North Norfolk - 3.1.25

George Moreton asked if I fancied joining him on a day out in north Norfolk so of course I said yes! We set off from his house at 5am with a hard frost covering the cars and surrounding countryside. 

Just before dawn we arrived at Wolferton triangle where in the past was a go to site for Golden Pheasant but sadly they’ve long since disappeared. However on a slow drive around the triangle we had brilliant views of 2 Woodcock on the grass verges.

Old Hunstanton was the next stop but just as we were leaving Heacham I picked up a Barn Owl quartering a field. Upon exiting the car at Hunstanton the cold wind hit and whilst trying to download and sign up to the car parking app my fingertips became so cold I couldn’t feel them! 

Here we went year tick crazy adding waders and gulls and seabirds of varying description but frustratingly not the 2 species we were after. The juvenile Glaucous Gull turned out to be at Thornham Harbour and the 6 Shorelark were seen by another birder while we were there but eluded us.

We popped into Thornham only to find the Glauc had flown off so we headed to Titchwell RSPB where surprisingly the car park was fairly empty for once. 

Escaped Black-winged Stilt

Here we added yet more year ticks including a brief Long-tailed Duck, a very showy Spotted Redshank and a roosting Tawny Owl plus a sadly escapee Black-winged Stilt which had a plastic ring just above its knee. It took me back to when Sammy the stilt graced the same reserve for about 12 years. After a hot chocolate and a lovely pasty we headed over to Holkham.

From a lay-by on the A149 I managed to pick out the top half of a single White-fronted Goose but then the day got all dippy again with no sign of the Long-billed Dowitcher from Lady Ann’s Drive and the Shorelarks in the roped off area had vanished just before we arrived. 

Glossy Ibis

Our final stop of the day was Stiffkey. We parked up along the road to the campsite car park and walked back to view the flood to the south of the road. After a few minutes I finally laid eyes on the Glossy Ibis viewing through the tree branches as it fed with a flock of Wigeon.

We had our fill and headed back to the car. Driving down towards the car park a Cattle Egret flew low west over the car with possibly another heading north.

Over the marshes we waited patiently for our main target and were kept preoccupied with Marsh Harriers and Little Egrets until I picked up a female Hen Harrier over towards East Hills. I then found a Merlin perched up a bit closer and then finally the adult female Pallid Harrier came in and perched up on the bridge.

An excellent day with 91 species seen and should’ve been closer to 100 but many expected species were notable by their absence.

Thanks to George for driving and for use of his 2 photos.