Norfolk 26th July-5th August

We traveled up to Norfolk on the 26th of July for a week's trip to the north Norfolk coast.

The trip's first new bird of the year for me came in the form of a ring-necked parakeet, which shot over our car as we were stuck in truly horrendous traffic on the M25. About two hours later, we arrived at Lakenheath Fen, where my target was the common crane, a species which has become a bit of a bogey bird for me, but that we hoped to find there, with nine (!) of them seen there the day before. Needless to say I had another horrible dip, following one on Ham Wall's breeding little bitterns on the 21st, when we waited at the viewing platform for over three hours without any luck. On the 21st, I added green sandpiper, garganey and Cetti's warbler to the year list, and at Lakenheath, bearded tit and sedge warbler were additions to the same list. Best of all, I got my first new mammal species since my Jordan trip two years ago, when a mink appeared on the path right next to the viewing platform at Ham Wall. Not that any of them even nearly made up for missing little bitterns and cranes! The highlight at Lakenheath were the bearded tits, with a group of about eight appearing right next to me as I searched for cranes. Five marsh harriers made a superb sight as well. After two nights staying just south of Norwich, we headed north, first to Holkham, where I hoped to chance upon the two-barred crossbill seen earlier in the week there, but all I found was two grey partridges, a very scarce species in Dorset, and my first since I visited Suffolk three years ago. We then traveled to our campsite at Burnham Thorpe. Though not overly stunning as a campsite, the birdwatching there was breathtaking. Soon after our arrival, two red kites flew low over, followed by a hobby, and then, best of all, a cracking little owl barely twenty yards away!

Little Owl, Burnham Thorpe

The kites and little owls turned out to be a regular sight at the campsite, both seemingly very used to human presence.

The next day, I visited one of the reserves I have most wanted to go to, Titchwell. There, I hoped to find some of the scarcer passage waders that are very difficult to see in Dorset, and maybe even find something rarer. My first wader was a green sandpiper, soon followed by a world lifer (my only one of the trip), the spotted redshank. Nearby were 14 spoonbills, but greater wader numbers seemed to be found in front of the other hide, so I headed there. In front of it were at least 20 spredshanks, two green sandpipers, 60 bar-tailed godwits, a little stint (new for me in Britain), two curlew sandpipers (my second sighting in Britain), about 60 ruff, a single curlew and a single golden plover among hundreds (if not thousands) of black-tailed godwits, knot, avocet, dunlin and other common wader species. All together, I saw 16 species of wader there. Other notable species in front of the hide were two little gulls and a yellow-legged gull.

Ruff, Titchwell

Little Gull, Titchwell

Curlew Sandpiper, Titchwell

Spoonbills, Titchwell

Spotted Redshank, Titchwell

Green Sandpiper, Titchwell

As I headed back to the entrance, I was pleasantly surprised to come across this distant female mandarin duck as I had a final scan of the lake on which the red-crested pochards breed (sadly I didn't see them).

Appalling record shot of female mandarin, Titchwell

The next day, I visited another of Norfolk's great reserves, Cley Marshes. At the first hide, I found generally similar species to those seen the day before, but ringed plover and common sandpipers took the trip's wader tally to 18, along with 30 ruff, 12 green sandpipers and large numbers of black-tailed godwits. As I headed to the North Scrape, I came across these three spoonbills close to the path. Sadly, they didn't wake up to show off their magnificent bill!

Spoonbills, Cley Marshes

Close to the spoonbills were two greenshanks, another new wader for the trip. On the North Scrape itself, wader numbers were very high, again similar to those at Titchwell, but with only one ruff, along with several common snipe and a single little ringed plover, both new for the trip. Best of all, however, were the wood sandpipers, a new species for me in Britain, and four of them showed stunningly well just in front of the hide.

Green Sandpiper, Cley Marshes

Wood Sandpipers, Cley Marshes

Wood Sandpiper, Cley Marshes

Also present was a little gull, and another year tick in the form of at least twelve yellow wagtails feeding on the marsh. The only notable bird seen from the beach was a first year yellow-legged gull, and there was no sign of the possible black scoter seen a few days before.

After that, birding took a backseat, other than another attempt at finding the cranes, this time at Hickling Broad, and then at Horsey and Waxham. Predictably, I failed to find the cranes, but eight marsh harriers at Stubb Mill at Hickling, along with a hobby, made for a great sight. One surprise was to find an unseasonable pink-footed goose associating with greylags at Baconsthorpe Castle. Presumably it was a victim of the wildfowling season, and is carrying an injury that hasn't allowed it to return to Siberia?

Pink-footed Goose, Baconsthorpe Castle

Interesting species kept coming though, with several Arctic and one roseate (new for me in Britain) terns present along with large numbers of common, little and Sandwich terns on Scolt Head Island. Other birds seen there included two whimbrels (my 21st wader species of the trip!), two green and one common sandpipers, and three spoonbills flying over. It was certainly a very enjoyable trip, with four new species for me in Britain seen, though missing the cranes (admittedly at a bad time of year) was really rather frustrating....