Day 2 of a 3-day Early Winter Tour. After a rather grey and misty start, the low cloud lifted and it was a nice day with some bright and even sunny spells. It was rather mild for the time of year too, with temperatures up to 13C today. We spent the morning in North Norfolk and the afternoon in The Fens.
Our destination for the morning was Holkham. First, we stopped to scan the grazing marshes from the road. Initially all we could find were Greylags and a few Egyptian Geese, but then we noticed a small group of White-fronted Geese along the far edge of the grass. They were partly hidden in some low lying pools and rushes but we could see the white surrrounds to their pink bills when they lifted their heads. We could only see about ten, but numbers of White-fronted Geese are likely to grow over the coming weeks as more birds come over from the continent.
A couple of Red Kites drifted out from Holkham Park behind us, a Common Buzzard was perched in the bare trees in front of us. Several Marsh Harriers drifted back and forth over the grazing marshes beyond. A few small birds flitted in and out of the hedges, Reed Bunting, Chaffinches, Great Tit and Robin.
We drove back round to Lady Anne’s Drive and parked. As usual, there were lots of Wigeon feeding on the grass just beyond the drive – they are very used to people here. We could also see a few Teal and Shoveler on the small pools. A single Curlew was out on the grass further back along with a few Lapwing and a Brown Hare was tucked up out of the wind against the brambles behind. We looked up to see a small flock of Golden Plover flying past.
Through the pines, we turned east along the edge of the saltmarsh. A couple of small flocks of Linnets whirled round above and dropped down into the vegetation further back in front of the dunes. A single Redshank came up from one of the small pools, calling, but otherwise the saltmarsh was quite quiet today.
Down at the far end, there were a few people staring into the cordoned off area but it didn’t seem like anyone was watching anything. We started to work our way down from the near corner, scanning carefully, and then noticed two people down at the far end waving. They had found the Shorelarks. We walked down until we could see them and set up the scopes.
The Shorelarks were feeding in the more open saltmarsh down towards the far end. Despite it looking quite open and flat here, they can be very difficult to see as they feed in amongst the short tufts of vegetation. They were moving through quickly but we could see them when they stopped and lifted their heads, their bright yellow faces catching the light. After a while, they came out onto some low sandy mounds where they were a bit easier to see. One of them, by the looks of it a male, stopped and stood on the top looking round.
The Shorelarks gradually made their way closer to us, but then turned and ran back to the far side where they were harder to see. We decided to move on to the beach.
It was still rather grey at first, but gradually the low cloud lifted and it brightened up. We could see thousands of Common Scoter out on the sea and scanning with the scopes, we picked up a few Red-breasted Mergansers closer inshore. A Sanderling ran past along the sand and there were a few Oystercatchers and Redshanks around the pools on the shore. We had a nice view of a Common Gull with a Herring Gull for comparison.
Their yelping calls alerted us to a small skein of Pink-footed Geese coming in off the sea. We looked up and could see them now coming out of the clouds. Some birds which have initially stopped further north, in Scotland or northern England, will come on to Norfolk to feed on sugar beet in the middle of the winter. A couple of nearby birders shouted and we turned to see a Woodcock flying in over the beach before diving into the pines behind us. Another arrival for the winter, this one coming in from the continent.
There were a few Great Crested Grebes and Red-throated Divers out on the sea too. A Red-necked Grebe had been reported earlier, but first we found a single Slavonian Grebe just off the beach, smaller and more black and white. As the light improved, we finally found the Red-necked Grebe too, a bit further back, in front of the Common Scoters.
We walked slowly back past the saltmarsh. A dog was running around out through the middle, completely out of control. It flushed a Redshank from one of the small pools and proceeded to chase round after it as it attempted to fly away. When the Redshank finally got away, it then ran round again flushing all the Linnets and putting up a small flock of Skylarks from the back. We could see its owner and friend walking along on the path to the beach, swinging the dog’s lead, chatting and drinking coffee, completely oblivious. When we got back to the gap, another dog was out the saltmarsh the other side and this time its owners were videoing it on their phones as it ran round. No wonder there are so few birds left here these days, with this level of disturbance!
Back through the pines, we stopped to use the facilities and stood to scan the grazing marshes again. We had heard Pink-footed Geese calling and now we could see a large flock in the next field back. We got them in the scopes for a closer look. A couple of Jays dropped down out of the trees onto the grass closer to us.
We had about an hour’s drive now, down to the Fens. When we arrived, we had a quick drive into the fields first but we could only see a small group of swans some way off in the distance. There were some large flocks of Lapwings in the fields though. It was time for lunch, so we headed over to Welney, negotiating our way slowly down the very bumpy fenland roads which are slowly sinking into the peaty soil. We ate our lunch by the Visitor Centre, watching the sparrows coming and going from the feeders. A Song Thrush dropped into the bushes briefly.
After lunch, we had a proper look at the sparrows. There were lots of Tree Sparrows coming and going from the feeders and we had good views of them here. An increasingly scarce bird in southern counties now. As we put our lunch bags back in the minibus, a small flock of Fieldfares flew off over the car park.
Looking out over Lady Fen from the bridge by the Visitor Centre, we could see our first Whooper Swan with the Greylags on the pool. There were several Canada Geese here too, the first we had seen this weekend. We got the scopes on a few Ruff which were feeding on the mud at the back of the pool, with the Lapwings, and we could see their delicately scalloped backs.
After checking in at the Visitor Centre, we stopped to scan from the balcony. A Great White Egret flew over and a single Cattle Egret was on the edge of a small ditch out on the grass below, next to a Grey Heron. There had been a Short-eared Owl reported already from Lady Fen, but we couldn’t see anything flying yet. We decided to have a quick look from the Observatory first.
Crossing over the bridge, another Cattle Egret flew past. The Ouse Washes are full of water after recent rains and the path to the other hides was closed. There were lots of Common Pochard in front of the Observatory and a single Tufted Duck with them. Further back, there were more Teal and Wigeon and a single Pintail asleep in the grass on one of the flooded islands.
There were already a few Whooper Swans out on the water, with the distinctive long yellow wedge on their bills. More flew in and landed on the water, presumably arriving in anticipation of the swan feeding later.
Scanning across we found a single Bewick’s Swan in with a small group of Whoopers, its bill with noticeably less yellow. The Whooper Swans it was with were dozing, but when they eventually woke up and lifted up their heads, we could see that the Bewick’s Swan was smaller with a shorter neck too. The number of Bewick’s Swans coming to Welney have dropped in recent years as birds ‘short stop’ in response to milder temperatures on the continent. But they often don’t come here in numbers until December, so more should hopefully be arriving soon.
A Grey Wagtail was feeding in amongst a small group of Mallard in the corner of the reeds along the edge to the right of the hide. Six more Cattle Egrets flew over. A single Lesser Black-backed Gull was perched on a gatepost out in the middle.
We made our way back over the bridge and out along the path beside Lady Fen the other side of the Visitor Centre. There were a few people with cameras standing round the path further up, so we stopped to scan. We couldn’t see anything flying yet but quickly we spotted a Short-eared Owl in the grass out in the middle. It was awake and looking round but showing no inclination to start hunting yet. Through the scopes we could see its distinctive yellow eyes.
The swan feeding was happening at the Observatory at 3.30pm today, but that would also be when the Short-eared Owls might start flying and we were hoping to get some Common Cranes flying in. Two of the group decided they wanted to watch the swan feeding, while the rest of us stayed out by Lady Fen. A small flock of Golden Plovers flew over and then two massive clouds, one of Lapwings and one of Golden Plovers came up over the fields beyond. A flock of Ruff flew past over the grass, presumably heading for the pool.
On cue, the Short-eared Owl eventually took off and started hunting low over the grass with its distinctive stiff-winged wing action. A second Short-eared Owl came up too and we watched the two of them flying up and down. At one point a Marsh Harrier drifted over the the two Short-eared Owls flew up to mob it, then had a brief tussle with each other before resuming hunting.
A small group of seven Common Cranes came up from the fields beyond and started to fly in towards us. As they circled over Lady Fen, we noticed a much larger group of 26 Cranes coming in too. They started bugling to each other and then all 33 circled round over the grass together. We thought they were going to come in to land, as they have roosted here in recent nights, but they seemed to lose confidence and after circling for a while they turned and headed back out to the fields. Perhaps it was still a bit early, a bit too light.
While we were watching the 33 Cranes flying off, another group of 8 Cranes flew in the other way. These ones circled for a while and then started to drop down. We lost sight of them as they came down behind the reeds in the middle and we figured they had landed on the other side, in front of the Visitor Centre. As we walked back round, we could see them out on the grass beyond the pool.
Back up on the balcony in the Visitor Centre, we had a good view of them in the scopes now, the 8 Common Cranes out on the grass. They were standing together in a group preening. Another 6 Cranes flew in from behind us and dropped down to join them.
The light was starting to go, but one of the Short-eared Owls flew low over the back of the pool and flushed a small group of Common Snipe from the cut reeds. The two of the group who had gone to watch the swan feeding came out to join us now and we showed them the fourteen Cranes on the grass. A nice way to end another lovely winter day, it was time for the long drive back.
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