Had another restful night at the Pheasant Hotel in Kelling. Met Colin and the guys downstairs for breakfast. Was hoping for some hot porridge, but no dice. We checked out and were soon on our way to Sheringham beach in search of Purple Sandpiper. We dipped on the Sandpiper, but got Fulmar and a lifer Manx Shearwater. Woohoo!! Other birds of note were Shag, Great Cormorant and Grey Wagtail.
Started raining, so we stopped at the Cley Marshes Visitor Center for tea and coffee. While there, we saw Wigeon, Greylag Goose and Ruff. Then off again to Lady Ann’s Drive in Holkham.
The weather turned brighter and a bit warmer (44 degrees) with no wind. As Colin said, the weather was tropical compared to yesterday. Mercifully, there were a lot less dog walkers out so we figured our chances would be better for Shore Lark (Horned Lark) today….and we were right!! Colin counted 14 Shore Larks. We had cracking views of these birds as they flew overhead and once they landed. Then the excitement went up a few notches when we spotted three Snow Buntings…another lifer for me.
We then went down the path towards Washington Hide in search of Firecrest and saw Chiffchaff along the way. We dipped on Firecrest even though we had a good chance of seeing one when we came across a large flock of Goldcrest, Long-tailed, Blue and Coal Tits, Chaffinch, Goldfinch. We also saw Treecreeper and Wren.
We headed back towards the Lady Ann’s Drive car park but stopped to see a Barn Owl hunting in the field. Also seen were Merlin, Buzzard, Kestrel and, just behind us, a Water Rail.
All in all, another fantastic day with great company. Colin dropped me off at the White Horse Inn (Brancaster Staithe) and I bade the guys a fond farewell. Had a nice steak and onion sandwich in the bar and am going to relax for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow morning, I’ll be searching for Twite.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment