May 2022 archive

The 20th was the last day of our holiday and we drove from our cottage in Thornham to the village of Woolsthorpe by Belvoir where we stayed at the Chequers Inn. En route, though, we stopped at Frampton Marsh RSPB reserve. Here was our last chance to see Turtle Doves we thought, since we had had such good views the last time we visited there. Unfortunately they have stopped visiting there as well so this was our third and last idea of where me might see them. There were some compensations though.

On the 18th we had another lazy day in the sun. We drove around the immediate area a bit and up to Chosely but didn’t see a lot except an entirely accidental Yellowhammer who we flushed from the roas as we were driving along. We ate at home that evening and then walked through the reedbed down to Thornham Harbour to watch the tide come in at around 7:30pm. It was a nice night and it was amazing watching the gradual ingress of the sea into the channels and marsh. We got fantastic views of a Marsh Harrier quartering the field nearby and a single Spoonbill – presumably returning to the roost at Holkham.

On the 17th we took the time to drive out to Sculthorpe Hawk and Owl Trust Reserve which is well known for its Marsh Tit population so we hoped to add this species to our year list. As it turned out it was a bit quiet there. We did the full circuit of the reserve in the hope of finding these and perhaps Cuckoos and maybe a rooosting Tawny Owl as the girl representing Sculthorpe that we met outside Norwich Cathedral (for their raptor watch) but we were disappointed in all respects seeing only the usual suspects.

When we were getting ready for our day’s birding, I went out to the car and the first thing I saw was a Marsh Harrier over the field immediately opposite our cottage flying about twelve feet off the ground. What a start to the day. It eventually flew off and the airspace was left to the flock of Swifts that seem to be ever-present around the cottage. We had no plan for the day so I thought it would be interesting to take a walk along the roped off sections of the beach at Holme-next-the-Sea. I fancied that I remembered that there was a Little Tern colony there and hoped to get a year tick from them.