A glorious sunny day today – it felt like summer. We started at Stiffkey Fen with a nice Small Copper on the path. A Greenshank was trying to hide among the large flock of Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits and two Little Ringed Plovers lurked on one of the islands. Several Reed and Sedge Warblers perched up in the reedy edge of the channel, giving us a good opportunity to compare songs and birds. Out in the harbour, Little, Common and Sandwich Terns put on a good show and a cracking adult Mediterranean Gull circled overhead calling. Still plenty of Brent Geese were lingering on the saltmarsh, with a smattering of winter waders out on the mud.
On the heath, a large number of Green Hairstreaks were fluttering about in the heather. The song of a male Dartford Warbler led us to a pair chasing through the gorse – we followed them for a while and suddenly the male performed a song flight right in front of us, fluttering across the path and landing on the top of a stem perched out in the sun. A single Woodlark was located quietly feeding, before a male burst into song behind us – at first perched in a tree, he flew up over the heath, his slightly mournful song a contrast to all the Skylarks we had heard during the morning.
Back to Cley, and the Temminck’s Stint was still present, along with Greenshank, several Common Sandpipers, Ringed and Little Ringed Plovers, more Black-tailed Godwits and a couple of Dunlin. A White Wagtail was on one of the scrapes and a single Wheatear was by the beach.
A great day to be out.
