A 1-day Broads Tour today. Another very dull, grey and cloudy day, but at least it stayed dry. Chilly, down to 1C at dawn and with a maximum of just 3C early afternoon, but with only very light winds which meant it could have felt colder. We spent the day down in the Norfolk Broads.
The advance party met in Hindolveston for the drive down to the Broads. It was only just starting to get light as we set off. We hadn’t gone far when a Barn Owl flew across the road ahead of us. Further on, as we got into the Broads and close to where we would meet the rest of the group, we could see some swans back in the field where we had seen them earlier in the month just east of Horning. There were only a few, less than ten, and they looked like probably just Whooper Swans, but we didn’t have time to check them out now. We figured we could come back later.
The rest of the group were waiting for us in Ludham. A Grey Heron flew past as we loaded up and a Chaffinch started singing in the trees nearby. It didn’t really feel very spring-like this morning, but a reminder that it hopefully isn’t too far away now.
Our first destination for the morning was St Benet’s Levels. The swans have been very erratic this winter but some had been seen here in the last few days. As we drove down along the access track we could see several on a small pool out in the grazing marsh behind the trees. So we drove on and found somewhere to park. Seven Cattle Egrets were still out on the grass opposite but scattered as the two bulls were lying down. The bulls woke up as we passed and stood up. Immediately several of the Cattle Egrets flew in and landed around their feet. Just what they had been waiting for!
We stopped briefly to talk to a local birder who was scanning the marshes from the track. He told us that the Pink-footed Geese were landing over the other side of the marshes, so we figured we would try round there shortly. A male Marsh Harrier drifted past and we could see it had red wing tags. From photos, we could read the code and we realised it is regular here. We reported it in exactly the same place in January 2024!
The swans were just visible through the reeds, so we stopped to look. The four which were in view were Whooper Swans, we could see the wedge of yellow extending down their bills. We were just talking about the difference between Whooper and Bewick’s Swans when a Sparrowhawk shot past skimming the verge just a couple of metres away from us!
Continuing on, a Kestrel was perched in a tree by the track. It was looking down, focused intently on the ground below, and didn’t seem to see us standing right in front of it. Eventually it looked up, saw us and flew off further back.
From down at the gate, we had a better view of the swans. We could see six Whooper Swans now and a single Mute Swan, but no sign of any Bewick’s. Another tour group arrived, so we decided to move on and see if we could find any swans on the other side of the levels. We would be coming back later too, so we could have another look then.
It was just a short drive round to the other side. We walked up onto the river bank to scan the marshes. It didn’t take long to find the flock of Pink-footed Geese which were feeding out in the middle of the grass. Scanning through with the scopes, we found at least three White-fronted Geese in with them. They were hard to see, feeding with their heads down most of the time, but when they lifted their necks we could see the distinctive white surround to their pink bills.
Several more large skeins of Pink-footed Geese flew in calling from behind us. We watched them drop down to join the others out on the grass.
Scanning across the grazing marshes, we could see lots of Lapwing and then we found a group of Golden Plovers too. They were mostly standing together in a tight group, rather than feeding. We had heard Fieldfares calling when we arrived and now we found several feeding on the grass behind the cattle sheds. Three Stock Doves flew out of the barns but disappeared off round the back. Thankfully we found another Stock Dove perched on a gate very distantly out on the marshes for those who missed them. We couldn’t find any Cranes out on the levels today though, and there were only Mute Swans round this time.
Back in the minibus, we drove back towards Horning now to check out the swans we had seen earlier. When we got there, we were surprised to find the field was now empty. There was no obvious sign of the swans anywhere in the surrounding fields, so we decided to move on straight away and go looking for Common Cranes.
We made our way back through the Broads towards the coast, stopping on the way to check out a field where there had apparently been a showy pair earlier in the week. There were lots of dog walkers out now, so it was perhaps not a surprise to find the field here empty now too apart from a couple of Egyptian Geese. Pressing on, we didn’t have to go too far to find some Cranes in the field where we had seen them a couple of weeks ago.
The Cranes were sufficiently far away that we could park and get out of the minibus. we set up the scopes for a closer look. We counted 22 now, scattered across the field. There were a couple of ginger-headed juveniles in with them and we could see the red on the hindcrown of the adults. One of the adult Cranes started displaying, dancing and leaping, waving its wings, though we couldn’t hear it bugling. Perhaps it was just getting some practice in! After we had all had a good look at them we moved on.
We drove on to the coast and had a quick look for a Bewick’s Swan which had been reported in the last couple of days. No sign today, so we continued round to the south. The plastic crows which have been strung up in the field to scare off the others were still there. The field was full of Rooks with a pair of Crows a little further along. Obviously working well!
Down towards Horsey, we found a small group of Pink-footed Geese in a field right by the road. There was nowhere to pull over but we managed a quick scan from the minibus. One of the geese had orange legs and an orange band round its bill. Normally that might be a good indicator for a Bean Goose but this one was faking it. It was just a Pink-footed Goose but one with orange legs and feet, which were not really bright enough. Small numbers do occur regularly within the Pink-footed Goose population, a pitfall for the unwary.
Down by Horsey Mill, we were surprised to find no sign of any finches in the field where we had seen them feeding a couple of weeks ago. The neighbouring stubble had been ploughed, but the cover crop still seemed to be unaffected in the corner. We didn’t stop, but drove on a bit further and pulled off the road to scan the fields.
There were more Pink-footed Geese in the field opposite, but nothing different in with them. They were dwarfed by the Canada Geese just behind them, which gave us a good sense of scale. Several Marsh Harriers were flying in and out of the bushes in the reeds beyond the fields the other side. We could see several swans in the fields but they were all Mute Swans.
A little further on, we pulled into another gateway. There were lots of Lapwings in the wet grass and a few Wigeon and Teal around the pool in the middle. There was another large flock of Pink-footed Geese here too, but they were very distant, over towards the dunes, so we decided not to stop.
It was getting towards midday, so we decided to start making our way over to the Yare Valley. As we came out of Martham towards the main road, we passed the field where we had found some Tundra Bean Geese a couple of weeks ago. There had been no reports of them since 8th January, so we presumed they had long since gone. We could see some geese out in the winter wheat though, so we pulled up by a muddy gateway and had a quick scan with binoculars. There were still some Pink-footed Geese and with them were some Tundra Bean Geese!
We drove on, did a quick u-turn, and pulled into another gateway which was less muddy and we could safely get off the road. Setting the scopes up, we had a great view of the Tundra Bean Geese now. We could see that their legs were a much brighter orange, ‘dayglo’, compared to the orange-legged Pinkfoot we had just seen. We counted three Tundra Bean Geese, the same number we had seen here before, but we couldn’t see all the geese as several were hidden from view in a dip in the field beyond. A very nice surprise!
There were quite a few Egyptian Geese in the field too, as well as the Tundra Beans and Pinkfeet. It is that time of year, particularly for Egyptian Geese which will nest very early. Several of the males were aggressively posturing, showing off their white wing patches and occasionally chasing after each other.
Continuing on, we passed through an area where we sometimes see Cranes. Scanning the fields as we passed, we could see a couple out in one of them. We thought it might be a better view than the ones we had seen earlier, so we turned around and pulled off the road out of view. Setting up the scopes just beyond some bushes, we found it was actually a family of four, two adults with their two gingery-headed juveniles from last year. They seemed pretty settled and after the adults put their heads up at first, they settled down and resumed feeding.
One of the group spotted a harrier in the distance, over the fields beyond. We looked over just in time to see a grey male Hen Harrier disappear behind the reeds. Unfortunately it didn’t come back up again. There were several Lapwings in the next field over and something seemed to keep spooking them. When they flew up again alarm calling, they seemed to upset the Cranes which took off and flew back, dropping down just behind the reeds at the back of the field.
We drove on down into the Yare Valley and round to Strumpshaw for lunch now. With no feeders still, the trees in front of Reception Hide were very quiet. A single Long-tailed Tit came through. There were just a few Mallard, a couple of Greylags and a young Mute Swan on Reception Broad, but we did see a few Marsh Harriers starting to gather over the reedbed beyond.
After lunch, we drove round to the neighbouring Buckenham Marshes. Scanning the paddocks as we passed, we found lots of Redwings out on the grass with a single Mistle Thrush just beyond. A lone Red-legged Partridges was a little further along.
There seemed to be few birds over the side of the marshes nearest the railway line, and no sign of any geese down along the edge. We carried on straight out to the fishermen’s car park at the end of the track. From here, we scanned the marshes. There were lots of Lapwings, including one in front of the hide which was possibly the same bird we had seen there a couple of weeks ago. A single Dunlin was feeding on its own on the closest pool.
There were lots of Wigeon out on the grazing meadows and a few Teal and Shoveler and a couple of Shelduck around the pools. We couldn’t find many geese today, just a few Canada Geese and a couple of Greylags. A lone Great White Egret was patrolling the ditches out in the middle.
There is often a Peregrine around, but all we could find out on the gates were several Common Buzzards. Looking over to Cantley Beet Factory in the distance (it is 4km away from where we were!) we could see a Peregrine now flying around the roof. It disappeared behind, then came back up and landed on the railings on the left hand side of the top of one of the cooling towers. When it dropped down we could just see its head moving up and down between the railings, it looked like it might be feeding on something. The Peregrine was little more than a blurry dot in the mist though – as the photos confirm, it could hardly be said to be ‘showing well’!
It was time to start heading back to St Benet’s. As we made our way north, we could see eight Cranes now in the field where we had seen the family of four earlier. When we got to the abbey car park and disembarked, the first thing we saw was a Short-eared Owl hunting the fields behind us. We walked back out onto the track and watched it flying round over the back of the grass, in front of the river bank.
Another Short-eared Owl appeared over the rough grass in front of the abbey ruins and was almost immediately joined by a second (or third!). One of them landed in the grass, where we could see it standing, but it was hard to get in the scope as we were lower down here. The second Short-eared Owl seemed to fly back over the abbey. We decided to walk round to the ruins to see if we could get a clearer view. As we walked along the path, one of the Short-eared Owls towered up ahead of us, over the old abbey gate, pursued by a Kestrel.
That one drifted off away from us, so we walked on round and up onto the abbey to see if the other Short-eared Owl was still in the grass. By the time we got there, it had taken off again and was now hunting back and forth over the rushes in front of the hedge. As we stopped to watch it, it flew up and landed in one of the bushes. We got it in the scope now and had a really good view of it perched there.
It quickly resumed hunting over the rushes but disappeared off back away from us. By the time we got up to the top, we could see the Short-eared Owl now heading high out over the marshes beyond the abbey. It dropped back down and started to hunt up and down over the grass, so we stood for a while and watched it. When it disappeared behind the bushes, we walked down to the bank at the bottom of the abbey rise and found it down in the grass beyond. Again, lovely views through the scopes – we could see its bright yellow irises (or irides).
The Short-eared Owl took off again and flew over to the fence on the far side where it landed on a post. After a while, it flew again a short distance and landed again. It was staring down into the grass below and suddenly launched itself off the post and down. Perhaps it had caught a vole, because we didn’t see it come back up again. A Kestrel landed in a tree just above where it had dropped and called. Perhaps it was hoping to steal a free vole. The other Short-eared Owls seemed to have gone quite now too.
Looking round, we spotted two Cranes flying in over the marshes behind us. We watched them as they dropped down out in the middle, where we got them in the scopes. A good day for Cranes today.
We walked back up to the top of the mound and scanned the grazing marshes again. Four Whooper Swans were out in the distance with a group of Mute Swans, presumably some of the six we had seen earlier. Several Marsh Harriers drifted in but we couldn’t see any more raptors this evening.
The light was starting to go, so we began to walk back slowly. A succession of impressively long lines of Cormorants came over, heading in to roost. It was time for us to head back too now.
