Spent 3 days in Lincolnshire, Norfolk & Suffolk. Overnight to Lincolnshire for a 06:00 start at Frampton Marsh. Searched for the previous days Stints and Curlew Sand but apart from a possible Temminck's that was miles away I failed. Caught up with year ticks such as LRP & Reed Warbler and there was a single Dark Bellied Brent on the marsh that looked a bit sickly.
Lots of Avocets about that I did my best to catch in flight:
Also tried capturing these 3 Shelduck against a blue Lincolnshire sky:
After a stop at the usual Little Chef for breakfast I continued east into Norfolk arriving at Titchwell late morning. Juvenile Little Gull on the freshmarsh, 3 Red Crested Pochard on the pool to the West of the reserve & c3 Cetti's Warblers were about the highlight and I entertained myself trying to photograph some of the more obliging birds:
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| Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Shovelers |
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| Shovelers |
Found a campsite in Holme Village and had Barn Owl on the way home from the pub.
Saturday morning dawned dull and by 7am it was raining heavily. I packed the sleeping bag into the car in case it got soaked and drove round to Titchwell. A summer plumaged Curlew Sand was new in as was a Greenshank and I had a booming Bittern. A cooked breakfast in the new Tesco at Hunstanton was welcome and afterwards I headed over in the direction of Cley in the pouring rain. My plan was to sit in the hides and hope the rain went off. However, by the time I reached Blakeney, the skies cleared & the sun came out. It still looked a bit threatening so I didn't risk the camera. A Lesser Whitethroat in the bottom car park bushes was a good start. From Daukes hide there was a smart Curlew Sand but apart from that just the usual stuff. At Cley Coastguards, big changes to the coastline following the winter tidal surges were very evident. In particular the shingle bank is significantly lower than before and much of the displaced shingle had been deposited down on to the reserve. The north hide is also no more. I wonder in 20 years time whether Cley as I remember it will still exist ? Only a matter of time before the sea reclaims the whole area ? What is the future of the recently purchased marsh to the east at Salthouse ? Is this money well spent ? After this I cheered myself up with a comforting scone & coffee at the visitors centre.
Next I tried to find Kelling Water Meadows & failed and as such had to make do with Kelling Heath where I had Woodlark but little else. Final stop of the day was Choseley Barns where I had Grey Partridge & Corn Bunting but could not locate the reported Turtle Dove.
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| Little Egret over Cley Marshes |
The final day saw me back at Choseley Barns early morning and got some nice views of Red Legged Partridge in the morning sun using the car as a hide:
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| Red Legged Partridge |
The now much rarer Grey Partridge also showed well in the field edge but my attention was quickly drawn to a calling Quail no more than 50 yards away. I hoped it might venture out into the same field edge but that was always going to be a vain hope. Nonetheless, it is my first record of Quail and is going on the list even although I didn't see it :-).
Time to pack up the tent & head home via Lakenheath. Lakenheath should be avoided at weekends in summer. Absolutely packed but despite this good views of several Hobby & 2 Crane were obtained.
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