[B]NORTH NORFOLK NEW YEAR[/B]
Happy new year everyone!
PART ONE
Tina, myself and our friend Teresa were lucky enough to be invited down to stay the New Year at Docking,North Norfolk. Our intention was to take a few chilled days walking,eating and drinking with a little birding thrown in.
Surrounded by vast tracts of agricultural land Docking village sits on the edge of the Norfolk "heights" at about about 300' ft above sea level and 4 miles inland from the coast.
RSPB TITCHWELL MARSH 30/12/08
At about 14.00 on 30th Dec we arrived Titchwell on brilliantly sunny, cold but calm afternoon.
A female brambling, along with the usual finches moorhen and pheasant were at the feeders.
Our visit to the Fen Hide (and later the same applied to the Parrinder Hide) was curtailed,since the pond it overlooked was completely frozen over.
Walking down the main costal path we briefly stopped to twitch a male marsh harrier as it headed off towards Thornham. Four reed buntings and a singing dunnock were in the bushes, whilst a small but excited crowd had gathered on the footpath over looking the reeds by the side of the Freshwater Marsh, for excellent views of half dozen bearded tits which were feeding on the seed heads of the reeds,almost looking like little mice.
On the far side of the freshwater marsh a handful of wintering avocet fed along with shell duck.northern shoveler, teal,wigeon, brent geese, mute swan, coot, moorhen, grey heron, ruff,redshank and the usual array of wintering gulls.
On the Tidal Marsh active dabbling ducks included several pairs of goldeneye and pintail. Here, near to the path we also counted 8 little grebe,four black tailed godwit, a spotted and common redshank.
Some distance away a small flock of passerines descended into the salt marsh scrub which a photographer identified as twite, in my view they more likely to have been linnet.In the same area were numerous lapwing, curlew and further on a kestrel hovered as two little egret glided in the distance.
At the beach a crust of frost lay on the sand under the dunes and the tide was way out, the furthest that I have ever seen it.
So far out that nothing was visible with bins including the 1000+ raft of scoter that someone had earlier entered into the visitors log book. As the sun began to set as a bright red ball over Thornham a few clockwork sanderling, turnstone and oyster catcher foraged amongst the razor shells and sand.
The girls made their way to visitors centre for a warming cuppa.
However I stayed on to take in further views of two lingering reedlings, however as I neared the feeders I was startled by what I thought was the loud squealing of a piglet, coming from the ditch on the right.
A few minutes of patient waiting were rewarded by views of what was really causing the rumpus, the resident water rail emerging from the undergrowth in the twilight.
CLEY/SALTHOUSE 31/12/08
New Years Eve was grey and misty but calm all day.
After a lie in and a good breakfast we made our way to Salthouse via Holkham Hall, hoping to see a barn owl on the way.No such luck unfortunately! Last time out we got eight (on different days), however on this visit to Norfolk we continued to dip where ever we went. The spectacular Holkham Park deer herd was showing well along with the resident Egyptian and a large flock of brent geese.
Arriving at Salthouse mid afternoon, a spot of sea watching drew a blank.
On the leeward side of the shingle banks lies the now sea devastated Salthouse Eye.
In the foreground before the "eye" there are a number of shallow pools in which teal, turnstone and dunlin dabble.
The few birders that were present though, were more interested in the great views of six snow buntings that ranged amongst the pebbles, in turns both nervous and gregarious.
After a while the cold got to us all, so we headed off to the NWT visitors centre for a brew and then on to the pretty sea side town of Wells Next the Sea , splendidly decked out with pretty Christmas lights,for the shops.
Sounds like you had a good time - well done catching the Bearded Tits!