☀️3C
Sunday 6th January 2019 ~ A nice surprise during Sunday 6th's visit to Brandon Marsh was a
Great Egret, which flew over me and down onto East Marsh Pool as I walked up the track towards the hide at around 08:30.
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| Great Egret ~ Brandon Marsh Sunday 6th January |
☀️4C
Monday 7th January 2019 ~ A quick stop on Monday 7th to catch up with a local
Little Owl before heading off to Brandon Marsh, where a sub-adult
Caspian Gull was the highlight and Draycote Water later for the gull roost, the latter producing
Meditteranean and
Glaucous Gull.
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| Local Little Owl in his usual spot! |
🌀🌂⛅5C
Tuesday 8th January 2019 ~ The first away-day of the year and a visit to the Norfolk coast on Tuesday in pretty challenging conditions. In fact, the early morning spring tide, accompanied by some really strong Northerlies did cause a few issues with some sea defences actually being breached. The evidence of which was apparent when we stopped off at Salthouse, where a
Seal was actually sheltering along the shingle near the old car park. Glad to say that by the time we arrived back to the car after a walk around Grandborough Hill it had in fact managed to haul itself back out to sea.
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| Twite in the harsh morning sun ~ Thornham Harbour |
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| Twite |
Stops at Thornham Harbour for
Twite and Holkham Gap for
Shorelark were successful, although the heavy showers in the afternoon were a hindrance. Of course, the large skeins of
Pink-footed Geese and big numbers of
Brent Geese are always a spectacle. RSPB Titchwell also yielded at least three
Meditteranean Gulls.
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| Shorelark ~ A challenging job getting this one in strong winds |
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| One of only seven Shorelarks at Holkham |
Despite the conditions, it was a decent days birding, although sea-watching was difficult I did manage to log
Red-breasted Merganser,
Long-tailed Duck,
Gannet,
Kittiwake,
Guillemot,
Red-throated Diver, plus
Fulmars at Hunstanton.
One of the highlights on the day was a
Hen Harrier at Cholsey Barns while having lunch, this along with
Red Kite and both
Grey and
Red-legged Partridge.
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| Grey Plover ay RSPB Titchwell |
Waders included
Grey Plover,
Bar-tailed and
Black-tailed Godwit,
Sanderling,
Oystercatcher,
Turnstone,
Curlew,
Redshank and
Spotted Redshank,
Ruff and
Avocet.
Many thanks to Geoff Hood, John Raven and Fred Burton for their company.
