Our trip to Titchwell RSPB Reserve.

Thursday 15th February 2024.

Scarlet Elf Cups were growing abundantly along the footpath to the main entrance to the reserve.

My itinerary today was Titchwell RSPB Reserve, the ‘flagship’ of the RSPB, where we spent the best part of 3 hours enjoying what this cracking Reserve had to offer. Though I picked up another ‘year-tick’ today by picking out a Spotted Redshank among the many Redshank (easy if you know how), I would have considered the trip a relatively quiet one. But hey, the reserve still had so much to offer and with more time, I probably would have seen a lot more, but I was pleased about today as the weather was kind to us again (still a balmy 15 degrees! One birder was in a t-shirt!!). Judging by all the ‘old’ people getting out of their cars or slowly walking to the reserve entrance, I suddenly realised that wait a minute…... .I'm old too! I still think I am 30 inside my head! Sob!

Above, among the many bird feeders present, these Long-tailed Tits paid a visit and below, this Curlew joined another on a small pool on the Freshmarsh.

The 24 mile trip from Holt to this reserve notched up sightings of Red Kites (including two on the ground eating a carcass!), Kestrel, Red-legged Partridge and Buzzards; but there was an awful lot of roadkill around. A lot of the main roads are straight and you can do 60 mph along them and at night, I expect a lot of speeding traffic will go in excess of that limit. It got actually brighter by the time we got to the Reserve and it has changed a bit since I was here two years ago. There are no parking meters, though you have to pay or show your RSPB Membership cards when walking through a very large shed-like building, where we were warmly greeted by the staff. On the way there, a sign pointed out Scarlet Dwarf Cup and Candlesnuff Fungus was around and sure enough, there was plenty of the former but I could not find any of the latter by the footpath. Long-tailed Tits were by the nearby feeders, showing nicely going about their business and Chaffinches were also seen using the feeders.

Above, our handsome boys Buddy & Ted and below, Avocets among the Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls on the reserve.

Above, more Meds & Black-headed Gulls along with a lone Avocet. Below, RSPB staff go about burning some of the excess reeds while the Teal looks on.

Because we had our dogs with us, on a lead at all times, we had to keep to the West Bank footpath where we took our time (Becky cannot walk fast), enjoying the Marsh Harriers over the Saltmarsh and the waders on the small pools (Curlew, Redshank and Snipe) and on the pools, ‘mewing’  Mediterranean Gulls mixed in with the Black-headed Gulls overhead or settled on the islands along with many Avocets. There was a lot of work going on here by the RSPB staff, with both new trenches and pipework going in so they can regulate the water level here and some burning of old reeds in the distance, with a plume of smoke heading north over the reserve. But the birds didn't seem to mind it, though I thought numbers of birds here were relatively lower than normal?

Above, there were a few Lapwing on the reserve, though what with all the human activity going on, I wasn't surprised to see low numbers here.

Above and below, this 'wing-tagged' female Marsh Harrier was hunting over the Freshmarsh to the west of the reserve.

Above, the Spotted Redshank was some distance away north of the Parrinder Hide along with this Oystercatcher.

As we made our way to the beach, a few Reed Buntings and both Meadow and Rock Pipit were seen. There was a report of a Water Pipit here, but I did not see it; but I had better luck when I found the wintering Spotted Redshank that was wading along the creek north of the Parrinder Hide. This was my first of the year, but it was a bit distant and the photos I took really didn't do it justice. I helped out some ‘newbie’ birders in identifying a flock of Linnets near an old Blockhouse just before the sand dunes and among them were several Skylarks to confuse them even more.

Above, birders enjoying checking out the sea for anything of note. I thought it was quiet on the sea today and probably expected a bit more, but that's the unpredictability of birding I suppose. Below, this singing Reed Bunting close to the footpath was a pleasure to listen to.

Above, a Redshank flew down into the creek adjacent to the footpath and below, this Avocet showed very well also by the footpath.

Above, Brent Geese preening on one of the small islands and below, they were also joined by a Lapwing, Dunlin and a few Black-headed Gulls.

I joined around a dozen or so birders looking out to sea through their scopes and picked out at least 8 Common Scoter, a pair of Mergansers and 4 Great Crested Grebes on the sea. A few Sanderling flew past and three Turnstone came in to land near our feet, but quickly flew off again. After 15 minutes or so, we slowly made our way back for a bite to eat and a drink back at the Shop and Cafe. A nice male Reed Bunting was perched on some Sueda and began singing and looked pretty bonnie in its near Spring plumage. Sitting on one of the benches, one of the Avocets came in very close to where we sat (see film footage), totally oblivious of our presence here. A large flock of both Grey Lag and Brent Geese were seen this morning here, but no sign of any other Geese bar the lone Egyptian Goose that flew low over our heads. My dogs behaved impeccably all the time we were there and they even got a bit of my Sausage Roll. That was a pleasant walk this morning and I am glad I came back to this lovely reserve. Good times indeed.     

From Titchwell RSPB Reserve this morning.

In our stretch of North Norfolk today, yet again, the Black Scoter was seen at Holkham Gap along with the 13 Shorelarks. A Glossy Ibis was reported at the Stiffkey Floods and the Russian White-fronted Geese were again seen by the A149 layby on Holkham Freshmarsh. We looked yesterday from the same layby, but drew a blank!

A trip to both Lady Anne's Drive & Wells.

Wednesday 14th February 2024.

This adult Mediterranean Gull was a surprise as I picked it out among a variety of Gulls in a field at the entrance of Lady Anne's Drive. There were plenty of Wigeon around in the same field. At least three Marsh Harriers were also seen nearby.

When I took my wife to Folly Tea Rooms for a Valentine's lunch today, a female Sparrowhawk flew low over the car park nearby; a Peregrine flew over just a few days before. This particular car park in Holt seems to be very good for Raptors! We decided to take a drive to Wells-next-to-sea to walk the dogs and perhaps to get a hot drink. But on the way there, I decided to take a drive to Lady Anne’s Drive for the flock of White-fronted Geese that were seen earlier today. Someone had reported them by viewing the birds by a lay-by near the Drive, but all we could see were GreyLag Geese. Bugger! I did pull into the Drive to check the fields, but all that were present were more GreyLags; but I did spot a near summer plumage adult Mediterranean Gull among the many Black-headed, Common and Herring Gulls. Later this evening, while checking the photos, the Med Gull in the photos was sporting rings on both legs. It would be interesting to see where the bird had come from.

A Chinese Water Deer (centre) grazing in a field off Lady Anne's Drive with plenty of wildfowl and waders present nearby. Below, a pair of Little Grebes on the East Fleet, Wells.

Above, the East Fleet looking north and below, the buildings and shops at East Quay.

Above, a Little Grebe on East Fleet with Oystercatchers behind and below, a Curlew wading in front of the Oystercatchers.

Above, the large number of dark-bellied Brent Geese on the football field. Eventually, they flew off and all took off by flying over the saltmarsh (below).

The Brent Geese flew back onto the East Fleet. On checking the photo, there were FOUR Little Grebes now on the water by the Geese.

Next, we took a drive into Wells-next-to-sea and after parking up, we took a slow stroll with the dogs north up the Beach Road, adjacent to the East Fleet. From here, I picked out three Little Grebes swimming on the water and a few waders were present on the mudflats that included Oystercatchers, a couple of Redshanks and lone Curlew. On the football fields opposite, a large gathering of around 400 Brent Geese were grazing and I went through them with a fine tooth comb, just in case the Red-breasted Goose was among them. Nope! Becky was soon getting tired and as it was just after 4pm and the light was fading, we made our way back to the shops where we had a hot drink. Way in the distance to the north, the huge gathering flock of Gulls suddenly all took flight and that was due to a female Peregrine flying over towards Holkham Pines, to round off a nice afternoon. 

In North Norfolk today, both the Black Scoter and Shorelarks were again seen at Holkham Gap, though no sighting of the Pallid Harrier, but two Hen-harriers were seen going to roost at Warham Greens. Incredibly, it was a balmy 16 degrees today here in North Norfolk, though maybe a little colder in the wind, but surely we should not be getting this warm in February! Crazy weather!

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.

Spout Hills for a walk with the dogs.

Monday 12th February 2024.

The entrance to Spout Hills by the western end of Holt adjacent to the A148.

Things didn't go to plan this morning. I had plans to make my way back to Holkham Pines early this morning, but my dogs had other ideas. One of them started barking at around 3am this morning (some noises outside, I assume) and I simply could not get back to sleep and so I had to get up. By near 8am, I was knackered and so we went along with my wife's suggestion about going out to nearby Byfords for breakfast. How could I refuse? Back in the garden, while letting the dogs have a run around, both Siskins and Greenfinches were flying all around the area and a female Sparrowhawk flew in and landed on my neighbours shed roof briefly!

When we were making our way back to the car park in Holt after breakfast, I caught sight of a female Peregrine flying over and with a blue sky above it, I really missed having my camera on me for I saw every detail of this impressive raptor. I did think about making my way to Holkham, but decided to have a lazy day and went for a walk around Spouts Hill, on the outskirts of Holt with both Becky and our dogs.

Above, one of a pair of Red Kites soaring over the fields and woodland opposite the site. I noticed the incomplete tail feathers on this individual. Below, Snowdrops were abundant throughout the site.

Above, a close up of one of the Snowdrops and below, my Becky and the dogs taking a break on the site.

Above, this small pond was clear as a bell, though I did notice some Duckweed starting to grow in it. Below, this Treecreeper (right) was climbing the bough of this tree while a Blue Tit was on the other side of the tree.

Above, Snowdrops as far as the eye could see growing in this Copse and below, these tiny Toadstools were growing near where we sat on one of the benches.

I remember walking around here the last time we stayed in Holt and waited up till dusk for a Woodcock or Tawny Owl to show, but neither showed up. The place hasn't changed much, but it was a nice stroll with the dogs around the perimeter of the area. I'm sure they enjoyed stretching their legs and having a good sniff around the area. Though being white coloured dogs, we had our work cut out in getting them clean before getting them in the car! While unloading the dogs and getting my birding gear ready, I saw a pair of Red Kites soaring over the neigbouring fields and woodland and now, with a bright blue sky as a background, I was pleased with my photos of the birds.

Spout Hills was awash with Snowdrops in bloom as we made our way around the perimeter and though quite soggy still in areas, it was still a pleasant walk. There were a lot of Corvids flying overhead (Jackdaws, Carrion Crows and Rooks) and a Kestrel flew over briefly, while a Common Buzzard flew north. A few Titmice were within the small woodland and a Treecreeper showed well climbing the bough of a tree close to the main entrance. A probable Bullfinch was heard but not seen as was a Nuthatch, but it was a lovely walk with my wife and the dogs. There are some cracking birds around here in North Norfolk and very tempting they are too and so I shall decide early tomorrow morning where I am going to go.