Day 1 of a 2-day Winter Weekend Tour in Norfolk. It was a lovely bright sunny winter’s day, with lots of blue skies and sunshine. We spent the day down in the Norfolk Broads.
It was a slow drive down to the Broads today. We got stuck behind two different slow-moving tractors for lengthy periods, although it was a pleasant surprise when the second eventually actually pulled in to let everyone behind come past. Very rare that happens these days!
On our way through, we had a quick look for a pair of Common Cranes which had been apparently been showing well close to the road early mornings this week but there was no sign of them now. It was a lovely sunny morning and despite it being a Saturday there were quite a few people out already. The large flock we had seen regularly over the last few weeks was just up the road, so we decided to continue on to see if we could find those.
As we drove up, we couldn’t see any Cranes in their usual field. As we scanned, we found seven Cranes closer to the road, off to our left. They were nervous though, heads up, just with the minibus pulled up on the edge of the road. Almost immediately they flew, dropping back down behind the hedge further back out of view.
There had been small groups of both Whooper and Bewick’s Swans not too far away in recent days, so we moved on to look for those. There was no sign of any Whooper Swans along the causeway this morning, just a couple of domesticated white geese in one of the fields. A little further on, towards Ingham, we couldn’t see any swans where the Bewick’s had been either.
Driving on, we spotted six swans flying in the distance but lost sight of them behind the trees. We drove back, but couldn’t see which direction they had gone. Cutting inland, we had a quick look at another field where the Whooper Swans have been seen intermittently, but all we could find were four Mute Swans today. It seemed like it was not going to be our lucky morning!
We looped back to the coast road and down through Sea Palling. As we drove, we kept scanning the fields but the only swans here were Mute Swans. There were several groups of Pink-footed Geese in the fields here, but nowhere to stop at first. We did see another four Common Cranes flying over in the distance. Before Horsey Corner, we found some Pinkfeet in a field opposite a gateway where we could safely pull in.
We stopped and got out. The light on the Pink-footed Geese was perfect, so we got the scope on them. Once everyone had a good look, we scanned through the rest of the flock. In with them, we found two Russian White-fronted Geese. We could see their black belly bars and, when they lifted their heads, the white surround to the base of their pink bills.
There were a few Skylarks in the grass in the same field, one of which landed in view so we could get it in the scope. One of the Skylarks started singing, hopefully a sign that spring is on its way now. A rather tame Pied Wagtail walked down the road past the minibus right in front of where we were standing.
Continuing on, we stopped again beyond Horsey Mill. There were more Pink-footed Geese here, and another two White-fronted Geese with them too. A Common Buzzard flew past, chased by a couple of Carrion Crows and two Marsh Harriers hung in the air over the reeds beyond.
The Tundra Bean Geese which we had found at Martham at the start of the year were still reported in the same field yesterday, so we moved on again to see those. However, when we got there all we could see were the Egyptian Geese and no sign of any Pinkfeet, which the Tundra Beans had been with. Three weeks in the same field and they had decided not to come back again this morning – it really wasn’t going to be our day!
We still wanted to see some Cranes on the ground, so we continued on our regular route round via some other places where we had seen them recently. At the first, we found a shoot underway. Lots of people walking across the middle of the fields waving flags, dogs running around, and presumably guns going off too – no surprise, no Cranes here!
On to the fields where we had seen the family of Cranes last weekend, there was no sign of any here today either. Several Common Snipe came up out of the muddy ground and, while we were scanning, we picked up a ringtail Hen Harrier flying over. It dropped down towards the meadows further back and started to hunt. We had some nice views of it now, as it kept coming up above the lines of reeds, flashing its white rump. There were a couple of Marsh Harriers here too which flushed lots of Lapwings from the fields at the back.
We decided to press on down to the Yare Valley, where we normally have lunch, and see if we could find anything back where it should be this afternoon. It was still early, so we headed round to have a look at Buckenham Marshes first today. There were no Redwings or Mistle Thrushes in the paddocks this morning – again, there were lots of people out walking their dogs along the road in the sunshine, enough to disturb them.
Out at the Marshes, a Red Kite was circling lazily over the middle flushing all the ducks. The large flocks of Wigeon were whirling round, dropping back down in the grass and then flushing again. We continued on to the end of the track and parked. A Marsh Harrier came over the marshes the other side of the track now, flushing all the ducks again.
When things settled down, as well as the Wigeon, there were lots of Teal and Shoveler around the pools. Further back, we could see several Shelduck too. Plenty of Lapwing were out on the grass, but we couldn’t find any other waders. The only geese here today were a few Greylags and several groups of Canada Geese. We could only see a couple of Chinese Water Deer, but we got one in the scope.
We heard Pink-footed Geese calling from the other side of the river and turned to see a large flock up beyond the bank. From up on the top of the river bank we couldn’t see the geese at first, but then they flushed and circled round again. We couldn’t see what was disturbing them. A Stonechat landed on the gate below us, before shooting off down the ditch behind the reeds.
It was time for lunch now, so we drove round to Strumpshaw Fen where we could get a welcome hot drink. Given it was still bright and sunny, we had a short walk back along the road to the trees but there was little activity here beyond a couple of Great Tits and a Blue Tit. We ate lunch on the picnic tables but it was quiet here again. The feeders are still missing, taken away due to rats, and just a single Great Tit came through the trees while we were there.
After lunch, we headed back north to see if our luck might have changed. There was still no sign of any Cranes in the fields where we saw the family last week and a quick look up towards Martham drew a blank on the geese too. Undaunted, we pressed on.
The field where we had seen the large flock of Cranes recently looked empty too. A car coming the other way pulled into the layby where we park to let us pass and so we were about to drive straight on when we noticed something in the top corner, tight against the verge at the back. We had to reverse back into the layby but a quick scan with binoculars confirmed we had found the Cranes!
They were hard to see at first, with most of the flock initially in a tall crop in the field beyond. Gradually more Cranes walked out into the open field in front and we had a good view of them now in the sunshine through the scope. At last! It was hard to count them today, but there were a minimum of 24 Cranes here now.
Moving on, there were still no Whooper Swans along the causeway but as we drove towards Ingham we found some swans in one of the fields now. They were over the back of the field and only visible from a short stretch of road, but we found somewhere we could pull in. This is where the Bewick’s Swans had been and sure enough, that’s what we had finally found now.
There were a few Mute Swans closer to the road and ten Bewick’s Swans further back. Through the scope, we could see the restricted, squared-off patch of yellow on their bills. Certainly relative to the Mute Swans, we could see the Bewick’s Swans were noticeably small.
Our final destination for the day was St Benet’s and it was time to head over there now. The seven Cattle Egrets were still hanging around the feet of the two bulls by the entrance track as we parked and got out. A couple of Fieldfares were out on the grass too, and we got one in the scope. A big flock of Golden Plover circled round in the distance in front of Coldharbour Farm, flashing gold in the sunshine.
From the car park, we could see a male Marsh Harrier quartering further back. It was fitted with red wing tags – presumably the regular ‘ND’ again, but too far away to read today. Somebody towards the farm buildings shout ‘owl’ and we turned to see a Barn Owl flying across right in front of us. It headed off towards the old abbey gate and disappeared.
We didn’t have to wait too long before a Short-eared Owl appeared. It started hunting low over the grass on the edge of the abbey, so we decided to head up onto the mound. As we walked round on the path, a second Short-eared Owl came up briefly further back.
The first Short-eared Owl was still hunting up and down over the rushes. It flew up and landed in the top of the hedge where we got it in the scope. Great views now, we could see its bright yellow eyes.
Another Short-eared Owl flew up from the grass below, possibly just the second we had seen earlier. After a quick circuit over the rushes, it flew up over the bushes and out over the marshes beyond. We could see it hunting in the distance. The first flew round again, landed a second time in the very top of one of the hawthorns, and then dropped down the back out of view.
From the top of the mound, we scanned the grazing marshes. We could see some Mute Swans in the distance, towards Thurne, but nothing with them today. Then we picked up some more swans in the meadows back along the entrance track. They had their heads down, but we could just make out there were at least four Whooper Swans. Not a great view from here though. A couple of Meadow Pipits came up out of the grass.
One of the Short-eared Owls was still hunting over the marshes beyond, so we walked down to the bank at the far side to watch. It flew up and down at the back for a while, hunting, dropping down into the grass from time to time. When it dropped behind a line of reeds, it stayed down for a while now, possibly having caught something.
We stood and scanned the marshes, a typical Broadland scene, with a couple of windmills over by the river beyond. Lovely late afternoon light too. There were lots of Chinese Water Deer out now. A couple of Marsh Harriers were out over the grass and a few Cormorants started to fly over, heading in to roost. When all the Fieldfares flew up out of the hedge, we turned to see a Sparrowhawk shooting through and disappearing off over the marshes beyond.
The Short-eared Owl reappeared, hunting up and down over the grass. We stood and watched it for a while. Eventually it flew up over the river bank at the back and dropped down out of view beyond. We decided to walk slowly back.
The light was starting to go now, but we continued round past the car park and down the entrance track. The other Short-eared Owl was still hunting out over marshes here and we had great views of it as it came in along the edge of one of the ditches and across the track right in front of us.
Beyond the reeds, we could see one Whooper Swan on the pool out in the grass now. Through the scope, we could see the more extensive wedge of yellow on its bill compared to the Bewick’s Swans we had seen earlier. Further back, we then found the group we had seen from the top of the mound earlier. They were harder to see from here, but we could see there were six Whooper Swans together, so seven in total.
A lovely end to the day here, and we had finally managed to catch up this afternoon with most of the birds we had missed in the morning. Time to head back into a beautiful pink sunset.
