Day 1 of a 3-day Early Winter Tour. After a frosty start, it was a lovely bright and sunny day with lots of blue sky. The temperature got up to a high of 9C though with a freshening SSE wind in the afternoon. We spent the day in North Norfolk.
This morning, we headed first down to Cley. We parked in front of Walsey Hills and as we got out of the minibus there were several Gadwall on Snipe’s Marsh. As we walked up along the road, another two pairs of Gadwall were in the channel the other side. We crossed over to the start of the East Bank and quickly spotted three Marsh Harriers over the reeds beyond Pope’s Pool and two more out over the main reed reedbed.
Looking down along the Catchwater Drain, we could see another pair of Gadwall so we got them in the scope to admire the intricate details of the drake’s plumage. There were several Moorhen in the channel too, feeding in the floating vegetation. A Water Rail flew across but disappeared straight in the other side.
A Blackbird flew up out of the middle of the reeds and in across the road. Possibly a migrant, fresh in overnight and now looking for somewhere to feed? As we walked on, several more Blackbirds came in over the reeds, or flew past us in along the East Bank. Definitely birds had arrived overnight. Several flocks of Starlings were moving west overhead now too.
There were some flocks of Wigeon feeding out on the grazing marsh, though possibly fewer than we would normally expect here at this time of year. We stopped to get some in the scope and there were a few Teal too dozing on the back of a small pool, with a single drake swimming past. Two Black-tailed Godwits were feeding in the water on the Serpentine and a Redshank dropped in briefly. A Common Snipe flew up out of the wet grass and disappeared off west.
The reedbed was quiet this morning. A single Cetti’s Warbler shouted from somewhere in the middle and we heard another one calling closer to the path. It was perhaps a little cool still now so we thought we might stand a better chance on the way back. A flock of Brent Geese came up off the scrapes and flew off inland to feed, before another smaller group came over our heads and flew off east.
Up at the main drain, there were several Little Grebes in the water. They kept diving at first or disappearing into the banks but eventually showed themselves. Looking out at the Brackish Pool beyond, we could see several Pintail including a couple of smart drakes and a line of Shoveler dozing in the low sunshine. A Little Egret dropped in onto the pools in front.
There were more ducks on Arnold’s Marsh the other side, with several Shelduck at the back and a some more Pintail dozing on the edge of the saltmarsh with the Wigeon. When all the Teal flew out from the edge and landed in the middle we couldn’t see what had spooked them. Only about a minute later we turned to see a Sparrowhawk going away over the reedbed, so perhaps that had been the cause. There were several more Redshank on here and a single Curlew. Three Dunlin flew round and landed briefly but the water is too high and there is no suitable exposed mud for them at the moment, so they didn’t linger.
As we walked on towards the beach, we heard Snow Bunting calling and looked up to see two overhead. We watched them fly off into the distance before they appeared to land on the shingle north of Sea Pool. But almost immediately we picked them up coming back again, and they came high overhead and disappeared off west now. A Curlew circled over the bank, and thought about landing on the pools below before changing its mind. A close Redshank was on the near edge of Arnold’s Marsh. We heard Pink-footed Geese calling and turned to see a small group of flying over.
From out on the beach, we picked up several Red-throated Divers on the sea. They were diving constantly but we eventually got one in the scopes. A Great Crested Grebe flew west and a distant Gannet circled offshore. A regular succession of small flocks of Starlings came in off the sea, confirming what we had seen earlier. There were birds arriving from the Continent today, coming in for the winter.
A few Common Scoter flew past and then we noticed a larger group of Scoter on the water, very distantly off to the east. When two flew up and circled round we could see the white in their wings, Velvet Scoters. They landed again with the group but it was very hard to make out anything more than small black dots from here unless they flapped their wings.
We made our way back along the East Bank but the wind had picked up now – not ideal for Bearded Tits, and the reedbed was still quiet. We drove round to Salthouse beach road, thinking we might be able to get a better look at the Velvet Scoter from here. A Stonechat was on the brambles briefly as we pulled up and a Grey Plover was on the pool behind the beach.
From up on the top of the shingle, we could see a larger raft of Common Scoter still very distantly away to the east. But looking to the west, we could see the Velvet Scoters with a smaller group off in that direction. They were still a bit distant from here at first but flew a couple of times and landed again a bit closer. We could see at least 11 Velvet Scoter now, mixed in with some Common Scoter, including a couple of smart drakes.
After heading back round to the Visitor Centre at Cley to use the facilities, we decided to stop now for an early lunch. A Common Buzzard drifted over. From the picnic area we could see several Avocets out on Pat’s Pool, so after we had finished eating we went up to scan from from the terrace while some of the group got themselves a coffee. As well as the Avocets we found three Ruff too, before they flew off, and several more Black-tailed Godwits. Unfortunately the long-staying Long-billed Dowitcher seems to have disappeared again in the last few days, gone off with most of the Black-tailed Godwits.
There had been up to three Peregrines around the Eye Field earlier but having driven round to the beach car park we couldn’t find any sign of one now. There were several Brent Geese feeding out in the Eye Field so we got them in the scope.
Looking out to sea, we could see more Red-throated Divers and a Great Northern Diver flew past. It landed some way off to the west but started diving and disappeared. A small group of Eider flew west. There was still a constant succession of Starlings coming in and we picked up a couple of Blackbirds flying in over the sea too.
We had seen several Grey Seals on the beach on Blakeney Point from the East Bank earlier and we had a slightly closer view from here now. It is pupping season and through the scope we could see a single pup even from here. They usually give birth much further out on the Point but as the colony has increased in sizer they are starting to pup ever further east now. A big bull Grey Seal surfaced just offshore. A Turnstone ran up and down on the shingle in front of us.
Several large skeins of Pink-footed Geese whiffled down onto Blakeney Freshes behind us. Looking inland, we could see thousands more over the ridge beyond, and they appeared to be dropping down. There had been large numbers feeding up at Bayfield in the last few days, so we decided to drive inland to see if we could find them.
We found the Pinkfeet very quickly, but they were in a beet field the other side of the Glaven river and there was nowhere to stop on the road. We tried the minor road on the other side of the valley, but views were obscured by trees – we were not sure we could see the right field from here, and what we could see held no Pink-footed Geese. When we drove back round the way we had come, the geese were not in the beet field now which would probably explain why we hadn’t been able to see them.
Instead, we found the Pink-footed Geese loafing on the grass in the next field over in the sunshine, presumably digesting that sugar-rich beet. We manged to pull off the road and view over the estate wall from the verge. Even though we could only see part of the flock from here, we could see there were several thousand Pinkfeet here. A group of orange-billed Greylags were in the same field nearby for comparison.
Our final destination for the afternoon was Warham Greens. As we pulled up on the concrete pad, a Red Kite hung in the air over the fields and a skein of Pink-footed Geese flew over calling. We were hoping to catch up with the returning Pallid Harrier here and it had already been reported earlier than normal this afternoon. We hoped it had not gone in to roost already. As we walked down along the drove, there were lots of Curlews and Lapwings in the field alongside.
When we got out to the edge of the saltmarsh, there were a couple of people there watching a ringtail harrier distantly on the ground. It didn’t look right for the Pallid Harrier to us though. We were then distracted by a male Hen Harrier coming in from the east and when we looked back the ringtail was now flying. It was clearly another Hen Harrier as we had suspected. We watched both of them flying up and down.
A Merlin appeared flying off fast east and though it then turned and came back over the back of the saltmarsh it was hard to see. We hoped it might land somewhere in view but despite scanning we couldn’t find it again. There were plenty of Curlews and Little Egrets out on the saltmarsh and a small group of Pinkfeet flew out to roost on the beach beyond. A large flock of Knot came up and whirled round in the distance.
The grey male Hen Harrier appeared again, distantly in front of the pines out on East Hills. Then a second male Hen Harrier flew across in front, much closer to us. Much better views.
The Pallid Harrier had apparently dropped down earlier in front of the Spartina beds, so we were confident it hadn’t gone to roost yet. Sure enough, it eventually came up again in much the same area. It flew back and forth, up and down along the back edge of the saltmarsh. It was not going anywhere, and given it had come in so early tonight it had presumably fed well beforehand so had time to kill this afternoon. We had time to get it in the scopes and for everyone to get a good look before it dropped down again.
It didn’t look like the Pallid Harrier was going to head in to roost yet, but the light was already starting to go. We decided to call it a night and make our way back before it got dark. It had been a lovely Early Winter day out and we admired the beautiful sunset as we drove back.
