Author's posts
May 11 2016
Cley NWT and Blakeney Point 11th May 2016
Cley NWT and Blakeney Point 11th May 2016
Oystercatcher Nest with Eggs at Blakeney Point
May 10 2016
Weeting Heath NWT 10th May 2016
May 09 2016
Holkham NNR 9th May 2016
Holkham NNR 9th May 2016
Holkham NNR certainly knows how to make money at £2 an hour for parking. We paid £3 for 2 hours and started off on the left path that goes through the woods to the hides. There were various birds about and we felt that there should have been Crossbills but we never did see them and, instead, had to settle for a Jay, some Chiffchaff and a Robin. When we eventually reached the hide (is it really only a quarter of a mile ?) this gave us views over some fields and a lake and with shrubbery in the foreground.
May 09 2016
Holkham Hall 9th May 2016
Holkham Hall 9th May 2016
We started off our attempt to check out Holkham by paying a visit to Holkham Hall but this was basically your average stately home and whilst you would be bound to find some birds there, it was such a big site that we felt our energies would be better used elsewhere. Be that as it may, we had a look at the lake and that got us another holiday and year “tick” in the shape of Egyptian Goose of which there seems to be a healthy population – with lots of Egyptian Goslings in evidence.
May 09 2016
Cley Marshes NWT 9th May 2016
Cley Marshes NWT 9th May 2016
We left Chosely Drying Barns for Cley Marshes nature reserve. I asked about Spoonbills and was given a very cagey reply. As far as I can gather the authorities do not want to encourage anyone looking for them during the breeding season. We did meet a couple who told us they had seen them at Holkham but that was a bit vague. Anyway, we had not really come to Cley to see the Spoonbills specifically so we headed off to the hides to see what was about.
May 09 2016
Chosely Drying Barns 9th May 2016
May 09 2016
Thornham 9th May 2016
Thornham 9th May 2016
I started the morning with a walk along the edge of the marsh at Thornham. The Reed and Sedge Warblers were all singing and I got good views of Sedge Warbler and Wren. I immediately heard a Cuckoo calling and on the marsh there were Redshank, Shelduck and the usual Corvids and Gulls
May 08 2016
Thornham 8th May 2016
Thornham 8th May 2016
We had visitors coming to see us and have a pub lunch, followed by a walk so most of our birding today was incidental. However it was not without some good sightings. We had to get some food and drink in but it was a Sunday so we had to wait for the supermarkets at Hunstanton to open at 10am. To kill some time we decided to go to the cliffs at Hunstanton to see the nesting Fulmars.
May 07 2016
Titchwell RSPB 7th May 2016
Titchwell RSPB 7th May 2016
After having settled in at our cottage in the village of Thornham, we decided that we were ready for a full day at the Titchwell RSPB reserve, just a mile down the road. As soon as we arrived we checked out availability of places on the “guided tour” of the reserve led by an experienced birder and with the aim of seeing as many species as possible in one afternoon. This didn’t start until 1pm so we had a whole morning to cover the reserve ourselves. We set out to see as many species as possible in the time we had.
May 07 2016
Thornham 7th May 2016
Thornham 7th May 2016
I took an early morning walk on my own through the reed beds to the old, silted up, harbour. The reed bed was alive with the sound of Reed and Sedge Warblers and the sound of Oystercatchers and Redshanks is always in the air, more, or less, distant depending upon the state of the tide. Over by the harbour in the field immediately opposite the path I walked I came across four Whimbrel foraging around in the grass. This was a “year tick”. All of the fields surrounding the harbour were full of Skylarks. A single Avocet flew overhead.