North Norfolk Coast

Last week I had the opportunity to spend some time in a friend's cottage close to the north Norfolk coast. As it was (or so I expected!) a good week for spring migrants I planned to visit a number of sites during the week hoping to discover loads of newly arrived summer migrants. First up was Snettisham RSPB reserve. After two and a half hours of searching all I had managed to turn up was a single Swallow, a Blackcap and a few Chiffchaff.. The tide was out so the waders were miles away; the wind was up so there was little moving about. Not very promising.
Thornham and Holme were just as bad. A couple of Ring Ouzels had been reported earlier in the day but they were not there when I was!
Titchwell was devoid of birds...bad. And people...not so bad. I did manage to locate a single Little Ringed Plover and a few singing Sedge Warblers but that was it.
Holkham Hall held a good flock of 15 House Martins a couple of Swallows as well as loads of Chiffchaffs and a couple of Blackcaps.
Burnham Overy Staithe dunes was the best place during the week with half a dozen Ring Ouzel and half a dozen Northern Wheatear.
So five days in North Norfolk in mid April produced Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Sedge Warbler, Northern Wheatear, Ring Ouzel, Little Ringed Plover, Swallow and House Martin. Generally I was left photographing the more common species. But the walking and the company were good.

Skylark - Snettisham

Avocet - Everywhere

Displaying Redshank - Thornham

Red Kite - Holme

Sanderling - Holme Dunes

Herring Gull - Everywhere

Oystercatcher - also just about everywhere



Little Egret - Holme

Knot - Thornham

Bar-tailed Godwit - Burnham Deepdale

Common Gull - Common!

Shelduck - all over the shop.

Black-headed Gull - Why not?



Pheasant - Garden!

Greylag Goose - Everywhere and then some.

Linnet - Singing male.

Curlew - Thornham

Moorhen - in a tree.

Drake Red-crested Pochard - Titchwell (one of the only birds on the reserve)

Barnacle Goose - Holkham Hall; an introduced bird.

Grey Partridge - in a field.

Black-tailed Godwit - up to its eyes in it.

Ring Ouzel - Gun Hill - a proper real migrant.

Wren - on top of its world.



A bit of a twitch!

Earlier this year I drove over to Beeley Moor in Derbyshire to look for a Great Grey Shrike Lanius excubitor that had been frequenting an old quarry for a couple of weeks. Needless to say I didn't locate the bird even though we put in a couple of hours searching. It was still there yesterday so this morning I fancied having another go even though it promised to be bitterly cold up on't' moors with an easterly wind howling in from Moscow. I expected a similar search and seek mission to the last visit and I was resigned to getting frozen and possibly not seeing the bird. As we approached the site my wife and I had the following conversation. "Are you going to park just here on the right?" "Yes, this is where I parked last time." "Good...'cus there's the Shrike by the gate." "!?!!*" Birding's like that! Ten minutes later it had flown off and despite searching could not be relocated. It might never have been there.

Great Grey Shrike Lanius excubitor Beeley Moor, Derbyshire

Whilst searching for the Shrike an Osprey flew directly overhead heading north. This was a bonus bird but hardly a surprise when you take into account all of the reservoirs that can be found in this area - along with the time of year.

Osprey Pandion haliaetus

That the idea of reservoirs popped into mind due to the Osprey then had us heading a little further south to try for one of the four reported Great Northern Divers at Carsington Water. Here we heard and saw our first Chiffchaffs of the year - 4 in total in a thirty minute spell. Hardly a record but nice to hear after all of the cold, snow, wind and stuff of the last few months. The divers were proving to be particularly difficult to locate but a couple of Redshank in full breeding kit were pretty obliging.

Redshank Tringa tetanus Carsington Water Derbyshire

 We eventually located just a single Great Northern Diver some distance away on the far edge of the reservoir. It was too far away to photograph and it was not that convincing a bird. Had I not known that it was probably one of the four that has been reported on and off for a month or two I would have seriously considered this one to be Black-throated. This picture is of a bird I photographed earlier.

Juvenile Great Northern Diver Gavia immer

Not a day to be remembered for migrants piling into the area but Great Grey Shrike, Osprey and Great Northern Diver just an hour away made it a bit of a twitch worth doing.