Norfolk Coast

Iain & I left Glasgow at 8:30 pm on Friday evening and by 5am we were at Frampton Marsh in Lincolnshire. Although not quite Norfolk, at that time in the morning, as the song says, we did indeed ".................. walk alone.......... with the screams of the birds echoing around our minds".

"Screams" and "echoing" is perhaps a touch melodramatic, but we were serenaded by the call of "Cuckoo" and "Peewit" and soon a Barn Owl ghosted past at close quarters. It was cold and despite it being mid May, I soon wished I had brought my gloves. Nonetheless, it had the makings of a glorious morning with the sun starting to rise over the Wash in the distance:

Sunrise over Frampton Marsh

Like last year, Frampton was alive with birds and the marsh was full of singing Reed & Sedge Warblers and Reed Buntings. A Yellow Wagtail was present on the scrape to the right of the 360 hide and we soon picked out several Little Ringed Plover on the shingle banks:

Avocets were the most obvious bird on the pools and spend a lot of time chasing off any intruders that approach their territory. We scanned round for some of the up to 7 Temminck's Stint that had been present for the past few days. Despite much searching we could not locate any and it appeared that they had left in what had been a very clear night. The Red Necked Phalarope that had also been present the previous day also appeared to have gone, so we were left disappointed. There were plently of other birds to look at including both Corn Bunting & Skylark:





Little Egret is not a bird we see in Scotland very often, so it was also good to see a couple of them.

We moved back to the hide that overlooks the flood and the light was just perfect and allowed us to pick out a Drake Garganey along with at least 30 Black Tailed Godwit and 1 Ruff. Common Terns were also present nesting on the islands. Again there were lots of Avocets present and the excellent light showed them off to good effect:

A Common Sandpiper, our first of the year, was soon heard and on cue it landed close to the hide:

A local birder told us that the Temminck's Stints were often seen from the road first thing in the morning. We spent sometime from there scanning the marsh but again we could not pick any up. A showy Sedge warbler provided some compensation:

By 9am I was in need of refueling and so we headed for the local Little Thief Chef for some breakfast. En route we tried for Turtle Dove at a regular site close to Frampton but despite their being lots of Collared Dove we could not find any of the former. Red Legged Partridge and Tree Sparrow however, were added to the trip list.

After breakfast we headed over to Weeting Heath in the Brecklands in search of Stone Curlew. Iain's good navigation got us there with the minimum of fuss and after collecting our permits and signing the gift aid forms we were soon in the hide and scanning 'the ridge' where at least one bird was being seen regularly. Pretty soon it appeared and showed briefly on and off for a good 10 mins. Views were a bit distant and the haze did not help. One chap in the hide appeared to be seeing the bird almost constantly "in the nettles in line with the gap in the hedge". It's disconcerting when you cannot even see "the nettles" never mind the bird ! It eventually became apparent to me that in order to see "the nettles" you had to be standing up rather than sitting down like I was. The problem was that my hide flap that would allow me to stand up and look was nailed closed. The haze was increasing and on the basis that the views we had already had were as good as it was going to get, we decided to move.

Fortunately, another Stone Curlew could be seen in the field across the road. Although, it was never very close it did give reasonable views and we watched it for a good half hour and saw it feeding young on one occasion. A distant record shot I think is the expression:

Stone Curlew

Whilst watching the Stone Curlew we also got good views of a Green Woodpecker. Our next target was Woodlark, but the increasing strength of the North West wind was going to make it tricky and all we got was a single calling bird that we could not get on to. Other birds of note included Great Spotted Woodpecker and Tree Pipit:

Tree Pipit

By around 2pm we moved on to Lakenheath which although just around the corner from Weeting was across the border into Suffolk. By now the wind was very strong and it was going to make it difficult to see the 2 principle target species of Golden Oriole and Hobby, although surely we would see the latter !

The New Fen Viewpoint faced West and as such took the full buffeting of the gale. Apart from many Common Swifts there was very little on offer. The South side of the reserve bordering Trial Wood was comparatively sheltered and allowed us to see Reed Warbler and Marsh Harrier. In the wood itself we had a Great Spotted Woodpecker, a singing Garden Warbler and a Spotted Flycatcher. From the Joist Fen viewpoint we saw probably in excess of 500 Common Swifts hawking over the reeds and a Cetti's Warbler 'blasted' from close to the path. Best of all however, was a Bittern that we saw briefly in flight before it dropped back into the reeds.

Although we had still not seen Hobby we were confident that the walk back along the River Little Ouse would come up with the goods, indeed several birders we had spoken to had "promised" as much. Unfortunately, the walk back coincided with a hefty rain shower and gale force winds and we saw absolutely nothing. By the time we neared the Visitors' Centre again the shower had passed and at least allowed us to hear a Grasshopper Warbler.

Overall, Lakenheath looked a fantastic reserve, but the timing and particularly the weather conditions were against us and ultimately it disappointed. An early morning visit on a still morning would be absolutely fantastic. First stop on next times Spring visit to East Anglia me thinks ! As regards Hobby, we were not to be completely outdone as we saw one briefly over the car from the main road back towards Thetford.

By 6pm we were both completely shattered and the strong wind was a good excuse not to try for Nightjar. The only 'nightjars' I was fit for was a couple of ciders at the local pub.

Day 2 dawned bright and sunny but the strong North West wind persisted. We checked out of the Travel Lodge by 8am and after breakfast we headed over to Cley arriving for about 9:45 am. We were soon over on the West Bank looking back East across the Cricket Marsh where a Lesser Yellowlegs had been reported. There were already a number of people on the bird when we arrived and we were soon told to "find the gate and come down into the 1st pool". Although never close, the small size in comparison to Redshank, vivid yellow legs, very thin bill and elongated apperance were all in evidence. Although given the distance, I don't think I would like to have 'called' it from scratch. I was also easy to confuse it with the 2 or 3 Wood Sandpipers that were also present. Once you get your eye in however, the Wood Sands by comparison look far less elongated and of course lack the vivid yellow legs. Also present, but again distant were 2 Temminck's Stints and again their identification would have troubled me if I did not know were there !

Down at Cley Coastguards, there are several pools close to the path and we were particularly taken with how confiding the Avocets were, allowing opportunities for a good shot:

Avocet

On the way round towards the North Scrape there were at least 2 'late' arriving Wheatears including this female:

Female Wheatear

We were rather looking into the light from the North Hide but there was still a good deal of interest including the ubiquitous Avocets some of whom already had young. Small numbers of Dunlin and Ringed Plover fed on the mud and there were 2 Little Terns present :

Dunlin & Ringed Plover

Little Terns

The hoped for Shore Larks on the shingle ridge did not materialise. Being a Sunday there were a lot of people around and they had probably headed off to the comparative solitude of Salthouse. Arnold's Marsh was unremarkable apart from 7 Whimbrel present on the salt marsh. The continuing high wind ensured that we saw no Bearded Tits although a Reed Warbler was making a good attempt at sounding like one.

After some lunch at the NWT Centre, that has grandstand views over the reserve, we headed for the Bishop Hide. A male Marsh Harrier gave a terrific view and a Common Sandpiper was present. Ducks included Gadwall, Shoveler and Shelduck. One of the latter was close enough to allow some shots : 

To finish off, we headed round to Dawkes and on the way witnessed a Kestrel snatch a Pied Wagtail from the ground. The Kestrel then headed off in the direction of nearby farmland with another Pied Wagtail, presumably the victim's mate, in hot pursuit.

From the Avocet hide, I tried to imagine where the displaying Great Snipe had been 3 nights previously The bird was probably still present as it had been heard again last night. Two Temminck's Stint were seen much closer from this hide and on this occasion we could see the dark centres to the scapular feathers. As 4 pm approached and the long journey home loomed we finished in the hide that looks east towards the Visitors' Centre. The presence of 3 Bearded Tits was a bonus as I had kind of given up on them by this stage. By now the light had improved a bit and there was a single Redshank and Ringed Plover close enough to take some shots of:

Redshank

Ringed Plover

Ringed Plover

By 4pm it was time to head home and we were back home in Glasgow by just before midnight.