BURNHAM OVERY STAITHE - TITCHWELL RESERVE AND BEACH - HOLKHAM DUMES AND BEACH - MORSTON QUAY - WELLS-NEXT-THE-SEA BEACH
WEATHER: another lovely day with plenty of sunshine, very light winds, great light. Top temp 8C
Our last full day had arrived and bird movements dictated where we headed, we were still chasing anumber of species, including the Red-necked Grebe. So, our first port of call was Burnham Overy where once again we dipped on the Grebe, we are convinced that the grebe has left this area, however is was still a beautiful morning with plenty of other species to see. A flock of eight Knot flew over and the Guru missed them.
The Long-tailed Duck was missing off both of our year lists and three had popped up offshore at Titchwell so that is where we headed for next. As we drove through Titchwell village we noticed a huge flock of geese in a ploughed field next to Brairfields Hotel. Guy turned the car around pulled up in an open gateway, I was curb-side so I had the best view. I quickly located at least two White-fronted Geese and a much larger number of Barnacle Geese in amongst a huge flock of Greylags and Egyptian Geese. As soon as I called them out to Guy the geese got all nervous and quickly departed!
the male Northern Pintail is astunning looking bird
Ooops!! I think I flushed them. Well I have never seen the Guru lose his temper before, he couldn't see much sitting roadside and he missed his most wanted WF Geese, doh!. Well, the window went down, he spat out his dummy, threw his favourite Teddy Bear out the window into the road along with some of his Toy Aeroplanes, he was livid.
By the time we got to Titchwell the Guru has recovered his composure, we had great views of a Water Rail along the main track and that calmed him down somewhat. We walked past the main lagoons without stopping much and got to the beach lookout in good time. Within a few minutes we located three Long-tailed Ducks, not far offshore. Plenty of waders and gulls were scattered along the shoreline, we enjoyed a lovely hour just watching.
roadside fields containing large flocks of geese are quite common in Norfolk
On the way back we made a detour and walked the boardwalks looking for a Firecrest which did not show, we made a brief effort to look for a Woodcock, which was fruitless. We ducked into the cafe for a toasted Tea-cake and a cuppa.
Next we drove around the lanes inland from Titchwell hoping to find the geese flock without a sniff of a goose, we did see plenty of other species including our first Stock Doves and we had great views of the majestic Red Kite.
Holkham dunes are accessed from the car park at the golf course, we were hoping to find Velvet Scoter on the sea from the beach. What a superb time we had there! Once again thousands of birds were feeding on a plateau of mud during this low tide period. We had much better views of Sanderling and Red Knot, also present were Bar-tailed Godwits, Oystercatchers, Turnstones, Curlew, Dunlin, Ringed P{lover, Grey Plover, Redshank, Red-brested Mergansers and Brent Geese.
a mixed bag L to R - Common Gull, Oystercatcher, Red Knot, Curlew asnd a Dunlin
To our great delight we found another drake Long-tailed Duck which was quite close to the shoreline, in the background we picked out three Common Eider Ducks and a single Red-throated Diver. Several Red Kites drifted over the shoreline looking for dead things.
From Holkham we drove all the way to Morston Quay, from there you can walk out over the marsh and view Blakeney Point and the huge inflow to the marshes. The tide had just turned and the channels were filling up fast, thousands of birds were out there. We had much better views of a Greenshank along with all the common species of ducks and waders. We added Goldeneye to our dialy duck list which now stood at 11 species!!
a very poor record shot of the Long-tailed Duck at Holkham
Way out, almost to Blakeney Point, we spotted the RED-NECKED GREBE, hallalujah, we finally caught up with the most elusive bird of the trip. It was distant but the light was still good enough for us to pick out the discernable ID features.
It was getting darker as we walked back to the car and the water levels were rising all around us, it was good to get back on to terra firma in the car park.
our last sunset taken near Wells Quay
For the last 40 minutes of daylight we drove to Wells Quay and drove all the way out to the life boat station, a fellow birder had tipped us off about a much closer RN Grebe which was associating with a Great Northern Diver. Of course the grebe was not in sight when we got there, but we did find the diver. With a back drop of a beautiful sunset we scanned the water in the hope that the grebe would turn up, but it didn't.
Lastly we drove back to Brancaster Staithe slowly, we stopped once near Burnham Overy to look for a Barn Owl, the Guru hadn't seen one yet on this trip. Stepping out of the car I spotted a distant Barn Owl quartering a strip of grassland. The Guru couldn't get on it with his bins, the bird reappeared and he still failed to see it. So I have 2 Barn Owls on my list and Guru has none, who is the Guru now, I ask??