark grey clouds and rain away to the east – we had been lucky with the window of weather out here watching the Snow Buntings, but we knew it wouldn’t last so decided to head back before weather turned again.

As we made our way back along the East Bank, there were some Black-tailed Godwits now on the Serpentine, and lots more Dunlin feeding on the muddy edges. A small flock of Linnets dropped in too. As we approached Don’s Pool, a Kingfisher shot past high over the grazing marshes and across the bank back towards the road. We thought it dropped down into the main catchwater drain, but there was no sign of it there when we got back. A Kestrel was hovering over the front of Walsey Hills.

Back to Walsey Hills, we continued on past Snipe’s Marsh and down footpath into bushes, out of the wind. There was a nice selection of tits and finches coming and going from the feeders, but the rest of the bushes were quiet. The willows at the back were still catching the wind. Out at the back, we scanned the fields beyond. A mixed flock of Lapwings and Golden Plover were feeding on the winter wheat. On the hillside behind North Foreland Woods, a Woodpigeon and a Stock Dove were both on the wires, the latter noticeably smaller. A Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over.

Back to the minibus, we drove round to the Visitors Centre at Cley for a coffee break and a chance to warm up. Afterwards, we still had some time before lunch, so we drove back east and on towards Salthouse. We had seen some Brent Geese in the distance from the shelter out at Arnold’s Marsh earlier. They were still in the field next to the road, but we couldn’t see them well from this angle and another car was already in the layby further up.

We drove on further. There was no sign of any Pinkfeet on the marshes at Salthouse today, they were probably feeding inland, so we went to see if there were any gulls loafing in the fields by Beach Road. There were, but unfortunately there were no white-winged gulls with them. We did pick out a rather dark grey-backed adult Herring Gull, a bird of the northern argentatus race.

We turned round and went back to look at the Brent Geese from a different angle. They had moved, but we found we could get a better view from the road opposite Babcock Hide now. One bird on the front edge of the flock stood out, noticeably darker-bodied, the Black Brant. We managed to park and got out very carefully, without flushing the flock.

Black Brant – with the Dark-bellied Brents

Once the geese settled again, we were able to get the scope on the Black Brant and compare it with the rest of the flock, most of which were the regular Dark-bellied Brents. Scanning through, we found a single Pale-bellied Brent too. A three Brent subspecies flock!

Back to Cley and we drove out to the beach car park now. We stopped for lunch in the lee of the beach shelter. A Grey Seal had hauled itself out on the top of the shingle ridge, and looked back occasionally at the raging surf where several large bulls were lingering in the breakers.

Grey Seal – pulled out on the beach

Speaking to the people who had been seawatching here all day, there had been a couple of Glaucous Gulls patrolling up and down the shore earlier, so we kept one eye open while we were eating. After lunch, we found some space in the east side of the shelter, out of the wind, and scanned more thoroughly.

One of the group picked up a distant skua offshore, just as a heavy squall came in over the sea, and a quick view through the scope before it was engulfed by the rain confirmed it was a juvenile Pomarine Skua. That was hard to get onto, but a group of three Great Skuas was much more obliging, as they came through west really close inshore, a great view.

Great Skua – one of a group of three

There were several Red-throated Divers and Guillemots moving, and a steady passage of ducks passing. A female Eider flew in and landed on the sea just offshore. There were several flocks of Common Scoter, one group being led by a single drake Goosander. Also quite a few Wigeon, and a female Pintail at the head of one group of those.

There was a steady trickle of waders past too – mostly Dunlin, but also a group of four Knot, several Grey Plovers, and a Ringed Plover. About thirty Snow Buntings flew west along the beach, possibly some of the birds we had been watching at close quarters earlier.

There were lots of gulls just offshore, but no sign of either Glaucous Gull at first. Quite a few Kittiwakes were moving, some nice and close, a mixture of adults and juveniles. A distant Little Gull was quickly lost in the troughs, but then a shout from someone in the car park alerted us to two juveniles coming in behind us which flew right past.

Eventually one of the Glaucous Gulls put in an appearance, coming in along the beach behind the pill box. A biscuit coloured juvenile, it immediately stood out with its very pale wingtips. It arced up into the air several times, dropping back down to the breakers again, and we thought it might carry on straight past us, but disappeared back east.

It was a really productive seawatch for an hour or so, but the light was already just starting to go when some much darker, thicker clouds started to roll in. The skies looked quite apocaplyptic away towards Salthouse and as the bad weather approached us too, we decided to get into the minibus to warm up, and start to make our way slowly back.

We called in briefly at Morston, but there was still too much water in the channel for there to be much feeding here, the tide held up by the wind today. All we could see from the warmth of the bus were a couple of Redshank and Curlew, a single Black-tailed Godwit and a Little Egret.

We thought we might try to catch some geese to end the day at Holkham, but the light had gone by the time got there, and the driving rain was sweeping across the marshes on the 50mph wind gusts. We had done very well all things considered. It was time to call it a day and try again tomorrow.

Norfolk Tour Day 1 - Marcus Nash

 Marcus's report is shown in full below.  Look out for the items relating to Shorelarks and the ill fated Brünnich’s Guillemot

26th Nov 2021 – Early Winter Tour, Day 1

Day 1 of a three day Early Winter Tour. The weather forecast wasn’t great, but after some drizzle first thing it proved to be better than feared, cloudy and breezy but mostly dry. When we started out in the morning, it looked like it might be a difficult day, but little did we know just what excitement the birding gods had in store for us!

We met in Wells. It was drizzling pretty steadily, so we decided to have a quick look in the Harbour as there had been a Black-throated Diver reported off the Harbourmaster’s Office late yesterday afternoon. As we drove slowly past, we could see a few Brent Geese and gulls on the edge of the water. A glimpse of a bird disappearing under the water turned out to be a Cormorant when it resurfaced.

We turned round and as we headed back the other way we spotted a diver on the water fairly close in, directly opposite the quay. We found somewhere to stop and got out for a look. It was actually a moulting adult Red-throated Diver, not Black-throated. Particularly in the dull light, the remains of the throat patch looked dark and it was impossible to see any red, but the structure immediately screamed Red-throated Diver, rather slight with a markedly upturned bill. Although the head was still speckled with grey streaks, the eye stood out in the the pale face. We had a nice view of it, diving, as it came past us and headed off up the harbour channel.

Red-throated Diver – in the harbour at Wells

The forecast was for rain all morning and if it was going to continue like it had been we would have to head for somewhere with hides for the day, but the rain seemed to be easing now. As it was going to be very windy over the next couple of days, our preferred option was to go to Holkham for the Shorelarks this morning, so we decided to go for it. We drove round and parked on Lady Anne’s Drive.

A small covey of partridges was feeding just beyond the fence directly in front of where we parked, one Red-legged Partridge with four Grey Partridges. As we got out of the minibus, the Red-legged flew off but the Grey Partridges stayed – they looked up briefly, but quickly went back to what they were doing. We had great views of them, just beyond the fence. Another four Grey Partridges flew in to join them.

Grey Partridge – feeding right by the fence

There were lots more birds on the grazing marsh beyond, lots of Wigeon, a couple of Curlew. Further back, we could see a few Golden Plover in with the Lapwings. We could hear Pink-footed Geese calling the other side of the Drive and looked over to see them flying round out over the grazing marsh. Some kronking calls alerted us to a Raven which circled up over the Lookout Cafe, before drifting across the north end of the Drive and over the pines, where it was joined by a second Raven. Still a scarce bird here, so a nice one to see.

Raven – drifted over Lady Anne’s Drive, calling

We walked through the pines and out towards the beach. From the boardwalk, we could see a small group of Brent Geese and a few Shelduck out on the saltmarsh. Several Linnets flew up and circled round. As we walked east on the edge of the saltmarsh, it was rather quiet at first, but at least it was sheltered from the wind in the lee of the pines.

As we got to the cordon, we could see two people looking through scopes, so we headed over towards them. As we got a little closer they waved us over – as we suspected, they were watching the Shorelarks. We could only see two Shorelarks at first, as they were quite well back and hidden in the vegetation. Gradually they worked their way closer towards us and eventually we counted all five together. We had great views of them now, picking around the stunted saltmarsh vegetation for seeds.

Shorelark – one of five still

By coincidence, it turned out one of the group knew the two people on the beach from elsewhere, so while they chatted, everyone stopped to watch the Shorelarks. We could see the sea through the gap in the dunes beyond the cordon and it didn’t look too rough yet, so after a while we continued on for a look out at the Bay to see if we could pick up anything out there.

Out on the beach, it was just after high tide so there wasn’t much exposed sand at the moment. We could see one or two Oystercatchers on the shore. A Sanderling was running in and out of the waves away to our right and eventually came right past in front of us, and more small flocks of Sanderlings were flying past.

We turned our attention to the sea. Even though it wasn’t particularly rough, the combination of the high tide and a significant swell meant birds were constantly disappearing into the troughs. There were several Red-breasted Mergansers offshore, with four close in. We could see a few Eider too, and a group of Common Scoter further out. Another more distant flock of Common Scoter flew up from the sea further back, and we could see that the bird at the front had white wing flashes, a Velvet Scoter. The flock landed again and we lost it in the swell.

There were several Great Crested Grebes offshore, but we couldn’t find any other grebes. The first two or three divers we spotted were Red-throated Divers, but then we picked up a Black-throated Diver not too far out. As well as the swell, it was diving constantly which made it hard to get onto, but it was working its way towards us.

We were just trying to get all the group onto the Black-throated Diver, scanning with the scope, when an auk bobbed up from the swell in front. It was only in view for a second, but it looked just like a Brünnich’s Guillemot. But surely it couldn’t be? Brünnich’s Guillemot is a high arctic species, and very rare further south (there have been 48 accepted records in UK, but no confirmed records for Norfolk and only 4 for England!). It rode up over the next wave and it did look just like a Brünnich’s Guillemot!

It was being carried very quickly east on the running tide. So while we tried to get a quick clip of video through the scope, in the hope we might then have some documentary evidence, we tried to get everyone onto it. Thankfully, it was close in and not too hard to see when it rode up and over the breakers, even if it was only in view for a second or two at a time.

The Brünnich’s Guillemot had a noticeable dark head, with pale speckling on the throat. Most Common Guillemots in winter have very pale faces, although even at this time of year some have darker heads too, a pitfall for the unwary. But this bird had very black upperparts too, and looked hunchbacked with a rather angular head. The bill was too short for a Common Guillemot and we thought we could make out a suggestion of the distinctive pale gape line when it caught the light.

Once everyone had seen the bird, we checked the video and fortunately saw that we did have a few seconds footage of it (as well as several more seconds of empty sea!). We managed to get a videograb and, given the enormity of the call, we quickly sent it to a few locals with the question ‘are we going mad’?!

Brünnich’s Guillemot – the first confirmed record for Norfolk

The Brünnich’s Guillemot didn’t look well, it was not diving or attempting to swim against the current. We followed it as it disappeared away to the east and it looked like it would be swept into Wells Harbour. So once we received suitably reassuring comments back, we put the news out hoping it would get refound. Wow – what a moment! Job done, still slightly shell-shocked, we walked back.

A Rock Pipit flew over calling and landed on the edge of the saltmarsh. Back at Lady Anne’s Drive, while we stopped to use the facilities in The Lookout, we scanned the grazing marshes. A Merlin shot across low, scattering all the Wigeon, but was gone as quickly as it appeared. A rather pale Common Buzzard and a Kestrel were more obliging, perched where we could get the scopes on them. A Great White Egret flew up and across briefly.

We thought we might have a quick walk west through the trees before lunch, but just as we were setting off we received a message to sat that the Brünnich’s Guillemot had been refound in Wells Harbour. We decided to go round there instead for another look.

When we got there, there was already a small crowd gathered by the old lifeboat station. The Brünnich’s Guillemot was on the other side of channel, just on the edge of the sandbar. It was definitely not looking well and as we watched was gradually beached by the receding tide, but at least it was still looking round relatively actively.

One of the other locals was arranging a boat to take a few people across to see what the bird was doing, so we arranged places for the group. It was a bit of a rush to get down to the inner quay and by the time we got there, the boatman said that the tide was probably too low now to get us in close. Still we thought we would have a go anyway.

There were several Brent Geese still on the margins of the harbour channel as we motored out. The Red-throated Diver we had seen earlier by the quay was about half way up now, but from the boat allowed us to get very close for some great views. The light was a bit better too now, and we could see that the patch on its neck was indeed dark red. Two Razorbills surfaced next to it briefly too.

Red-throated Diver – great views from the boat

Red-throated Diver – sporting the remains of its throat patch

Out past the lifeboat station, the water started to get a bit choppy and the navigable channel took us further away from the sandbar the other side. We could see the Brünnich’s Guillemot still distantly on the sand, now well back from water’s edge. The boatman offered to drop us over on the other side of the channel further back, from where we could walk out to the sandbar, but we were not all really equipped for it and we still hadn’t had lunch. We had no idea when we might be able to get back. So we got ourselves dropped back at the outer harbour, while a couple of the others went over to investigate.

We stopped at the beach cafe for a late lunch and a welcome hot drink. A steady stream of people came to see the Brünnich’s Guillemot, from all over Norfolk. Then the sad news came through that the Brünnich’s Guillemot had passed away. It was perhaps inevitable, but the speed and the reality of it definitely put a damper on the celebrations.

The weather was still OK, and as we might not get another chance this weekend, we decided to have a look at the raptor roost to finish the day. As we walked up the track, we flushed a Sparrowhawk from the base of the hedge. Lots of Starlings flew over, in and out of the pig fields. We started to flush a few Blackbirds out of the hedges, and down at the far end there were more, along with several Redwings flying ahead of us too, we could hear their ‘teezing’ calls. Migrants in from the continent, stopping here to refuel.

It was a bit more breezy out on the edge of the coast path, with the wind gradually swinging round now. We could see small groups of Brent Geese and a few Curlews out on saltmarsh. There were several Little Egrets, and one of the group picked up a distant Great White Egret too.

There were a few Marsh Harriers already in and still hunting up and down, a nice close male and more further out. One Marsh Harrier feeding on something way out on the beach, and two juveniles were looking on from the sandhills beyond the saltmarsh. Out of frustration, they started playing with a stick instead.

Marsh Harrier – a male out over the saltmarsh

We picked up a ringtail Hen Harrier hunting way off, in front of East Hills, but it was very hard to see and must have dropped down as it disappeared without coming closer. We were just thinking about packing up, when another ringtail flew in from the east. As it worked its way along the back edge of the saltmarsh, a grey male appeared behind it. Presumably the male Hen Harrier had come in early and stayed down, given the wind. The two of them circled round over the spartina for a minute or so, then dropped down again.

It was getting cold now, so we decided to call it a day. What a day it had been!