Post Christmas

Thursday December 28

After yesterday's day-long deluge, the sun tempted us out, the roadside puddles still iced over. Still no snow for us, despite the low temperatures, much of the country is well covered.

I didn't want to go far as the roads could be unsafe along the north coast, Ludham marshes and St Benets again. Not much about. A lone Fieldfare, dozens of Starlings, a large flock of Lapwing, one Marsh Harrier and a Kestrel. Always a good scattering of Mute Swans, two Whoopers and about eight Bewick's amongst them. Again, too distant to photograph.

Four Chinese Water Deer grazed the meadows in front of the mills.

The weedy fields between Catfield and Ludham still had the flock of finches we saw earlier in the month. They were very distant, parking is difficult on a very busy road  so we didn't stay. Last time there was a good number of Brambling amongst the mainly Chaffnches, Pam thought she saw a Siskin but was not convinced.

Maybe......

Wednesday December 13

After several days of icy roads kept us housebound, an overnight slight thaw  was sufficient incentive to do a little local birding. I chose Ludham Marshes, with three target birds more a long shot than a probability.

I saw two targets, Pam got all three.

On the bumpy drive out to St Benets Abbey, the sight of a small group of swans in a distant surface pool brought us to a halt. Viewing through the copse, Pam prounced them to be 'wild swans' but not the species. My turn on the way back....,

Alone in the car park, too cold even for dog walkers, I scoped the distant watermill meadows seeing Lapwing, Marsh Harriers and |Starling. Two chunky Chinese Water Deer fed and then made a run for it, no obvious reason for the spooking. They do look like mighty meaty little beasts. Pam called a glimpse of two Common Cranes flying low along the reeds before landing out of sight. Despite scanning for some time - I had to close my window as I was freezing - no further sightings of the pair of cranes before we had to leave. Our heating boiler was due its annual service.

The first four swans viewable through the trees were two Mute Swans and two Whooper Swans. The puddle group consisted of ten Bewick Swans.  Good. A few were reported from Hickling earlier in the week but these are the first for us. Cold weather in the Netherlands must have encouraged them to move on.

 

Starring role to....?

Friday December 1

Yesterday's wintry showers of sleet and hail did not sparkle the landscape here. The fallen leaves became wetter and their drifts larger, swirled into hidden places by the fierce wind gusts. To-day started off sunny. Students of Norfolk's vast skies would have enjoyed the kaleidoscope of blue sky, white cumulus and thickly grey,  snow and rain full clouds,  which marked our day out.

Not expecting much in the way of quantity nor quality - all our birding is done from the car due to my lack of mobility - we had a lovely day. A flock of Curlew dotting the stubble along the back lane to Abbey Farm. At Abbey, a pair of Bullfinches lighting up the bushes around the dried pond and a Red Kite surveying the far field before swooping down and startling the Starlings into flight. It looked like it was having fun.

Starring role to-day was at least five thousand Starlings on the pig fields seen from the Flitcham/Sandringham road. Five hundred Large Whites, Saddlebacks and patched pigs took no notice at all of their very noisy neighbours. (Did I just liken Man City to pigs there ? ) I'd love to see this mob go to roost - if it was a single one. The geometry of their murmuration would be magnificent.

As it is, the sight of so many on the ground amongst the feeding pigs is unsurpassed, by me anyway. Those animals at the feeding stations had rows of ignored Starlings on their backs. 

I only had my 300 mm lens so, the depth of field during an overcast and dark weather segment is pretty appalling. The photos only show a very small area of the fields.

Tide at Snettisham was on its way back in, with about four hours to go. So many Grey Plovers, a few Redshank, Dunlin, Turnstone and Ringed Plover feeding avidly on the mud. At least 30 Pintail could be scoped but not the sure identity of the hordes of birds that deckled the far shore. Many were Knot .... what else though?

No sign of the Great White Egret we saw on our last visit. A few Goldeneye and a winter influx of Wigeon on the reserve pits. Am I pleased to see 40+ Canada Geese gliding gracefully along? The sight yes, they're handsome geese, not their presence though. They've begun to colonise Mull, .Arthur Brown calls them White-tailed Eagle meals. He also calls Meadow Pipits the plankton of the bird world.

Thornham's creeks were fast filling with the inrushing tide. After seeing the flock of Twite from the car park, we quickly drove on to Brancaster Staithe for a late picnic lunch. No Long-tailed Duck to-day, a few Black-tailed Godwits, the odd Bar-tailed, more Grey Plover. The highlight was a lone Greenshank in the dim of approaching twilight.

So dark now at 2.30, Pam hurtled - as much as the road will allow - to Stiffkey Marsh car park. Just enough light to see a female Marsh Harrier and a ring-tailed Hen Harrier go to roost, dropping into the suaeda along the shoreline.

Hoping for an owl, we took the coast road home. No luck. 70 species, not bad.