I had a very productive 5 days in Norfolk last week with a birding chum and thought I would share some of our sightings with you, together with some scenic photographs of the areas that we visited! I wasn't expecting to see too many birds at this time of the year but the next 5 days proved me wrong!!
Owls!
A visit to Norfolk isn't complete without a spot of Owl watching! Being from a part of the country where they aren't that abundant it is a pleasure to see so many Barn Owls quartering over fields especially on the North Coast, I was quite pleased to get 3 sightings in one day and the best being at Brancaster Mill where we stood watching 2 Barn Owls hunting in fields on each side of the road at Burnham Overy Mill! The sunshine brought out the colours in the owls superbly and after watching one catch its prey on the ground I was shocked to see it rise up from the ground with a Kestrel in tow! It had been after the Barn Owl's freshly caught mouse and I managed a record photograph of both the Barn Owl and Kestrel with wings outstretched against the sunshine! Probably my best owl highlight was watching 2 Long-eared Owls (at an undisclosed location) hidden in thick bushes, these were a first for me and it was such a brilliant surprise when I caught my first glimpse of one and my birding chum managed a brilliant photograph of one of the LEO's in flight, they are such majestic birds in flight!!
I also had my first real viewing of Little Owls, I think we must have caught them in semi-slumber as they were quite happy to just watch us watching them!!
Feb 22nd
Strumpshaw Fen.
This has to be one of the nicest inland RSPB reserves around, each time I visit here I see something different and today didn't fail to deliver! We were hoping to catch a glimpse of the Penduline Tit that had been seen in the reeds by the Fen hide over the previous week, I think other birders had got the same idea as by the time we reached the hide there was standing room only in there! The Penduline Tit hadn't been seen since about 10.30am and unfortunately it wasn't seen for the rest of the day either but one bird sighting for me more than made up for this!! We had been in the Fen hide for about 5 mins and then someone called out 'Bittern in front of the reeds!' I quickly caught a glimpse of it through my bins and then made a grab for my camera, I had never managed a Bittern photograph before so I made the most of this opportunity and got some nice records shots of it! The Bittern stayed in front of the reeds for a good minute before it meandered in to the reeds and we then saw it fly across the reed beds about 20 minutes later. We also witnessed what was probably the first real sign of Spring with 2 Great Crested Grebes putting on part of a courtship display before the male went off to get a muddy reed gift for the female but she quickly scarpered off somewhere out of sight! Other notable species seen include Marsh Harrier, Barn Owl, Teal, Gadwall, Canada Geese, Greylag Geese, Song Thrush, Siskin and Meadow Pipit, we also heard a Water Rail and my first singing Cetti's of the year!
Feb 23rd
Glandford Mill.
We called at Glandford Mill en-route to Wells to see if we could see the Black Bellied Dipper that had been seen in the area on and off over the past few weeks, a fellow birder did warn us that the Dipper could be anywhere along a 7 mile stretch of river but we thought we would give it a go anyway! In the end we didnt see the Dipper but the Mallards and Swans were more than happy to see us along with 2 Grey Wagtails that flew in just as we were preparing to leave! The Mill is a really picturesque spot and I am sure that on a good day you we could have notched up quite a good list there!
Salthouse.
Salthouse was next on our agenda en-route to Wells to hopefully see the Snow Buntings, we managed distant views of them but the weather began to close in and go misty so I think the birds decided to call it a day and head for shelter! Around the pools to the west of the car park were Redshank, Turnstone, Teal, Wigeon, Lapwings, Black-headed Gulls, Herring Gull, Common Gull and a Barn Owl was seen hunting over the marsh area, this is always a super sight for me! We also caught a glimpse of a Little Egret before it moved down in to a small channel in the fields.
Cley.
A quick visit was made to Cley visitor centre to make use of the facilities and have a very welcome cup of tea, this is a super place to start your birding in Cley as you get an all round view of the area and allows you to get your bearings before you go into the hides, you also get super views of the scrapes if the weather is a bit iffy as it was for us! From the visitor centre we saw Avocets (first of the year for me!), Lapwings, Black-tailed Godwit, Shelduck and Marsh Harrier and after a quick drive down Beach road we saw a pair of Stonechats, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Lapwings, Starlings and Brent Geese. After this fleeting visit we then made our way to Wells and our superb accommodation!!
Feb 24th
Burnham Overy Staithe.
This was an area that I first visited last August but unfortunately did not have time to complete the walk along the quayside to the dunes/beach, this time however we allowed time to do this walk and it was really worth it! The mixed habitats mean that there is a good variety of birds in the area, at the start of the walk the song birds were about in the bushes and we stood listening to a Song Thrush whilst watching Dunnocks, Meadow Pipits, Kestrel, a Marsh Harrier, Sky Larks, Chaffinches, Goldfinches and a Barn Owl in the fields alongside the path. Further along the path the waders start to take precedence with good numbers of Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Curlew, Lapwings, Sanderlings, Grey Plover, Turnstones, Redshank and Oystercatcher being seen with Shelduck and Brent Geese in the channel of the quay. One surprise was seeing 2 Grey Partridge flush from the marshes on the quay and fly in to the nearby fields giving us super views of their newly turned summer plumage with their large black stomach feathers being clearly seen, for skittish birds they stayed out in the open for a surprisingly long time! We also saw 2 more Grey Partridge further along the path so it appears that these birds are thriving in this area. As we got closer to the dunes the amount of Lapwings, Starlings, Shelduck, Wigeon and Teal increased in the marsh fields with a lonesome Little Egret, all quite happily feeding in the barmy February sunshine! The view from the top of the dunes was stunning, the beach went on into the far distance for as far as I could see, this has to be one of the best views in Britain! On the beach Oystercatcher, Turnstone and Black-headed Gulls were seen in the small channel and a group of 20+ Common Scoter were seen out on the sea. This is definitely a place I will be revisiting as the varying types of birds make it a super place for bird watching! Our trip to Burnham Overy Staithe was topped off with a rather cute looking Pied Wagtail on the car park!!