Day 1 of a 3-day Autumn Migration & Wader Spectacular tour. It was a rather grey and cloudy morning but it brightened up and then was unexpectedly bright and sunny in the afternoon. There was a cool NE/ENE breeze off the sea, but it was warm out of it when the sun came out. We spent the day on the North Norfolk coast.
Our destination for the morning was Holkham. The grazing marshes either side of Lady Anne’s Drive are dry now, so we set off west along the track on the south side of the pines. A Chiffchaff was singing in the trees. We heard Coal Tits calling and when we stopped as a couple of Great Tits appeared, a Treecreeper flew in and landed on a tree trunk in front of us.
At Salts Hole, there were lots of Gadwall and Mallard out on the water. Several Little Grebes lurked round the edges of the reeds and one swam out into the middle. A Green Sandpiper flew in and circled round low over the water. When it couldn’t find anywhere to land, it flew off over the reeds.
It was quiet at first as we carried on west. A few tits were in the trees before Washington Hide, but all we could find with them were a couple of Goldcrests and a Robin or two. Scanning from the gate just beyond, we couldn’t find anything of note in the bushes. A Great White Egret flew across over the grazing marsh further back and appeared to drop down towards the pool in front of the hide.
Up along the boardwalk, the sycamores were quiet. No sign of any migrants fresh in here today. We scanned the marshes from the boardwalk by Washington Hide. We could see a couple of Cattle Egrets with the cows way off in the distance, but they were mostly lying down in the long grass. So when a Marsh Harrier drifted over, it was s surprise to see 40-45 Cattle Egrets fly up! They circled round and landed again at which point most disappeared again.
The Great White Egret we had seen earlier was indeed stalking around on the pool in front of the hide. A second one flew in and the first promptly chased it off.
The Marsh Harrier drifted in over the reedbed and across the pool, before flying past close in front of us.
We continued on along the boardwalk for a quick look at beach. There was a big high tide today and the beach was flooded. There were lots of gulls on the water of various species. A Greenshank flew in and landed on the flood on the beach. It fed for a minute then flew again, landed this time on a small pool in the dunes in front of us. Again, it didn’t linger and flew off again east, presumably looking for somewhere to roost over the high tide.
Back to the main track, we continued to make our way west. A Hobby appeared over the pines and proceed to swoop back and forth catching dragonflies. As we passed Meals House, we stopped briefly to admire chimneys and check the trees. No migrants here either.
There had been a couple of Yellow-browed Warblers found yesterday, up by the crosstracks, which we were hoping to see. Not much further on, we could see birds in the trees by the path. Something flicked out of small oak in front of us, across the path and up into a bigger oak the other side. A Yellow-browed Warbler, we could see it flicking around in the leaves. It flew back across and into the top of another tree where it was slightly easier to see. We managed to follow it for a while, on the move all the time, until it flew up into the pines and disappeared.
There were lots of tits in the trees here now, a large mixed flock, and a few Goldcrests with them. Shortly after, what was presumably the same Yellow-browed Warbler was chased out of the trees again by a Chiffchaff. It called as it flew past us, back up into the oak where it had been earlier. Once again, it flicked in and out of the leaves for a minute of so, then disappeared back into the trees behind.
A Pied Flycatcher started calling behind us. As we turned round to look, it flew out into an oak where it perched briefly flicking its wings. It disappeared back behind the neighbouring holm oak but we could still hear it calling all the time. When it flicked up out onto a bare branch, we managed to get in the scope briefly. Then it flew back in and went quiet.
We walked and found the flock again, now further up. Several birds flew across the path ahead of us. There were lots of tits in the bushes on the edge of the grazing marsh – some had been for a bathe, and were busy preening. Someone further up pointed, at the big sallow clump, and scanning in through the leaves we could see two Yellow-browed Warblers moving about now. They were hard to see in all the foliage though and then disappeared further in. We could still hear one calling in the back, but when it went quiet we couldn’t tell whether it had flown out.
The new Joe Jordan hide is a good place to sit down after the walk out. A Great White Egret was standing in the shallow water on the pool in front. More Cattle Egrets were with the cows nearby. A Red Kite was busy feeding on something perched on a gatepost and when it finished and flew over, it flushed eight Cattle Egrets up out of the grass. There were a few Egyptian Geese and Greylags out in the grass and some distant small flocks of Pink-footed Geese flying over. The shallow pools left of the hide didn’t have much water left in them, and just a couple of Lapwings were around the edge.
Continuing on to the west end of the pines, the trees were very quiet and there was no sign of any more migrants. Just a couple of Chiffchaffs calling. Out into the start of the dunes, there were no birds in the brambles in the first dune slack and nothing moving in the bushes beyond. Another Chiffchaff was calling beyond fence. Several Wall butterflies fluttered up from the side of the path. We scanned as we sat down in the dunes for a short rest and picked up a few more Pink-footed Geese flying past.
It was time to walk back for lunch. The tit flock was now in the sallows west of the crosstracks, but the birds were deep in the trees so we pressed on. The sun was out now, and there were lots of butterflies and dragonflies along the track – Red Admirals, Walls, a couple of Speckled Woods and a worn Common Blue, lots of Migrant Hawkers and Common Darters.
We sat down fore lunch on the picnic tables outside the Lookout. A small skein of Pink-footed Geese flew in over the pines, looking like they might be fresh arrivals from further north. A couple of Common Buzzards and a Kestrel hung in the air over the trees.
After lunch, we drove west to Holme. There had apparently been several birds in the sycamores in the car park earlier, including another Yellow-browed Warbler, but it all seemed quiet now. After checking in at the Visitor Centre we looked more closely, and found a Redstart flitting around under the trees. A Spotted Flycatcher was flying in and out of the back.
We walked round into the dunes the other side, but there was no sign of a Pied Flycatcher where it had apparently been earlier, presumably it had disappeared into the pines. From the top of the dunes, we scanned the beach. The tide was a long way out now, but through the scope we picked up a few Knot, Bar-tailed Godwit and Black-tailed Godwits. There were more Oystercatchers and Curlews further up. A couple of Sandwich Terns were plunge diving just offshore.
As we walked down through the dunes, a Wheatear flew past and landed on the top of a bush behind us. A pair of Stonechats perched up too and a few Swallows flew through, on their way south for the winter now. Several more Wall butterflies fluttered up from the short grass.
There were no birds around the Forestry today, so we turned to come back. A couple more Wheatears flicked ahead of us, and we found a few more Stonechats but no sign of anything else.
We cut across to the entrance track and walked down the path opposite to the first hide. A smart winter Spotted Redshank was feeding up and down on the front edge of the pool. A Common Snipe was in the grass asleep, and another was feeding in the water just beyond.
There were lots of ducks, mostly loafing on the islands with a few in the water. The drake Teal, Wigeon and Shoveler were all still in brown eclipse plumage. Some of the drake Mallard are starting to come out now, but more of the Gadwall are back in smart breeding plumage already. We also found a single eclipse drake Pintail and a lone Common Pochard.
A juvenile Spoonbill flew in right past the front of the hide. It landed in the water, preened, fed briefly, and then flew off. A Grey Heron and a couple of Little Egrets were dozing on the island. We heard a Kingfisher call a couple of times but it didn’t fly past. A Little Grebe was diving in the channel right below the hide.
The car park here closes at 5pm, so unfortunately we had to head back. There was no sign of any birds in the sycamores now. It had been a productive first day – more tomorrow.
If you enjoyed reading about what we got up to and would like to join us on one of our forthcoming tours, you can see what we have planned on our Tours page here.
