A single day Spring Migration tour. It was mostly bright and sunny, but with a chilly ENE wind which picked up steadily through the morning and into the afternoon. We spent the day in NW Norfolk.
Our destination for the morning was Snettisham Coastal Park. Parking by the gates, a Greenfinch was singing on the wires and several Swallows were flying round overhead. Walking in through the bushes, there were several warbler singing. One or two Blackcaps, several scratchy Common Whitethroats and buzzy Sedge Warblers, and a brief rattling Lesser Whitethroat.
We hadn’t gone too far when we heard a Turtle Dove purring ahead of us. As we walked up slowly, a female flew up briefly but disappeared back down into the bushes. The male was still purring from a very dense clump of elders and despite trying different angles, we couldn’t see it in there. Then the female flew up again behind us and perched for a minute or so out in the open on a branch. We had a great view of its rusty-fringed upperparts and the black and white striped patch on the side of its neck, before it dropped in again.
Out into the open area beyond the bushes, a Whimbrel flew over and dropped down over the outer seawall towards the Wash. We stopped to look at a male Stonechat which flicked up onto a small hawthorn in front of us and then realised there was a streaky juvenile Stonechat lower down. The female was on another bush nearby, with a further two juveniles low down in the brambles below.
Up on the seawall, the tide was still just starting to go out and all the near mud was covered. We could see some distant Brent Geese further down the Wash, where the tide had already receded. Most of our winter geese have left here now, but the Brent Geese always hang on longer. It is still frozen in central Siberia, so they are in no hurry to leave!
Several Oystercatchers were on the shingle further up from us and two Ringed Plovers were hiding on the tideline below the cordon fence a little closer too. When a dogwalker came over the seawall and walked down onto the beach right along the edge of the cordon, another Ringed Plover suddenly appeared in the roped off area, running off quickly over the sand. The dog was on a lead, but that didn’t stop it from disturbing the Ringed Plover.
We walked a little further up along the top of the seawall. A male Marsh Harrier flew straight towards us over the bushes on the inner slope, but turned as it saw us and flew off back north. A Meadow Pipit flew up and landed on a rose bush in front of us. We watched a Swallow fly very determinedly north along the top of the seawall past us, possibly a migrant on its way somewhere.
The tide goes out remarkably quickly here and it didn’t take long for a large area of mud to appear below the shingle. What was possibly the Whimbrel we had seen earlier now appeared out on the mud, asleep. We got it in the scope, but it wasn’t until it woke up that we could see its bill, shorter than a Curlew, and the stripes on its head.
A flock of sixteen Barnacle Geese flew over the seawall ahead of us now, turned and flew past us over the Wash and then seemed to head off further out. We wondered whether they were on their way somewhere too. There are several well-established feral breeding populations in the UK now and recent ringing work has found that they can move considerable distances.
Back down off the seawall, we walked on up the middle of the Coastal Park. There were more Sedge Warblers and several Reed Warblers singing now, a chance to compare the more rhythmic Reed with the mad Sedge Warbler song. There were more Common Whitethroats too, singing from the tops of the bushes and songflighting up into the sky above.
We found more Linnets and another family of Stonechats, this time the male with just a single juvenile. A Red Kite drifted back and forth over the bushes and the marshes beyond. A Turtle Dove flew past and disappeared straight off south. Less expected was a drake Pintail which flew in over the outer seawall and dropped down beyond the inner seawall towards Ken Hill Marshes. There were lots here in the winter, but most have long since moved on, probably up to Scandinavia to breed.
The wind was already starting to pick up, but there were still several butterflies out. Most notably, we found several Wall Browns, a Small Heath and a single Brown Argus. Particularly good to see the latter – the spring generation struggled particularly in the cold wet start to last year. A Hairy Dragonfly landed on the gorse in front of us where we had a good look at it basking in the sunshine.
Crossing over to the inner seawall, we could hear a Cuckoo calling in the distance, over towards Ken Hill Wood. There were lots of geese out on the grazing marshes, Greylags and Canada Geese, several pairs with good numbers of goslings. We could see two Spoonbills further up, towards the top end of the marshes, so we walked on for a closer look. Another Turtle Dove flew past us and disappeared off north towards Heacham.
We got the Spoonbills in the scope for a slightly better view, before one flew off and the other disappeared behind the bushes. There were lots of Black-tailed Godwits roosting out on the pools and scanning through, we found a couple of Bar-tailed Godwits with them. Some of the Lapwings have small chicks, and one pair with a single juvenile out on the mud spent some time mobbing a pair of Canada Geese with a gosling which walked a little too close. A Mexican stand-off! There were a few Redshanks and Avocets, but no sign now of the Wood Sandpiper we had seen here yesterday.
We walked back along the inner seawall. There were no other waders on the pools further down although we did see another Spoonbill which flew up from a ditch. A Grey Heron was on one of the pools too. The Barnacle Geese flew in again from the Wash and dropped down back onto Ken Hill Marshes. They obviously were not ready to head off anywhere yet after all. We stopped to look at a Reed Bunting which was singing from a bush in the reeds by the ditch below us.
It was time for lunch when we got to Titchwell, so we made use of the tables in the picnic area. The resident male Blackbird was straight in looking for crumbs, hopping up onto the table. During lunch, a Spotted Flycatcher appeared in the trees nearby briefly, but by the time everyone had finished it had disappeared again.
After lunch, we headed out onto the reserve. As we got out of the trees, another Brown Argus was fluttering around the brambles, in the sunshine and out of the wind. Not a species we see here very often, and an odd place to see one. Several Large Red and Azure Damselflies are more regular here.
There were more Reed Warblers singing in the reeds. A good number of Common Swifts and House Martins were hawking low over the reeds, looking for insects. We stopped to scan the Reedbed Pool. A drake Common Pochard was asleep at the front and several Tufted Ducks and a couple of Little Grebes were out on the water.
There has been a Common Snipe feeding on one of the islands of cut reeds here the last couple of days but we couldn’t see it at first. Then we realised it had moved and was now on the closer patch of cut reeds, which we could just see looking over the brambles in front. We got it in the scope and were having a look at it when it suddenly took off, flew over the seawall and dropped down out on the saltmarsh, out of view. A male Lapwing started displaying, flying round singing, twisting and tumbling, putting on a good show.
As we walked on, three Sandwich Terns flew off from the Freshmarsh and we watched them as they headed out over the saltmarsh calling. In to Island Hide, it was the worst combination – facing into the wind and out of the sun. A Little Ringed Plover was feeding round the edge of the closest island in front and a White Wagtail was picking around in the middle. A Common Sandpiper was working it way round one of the other islands, then flew to join the Little Ringed Plover. A single pair of Common Terns was loafing on one of the islands with the Black-headed Gulls, but facing away from us into the wind.
We decided to make our way round to Parrinder Hide, where it might be a little less chilly. A single Black-tailed Godwit was on the next compartment of the Freshmarsh, as we passed. It was indeed out of the wind in the hide now.
The Freshmarsh has been pretty much taken over with nesting Black-headed Gulls at the moment. We did manage to find a single adult Mediterranean Gull on the edge of Avocet Island, which we got in the scope. There was no sign of any Sandwich Terns on here now, after the ones we had seen had flown off earlier. A pair of Common Terns were hovering in front of the hide.
There were several more Little Ringed Plovers from here, along with another couple of Common Sandpipers. A single Black-tailed Godwit was asleep behind the nettles on one of the islands, sheltering from the wind. A Spoonbill appeared on the far end of the bund, where we watched it preening. Its shaggy nuchal crest was blowing round in the wind. A single drake Wigeon was asleep on the mud, although it did wake up later, and a pair of Egyptian Geese were in with the Greylags.
After warming up, we decided to brave the wind again and head on to the beach. There was not much on Volunteer Marsh beyond a couple of Redshanks down in the channel.
Once we climbed over the last of the seawalls out to the Tidal Pool, it was much windier. The pair of Little Terns were right over at the back today. The male was hovering over the water fishing. The female was hunkered down on one of the islands below, sheltering from the wind. A pair of Common Terns were on the closer island today where the Little Terns had been.
On to the beach, it was looking stunning in the sunshine but was cold in the face of the wind. We could see a few Sanderling on the mussel beds, and several more on the tideline, running in and out of the waves. It was hard to keep the scope steady though. A couple of distant Sandwich Terns flew past offshore and we could just make out birds coming and going from the colony on Scolt Head, despite the haze. A single Great Crested Grebe was on the water just offshore. It was not a day to linger here though, so we turned and walked quickly back until we got out of the wind.
Back to the car park, we had time for one last quick stop so we drove round to Thornham Harbour. Up on the seawall, we scanned the saltmarsh first. There were still lots of Brent Geese out on the mud and several Grey Plovers in various states of moult, one male in full breeding plumage with black face and belly. A Spoonbill was just visible, fishing down in the channel, sweeping its bill from side to side. Then it flew off further up the channel out of view.
We walked on a little further, to view the larger pool on the grazing marsh below the seawall. First, we picked up a Common Snipe on the far side, which we got in the scope. Just as the one had done earlier, as we were watching it, it took off, flew over bank and landed down on the saltmarsh out of view. There were several lingering Teal out on the pool too.
There had been a Wood Sandpiper here the last couple of days and scanning carefully, we found it feeding around clump of rushes. Then we noticed a second Wood Sandpiper closer to us, standing in the emergent vegetation in the near edge of water. Nice views now in the scope, we could see its spangled upperparts and its pale supercilium. A scarce spring migrant wader, probably on their way from Africa to breeding grounds in Scandinavia, nice birds to end our day of Spring Migration.
It was time to head back now. As we were packing up the minibus, we heard a Greenshank calling behind us and turned to see it fly up from the harbour channel and disappear off over the saltmarsh. One last spring migrant for the list. Then we had to be on our way.
