I woke early, the sky was a cloudless blue. We changed our plans - why do we take notice of the forecasters - and set off for a day's north coast birding. Well, it starts off inland on the westward leg.
The countryside was breathtaking, a lovely day whilst in the car bubble. Then I got out at Sculthorpe Mill. It was bitterly cold but worth it. Pam had found a hunting Barn Owl in the back field.
We gave Great Massingham church cemetery a go, where we failed to find any Hawfinches. Nice new area for us, only a few miles from our usual route.
Has our Valley Farm gamekeeper friend cut some shrubbery down? We had excellent views of his bird table between the pole and his house. Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Blue, Great, Long-tailed, Coal and Marsh Tit, Tree Sparrow. All in a few minutes.
Tried again at the Dersingham office to renew our Snettisham driving permit. This time, Pam read the notice on the door which said that the RSPB website and Titchwell were now the only sources.
We still drove to Snettisham reserve and, for only the second time ever, were asked if we had a permit !! I answered in the affirmative, he didn't ask if it was current......not for want of trying to renew it. The warden was not the one we knew, was very pleasant, waved me away when I reached for the permit and informed us of a Short-eared Owl roosting on one of the pits. Only visible from the path opposite where we were. Another opportunity wasted by my lack of mobility.
The tide was way out, exposing the deep main channel and very narrow creeks gouged out by recent high wind and tides. Having enjoyed the wader and mud spectacle, I was delighted to close the window and withdraw my scope. Frostbite was setting in to my left hand and face.
Morrison's petrol has been expensive of late. We'd eschewed the Fakenham store in favour of Hunstanton Tesco. The price was similar ! The store is useful for a loo stop though.
Thoroughly jolted by the drive out to Holme where we added Shoveller and Pinkfeet, the body attack then continued on the visit to Thornham and, later, Stiffkey and Morston.
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| Curlew in Thornham Channel |
New permit obtained at Titchwell, fully legal now.
Great Egret on Holkham Marsh and a Greenshank at Morston were our reward for the rib rattling potholes and traffic calmers..
Great Egret on Holkham Marsh and a Greenshank at Morston were our reward for the rib rattling potholes and traffic calmers..
The sky was overcast by mid-day, the rain started at 1.00 p.m.and continued for the rest of the day. The NW front had pushed the eastern one away.
No White-fronts visible at Holkham, views of the ticket warden approaching cut our visit short.
A Stonechat at Cley.
The Little Owl tree lying flat on the ground at Felbrigg was a sad and disappointing sight. No sign of the bird, hope it wasn't snuggled up in there when it fell. A message from BC quoted Carl as saying that a bird was still perched in the fallen tree. Hm. Very exposed to predators now.
Still thoroughly piut out by last night's footie. Spurs' first goal was clever, should not have stood as there was a kick-off rule break. When did Jones last score an own goal, let alone such a good one. Sounds like sour grapes. Not really, they deserved to win. Kane twisted Jones' blood throughout the match, Pogba had a 'mare and no-one played well enough. The joys of supporting a team.
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