Saturday's weather was forecast to be wet through lunchtime into the early afternoon – on Friday night I’d had said I'd be birding on Sunday instead. Kev (@kev07713) was more adventurous and on Saturday went to see the Sabine's Gull and got wet for his troubles – he did get in touch to say he was interested in birding on Sunday too - there were lots of good birds in Norfolk and so we agreed to meet early and have a day out. We stopped near Kings Lynn for breakfast and before arriving at Holkham we had already enjoyed skeins of pink-footed and Brent geese over.
We parked the car on Lady Anne's Drive to visit Holkham Beach, hoping to see shore larks and snow buntings. Our friend Adrian Sparrowhawk had seen some grey partridge in the fields by the car park and so we hoped to connect with these. The wind was brisk, it was cold and by the time we got to the beach there was a light drizzle - not what we had expected. There were Brent geese, shelduck and meadow pipits along the beach as we made for the roped off area. As we got close we met a birder coming the other way telling us he hadn't been able to locate the shore larks but we needn't have worried - as we approached we saw ten birds arrive and start feeding - they were our shore larks. We stopped for a few minutes enjoying them scuttling around.
As I took some photos, Kev and a couple of other birders continued on and located a flock of snow buntings, distant and often flying over to the other side of the dunes. One of the birders made for the sea and other side of the dunes to our right, but then he appeared to locate something to our left – after only a short time he broke away from whatever was there and made for the water's edge. We were curious and followed, spotting a single snow bunting actively feeding. I walked in close and allowed the bird to close the gap between us, giving the opportunity for some photos. The wind was again brisk but strangely not quite as bad as on the other side of the dunes.
We left the snow bunting in peace and I made for the water's edge, spotting three red-breasted mergansers out in the surf. I made my way back to Kev and he pointed to a larger raft of the same working right to left, effectively following the birds I'd seen. We scanned to see if we could find anything else and as we did, two sanderling flew past and followed the birder ahead of us - we set up the scope and watched them running in the tide.
We had a big day planned and so we wasted no time, making our way back to the car but stopping at the hut by the car park where grey partridge can often be seen. We scanned across the fields and Kev nudged me and said there were six just out in front - he laughed when I still wasn't on them and told me they were much closer than I was looking. We moved round and under a tree from where I could take photos. In various directions small numbers of black-tailed godwit fed and a very pale buzzard could be seen against a distant hedge.
We got into the car and looked on BirdGuides to see if anything had been reported locally and it just had ... a white-tailed eagle over the Freshmarsh. We decided that this was next on the list and made for the laybys along the main road that overlook the area from an elevated position. The first layby was full of birders viewing white-fronted geese - I jumped out quickly and took a couple of photos - Kev couldn’t really get off the road and so we couldn’t stay. We made our way to the next layby which was empty. We hurried out and set up by the gate, looking down across the marsh. Kev's kestrel was again perched on a tree making taking a photo less easy against the sky but after a few minutes it dropped down onto a fence post - the grass in the field was a better backdrop.
We watched red kites and marsh harriers hunting but there was no sight of the white-tailed eagle. We were joined by a couple of other birders and within about 5 minutes one called the eagle as it came from right to left, followed by flocks of lapwings and geese. It reached the scrub and trees directly in front, stopping to perch on a bare tree, after which it dropped down onto a bush but still hundreds of metres away. Views through Kev's scope were good, but it was hard to get photos or videos either with the camera or phonescoping.
Having struck lucky we decided to test our luck some more and made for Brancaster Beach to see if we could spot the Hume's warbler for the third time. As we approached the spot we saw a group of birders waiting in front of some trees, closer to the car park than we’d seen it on previous visits - the bird was apparently showing every ten minutes or so. It only took a couple of minutes until the Hume's popped into view and hopped through the branches - in under a minute it was gone again, dropping down into the undergrowth.
It was approaching lunchtime and we decided to go to Cley Marshes to see if we could catch up with the long-billed dowitcher - it hadn't been reported that morning but you just never know ... on the way back to car Kev picked out a spoonbill on the reedbed close to the car park and I made my way round for a record photo, after which Kev spun round in the car and picked me up.
We set off for Cley happy with our day - it was all going to plan, even adding the eagle. We came to a sudden halt as we spotted a barn owl in a field to our left, out hunting in daylight. Kev reversed to a gap in the hedge, and we sat entranced for a few minutes as we watched the bird initially on the ground and then quartering the field.
What a day we were having! It wasn't long before we sat having lunch in the Visitor's Centre at Cley Marshes and I added my first avocets of the year from the comfort of our seats. The lady taking our order seemed to be having a bad day but he other staff were very cheerful.
Finishing up lunch we saw that the dowitcher had been reported just ten minutes before and so we made for the East Bank and where a line of birders were camped out. We spotted a bonus stonechat on the way and stopped for a good 45 minutes - the dowitcher had scuttled into the grass and presumably had gone to sleep. Who knows how long it was going to take to show again, if at all ... we'd found a bird that hadn't got the memo and we would dip for the first time today. We wanted to end the day at Warham Greens and hopefully spot hen and pallid harrier as we had at the end of December. We departed and read that it would be 3.45pm before the dowitcher would be reported again. The harriers it was then.
We arrived at Garden Drove and turned up the lane hoping the rough terrain wouldn't cause any issues to Kev's car - the car slewed a little on the mud as we made our way. We reached the top but were unable to park as there were about a dozen horses and riders - youngsters in tweeds. It took at least five minutes of waiting for them to make a move to allow the queue of cars behind us to park up on the concrete pad as we'd been instructed to do. We made our way down to the marsh and joined a handful of birders already in place, some of whom had seen the pallid harrier disappear into the field behind some time before - the galloping horses in that area may not help our cause.
We scanned around with the scope and saw numbers of marsh harriers plus a single shore lark but there was no sign of hen harrier or the pallid harrier. We waited for a good 45 minutes before Kev picked out an approaching hen harrier through the scope - we all got on the bird (a ringtail) but it never got close enough to even attempt a photo. It wasn't then until around 4.15pm when the pallid harrier appeared and dropped at distance but still in view - it was tricky as a merlin went over while we were all trying to get on the pallid and everyone was a bit distracted. Annoyingly the pallid harrier stayed put until the light was almost gone and we didn't get to see it hunt this time.
We pulled stumps and headed back to the car adding another few grey partridge along the way. It was one of our best ever days birding and we'd seen almost everything we'd targeted, other than the dowitcher. Someday ... in fact the dowitcher is now being reported on the Freshmarsh at Holkham - if only while we were there.
Year List: 103
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