Another great day in North Norfolk.

Tuesday 13th February 2024.

Left, the drake Green-winged Teal next to a Eurasian Teal at North Point Pools this morning.

I managed to get to three nature reserves today, all on my lonesome too, with some excellent birds seen along the way. The weather wasn't too bad either and though it was a bit overcast at first, it was relatively bright and a light southerly wind, though later in the day, the rain eventually came in. I left the Cottage early this morning and eventually arrived at my first destination of Holkham Pines around 8.20am. On the journey there, sightings of Red Kite, Kestrel and Common Buzzard were noted and several Hares were seen out in the fields. It makes me laugh how fast some of the local residents speed down these country roads as I had one idiot right up my backside nearly all the way back to Holt. No wonder there is a lot of roadkill on the roads around here, which included a Muntjac deer laying dead on the side of the A149.

Above, one of several Hares I saw out in the fields while driving to Holkham Pines early this morning. Below, a skein of Pink-footed Geese flew over my head on Lady Anne's Drive.

Above, a Ruff probing the soft grass, with Teal and Redshank nearby. Below, a flooded Holkham Gap was a surprise.

As expected, Lady Anne's Drive was fairly quiet when I arrived at Holkham Pines. I only paid for a couple of hours this time as I then watched several skeins of Pink-footed Geese fly over, which really is a magical sight. I am so used to Brent Geese back at home flying over and that's spectacular too, but seeing these larger ‘honking’ birds going over, I find it amazing to watch. Again, there were good numbers of Ruff feeding around the waterlogged fields adjacent to the Drive, with one flock consisting of around a dozen birds and along with these, both Redshank and Black-tailed Godwit could be seen. A passing Marsh Harrier put up a lot of other waders including a large flock of Curlew and an even larger flock of Golden Plover.

Above, a large number of Golden Plover flew over Holkham Pines and below, at least 20 Skylark were on the salt marsh here too.

Above, Oystercatchers in the foreground and Grey Plover in the background all flying over Holkham Bay. Below, the first two dots are actually Velvet Scoter which were followed by Common Scoters. Sadly, all the Scoter were very distant and best using my scope to go through them; but no Black Scoter among them.

Both the Black Scoter and Shorelarks were reported yesterday on the west side of Holkham Bay and so I opted to go in that direction this time, but I never expected to see most of the Gap underwater. In all the times I have been coming to this site over the years, I don't think I have ever seen the tide before! It was receding and this attracted good numbers of both Rock and Meadow Pipits on the saltmarsh. Skylarks were abundant too, including a large flock of 20 birds feeding together. I made my way to the sand dunes, enjoying great views of more Pink-footed Geese overhead and a large flock of Golden Plover going over and even a close view of a Goldcrest earlier in one of the Pine trees. On reaching the Dunes, I set up the scope and checked out the sea thoroughly.

Above, you can just see the Green-winged Teal in the centre of the photo on North Point Pools and below, a male Marsh Harrier drifted over and helped scatter the birds here.

This flock of Pink-footed Geese flew right over my head by Holkham Pines.

Though the sea was pretty calm, the Scoter flocks were quite distant and checking the birds for a large patch of yellow on its bill (for Black Scoter), was going to be very difficult. Some flocks did get a lot nearer, so I could eliminate them for Common Scoter, but I did have good views of at least a dozen Velvet Scoter flying over the sea through the scope. Though I ‘dipped’ on the Black Scoter, a passing drake Eider made up for that; my first of the year as it flew west low over the sea. Some distant Divers, most likely Red-throated Divers, could be seen also heading west. There was also a large gathering of waders on the beach that included Grey Plover, Dunlin, Sanderling, Knot and Oystercatcher before something spooked them and all headed off east over the sea. Scouring the sea, I also saw several Great Crested Grebes and a pair of Mergansers were also noted.   

Above, more large skeins of Pink-footed Geese came in from the east while watching the GW Teal and below, Avocets flying over one of the roadside pools on Cley Marshes.

Above, Golden Plover settling down within the Eye Field on Cley Marshes and below, a large skein of Brent Geese also in the same field.

While I was at Holkham Pines, I chatted to a fellow birder who was also hoping to catch up with the Black Scoter. He told me that the drake Green-winged Teal was showing well this morning on the North Point Pools and gave me directions on where to find the bird. So that was my next destination. The small reserve was just east of Wells village, just off the Stiffkey Road, down a small road that, thankfully, had a small car park. I joined a couple of other birders who already had seen the bird and kindly got me on this rare American duck; my first one in several years. The bird was mostly asleep on a small spit on the main pool to the west of the car park, but while I was 'digiscoping' the duck, a male Marsh Harrier sailed low over the pool and the bird popped its head out briefly and eventually went for a swim. Nearby, on one of the other pools, a pair of Avocet were wading in the pool, while overhead, good numbers of Pink-feet were flying over heading west towards the fields at Holkham.

Above, the Golden Plover flying off over the Eye Field and below, another photo of the Green-winged Teal.

Very happy with a Green-winged Teal on my year list, I then headed off to Cley Marshes for the Twite that were seen earlier this morning. I parked up briefly in the Visitor Centre car park and watched a large flock of Avocets and Godwit flying over the pools briefly as a Marsh Harrier flushed everything. The Twite were earlier reported by the Sluice on the West Bank and so I took a drive up to a lay-by near the Sluice and searched the area, but to no avail. There was no sign of the birds and I even checked out the large number of Brent Geese in the Eye Field, but no sign of the Red-breasted Goose, which was present here earlier last week. I took a drive down the Beach Road to the Car Park and after enjoying a flock of nearby Golden Plover, I decided to check out the sea.

Film footage of the Green-winged Teal today.

The sea was very calm, but I could not believe how many Red-throated Divers were out there, either on the sea or flying low over it. I must have counted at least 40+ birds in total; easily the highest number of this species I have seen in one showing. Incredible. Along with the Divers, there were at least 10+ Great Crested Grebes also on the sea and I also found my first Guillemots of the year, with at least 3 or 4 birds in summer plumage! Apart from the occasional Cormorant flying past, there was a small flock of Wigeon on the sea, which I didn't expect. A couple of Seals were seen poking their heads out of the water, but too distant to see if they were either Common or Grey Seals. A good day in all, with three more ‘year-ticks’ under my belt. I must admit, I was tempted to go for the Pallid Harrier at Warham Greens, but I knew that rain was coming in and so made my way home. Apparently, the Shorelarks were again seen this afternoon, close to where I was watching the Scoter! There was also a large flock of 120 Russian White-fronted Geese seen in fields on Holkham Freshmarsh around midday. Hopefully, I hope to see the birds later this week.   

Ruffs (including one with a dodgy leg) from Lady Anne's Drive.