Norfolk and Suffolk 02-08 October 2011

Our first stop on arriving in Norfolk on a very warm October lunchtime was Weeting Heath to look and see if there were any lingering stone curlews; there were not, only lapwing. We moved on to nearby Grimes Graves where the main interest is archaeological but we also saw our first wheatear of the trip and lots of meadow pipits.

From here, we headed back across the border to Lakenheath Fen in Suffolk. Unfortunately, the cranes weren’t at home although the person manning the visitor centre was very excited as they had ten birds on the reserve earlier in the day, whereas they usually have five resident birds. We heard some beardies but the wind was up and they didn’t show. The best bird we saw here was a hobby above the reedbeds.Later, we heard a tawny owl outside our B&B near Brancaster.

The following morning we headed to Snettisham for the lunchtime not-very-high tide. The first bird we saw was a green woodpecker, and we also saw a variety of waders on our walk to the hides; mostly knot and oystercatchers but also grey plovers, golden plovers, curlews, and some smaller dunlin and ringed plovers. The high tide spectacle was a bit of a let down because the birds never came particularly close to the shore, but it was a good visit overall.

From here we went to Titchwell where it was also too windy for bearded tits! Other than lots more of the same waders, the best birds on the lagoons here were a couple of pintails amongst the ducks.

However we had a much better time trying to sea-watch from the beach in the increasingly strong wind. I thought we saw a winter plumaged diver a little way out at sea, but I really wasn’t sure, and while we were trying to focus on it a large dark bird came out of nowhere and started harassing a gull right in front of us and over our heads. Skua! I checked the identity of the bird with another birder further down the beach who confirmed it was a dark-phase arctic skua, and ventured to him that I thought there might be a diver a little way out. He said he hadn’t seen it, if there was. I went back to our scope a little way up the beach, and after a while the other man strolled up to advise that yes, there was a red-throated diver a little way out. We tried to focus our scopes on it, but were distracted by a winter plumaged guillemot (not seen a winter one before!) and I was left unsure whether I could count the diver as a lifer or not. There were a few winter Sandwich terns about, and a juvenile gannet made a very clumsy spectacle plunge diving into the sea. After a while, two more arctic skuas came back to pick on the gulls! On the way up the path back to the visitor centre, we saw a pair of marsh harriers.

We ended the day with a stroll along the coast path from Burnham Overy Staithe towards Holkham. Lots of redshank, before an egret caught my eye in flight. As I watched, it dawned on me that this egret was in fact a spoonbill. We reached the dunes, and sat and watched a few sanderling on the beach amongst the gulls, As we walked back, a second egret also turned into a spoonbill in front of our very eyes, this one flying and also seen feeding amongst the tidal creeks, and not to be outdone, no fewer than six little egrets passed over our head on their way to roost.

Tuesday morning was spent looking at a bush at Holme Dunes. It wasn’t intended to be spent like that, but when we arrived at the car park a man informed us that a barred warbler had been present in the bush, and as I’ve never seen one, I proceeded to waste the whole morning looking for it. Rather oddly, the man in the car park recognised me from the pallid harrier twitch a few days earlier. Obviously thinking I was chasing rarities (I wasn’t!) he revealed the sandhill crane had been relocated in Suffolk. I had no idea it had even left Aberdeen! As for the barred warbler, the only time it showed all morning was while we were wandering around the dunes for a brief few minutes to break up the monotony! Frustrating! We did see another marsh harrier here, but really very little else.

After lunch, we went to Cley. I was a bit cross that we had spent so much of the day at Holme but we needn’t have worried as large parts of Cley were closed off for ‘work’. From the east hide we added avocets and snipe to our ‘trip list’ and saw another two marsh harriers, and a peregrine caused a commotiong amongst the assembled waders and ducks but it was still too windy for bearded tits! We relocated to the shingle beach, and as we strolled along we were absolutely delighted to see a summer plumaged red throated diver swimming (and diving) barely ten metres off shore. Stunning bird, and a lifer (if I don’t count the possible one the day before). We spent a while looking over the area we saw Lapland buntings last year, but unfortunately there were none to be found. We did see a big flock of mixed linnets and goldfinch, and quite a few meadow pipits, though.

The day ended with an unsuccessful look for owls in the vicinity of Stiffkey, where we had seen them last year.

Wednesday began with another shorter visit to the Holme bush but the barred warbler still wasn’t prepared to show (it had been seen again later the previous day), before we departed for more history at Castle Acre. Unfortunately we had not read our handbook correctly and the priory ruins were closed, but the castle remains were interesting enough and from here we moved on towards the Broads, an area I have never visited before.

As we only had an afternoon to spare, we played it safe with a visit to Stumpshaw Fen. Still too windy for bearded tits! The best birds here were a couple more snipe and another marsh harrier, but I am fairly certain we were a little bit late in the year to enjoy the reserve at its best.

It was at this moment that I decided to check the latest whereabouts of the sandhill crane, and was delighted to discover it was about ten miles south of Saxmundham, where we had booked to stay for the next three nights. Even better, it seemed to be lingering at Boyton Marshes, and we had directions to the RSPB reserve there, so we headed south.

The bird wasn’t actually on the reserve, but through a brilliant piece of subliminal navigation we ended up in the right place rather than at the reserve. Not really sure how we did that! We arrived and saw a row of four birders with their scopes trained in a certain direction. Whilst we got ours set up, I scanned the distance with my binoculars but unfortunately couldn’t find it and had to ask the man next to us for a pointer. He very kindly allowed me a ‘sighter’ through his own scope, and so I had my second lifer of the trip and my first ever ‘mega’. We watched the bird for about an hour in the hope it would take off and show us its wingspan, but it was content to wander about its field feeding and occasionally having a good look around.

Our remaining two days were spent at both Minsmere/Dunwich Heath and North Warren but despite our best efforts we couldn’t add anything else to our list, although the barnacle geese at Minsmere have given me a bit of a feral goose quandary. I have no intention of counting them, but can’t adequately explain why I am happy to count feral greylags, Egyptians and Canada geese and not these. Anyone?!

Minsmere did produce a kingfisher, right outside the Bittern Hide and another marsh harrier, more avocets, lots of godwits (of both types, I think), some dunlin, various ducks and a wheatear, but sadly we were not able to track down the reported snow bunting.

Dunwich Heath produced another wheatear, many house martins and a pair of bullfinches, but despite our best efforts the closes we got to a Dartford warbler was a scratchy, squeaky bush that eventually turned into a grey bullet dashing out and into thick cover whilst we were looking the other way. It might have been, but it might have been something else.

Returning to Minsmere through the woods, we had a great spotted woodpecker from the canopy hide, and a green woodpecker shortly afterwards. We ended the day watching the red deer rut on nearby Westleton Heath.

North Warren the following day was, in all honesty, a disappointment, and the best birds we saw being a treecreeper and possibly another pair of bullfinch. Orford Castle was really interesting, and Aldeburgh was nice for fish and chips at lunch time. We ended the day at Shingle Street, which is a really atmospheric place, and provided us with a real mystery bird; as we watched the gulls, and the large ships in the distance, a commotion attracted our attention. The gulls were harassing a large brown bird of prey that came in off the sea, seemingly clutching something in its talons, which landed out of view on the shingle beach; a subsequent search produced only a kestrel eyeing us from a nearby wire; I am certain that the bird we saw wasn’t a kestrel, but even if it was it is beyond me to explain how it got from the beach to the wire without us seeing it! The only description of the bird I can offer was all-dark and long-tailed. I was thinking harrier, but it might just have been a trick of the fading light and a kestrel all along!

All in all a nice few days away with a couple of surprise lifers but none of the birds I intended/wanted to see. I blame the settled weather and the persistent westerly winds!

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