We left Burnham Overy Staithe and headed back homeward then continued on to NWT Holmes Dunes. We were hoping to see or at least hear Turtle Doves but we were to be disappointed. The truth of the matter is that on dull, cold and windy days nothing much wants to show iself and certainly not Turtle Doves. The general impression seems to be that the bad weather has stalled migrations bit. Still, we were there and did our best.
May 05 2019
Burnham Overy Staithe 5th May 2019
With the weather continuing to be poor we were a bit put out but reports of a Purple Heron not too far away, at Burnham Overy Staithe. We had tried for this unsuccessfully the day before but we met a woman at Titchwell who gave us a better idea of where we might find it. We headed out along the Norfolk coastal path and eventually found a photogrpaher who pointed it out to us. By now it was further away than it had been before but scoped views were ok. We also found a Whimbrel in the same field giving us two year ticks for the price of one.
May 04 2019
Chosely Drying Barns and Hunstanton Cliffs 4th May 2019
After the rain at Titchwell we were inclined to go shopping for some supplies we had forgoten to get yesterday for which we would go to the supermarket in Hunstanton. We thought we could fit in a bit of car birding on the way though and in doing so got two year ticks.
May 04 2019
Titchwell Marsh RSPB 4th May 2019
Unfortunately the weather had not improved much from yesterday but we decided to give Titchwell a go – after all it was only a mile down the road. We were at the reserve before the visitor centre was open so we headed straight down towards the Parrinder hides. We stopped half way down at the Island hide to get some relief from the rain and the very high winds. As we were sitting there it started to hail and the haiil was actaully coming through the gaps in the windows and forming small piles on the floor. We waited for it to stop and we ventured out again.
May 03 2019
Cley Nature Reserve NWT 3rd May 2019
The first week of our holiday ended when we left Horning and headed towards Thornham where we were due to spend a week at the cottage we have previously hired from our “friends” Tom and Anita. It was a bit of a drive and we wanted to do some shopping for food and drink and to get settled in at the cottage so we only had time for one stop on the way and that was at NWT Cley.
May 02 2019
Hickling Broad NWT 2nd May 2019
We got up in a pretty bad mood at the hotel because we had no hot water and a cooked breakfast wasn’t even included in the £140 a night room we had for 2 nights ! We had to wait for the manageress to arrive to complain about it and this meant that we did not get going until 9am. We put that aside, however, and got on with what turned out to be a lovely day and another boat trip.
May 01 2019
NWT Ranworth Broad 1st May 2019
We left Strumpshaw Fen and headed towards Horning stopping off at NWT Ranworth Broad. We didn’t know too much about this site but when we arrived it was mentioned to us that a boat trip was going to be leaving in about an hour. We decided to take them up on this.
May 01 2019
RSPB Strumpshaw Fen 1st May 2019
On the 1st May we left Halesworth to spend a couple of days on the Broads. Our first stopover en route was at RSPB Strumpshaw Fen. We had managed to get an early start so we got there by 10am. It was pleasant to see that the facilities had been upgraded a bit since we last visited and we took advantage of a cup of tea and a break before setting off. We took the “Fen Trail” route which takes you across most of the site and took us about three hours.
Apr 30 2019
April 2019 : Summary
April 2019 : Summary
UK Species Year List to April: 138
Total UK Species in April: 108
New “Year Ticks” in April: 31
New “Life Ticks” in April: 2
Apr 30 2019
RSPB Minsmere 30th April 2019
The 29th had been a travel day from Mundford to Halesworth. On that day we stayed with our friends who lived nearby but on the 30th we had the whole day to ourselves before meeting up with them again in the evening for a meal at at The Angel Hotel where we stayed that night. This gave us a whole day at Minsmere and we made the best of it – even getting a life tick Savi’s Warbler.