The Annual Birding Visit to Norfolk - Part 2

We had a decent weather day on the Wednesday the wind had died down just a little, so we parked up on Lady Anne's Drive at Holkam with the view to spend the day. We first walked to see the Shore Larks and Snow Buntings, but the birds were very mobile in the wind and we only had a fleeting glimpse of one Shore Lark and perhaps groups of Snow Bunting zooming around, but never staying put. There were also Meadow Pipits, Linnet and Skylark, but nothing close enough for decent photos so I won't bother putting any on here.

On the way back we stopped at the benches overlooking the dunes at the top of the stairs down to the beach, where some Brent Geese offered some nice views;

Oh I forgot as we left the car a Grey Partridge was busily feeding on the adjacent field;

After the Shore Lark expedition we walked down to the Jordan Hide to see what was about and we had a bit of a Geese fest! But started with a nice Kestrel;

 that later flew in front of the hide,

as did this Mute Swan.

 Plenty of Greylag Geese of course,

 some Barnacle Geese

 and some White-fronted Geese

 as well as Egyptian and Pink-footed Geese.
The Wells Rough-legged Buzzard put in an appearance and decided to roost up miles away, that is it in the tree honest! Plus a Muntjac in the grass.

Ducks (mainly Wigeon) up in a panic

 as one of the many Marsh Harriers pay a visit!

A Thoroughly good day.

The weather wasn't kind to us the following day, the wind just didn't let up, and along with that came a fair bit of rain, so we elected for another mooch day, trawling some nice spots we know along the coast, we started with Brancaster Staithe, it is one of my favourite drop ins because you never know what you are going to find, on this occasion though with the wind being so high, the birds were mostly sheltering elsewhere, but the Turnstones are a hardy bunch and came quite close to the car;

We travelled along the coast, not seeing a huge variety of birds, but did get one or two;
A Bar-tailed Godwit,

 Grey Plover,

 Little Egret

 and Redshank

were the few that were photographable (is that a word?) A Greenshank was seen at Morston Quay, then a huge gathering of Pied Wagtail at dusk at Blakeney Harbour, we are guessing at least 200, one even landed on the windscreen wiper, then looked at us in amazement (not quite sure what an amazed Wagtail looks like!) through the windscreen before flying off.

Last day took us to Sculthorpe more for a nice cold wander around the reserve;
Snowdrops,

 Bullfinch,

 Pheasant,

 Bank Vole,

 Long-tailed Tit,

 Greenfinch,

 Coal Tit

 Goldfinch,

 Brambling,

 Nuthatch

 and another Brambling.

So that concludes our Norfolk trip, with 86 species seen, someway behind some of our visits, but not bad considering the weather.

A Week in Sometimes Wet and Windy Norfolk - The Rest!

To round up the rest of our birding in Norfolk, on a particularly wet and windy day, we birded by travelling the coast road and popping down tracks, around harbours and estuaries, using the car as a hide and weather permitting getting out to have a look around.  We call this "Having a Mooch Around". Usually on these days I don't take many photos as the weather is against getting anything decent. I think we end up doing this at least once when we go to Norfolk in the winter.

This time was no different, I think this is the only one I took on that day at Morston Quay.

We visited Brancaster Staithe, Stiffkey Fen, Morston Quay, Cley (beach roads, and just used the visitor centre for the facilities.), Salthouses, Blakeney and of course Wells. Nothing out of the ordinary was seen, plenty of common waders and winter ducks, although we did add a Barnacle Goose to the list.

At Salthouse Beach we did see a large raft of 'black' ducks out on the sea, but even asking a chap with a scope they were to far to identify.

I should mention that we were aware of the Pallas's Warbler at Wells Woods and did have a look but never found it, even though the area it was in was only 100 yards from the lodge we were staying in! C'est la Vie!

The only other thing to add was our compulsory visit to the Hawk & Owl Trust at the Sculthorpe Moor Reserve. We always go and never mind paying the entrance fee (now £5) as we love the place. Great hides and usually an abundance of woodland birds, plus Marsh Harriers and Owls. Having said that it was unusually quiet, the first hide produce very little, just Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Pheasant, Blackbird and Dunnock. Normally here there is an abundance of Tits, sometimes Brambling, even Red-legged Partridge, but not this time.

As we walk from there through the woods to the next hide overlooking the reed beds, we always hope to see Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Wren and Great-spotted Woodpeckers, this time not one!

The second hide was the same very little about, just some Blue and Great Tit, but we did add a Bullfinch.

After coffee and running out of patience we left for hide number three, picking up Marsh Tit on the way.

The third hide did prove better with plenty of activity on the woodland feeders and even a bit of dappled sunshine:
Chaffinch,

 Brambling,

 Great Spotted Woodpecker,

 Collared Dove,

 Blue Tit,

 tons of Goldfinch, Marsh Tit

 and Coal Tit

We never fail to enjoy Sculthorpe, give it a go.

Norfolk Day 2 - Sculthorpe Moor & RSPB Snettisham

The weather wasn't looking great for the Sunday so we made a plan to go to the Hawk and Owl Trust at Sculthorpe Moor and hopefully if the weather improved as per the forecast head up to Snettisham to see the Pink Foots come in.

As we headed out of the visitor centre at Sculthorpe a Sparrowhawk surprised us by trying to take one of the Tits of the feeders, sadly for it, it ended in failure, but was great for us to see. Of course it all happened to quickly for me to even lift my camera up!

The woods and hides gave us some respite from the constant drizzle and we had a great few hours adding woodland species to our Norfolk list:
Pheasant,

 Greenfinch,

 Robin,

 Marsh Tit,

 Brambling,

 Collared Dove,

 Bullfinch,

 Nuthatch,

 Blackbird,

 Great Tit,

 Marsh Tit,

 Brambling.

I can't recommend Sculthorpe Moor enough, the reserve is fantastic, with lovely walks and great hides.

The weather did improve so we set off for Snettisham, about half an hour away and went out to the hide overlooking both the lagoons and sea, again its a brilliant place.

The lagoons were full of Wigeon, Lapwings, Cormorant, Greylags, Canada Geese, Goldeneye, Little Grebe and Mallard. While the muddy shore held, Dunlin, Redshank, Godwit, Shelduck, Knot, Lapwing, Oystercatcher and a host of other waders unidentifiable in the fading light and also because of the distance out to sea.

At around 4.15, the Pink Foots arrived on mass, thousands upon thousands coming in and settling down on the mud flats for the night. A truly awesome sight.

Another Scotland Trip - Part 2 - John O'Groats

This may seem madness but it was Jo and Jimmy's Idea, but day 3 saw us abandon our lovely apartment for 1 night and head up to a B&B in John O'Groats. We had never been that far north before, so pastures new for us.

We set off early (for us) only stopping for drinks and comfort breaks, I have to say though that we stopped at Loch Fleet on the way up for coffee and really liked the place, there were Fulmar circling nearby, Eider on the Loch, Curlew, Shelduck and Oystercatcher flying around a really lovely spot. I will come back to this later as we stopped on the way back as well, as we drove off we saw a road down to a Car Park and Nature Reserve!

We arrived at our B&B at lunch time and what a B&B, fabulous! The owners were brilliant, we had our lunch on the deck looking out towards the Orkneys fantastic. I can only say if ever you are planning a stop up there it has to be The Anchorage B&B, check it out on Tripadvisor!

Anyway after lunch we headed out in glorious weather to walk to the Stacks of Duncansby. The walk is brilliant, not difficult and  the views and the birds are well worth it:

So to the birds. Well this time of year it is definitely Fulmar central:

I usually get my Fulmar 'fix' at the Farne Islands where we see perhaps a couple of dozen, but here there are Thousands, brilliant! So what else; Guillemots and Razorbills are  here too:

Then there are the Shags:

obliging Puffins:

a surprising Brambling, shouldn't you be in Scandinavia?

Hooded Crow:

Great Black-backed Gulls, Meadow Pipit, Gannets on Fly-by:

But the star of the show and a lifer for us was the Great Skuas, our first sighting was a shock it came from nowhere and flew within a few feet of our heads and I didn't have the camera ready! I managed a couple of shots as it disappeared away from us, but that's the luck of the draw! Then as we walked back along the cliff edge Jimmy spotted another on the sea, way below us:

It was happy to sit there for a while before heading off:

Then a bit further out we saw 3 Skuas having an altercation, just brilliant to watch through the bins, but way to far for even my 500mm lens. But what a result!

So back to the B&B for dinner, where we could see Wheatear, Lapwing, Curlew and Rabbits from our bedroom window. Then a great dinner of freshly caught Lobster and Crab, with Prawns, told you, not your average B&B!

Day 4, we woke up to thick fog, we had planned to go to Dunnets Head, so after saying goodbye to our great hosts we headed out, we didn't stay at Dunnets Head long the visibility was poor, the wind was gale force and it was freezing! (Did see some Fulmar and Auks but just too cold!)

We stopped in Brough Bay for a coffee, driving down a track to the old quay, again plenty of Fulmar about, a Rock Pipit, Grey Seal, Jackdaw and  a Kestrel hunting, shame the visibility was so bad:

The hunt was successful and he flow off with a mouse or a vole.

We drove back to Burghead via Thurso mainly in thick fog, stopping again at Loch Fleet, the weather had improved a little here, this time in the small NR Car Park. There was plenty about, Common Sandpiper, Shelduck, Curlew, Godwit, Red-breasted Merganser, Lapwing, Goldfinch, Coal Tit and finally just as we were about to leave an Osprey came in fishing, brilliant, sadly the Gulls drove him off.

Our last port of call was Chanonry Point near Inverness in the hope of seeing Dolphin passing through, but we had missed the tide, although we did see some Linnet in the Car Park. So into Inverness for tea before heading 'home'

End of part 2.