Week in Norfolk

At the beginning of November I had my regular annual visit to Norfolk with my friends John & Janet. We had to move the dates a bit which meant travelling up by train on Sunday. Typically they chose that weekend to do some engineering works so we were already destined for the dreaded rail replacement bus. However, our plans to take an early train were scuppered when they cancelled it at the last minute due to a faulty train.

An hour later we were on our way and it went fairly smoothly from then on, getting on a coach at Cambridge North which took us all the way to Kings Lynn where we got the local bus up to Hunstanton. We had a few Red Kites and Buzzards en route but not the hoped for Whooper Swans which are normally in fields along the railway.

After checking in at the guest house we strolled along the seafront, seeing a few Oystercatchers and Turnstones.

Sunset over The Wash

On Monday morning we had a quick vismig session from the seafront. There was a strong southerly blowing so the conditions weren't great but we logged around 24,000 Starlings.

Migrating Starlings

After breakfast we took the bus to Titchwell and spent the whole day there. It was quite breezy but the original forecast of 40mph winds had luckily changed so it wasn't too bad. We started off going around the woodlands and were shown a tree containing a roosting Tawny Owl. It was very difficult to see but eventually we managed to piece enough of it together, while behind us a Yellow-browed Warbler called a couple of times.

As it was low tide there was no point hurrying to the beach so we took our time checking the lagoons and doing the hides. Amongst the waders was a single Curlew Sandpiper, an unusual sighting in November as they should all be wintering in Africa by now.

Curlew Sandpiper

Pink-footed Geese were constantly flying over in large skeins while smaller groups of Brent Geese dropped in and landed on the lagoons.

Brent Geese

Pink-footed Geese

Great Egret

When we did get down to the beach, the sea was fairly quiet with just single Common Scoter and Red-throated Diver. After a hot drink at the cafe we went back onto the main path and waited for the evening roost where the highlight was at least 35 Marsh Harriers.

On Tuesday we did another pre-breakfast vismig, seeing far fewer Starlings (4000) but a big increase in Chaffinch with almost 300 coasting. A surprise was a Goldeneye which flew out of The Wash and headed straight inland.

We spent the rest of the day at Holkham, starting off with a slow amble down Lady Anne's Drive. 

Shaggy Inkcap

There were quite a lot of Pink-feet on the marsh and a solitary White-fronted Goose. As no Shorelarks have been regularly reported we skipped the usual spot and walked west along the pines and checked out both hides. 

Pinkfeet

The usual assortment of woodland birds were picked up along the way including a vocal Treecreeper. At the Joe Jordan hide a single Cattle Egret wandered around the resting cows trying to get them to move without joy.

Cattle Egret and resting bovine

Red Kites, Buzzards and Marsh Harriers were regularly on view.

Common Buzzard

Several late Common Darters were making the most of the mild conditions but we didn't see any butterflies.

Common Darter

In the afternoon we cut through the woods to the beach and had a look at the sea where a single Red-throated Diver and a small flock of Common Scoter were present. We left mid-afternoon, checking the fields for Grey Partridge but didn't find any.

The pre-breakfast session on Wednesday gave us 14,000 Knot heading down towards Snettisham and another 11,800 Starlings and 650 Chaffinch with a few wheezing Bramblings amongst them. Most unusual though were two Yellowhammers which followed the coasting finches.

We elected to revisit Titchwell rather than go anywhere new as the wind had died down and the forecast was now suggesting a dry and bright day. It ended up being a good choice as we saw even more birds (79 species compared to 76 on Monday) and several good birds. We tried for the Tawny Owl again but couldn't find it in the same tree. The Yellow-browed Warbler had a two minute burst of calling then broke cover and flew past us before totally disappearing.

A bit further along the trail we finally managed to track down one of the Firecrests, although there were meant to be five in the area. We spent some time trying to find a Bittern but none were on show, just the usual Great Egrets.

Great Egret

At the beach, the sea was again just about devoid of birds but a couple of Snow Buntings had been found on the dunes so we walked along to see them. As we went back to the lagoons and entered the hide, someone excitedly waved us over and said American Golden Plover. I took a look in his scope and sure enough there was one.

I got my scope on it, it was just behind the main Golden Plover flock and kept being chased off by Lapwings but showed well, albeit distantly before  disappearing behind an island. 

Checking on my records later on, it was my 6th AGP in the UK, four of which were on the Scillies.

Record shot of American Golden Plover

Muntjac

A Muntjac feeding at the back of another lagoon went onto the deer list with Chinese Water, Fallow and Roe Deer all seen earlier. We didn't stay right to dusk but the Marsh Harriers were beginning to drift into roost as we left.

On our last morning we only had time for one pre-breakfast session before going back home. It ended up being the best of the week with a whopping 61,000 Starlings flying past. At one point we were engulfed in an enormous flock and we couldn't hear anything except for their wingbeats.

Chaffinches drifted over in decent numbers again with 380 counted and at least 13 Bramblings went over. A Stonechat-like call coming from the nearby railings was tracked down as the bird revealed itself as a Black Redstart.

All too soon we were travelling back on the train from Kings Lynn, but at least on this journey we added one final species as we saw several large flocks of Whooper Swans in the fens. We finished with 107 species, another successful late autumn trip to Norfolk.

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.

 

Norfolk

As is customary at this time of year, I headed up to Norfolk with some friends for a few days winter birding. It's all low-carbon so we went on the train to Kings Lynn and then bus to Hunstanton where we were staying for three nights.

The first afternoon we walked south along the beach towards Heacham and back. The tide was just out far enough so there were waders on the beach and we checked in vain for Purple Sands amongst the many Turnstones.

Sanderling

There were plenty of Sanderling, Oystercatcher and Redshank while offshore were several hundred Common Scoter and a couple of Gannets. A single Brent Goose flew past as did a few Canada Geese, the first ones we've seen here. 

The following morning we had an hour's vismig on the beach during which time about 5,400 Starlings flew past heading into The Wash. Some went overhead at tree-top height while other large flocks skimmed the sea. There wasn't much else moving, just a few finches, Mipits and Fieldfares along with 120 Woodpigeons. More unusually we saw a flock of eight Egyptian Geese flying over the sea; although they're relatively common in parts of Norfolk I've never seen them on a seawatch before.

After breakfast we took the bus the short distance to Titchwell. We decided to spend the whole day here as the weather forecast was good for today. It proved to be the right decision as we recorded 83 species. We might have added a few more but they've stopped putting out food for the birds around the centre which seems an over-the-top reaction to a few rats that were feeding on the scraps.

Brent Geese: a low-flying messy flock

Pink-footed Geese: high-flying and typically in v-shaped lines

Geese and waders were the order of the day with constant movement of Brents and Pink-feet while every patch of water held waders and we think we saw all the waders that were present with 18 species logged including single Knot, Spotted Redshank and Greenshank. The highlight though were the Golden Plover; we hadn't seen any until lunchtime when a few dropped in in front of the hide and they continued to pile in with maybe a couple of thousand by the end of the day.

Curlew

Greenshank

Common Redshank

Spotted Redshank

We spent an hour on the beach looking out to sea and picked up a couple of Velvet Scoters in the large wheeling mass of Common Scoters. Just one Red-throated Diver flew past and a couple of juvenile Gannets vied for scraps with the gulls as a fishing boat hauled its nets in. We got word of a couple of Snow Buntings so went looking for them and soon found them scurrying around by the dunes. I feel they are badly named and should be called Sand Buntings as they spend most of the year on beaches.

Snow Bunting

Out in the distance I saw a flock of swans heading west. Eventually they got close enough to see they were were Bewick's Swans, coming here for the winter from Russia and heading to the Ouse Washes. Later in the day, three Whooper Swans flew inland giving us the set of swans for the day.

Bewick's Swans

Whooper Swans

We stopped at the cafe mid afternoon for a hot drink and a rest then went back out along the main track to watch for birds coming into roost.

Late afternoon looking towards Thornham Point

Marsh Harriers began to drift in, the early ones flew around for quite a while looking for a pre-roost snack before dropping into the roost but the last ones to arrive just flew straight into the roost. We counted 23 Marsh Harriers, often groups of five or six would be in the air together. While we watched a few come in, another bird appeared with them - a ringtail Hen Harrier. It flew around for a while before dropping into the roost. Towards the end a single Great Egret flew overhead and landed in the reeds.

Great Egret

Surprisingly, there were no owls on show, even when we scanned the fields from the bus stop at dusk.

The next morning we were out on the beach again although we were under the shelter as it was raining. The scoter flock had increased ten-fold to 2,000 birds and today's exotic goose was a single Greylag. Despite the rain, another 10,000 Starlings flew past.

On the bus to Holkham we saw a covey of Red-legged Partridges, our only ones of the trip. It rained a few times during the day but it wasn't heavy enough to stop us or get us wet. A heavy squall passed over during the afternoon but luckily we were sat in the hide at the time.

We went looking for Shore Larks which had only arrived the previous day but there was no sign in the roped-off area. It was fairly quiet out to sea  with around 200 Common Scoter and a couple of Red-throated Divers. We stopped at the cafe on the way back and then walked through the woods. The weather kept most birds down and even the marshes were unusually quiet with no egrets around. We couldn't find the White-fronted Geese by the Joe Jordan hide but did find a little flock of Barnacle Geese. The White-tailed Eagles that have been here for a while failed to show but that was hardly surprising in this weather. It did eventually stop raining which allowed the Starlings to start moving west again but we took an early bus back.

On our last morning there was just time for a pre-breakfast visit to the beach. Starlings were taking advantage of the clearer weather and piled through in huge numbers. We estimated 44,000 during that hour including one enormous flock of 18,000 that covered the sea like a oil slick. During the course of our trip we reckon we saw about 65,000 Starlings going past. Chaffinches were also moving today with 50 counted going overhead but there wasn't much else. The last new bird of the trip was a Black-throated Diver which flew past close inshore giving us a total of 108 birds for the trip, along with four species of deer (Roe, Fallow, Muntjac & Chinese Water), Grey Seal and Hare. 

Nov 6th-10th: Norfolk in late autumn

Early November meant it was time for our annual trip up to Norfolk. We had to change the dates twice because of train strikes then they called them off at the last minute, by which time it was too late to make any further changes. I met up with John & Janet at Kings Cross on Sunday morning and we took an early train up to Kings Lynn. Going through the Fens we passed several flocks of Whooper Swans, the first ones I’ve seen this year. The next leg of the journey was a bus to Hunstanton, seeing Red Kite en route and we arrived at our hotel at lunchtime.

We spent the afternoon walking south along the beach, almost as far as Heacham. The tide was out so there were plenty of waders, especially Oystercatchers, Turnstones and Sanderling. On the inland side we also managed Marsh Harrier and Cetti’s Warbler, both new ones for this particular walk.

Hunstanton beach looking south

With the weather looking ominous we turned around and popped into a cafe for a hot drink before heading back to our hotel. The evening was spent in The Mariner where they have a good selection of pub meals and a nice pint of Wherry. We made plans for the following day, electing to go to Holkham as there was rain forecast for late afternoon.

We had an hour on the seafront pre-breakfast: on the sea there were two Red-throated Divers and a close Razorbill, as well as a good migration of 3,500 Starlings along with a few Chaffinches and Fieldfares. Once at Holkham we walked down Lady Anne’s Drive. The marshes either side were bone-dry and consequently had almost no birds on them.

We went out onto the beach to search for the Shorelarks. As we arrived at the roped-off area, a couple of birders had them in view so we didn’t have to spend long looking for them. They were feeding out in the middle and regularly disappeared into the vegetation but we got good views of at least four birds eventually.

Somewhere out there is a flock of Shorelark

There was no sign of any Snow Buntings so we had a seawatch from the edge of the dunes. There was a flock of Gannets feeding inshore close between two sandbars, while further out were a few Common Scoter. Walking through the pines we heard a couple of Firecrest and had lunch in one of the hides overlooking the marshes. Raptors were constantly in view, both over the marshes and the estate across the coast road with multiple Red Kites, Common Buzzards and Marsh Harriers. Three Great Egrets were feeding out the front, whilst at the west end we saw a flock of six Cattle Egrets. Surprisingly there were no Little Egrets around. Starlings continued to fly west in large groups.

Back at the centre we decided to stay until dusk to look for Barn Owl but failed to see any before the bus arrived to take us back to Hunstanton.

The following day we headed over to Titchwell. At the first lagoon, the roosting waders were being regularly harassed by a Peregrine. Golden Plovers were constantly in the air before dropping for a rest on the islands. 

Golden Plover

Scouring through waders we found a dozen Ruff and a few Dunlin. On the next lagoon was a tame Curlew.

Curlew

We carried on to the beach; by now it was low tide so everything was a fair way out. A Slav Grebe had been reported but we couldn’t find it, however we did locate a Red-necked Grebe instead. We spent some time in the hide looking through the ducks and waders then heard about a Green-winged Teal which had just been found along the main track. We hurried over but it had gone into the vegetation with a large flock of Teal. We looked through as many Teal as we could see but many more were either asleep or hidden and no one else managed to see it that afternoon. We walked through the woodland adding a few passerines and a lazy Muntjac.

Muntjac

Afternoon coffee beckoned then we went back on the main track again. It wasn’t for long as a nasty squall arrived and we retreated to the hide for shelter. This ended up being productive as we could watch the Marsh Harriers come into roost. After a while I picked up a male Hen Harrier with them and it then spent the next half hour hunting over the marsh. We stayed until dusk again looking for Barn Owl but the only thing we managed was a couple of Chinese Water Deer.

Double rainbow over Titchwell

Titchwell after a squall

Distant Hen Harrier

As we had an extra day this trip because of the train strikes we thought we’d try somewhere new and began at Thornham Harbour. Although there hadn’t been any reports of Twite this winter, this has always been the primary site for them recently. We found a flock of Linnets and John managed to find a Twite amongst them but it flew off before we could get on it.

Thornham Harbour

Black-tailed Godwit

We walked around the main coastal path towards Holme. There were Pinkfeet and Brents in the fields on the way round. We stopped at the dunes to scan the sea and found an Egyptian Goose right out in the middle of The Wash! A better sighting was a flock of 30 Pintail that flew west. We had intended to visit the reserve at Holme but it was closed with no explanation. We carried on but didn’t see a great deal. There was a bit of time before the bus was due so we walked inland along Peddars Way and saw our only Red-legged Partridge of the trip. We finished the day off with a celebratory meal at Chives.

On our last day, there was time to do our usual pre-breakfast seawatch although it was too windy to watch from our usual lookout. Starlings were again on the move and we counted over 7,500 and we added a couple of Eider to the trip list which finished on 105. All too soon it was time to get the bus back to Kings Lynn and then the train to London where a tube strike meant finding an alternative way home.