The pair of Spoonbills flying west over the reserve.
It's the penultimate day of our trip to North Norfolk and where else than to take a drive to Titchwell RSPB Reserve, the flagship of the RSPB, to virtually round off an excellent week's birding. I even rounded the trip off with another ‘year-tick’ when I spotted a pair of Spoonbills flying high over the reserve, heading west. I really didn't think it was about spotting as many ‘year- ticks’ today, but more of really enjoying being at a wonderful place enjoying the thing I love most in life. With a really bright day with lots of sunshine, I really made the most of the following three hours there.
This male Goldcrest was just a few feet from where I stood in the small stretch of woodland.
Snowdrops brightening up the woodland floor.
Sometimes, when i spot something really good, I do like to show people what I have found and when I just happened to turn round to view the reserve from the Beach, I saw the two Spoonbills flying over and told the nearest birders to me that such a superb bird should be making their way across the reserve. They even gave me a thumbs up to say they saw the birds, which really made my day. Then I got chatting to a single lady, sitting on a bench out of the wind, overlooking the reserve. She said, though there were few birds currently showing, she just enjoyed waiting for birds to arrive, rather than go looking for them. She even offered me a seat next to her, but I told her that I was making my way back home, but we had a nice chat nonetheless. If I had the time, I most certainly would've spent some time on that bench. She was a bit of a novice, but I was willing to help identify the birds for her; but time was against me and so I said my goodbyes.
Grey Lag Geese flying over the Salt Marsh to the west of the reserve.
I was again just a few feet away from this exploring Wren in the small woodland.
The reserve has changed a bit from the last time I was here a few years back. More Marsh management has taken place here for the benefit of the birds and even the front entrance of the reserve has had a bit of a face lift, with a reception area to show your membership card to access the reserve, instead of leaving your card on your dashboard within your car. Good PR? I'll let you decide that. The cafeteria is still there, offering some lovely hot food and drink at quite high prices, but the money goes towards looking after the reserve. Then it's worth it. Remember though, the RSPB, though doing some fantastic work, is a Business and businesses have to make money to survive.
The Island Hide in the foreground and the Parinder Hide in the background.
Bar-tailed Godwit and Oystercatchers on the Fresh Marsh.
Looking south towards the Island Hide.
Back to the birds and my sightings. The bit of woodland through the car park towards the Shop held some very obliging Goldcrests and Wrens, showing down to just a few feet and with small numbers of Long-tailed Tits balancing on tiny twigs above me, there is always something to look at here. No Redpolls, a species I was hoping might be in the Alders above me, were seen, but plenty of Chaffinches, with some singing birds too.
Several Redshank showed well close to the main footpath.
A pair of Reed Buntings by the main footpath.
There were also plenty of Geese on the reserve, that included Brent, Grey Lag and a few Egyptian and wildfowl present included Gadwall, Teal, Mallard, Shoveler and a few Pintail. Large numbers of Wigeon were at the east end of the reserve with many more out in the fresh marsh to the west. Waders were roosting out on the fresh marsh that included large numbers of Bar-tailed Godwit, with smaller numbers of Redshank, Dunlin and Avocet and though I did not venture into the superb Hides today, I enjoyed taking a slow ramble along the main footpath to the beach. The reedbeds were patrolled by at least 5 different Marsh Harriers, with several more flying over the Salt marsh to the west, but I could not find any Hen-harriers today. A pair of Reed Buntings showed well by the footpath as did several Meadow Pipits, but little else of note there.
Bar-tailed Godwit and Oystercatcher on the Fresh Marsh.
From the beach, the sea held at least 8 Eiders, including 7 drakes and a female; 4+ Great Crested Grebes and a pair of Goldeneye on the choppy water. Sadly, not a great deal else apart from Oystercatchers, Sanderling and a few Barwits flying through. The Spoonbills were a real bonus today, always great to see something unexpected, but though the reserve was fairly quiet, it was delightful to be here again.
The view from the beach. The Wind farm way out in the North Sea was clearly visible as was the 'Helter Skelter' at Skegness, Lincolnshire through my scope, which was just left of the Wind farm!
I dropped into Cley Spy to drop off my telescope to be mended, which I am looking to be without for at least 8 weeks. I got back to the Cottage and then watched a beautiful Red Kite sail low over the houses to the east. Wow! The light was superb, lighting up all the birds colourful plumage as it twisted its wings and tail to guide itself south over the countryside. Then a pair of Yellowhammers flew over to round off my day's birding. Tonight, Becky and I went to dinner in Holt and on the way there, not only a Hare ran across the road and into a neigbouring field (thank God our car has good brakes!), but a Barn Owl was seen briefly hunting by the roadside.
The Shorelarks put on a superb show this morning on the west side of Holkham Gap.
News materialised on my Bird Guide App that the Shorelarks had returned to Holkham Gap, this time on the west side, but finding the birds was not going to be easy. I did get some ideas from a couple of birders I passed by the reserve entrance, but the beach itself is a big area, but thankfully, there were many birders present this morning to give a helping hand. The drive there was looking miserable with a big bank of dark clouds coming in and by the time I got to Lady Anne's Drive, drizzle had begun to fall.
A Curlew feeding in the fields to the east of the Drive.
Spot the Meadow Pipit? This Grey Lag Goose and Lapwing are looking the wrong way!
The rain did not bode well, but it didn't last long as I quickly checked the fields of anything I could take photos of. There were some obliging Curlew, Oystercatchers, Lapwing and Wigeon to pose for me and good numbers of Meadow Pipits were also within the field. Good numbers of both Geese and wildfowl were within the fields again as well as large numbers of Lapwing, with a sprinkling of Redshank enjoying the small pools. A few Marsh Harriers and Common Buzzards were seen over the fields, but no Red Kites were seen this morning. On the east side, the Chinese Water Deer was grazing in the same place as yesterday and on the west side, at least one Hare was seen.
More photos of the delightful Shorelarks.
Walking along the footpath leading to the Hides, I took the boardwalk to the beach and was a little dismayed to see a couple of guys with three large dogs off their leads heading the same way. Thankfully, they branched off right as I made my way to the beach. Now, where were the Larks? A pair of Skylarks flew overhead and as I rounded one large Sand dune, I realised that I was looking in the wrong place. I needed to be walking further west along the beach and eventually, I picked up a couple of birders in the distance checking out something on the sand. Another birder walking his dog, kindly told me that the Shorelarks were just a little further to the west and so joining the other birders, I finally caught up with the four gorgeous Shorelarks.
The Shorelarks on the beach on Holkham Gap this morning.
They soon flew off, but thankfully, they flew right past me and landed some 50 yards away behind me and so retracing my steps, I got as close as I dared and managed to grab quite a few reasonable photos of the birds. There was a young chap, armed with a long lens camera laying on his front in the sand earlier and now was soaking from the wet sand. Out of politeness, he asked me if he could get close to the birds again to take some awesome photos. How could I refuse? I am glad he moved carefully and slowly and got into position laying on his front and photographed the birds to his heart's content!
The two Grey Partridge with a Red-legged Partridge checking out the Wigeon.
This Little Grebe was with two others on a small pool by the footpath through the woodland.
I decided to make my way back to the car, so I rounded the birds and took a few more photos. With that, I heard something calling close to my feet and it was a pair of Sanderling some five feet away from me! I know that they can be confiding, but this close? I was just about to take a photo, but they flew off. Grumble! When I reached the boardwalk, I heard the distinctive call of a Snow Buntings and sure enough, a flock of at least 9 birds flew over the beach and down onto the Salt marsh. Well, that rounded off a good trip here to the beach.
I couldn't resist a photo of the shells on the beach at Holkham. Thousands of Razor Shells, Whelks, Cockles and Clams could be found on the sand.
The Boardwalk leading to the beach.
Back at the Centre and main entrance, the pair of Grey Partridge that were present yesterday, were now joined by a Red-legged Partridge, of which attracted an appreciative crowd of onlookers. A Great White Egret flapped ever so slowly across the fields and eventually landed well to the east. There was a report of 4 Spoonbills in front of the Joe Jordan Hide, but despite a good search over the fields to the east, there was no sign of the birds. The Shorelarks now put me on 140 species for the year and seeing it is still early February, could I be in for a bumper year? We shall see. The American Robin was showing well again this morning and I did see some film footage of the bird on WhatsApp this afternoon and it looks quite stunning.
The beach at Holkham Gap looking east.
Later this afternoon, Becky and I took a drive into Holt again and on the way there, a Cattle Egret was seen flying high over the main road near Letheringsett.
Holkham Pines was my target today and with the weather looking somewhat settled, I was looking forward to taking a nice walk around the reserve, especially as there should be less people around than the weekend. What with the excellent restaurant facilities here now and educational centre and the huge number of birds and wildlife present, what's not to love? However, before I go and write about what I saw today, I read with interest that there is a large growing support about banning dogs on all bird reserves due to their toilet. I can assure all my readers that should Scruff have a poo when I am birding, I always use a Poo bag to pick up his waste; so I can understand why people get so angry regarding those that never pick up their dog mess. Food for thought though, how can we stop dogs having a wee without banning them from Nature reserves?
Wigeon grazing in the field beside Lady Ann's Drive.
Pink-footed Geese coming into graze within the fields here.
My goal here today at Holkham Pines was to see both the Shorelarks and Snow Buntings, but only one of the species put on a show for me today. Stopping off first at the Centre, we got chatting to a couple from, I believe (judging by the accent), the Birmingham area who kindly pointed out a pair of Grey Partridge near where we stood. They were telling us about what type of Cottage they were staying in and gave us the site in which to look, for it seemed they were getting a lot more for their money than us? While my wife was chatting to them, I checked out the fields to the south where good numbers of Pink-footed Geese were flying onto the fields with loads more overhead and Marsh Harriers, Red Kites and Common Buzzards were quartering the fields. With hundreds of Lapwing and Wigeon out in the fields, it was certainly a wonderful spectacle.
One of the Grey Partridges by the main entrance to Holkham Pines.
I am pretty sure that this is a Chinese Water Deer grazing among the Lapwing in the fields.
We took a slow walk down the boardwalk through the trees to the beach and as Becky decided to take care of Scruff, I went off ahead to see if I could find the Buntings and Shorelarks. I did come across a small flock of 4 Rock Pipits of which I checked carefully for Water Pipit, which had been recorded here over the weekend. Nope, they were all Rocks! A flock of Shelduck passed overhead and then a flock of Grey Partridge flew out of the trees and returned back into the woodland. I could see a flock of Redshank on the fresh marsh as I regularly scanned the area for any sign of what I was hoping for, but it wasn't till I got to the fenced off area that I could see a group of birders checking out some small birds in the distance. There were a lot of Skylarks flying over on the fresh marsh, but none looked like a Shorelark and so I made my way along to the small flock of birds in the distance.
One of several Rock Pipits on the Salt marsh.
Shelduck flying over Holkham Gap.
Sure enough, these were the Snow Buntings and they showed superbly; nearly down to 20 feet to be exact and in this sunlight, I managed to grab some superb photos of the birds. Another chap joined me, a guy from Guildford, Surrey who joined me a little later for a quick seawatch. The sea was somewhat a little choppy, but I did pick out a small flock of Common Scoter riding the waves, though distant I might add. I could have easily spent more time here at this beautiful place, but I did not want to leave Becky by herself for too long and so made my way back.
Some photos of the Snow Buntings at Holkham Gap.
A distant flock of Sanderling suddenly passed me and started feeding where the Snow Buntings were originally (the Buntings had now flown over to the other side of the salt marsh), showing to several of us and allowing us to take some nice photos too. Every time I come here to this magical place, there is always this confiding flock of Sanderling here. Maybe it's in their DNA to like humans and allow such a close approach? As I was walking back along the beach, I spotted Becky’s hat placed on a fence post and so grabbed it and joined her back to the Information Centre where she was waiting patiently for me. We had a quick bite to eat and a hot drink, enjoying at least 4 Red Kites flying around us and the pleasure of picking out a Great White Egret walking in a neighbouring field and plopping down into a nearby ditch (It or a second bird was seen flying over the fields as we left to make our way to Downham Market). Eventually, we made our way back to the car, but not before I spotted my first Hare's of the year; two individuals sitting by some brambles and quickly pointing them out to my wife (her favourite mammal) and grabbing a few photos. Apparently, four Shorelarks WERE found near the beach after I had left. Never mind, I could make a return visit should I have time this week? There are still some nice birds to go for here including a juvenile Iceland Gull on Cley beach or the Little Gull at a place called Northrepps! The Red-breasted Goose is still entertaining the crowds and still commuting between Blakeney Freshmarsh and Cley Marshes.
The Sanderling at Holkham Gap.
A pair of Red Kites soaring near the Info Centre.
Breaking news tonight is the appearance of an American Robin in fields at Eastbourne, East Sussex. I am sure that this will spark a big ‘twitch’, though to be found in the middle of the week will needle some birders. I have been fortunate enough to see this species on both sides of the Atlantic, which included a sighting of one in a field at Godrevy, West Cornwall in my ‘twitching’ days. I remember driving all the way there, spent 20 minutes finding the bird in the wind and rain, watched it for all of 5 minutes then it flew off and never to be seen again! Then, drive all the way back home without stopping! Severe ‘twitching’ at its best, lol! Mind you, I would love to see one again.
This adult and juvenile Bewick Swan was found along the Ten Mile Bank Road.
Not only was the weather superb today, but I notched up 6 more ‘year-ticks’, when Becky and I took the long drive south-west to the superb Welney Wildfowl Trust reserve, near Wisbech in the east of the County. The wind had dropped and the sun was out and first thing this morning, we had a flying display of the F1-11 fighter jets overhead, who, it seemed, were practicing flying all over Norfolk!
A male Reed Bunting by the feeders at the Reserve Centre.
A male Tree Sparrow near the feeders.
My day began when I took Scruff for a walk through the village while Becky cooked our breakfast. A large flock of Yellowhammers were seen over the fields to the east of Langham Village and at least two Common Buzzards were seen over the countryside to the south. I even saw a large group of Partridge species in a distant field, but I needed my scope to ascertain a correct ID, unfortunately. While checking out the Yellowhammers, a singing Goldcrest was flitting about in a small conifer close to where I stood, a male bird.
This pair of Avocets showed well in front of the main Hide.
One of the Whooper Swans in front of the main Hide.
After breakfast, we packed all our birding gear and then made our way to Welney. Becky did the driving there as I checked the fields by the roadside, notching up good numbers of Kestrel, Common Buzzard and Red Kite along the way, which took around 90 minutes to get there (55 miles). Sadly, dogs are not allowed on the reserve (apart from guide-dogs) and so Scruff had to stay behind. I had some target birds I wanted to see and I think the ‘Birding Gods’ were most certainly smiling on me today.
The Tundra Bean Geese in front of the main Hide.
One of the Great White Egrets passing the front Hide.
Taking the right turn off the A10, we drove along the Ten Mile Bank road and enjoyed good numbers of Lapwing out in the fields. Then I picked out a Stonechats by the side of the road and then I saw a pair of Swans on the opposite side. I asked Becky to stop as I grabbed my binoculars and checked out the Swans. They were indeed an adult and juvenile Bewick’s Swan as I grabbed my camera and got some record photos of the birds. My first ‘year-tick’ of the day.
The female Marsh Harrier flying over the main lake.
Some of the Tree Sparrows enjoying the feeders by the main Centre.
On reaching the car park by the Reserve Centre, I knew there were Tree Sparrows at this site and were regularly seen here too. Checking the nearby Sparrows, all I could find were House Sparrows, but after paying my entrance fee for both Becky and I (the best £17 I ever spent!)I checked out the feeders within the Centre. At least three Reed Buntings were using the feeders and then further along, another group of feeders attracted the local Tree Sparrows! I have not seen this species for many a year, the last being in East Yorkshire when I went for an unsuccessful trip to Flamborough Head for the Taiga Flycatcher some 15 years ago, So, you can imagine how pleased I was to see my first in such a long time. There were at least a dozen or so birds using the feeders and photographing them through the window. I was getting some reasonable photos. It was going to get better.
The Great White Egret searching for food on the reserve.
The Tundra Bean Geese in front of sleeping Grey Lags.
There was a feed going on for the wildfowl with some chap talking about the birds here and what the purpose of the WWT was regarding the world's wildfowl, that included the demise in numbers of the Bewick’s Swan. Global Warming got the blame, as expected, due to the birds stopping off in Europe and staying there rather than making their way here. We used to get a regular flock in the Avon Valley in Hampshire, but that seems like a distant memory now. Sad times indeed. On a positive note, the Whooper Swan numbers have rocketed and though they were here in small numbers, their numbers here overall has steadily increased over the years. It was when Becky and I were crossing the bridge to the main Hide from the Entrance site, that I spotted a small flock of three Common Crane’s flying overhead - a real bonus! There had been some reports last week here, but I never expected to see any today.
Another photo of the Tree Sparrows on the feeders.
The Tundra Bean Geese on Welney today.
Looking from the Hide, I was looking through all the Grey Lag Geese present and eventually, I came across the Tundra Bean Geese, all nine of them, sleeping on one of the nearby islands. After around 30 minutes, they all woke up and began swimming and preening, showing well in the sunshine. My fifth ‘year-tick’ of the day, which was gratefully received. Good numbers of wildfowl were present including Pochard, Mallard, Shoveler, Pintail and Wigeon while waders here included at least 200+ Black-tailed Godwit, with much smaller numbers of Redshank and Common Snipe noted. A female Marsh Harrier drifted over, scattering a lot of the wildfowl and in the distance, both Kestrel and Common Buzzards could be seen in good numbers.
Whooper Swan in front of the main Hide today.
A Great White Egret flew lazily past and then settled some 200 yards away to begin fishing, but after around 5 minutes, it flew off. A Little Egret was also seen some distance away and I read that a Cattle Egret was in the area, but I did not see it. Becky was getting a tad cold now and so we made our way to the Restaurant side for a hot drink. From here, we grabbed a table and I checked out the fields around the Lady Fen side. I could see my second Great White Egret of the day searching for food in the fields, while more Buzzards and Kestrels could be seen. A Short-eared Owl was reported here after we had left, but I was more than happy with our sightings today. On the drive back, as we neared the village of Fincham, I spotted my 6th and final ‘year-tick’ of the day - a large covey of Grey Partridge within the field by the roadside. Well pleased.
