Day 3 of a 3-day Spring Migration tour. After a cloudy start, it brightened up and by the afternoon it was largely blue skies. There was still a cool ENE wind, but thankfully it had dropped compared to yesterday and was nowhere near as chilly. We started just inland and then dropped down to the coast mid morning for the rest of the day.
We were in two minds about heading to the heath first thing this morning, as it dawned rather cloudy and grey. Still we decided to give it a go. We were rewarded pretty much as soon as we got out of the minibus when we heard a Turtle Dove purring. Walking up onto the edge of the heath, we managed to find it perched in a distant bare tree and got it in the scope. We could hear Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and Blackcap singing too.
Once everyone had a look at the Turtle Dove, and had got everything they needed out of the minibus, we walked out onto the Heath and round on one of the paths which would take us over a little closer. Before we could get there though, the Turtle Dove flew up in a display flight and spiralled down in a glide. It landed in the same tree but in the back now, where we couldn’t get a clear view through the branches. Then it flew up again and out past us, gliding down to the other side of the heath.
A great start, we walked on a little further and found a pair of Stonechats perched on the bushes. Something flicked up out of the heather beside them – a Dartford Warbler! We stopped to watch and a couple of times it perched up on the top of the heather. Then a second Dartford Warbler appeared too, this time a male. Eventually, the Stonechats worked their way further back and the warblers followed them, out of view.
We walked round to the other side, in the direction they had all gone, and found both the Stonechats and the Dartford Warblers again. Great views now as the warblers perched up from time to time on the top of the gorse, which is looking – and smelling – gorgeous at the moment, a sea of yellow. The female appeared very close to us at one point, and stayed perched on the top for a minute or so, so we could get a great look at it.
The Turtle Dove reappeared as well, purring in a birch tree nearby. Now we really didn’t know which way to look! We got it in the scope and could see the black and white striped patch on the side of its neck and the rusty fringes to its upperparts. Such a wonderful sound too, and sad that it has become such a rare thing to hear.
Despite the announcements last year that Turtle Dove numbers are increasing, they don’t seem to have recovered at all here. And those announcements have backfired with the European Commission now saying that, as a consequence, EU member states can resume Turtle Dove hunting this year after 4 years of moratorium on shooting. Terrible news. Enjoy them while you can, because the future looks increasingly bleak again.
We had only been here less than an hour and had seen both the birds we hoped to find, so we decided to move on. Dropping down to the coast, we drove on to Holkham. Parking by Lady Anne’s Drive, we got out and scanned the grazing marshes. Two Barnacle Geese were out on the grass in front with the Greylags, presumably birds from the feral breeding population in Holkham Park. Two Whimbrel were feeding just behind them and in the scope we could admire their humbug-striped crowns.
There were a few ducks on the pools here, Wigeon, Shoveler, Teal. A couple of Tufted Ducks were diving on the deeper water the other side of the Drive. We heard a Greenshank call but could only find a few Redshanks and a single Common Snipe. A Spoonbill flew over. A pair of Common Gulls were dozing on the island in the pools by the top end of the Drive.
After a quick stop to use the facilities at The Lookout, we set off along the path west on the sheltered side of the pines. A Willow Warbler was singing in the trees and we had a good view of it flicking around low down close to us at one point. At first it sang a conventional Willow Warbler song, a lovely, sweet descending scale which is always one of the early signs that spring has sprung. But then it started to begin its song with a quick burst of what sounded like Chiffchaff song. These interesting ‘mixed singers’ have been regular here in the last few years, perhaps a consequence of a rapidly declining Willow Warbler population in these parts.
A couple more Willow Warblers were singing further up, plus Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps. There were Blue Tits and Great Tits, Coal Tits and a couple of Long-tailed Tits in the trees. We heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker call and Treecreeper singing from somewhere deep in the pines. The Speckled Wood butterflies were very active by the path and we saw a few Green-veined Whites and a Holly Blue too.
Salts Hole just held a few ducks – a drake Wigeon and a drake Gadwall, a pair of Tufted Ducks and a pair of Mallard. A Brown Hare ran across the back. From the gate before Washington Hide, a pair of Spoonbills flew east in front of the Monument.
We had a quick look at the beach from the end of the boardwalk. There were lots of people out on the sands and lots of dogs – a lot of disturbance. Two Ringed Plovers and two Oystercatchers were in the cordon but no sign of any Little Terns. It was chilly out this side too, so we retreated back to the sheltered side of the pines. We thought we heard a Cuckoo briefly, but just as several people were walking past noisily and by the time they had gone it had gone quiet.
We continued on to Joe Jordan Hide. As we opened the windows, six Cattle Egrets were feeding with the cows right in front, mostly rooting around in the big clumps of rushes. A couple of Spoonbills dropped down onto the pool further back and more flew in and out of the trees. A Great White Egret and several Little Egrets flew over too.
A couple of the group heard the Cuckoo again as they were walking up to the hide, so we opened the far window. It called again a couple of times but then went quiet.
The pool to the left of the hide still has lots of water in it and looks really good now, with mud around the edges. A couple of Greenshank were feeding with three Redshanks in the shallow water, northbound migrants stopping off to feed up. The usual resident geese were out on the grazing marshes, Greylags and Egyptian Geese. Off to the right, we found a couple of Pink-footed Geese too. Most of the ones which spent the winter here have long since left, but a few sick or injured ones will stay through the summer.
It getting towards lunchtime now, so we set off to walk back. As we got to the crosstracks, a Treecreeper was up in the pines above us. We stopped to watch it feeding, working its way along the underside of the branches. The rest of the walk back produced mainly the same birds as on the way out, plus a Goldcrest in the pines closer to Lady Anne’s Drive. A Green Tiger Beetle kept flying up and landing again on the track ahead of us.
We sat outside on the picnic tables by The Lookout for lunch in the sunshine, although it was slightly less sheltered from the wind here. A Sedge Warbler was singing in the bushes and a Great White Egret landed out on the grazing marshes.
After lunch, we drove on west to Burnham Norton. Parking on the far side of the village, three more Cattle Egrets were feeding around the feet of the cows in front of us as we got out.
Walking out along the footpath to the seawall, Burnham Overy Mill looked particularly stunning with blue sky behind and bright yellow oil seed rape flowers in the field in front. A Marsh Harrier drifted over and a couple of Sedge Warblers were singing from down in the reeds below. Looking out at the pools on the grazing marsh beyond, there were the usual ducks and a few Avocets.
From up on the seawall, several Lapwings flew round above us. They were not really displaying, not singing, but still doing a bit of chasing back and forth. Always very striking birds in flight.
Further up, a large flock of Brent Geese was feeding out on the grass. They flew up as some dog walkers went past, some flying out towards Burnham Overy harbour and others landing back behind us. Several Redshanks and Oystercatchers were feeding in the muddy channels on the saltmarsh.
The main thing we were hoping to find here were Yellow Wagtails, but the cows were out in the middle of the grazing marsh, between the fence and a ridge in the ground, which would make them hard to see from either side. Through gaps in the fence, we did manage to get the scope on a few Yellow Wagtails and when they all flew up we could see there was quite a decent sized flock of them here. Not the best views though, although the males’ bright yellow colour makes them pretty unmistakeable, even at that range!
A couple of the group decided they wanted to head back, but the rest of us carried round on the seawall. The pools on the far corner had nothing different on them and the bushes below the bank produced just a couple more Sedge Warblers.
Coming back on the path through the middle, we could see the cows had moved over and were now just behind the reeds. Several Yellow Wagtails flew up and landed on the back of the pools on our side of the reeds. We got them in the scope, a much better view now. A very smart male Pied Wagtail landed on one of the small islands too.
Through the gate, we realised we could see through the reeds to the feet of the cows beyond. There were lots of Yellow Wagtails here now, we counted at least 14 but there were probably more. Great, close views too.
We had thought we saw a brief Blue-headed Wagtail distantly from up on the seawall but we couldn’t find it now. All we saw were a couple of greyish-headed females, but it is impossible to assign those conclusively to subspecies. Time was rapidly running, as some of the group wanted to get back and head off as early as possible, and then the male Blue-headed Wagtail dropped into the grass by one of the cows just as we were about to give up. We could see its contrasting dark blue-grey head and pale supercilium.
A quick walk back to the minibus was only interrupted by close views of a pair of Tufted Ducks right next to the path in one of the channels. One of the group, who had hung behind, heard a Bittern booming out on the marshes but the rest of us were already almost back to the minibus.
A very exciting three days of Spring Migration, with a great selection of spring migrants and summer visitors, despite the chilly wind. Time to head back for quick tea and cake before we all had to leave.
