A week in Norfolk

Norfolk 2024

Monday 28th October

I met up with John & Janet at Kings Cross where we took the 10.42 train up to Kings Lynn. It was a fairly quiet journey up with just a few small herds of Roe Deer seen along the way. Once in Lynn we crossed over to the bus station and took the bus up to Hunstanton. Our usual B&B had sold up so we were staying at a new one which was fairly close to the other one. We checked in and met up with Darren who had been up a couple of days.

We went for a walk south along the beach. The tide was close to high so there wasn’t much beach left for waders, just a few Oystercatchers and Sanderling among the usual Turnstones. Best sighting was a Harbour Porpoise not too far out in The Wash, the first one we’d seen on this stretch of coast.

Turnstone

With a bit of drizzle in the air and the approach of dusk we popped into a café for a hot drink then back to digs. In the evening we headed down to The Mariner for dinner and a couple of beers.

Tuesday 29th

We headed down to the seafront for some pre-breakfast birding. It was fairly gloomy but the sea was calm. Out in The Wash was a distant flock of about 300 Common Scoter and a single Eider was a bit closer. A Peregrine buzzed the waders on the beach below us. We saw yesterday’s Harbour Porpoise again, only this time there were two of them. Apart from a few Chaffinches very little flew over so we headed back for breakfast.

We were down at the bus stop in time for our usual 09.28 bus to Holkham. We wandered slowly along Lady Anne’s Drive as there was plenty to see, particularly at the far end where a flock of a dozen Cattle Egrets were associating with their bovine buddies.

Cattle Egret

Although there hadn’t been any recent reports of Shorelark or Snow Buntings we walked down to the roped-off area to look anyway, then had a look out to sea from the dunes. There were a few Common Scoter offshore along with a couple of Gannets, a Red-throated Diver and two late Sandwich Terns. Waders tried to feed on the beach but were regularly flushed by dogs.

Next we walked west along the pines and had lunch in one of the hides. A Great Egret was on the largest lake but we didn’t see a single Little Egret here to complete the set. Marsh Harriers, Buzzards and Red Kites drifted over. We carried on to the end where a new hide had been constructed to replace the old one that had been closed for the past two years as it was falling to bits. On the way back we heard a Firecrest and several flocks of Pink-footed Geese and Starlings flew past. 

Pink-footed Geese

We ended up with a list of 70 species at Holkham which was pretty good. We tried to locate a Barn Owl towards dusk but there was no sign of any.

Wednesday 30th

We started the day with the usual seawatch by the beach. As the tide ebbed and exposed some rocks I started looking through the Turnstones in case there was a Purple Sandpiper there – and the first bird I looked at was indeed a Purple Sandpiper! A few Fieldfare flew over with more Redwings, the first I’d seen this autumn. It was soon time for another hearty full English breakfast.

Purple Sandpiper

We spent the rest of the day at Titchwell, starting off on the Fen Trail which was a bit quiet. We tried not to stop along the west bank too much as we wanted to check out the sea before the tide dropped too much. However, we did stop and look for the elusive Jack Snipe on one of the islands but there was no sign of it. We spent an hour looking out to sea – at first glance it appeared empty but after a while birds began to appear and it ended up being really productive with Black-throated Diver, Slavonian and Red-necked Grebes seen. There were a lot of waders out on the beach and even a flock of Spoonbills.

Spoonbills

We spent some time in the main hide looking at the waders and ducks while having lunch. Several hundred Golden Plover were roosting on one island and there were a few Ruff and Dunlin scattered around and the Spoonbill flock flew in and landed. We tried again in vain for the Jack Snipe then headed back to the cafe for a mid-afternoon cuppa. Once refreshed we went back on the west bank to see what flew in to roost. Only a handful of Marsh Harriers appeared but there was no Hen Harrier this evening.

Brent Geese

Dunlin

Golden Plover

Ruff

Spoonbills

Where's Wally?

As we waited for the bus there were a few Red-legged Partridges in the field behind us and a Short-eared Owl flew over. We ended up seeing a credible 80 species at Titchwell, a record count for us at this time of year.

Thursday 31st: Halloween

There were no spooky sightings pre-breakfast so we elected to spend our spare day walking from Thornham Harbour to Holme. It was noticeably colder this morning. We had a good start as we saw a covey of Grey Partridge from the bus just outside Old Hunstanton. At Thornham Harbour there was another flock of six Cattle Egrets feeding out in the fields and two Dartford Warblers zipped past.

Fungi

We passed a lot of people as we walked along the main coastal footpath. At Holme Dunes we cut inland and went to the cafe at the reserve for a much needed coffee and cake. The regular Jack Snipe had been located so we headed out to the hide but it was mostly hidden from view. After a while it walked out into the open then, realising its mistake, scarpered off deep into the rushes. There wasn’t a lot else to see on the reserve so we carried on walking along the dunes and looking out to sea.

We were hoping to get Shore Lark or Snow Bunting but neither showed. Instead we saw two Short-eared Owls, one in the dunes and another that had just flown over the North Sea. It landed on the beach but soon got mobbed by gulls so flew right past us and into the dunes. 

Short-eared Owl

We ended up by the Peddars Way crossroads and took the bus back from there and then treated ourselves to a final dinner at Chives.

Friday 1st November

We only had time today for a short pre-breakfast look on the beach where the only new bird of the trip was a Red-breasted Merganser. It was then time to pack up, have breakfast and head back to Lynn on the bus and the train home.

 

Netherlands in Winter

February 28. After nearly two years of no overseas trips, it was time to venture abroad again with a short European trip. I booked on the Naturetrek trip to The Netherlands and we all met up at St Pancras. The continuing pandemic meant lots of additional form-filling and  the need to get a certificate showing a negative covid test although this seemed unnecessary as no one then asked to see it! A double passport check was required as a result of Brexit which added to the really long queues.

Eventually we got through the formalities and there was time to relax and have a coffee and Danish in the cafe before boarding the 11am train. This was my first time on Eurostar and we soon whizzed past the spots I know such as Rainham and Swanscombe then plunged into Kent and through the tunnel for twenty minutes before arriving in France. We stopped at Lille, then into Belgium, stopping at Brussels and finally we got off at Rotterdam.

We strolled over to the car hire and were soon on our way out of the city and on to our first birding stop at Battenoord Harbour. The target here was quickly located, a flock of large pink things which were soon identified as Greater and Chilean Flamingos, the latter being an introduced, self-sustaining population. The last time I saw these birds they were in their natural home in South America so this felt a bit like cheating! Among other birds here were our first, and certainly not our last, Barnacle Geese. With the light fading we drove to our hotel and had a bit of time to relax before dinner.

Chilean & Greater Flamingos

Typical Dutch scene - Flamingos and Windmills

March 1st. The following morning we were out before breakfast and crossed over the road onto the dunes and had a look at the sea. There was a flock of Red-throated Divers, Eider, Common Scoter and an obliging Slavonian Grebe. We left after breakfast and went exploring the fields and coastline of this southern part of the country.

Slavonian Grebe

More introduced birds were found, this time Bar-headed Goose and Black Swan among the hordes of wild geese. Interspersed among them were several Spoonbills, Great Egrets and plenty of waders.

Barnacle Geese

Spoonbills

We popped into a nice bakery for lunch then spent some time on the coast where there was a decent sized flock of 60 Purple Sands and a similar number of Red-throated Divers. At another site further north we saw our first Goshawk and a Peregrine flushing all the wildfowl. Huge numbers of waders, mostly godwits and plovers flew in from the coast and landed in the fields.

Bakery

Purple Sandpiper

Waders

It was a long drive to our next hotel and we arrived at 7.30pm so went straight into dinner.

Hotel

March 2nd. Pre-breakfast birding was a walk around the woods at the back of the hotel. Among the commoner species seen was an obliging Short-toed Treecreeper. We then went exploring the goosefields around Noordeinde where the numbers of Barnacles were in the tens of thousands. Among a flock of White-fronted Geese we found two Tundra Bean Geese.

Tundra Bean Geese in foreground; White-fronted Geese in background

A few Smew were seen in the wider ditches and I picked up a White Stork as we drove along a main road. A bit later I found a White-tailed Eagle soaring so we screeched to a halt and all bundled out. Luckily it continued soaring around for everyone to get great views of this huge flying barn-door.

 As it was a nice sunny day we decided to have our lunch outside at the cafe. This also meant we could carry on birding as there were Smew on the river. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the reserve, seeing another White-tailed Eagle, Willow Tit, a distant Hen Harrier and large herds of Red Deer.

Willow Tit

White-tailed Eagle

Smew

Red Deer

March 3rd. We did our own pre-breakfast walk before breakfast and found a tree with a few Hawfinches in. As we watched more flew in and eventually there were 25 gathered there. We spent the day checking out the goosefields around Workum and Makkum and finally found a Red-breasted Goose in amongst the Barnies. Among the many Common Buzzards we found a single Rough-legged.

Hawfinch

White-fronted and Barnacle Geese

As we drove along the coast road I saw a Bittern feeding in a ditch but as we pulled off to stop we sank into the soft mud. We spent the next ten minutes trying to extricate the vehicle until we were rescued by a kind Dutchman who had seen it all before. Everyone had brief views of the Bittern which decided to play a game of hide-and-seek before we carried on back to the hotel. After dinner it was time to fill out the dreaded online passenger location form to allow us back into the UK and most of us struggled with this piece of bureaucracy.

Bittern

March 4th. Our last day and a few of us went to see the Hawfinches again before breakfast. We loaded the van and headed off to our first stop on the southbound leg. This was a forested area with an open heath, resembling the Brecks. Apart from the Black Woodpecker that was calling and briefly seen by the car park! From the largest European woodpecker, we went to the smallest and found a pair of Lesser Spots. A flock of Crossbills flew over and there were several Woodlarks singing, one of which conveniently landed next to us.

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

Woodlark

A pair of Goshawks got up over the trees and then one did a flypast, allowing us exceptionally close views. It landed on the edge of the clearing and as we tried to locate it a flock of four Cranes flew over.

Goshawk

We carried on further south for our final stop on the goosefields to look for Lesser White-fronts but to no avail as there were very few geese around. Soon it was time to pack up and go and we headed back into Rotterdam to check in for the mid-afternoon train back to the UK. We saw 122 species between us including vast flocks of geese, making it an excellent short break.

 

Barnacle Goose