This day we decided to go to Santon Downham near Thetford Forest with the aim of possibly finding some woodland or heathland birds. At the Forestry Commission office we picked up some maps and a helpful ranger suggested we go back down the road we had come down until we reached marker 21 (which was between Hartling Drove and the A134), a part of the forest that was clear fell.
May 2017 archive
May 09 2017
Santon Downham, Lynford Arboretum and Thornham 9th May 2017
May 08 2017
Thornham, Titchwell RSPB and Chosely Drying Barns 8th May 2017
Titchwell RSPB
We booked on a guided bird walk around he reserve where they hope to see 70 species in three hours or so. We met up with Colin just before 10 am and it transpired that we were the only two people booked for the walk. Colin had just come back from a birding trip to Belorussia and it felt like he would rather be elsewhere.
May 07 2017
Thornham, Holmes Dunes NWT and Chosely Drying Barns 7th May 2017
Thornham
I went out for a bit of a walk around 8am but the weather, even though it was bit brighter than earlier in the week, was still cold and windy and there wasn’t much bird life apart from the gulls. I did, however, get a Great Black-backed Gull – a first for the holiday.
May 06 2017
Titchwell RSPB , Holme Dunes NWTand Hunstanton 6th May
Titchwell
We started out the day at Titchwell arriving there at 9am – an hour before they opened. We headed straight down to the first hide on the path that leads to the Parrinder hide. On our way down we could hear Sedge and Reed Warblers, Chiffchaff, Cetti’s Warblers and assorted other woodland birds. The weather was pretty cold, overcast and windy, so not much chance of Bearded Tits. Further down we saw Marsh Harrier and in the hide we got Avocet, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Gadwall and Grey Heron. Oystercatcher and Pochard added to the tally. We also got three Brent Geese.
May 05 2017
Cley Marshes NWT, Norfolk and Thornham 5th May 2017
We left Halesworth for Thornham around 9am. We dropped in at Cley just after opening time around 10:15am. They said that there had been Spoonbills dropping in already this morning but we did not see any. In fact, there were very few birds at all. We went to the three central hides but they held very few birds and what few they were were very common. We didn’t bothe with the other hides but instead headed for Thornham.
May 04 2017
Strumpshaw Fen RSPB and Horsey Mere 4th May 2017
We checked out of our hotel in Halesworth and started out for Potter Heigham where we were spending the night. We stopped off at RSPB Strumpshaw Fen – a site we had never been to before – and in the reception we spoke to a couple of staff members who told us about the Cuckoo, the Ospreys etc. And we had reason to believe that there were also Garganey. However, our attention was diverted when they told us that they had had a juvenile White-tailed Eagle on the Buckenham marshes and that it had been seen already that morning. We felt that we didn’t have much choice but to head down there to take a look.
May 03 2017
Snape Maltings & Norfolk Environs
Not much birding today. Did a walk from Snape Maltings to Iken Church and did see Marsh Harrier – pretty common in this area – but not a lot more. We were intending to go to Walberswick and walk around the estuary and reed beds there but it started to get pretty wet so we called it a day.
May 02 2017
Minsmere RSPB 2nd May 2017
We started out with the intention of trying to see the reported Savi’s Warbler at RSPB Minsmere which had apparently been reeling from a bush next to the L locator sign in the reed bed outside the Island Mere Hide earlier in the day. We stayed there for about forty-five minutes but apart from good displays by Marsh Harriers, some Common Terns, a Reed Bunting, Reed Warbler and Great Crested Grebes there wasn’t much to be seen so we backtracked to the Bittern Hide where we were also rather disappointed despite more great Marsh Harrier displays; it was hard to know how many were on the site but there were always several birds in the air.
May 01 2017
Weeting Heath and Lakenheath Fen 1 May 2017
When we left Peterborough, our first call was at Weeting Heath where we had a blank at first but then, suddenly as happens with them, a single Stone Curlew appeared and showed very well pretty much for as long as we had time to stay. A couple of Curlew flew in but I didn’t see the Tree Pipit or the Woodlark that I had really hoped for as well. Still, Stone Curlew is not to be sniffed at.
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