Saturday driving to Norfolk was cold, windy and wet. Wednesday driving back was just windy and wet and the days in-between were very cold, grey and murky between 2c and 4c but luckily not wet ! - So itineraries for the girls were car-to-cafe variety especially as Hannah was still suffering from a nasty bug. Naturally I managed to get birding squeezed in, mostly at either end of the day, although pictures were poor because of the light ... and me. Our accommodation at Titchwell was perfect and even when driving the birds were often obliging - Hannah coined the phrase ' Wol Patrol' every time we saw a Barn Owl - which was often.
In summary the birds were all of the Winter variety but not a beter place in the UK to see such a variety at theis time of year (well there might be but I think Norfolk is great). My bird list for the trip was 104 species. Highlights by site being as follows.
Welney - 100 + Whooper Swans, 3,500 Black-tailed Godwit, 8 Tree Sparrows, Ruddy Duck and an escapee Greater Flamingo which had Adie confused as it looked out of place in the rain.
Titchwell/Thornham - Bewick Swan, 3 Diver species, Red-necked Grebe, Northern Harrier (hudsonius) (saw twice with decent scope views), Long-Eared Owl, Peregrine, Velvet Scoter, Water Pipit, Spotted Redshank, c30 Twite and c40 Snow Bunting.
Holkham - 2 Rough Legged Buzzards, White-fronted and Pink-footed Geese.
Salthouse/ Cley - 10 Shorelark, c30 Snow Bunting.
Lots of Barn Owls everywhere - the most seen in one day was 5 different birds.
So another great trip, will never tire of Norfolk.
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Whooper Swans and Pochard - Feeding time at Welney. |
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| Greater Flamingo - looking for it's pen - somewhere a bit warmer. |
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| Ruddy Duck - Welney in the rain. |
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| The number of Barn Owls were a highlight. |
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| More reminiscent of Bagpus - Long-eared Owl at Thornham |
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| Long-eared Owl - Thornham - Obligingly sat in view rather than in middle of hedge |
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| Shorelark - one of ten at Cley. |
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| Spotted Redshank - Titchwell |
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| Hares - just starting to get 'mad' - a bit murky. |
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