A few local trips out to the Washes, where Short-eared Owls had been notable highlights, preceeded a weekend away on the Norfolk coast.
A dawn walk down the embankment at Titchwell is a favourite treat. I arrived in the dark and used the thermal imaging camera to investigate the gloaming. Muntjac and then Robins and Blackbirds burned bright white in the viewfinder but I didn't succeed in locating a feeding Woodcock. As the sky lightened activity accelerated with birds all over the place. Thousands of Geese headed inland from their roosts, Starlings swirled and Marsh Harriers began to leave the reed bed. Always difficult to count 30 or so left and a male Hen Harrier slipped, almost unseen, out of the back corner. A Great Egret loafed across to a hidden pool and a Spoonbill hacked over head and out towards Thornham. The saltmarsh was filling up with the rising tide and I was surprised at how rapidly and to what extent it occurred, it appeared a particularly high tide and on reaching the beach there was only a thin sliver of sand between the dunes and the foaming tide line.
The swell was small and birds were relatively easy to pick up on the sea but the feeding was active so many birds were not picked up on first, second or third sweep. Even in good viewing conditions it takes a lot of time to see most of what's out there. A dusky Red-necked Grebe was the first goodie amongst many Merganser, Goldeneye and Great-crested Grebes. A Great Northern Diver was next, alongside a Slavonian Grebe. The next birds were a real surprise - small skein of geese appeared over the sea heading towards the coast, they were quite high and I almost forgot to look at them as get got closer presuming they were Pinks. I took a look with the scope once they were just offshore and they immediately appeared darker than expected - I worked through the features, alerted fellow birders and quickly confirmed they were a flock of 22 Tundra Bean Geese, even confirming that the feet and legs were tangerine orange. Pretty special. More work on the falling tide produced a Goosander in the surf which flew onto the saltmarsh pool and a second Slav. Two speeding pied bullets, Little Auks, raced each other in direct flight across the horizon and out into the mouth of the Wash - after 2.5 hrs I had worked the sea hard and it had delivered well with little left to offer.
On the freshmarsh I trawled through the assembled wildfowl and waders before taking a slow potter through the sallows on the fen trail. A few Chiffchaff all appeared to be collybitta but on arrival at my favoured interface the first bird I saw was a bright Yellow-browed Warbler, some predator caused all the finches to unsettle and the air became alive with Chaffinch and Goldfinch with Brambling and Redpoll drawing attention with their distinctive calls.
In total the 4.5 hrs on the reserve produced 104 species, an incredible winter total for one site. I returned to sunny Hunny for a late breakfast and then headed with the girls back down the coast.
A quick check of the freshmarsh at Holkham revealed the young White-tailed Eagle, from the south coast re-introduction programme, sat a top it's preffered treetop lookout.
We continued to CleySpy where I treated myself to my first new binoculars in 25 years. My trusty Trinovids 8x32 have been semi-retired, increasing neck ache from any heavy bins has led me to downsize and prioritise weight over most other factors - this has led me to the Swarovski CL 8x30's - I absolutely love them.
A potter around Cley, treating myself further to the New Naturalist - Ecology and Natural History in softback and then a thoroughly enjoyable hour at the harrier roost on the saltmarsh from Wells. A stunning male Hen Harrier ghosted across the samphire and sueda before the juvenile female Pallid Harrier drifted from the east and performed alongside a ringtail Hen Harrier before both settled to roost towards East Hills. It was a great comparison with the lighter structure, narrower wings and sharper wingtip of the Pallid notable alongside the gingery underside, agile flight and frequent switchbacks in pseudo hunting moves. Cracking bird. To finish the day tens of thousands of Pink-footed Geese flew over us creating a cacophony as we pulled over to enjoy the spectacle - it always takes my breath away to experience this daily flight of winter wild geese.
Next day dawned grey, blustery and wet. We retraced our steps along the coast and cafes. Before heading home we spent an hour or so with 7 Waxwings that had taken up residence in Sheringham. Eve, 7, taking her first digiscoping pics of the Waxwings, a new and exciting bird for her.
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