TRAVEL FROM SOMERSET TO THE NORTH NORFOLK COSTLINE WITH STOPS AT LYNFORD ARBORETUM AND TITCHWELL RSPB RESERVE
WEATHER: bright sunshine all the way, cloudy later. Top temp 5C
My local Birding Guru and me set out at 6am for the long journey to Norfolk, it was crisp morning, a little icey but cloud free. We were going swimmingly until were neared Windsor on the M3! Then we hit traffic, all lanes at a standstill, in fact we found out that the motorway ahead was completely closed. We crawled to the nearest exit, 1 hour later we got off the M3 and spent another hour negotiating the traffic as we crawled towards the M4, another hour was lost as we did that.
We eventually arrived at Lynford Arboretum at 1:30pm instead of 11am. Guy sat in the car and scoffed his lunch and I ambled down the main track towards the famous 'paddock' where `Hawfinches are seen every winter. I stopped to look at the area where there are bird feeders and saw a dozen Chaffinches, Robins, Dunnocks, Blue and Great Tits.
Marsh Tit and a Chaffinch
At the bridge near the 'paddock' I stood with two local birders and watched a good number of birds coming to seeds left on the parapet of the bridge. Marsh and Coal Tits joined Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits, Chaffinches, Dunnocks and Robins eating the seeds on offer. Wood Pigeons and a Mallard also visited the food fest at one point.
Dunnock
In the trees above the bridge a flock of Crossbills fed high up and an even larger number of Siskins alos dropped in. Guy joined us watching the Crossbills and during our walk back we added Goldcrest, Nuthatch and Goldfinch to thwe list. We never saw a single Hawfinch during this visit.
a male 'red' Crossbill
It was now getting opn for 3pm and we had an hours drive to the coast at Titchwell, we hoped to get there before dark to see afew species. Great Skeins of Pink-footed Geese flew over us, we also saw Brent Geese and Greylags.
At Titchwell the light was fading fast, we only had time to walk around to the Fen Hide, along a boardwalk. Near the hide an ivy-clad tree was home to a pair of Tawny Owls, they can often be seen from the path. Yes, one of them was in view today.
The Guru - Guy at the bridge at Lynford Arboretum
I used my new toy, a thermal image camera, to look for Woodcock in the undergrowth of the woodland. After a while I found one, Guy got it in his bins and immediately he discovered a second bird Wowza! That was our number one target for the day, in the bag.
We decided to stay on the boardwalk until dark so that we could look for more Woodcocks leaving the cover of the woodland to fly off and feed in the meadows. We counted 7 more Woodcocks, one or twp passed rigt over our heads.
another shot of the Crossbill
That concluded our first day's birding, we had lost almost 3 hours due to the M3 closure but we still enjoyed what little time we had. We made our way to our Self-catering home for the next 5 days, in the village of Brancaster Staithe.