Waxwing Haunting

Sunday January 10

Seeing twelve Buzzards in Norfolk during one morning, was unthinkable, even a couple of years ago. Most of them were perched in roadside trees, about four more flying nearby. We also saw five Kestrels, three Marsh Harriers, and two Red Kites whilst driving inland to Snettisham and along the coast road home. It was a clear, blue sky, cold winter's day, not warm enough yet for the flight thermals needed. Yesterday's almost incessant, heavy rain, must have made feeding nigh on impossible for them.

With Waxwing haunting and obsessing my mind, our first call was Sculthorpe Moor Reserve  where one has been reported for the last two days. Was it still here? It hasn't been a Waxwing winter, very few are being seen. This bird turns up at the back of the Centre and in the trees near the blue badge parking area - which is where we waited. For an hour. A warden told us that it had been seen shortly before we arrived at 9.35 (!!!). By now, there were birders milling about everywhere. The car park was full, one gate closed, the other one manned  I've never before seen the entry road lined with parked cars. We left. It wasn't reported again until after one o'clock.

Snettisham was well peopled too. High tide on a fine Sunday will do that. Sculthorpe's were all birders. These were a mixture of family walkers, dog walkers, pebble collectors, photographers and joggers. We were again asked for our permit to drive, whilst everyone else seemed to roam free. It rankles a bit.  It was a fairly low high tide, the birds present were well scattered over the newly vacated mud. It did make scanning easier.

Shelduck Central, as usual, hundreds of Dunlin, with Redshank, Bar and Black-tailed Godwits, Grey Plover, Turnstone, Sanderling and Ringed Plover scattered widely. The Oystercatchers, Teal and Wigeon have their own ghettos. Probably a thousand Oystercatchers in a dense line nearer to the Yacht Club. The Teal cluster around what we know as the Cut, a deep channel which always has water. Two male Pintail fed amongst the waders. They can just about be identified in the photo above.

Stopping at the Yacht Club to look for Snow Buntings, Pam walked up the ramp and disappeared for a while. She returned to say that she'd seen a Black Redstart, had walked to the shore and there were so many dogs off leads runninbg around that the Buntings were unlikely to be present. We drove up the concrete ramp for the first time ever, to find a large flat area of rough grass scattered with half buried tyres as mooring stations. No sign of the Redstart.

Snettisham is a fair distance to travel, BUT, it's the only place where we can enjoy a good variety of water birds from the car. A visit every couple of weeks is very pleasurable. Especially as all the other coastal birding spots are so busy. We drove through Hunstanton, seeing our first Fulmar of the year gliding along the cliff top. 

Waxwings go to bed early. I was fretting that the one reported from Cley would have done so if we delayed along the coast. With only a short visit to Brancaster Staithe, we bypassed Stiffkey and Wells North Pools, arriving at Sea Lawns, Cley before 2.30. Permission was given to stand in the garden of Thrums,next door and look over the wall into the garden of Sea Lawn or view from the road. I used my rollator to join the small group in the unoccupied Thrums - S Gantlett looks after it, as Richard the Hat told Pam. The beautiful, adult Waxwing was feeding on guelder rose berries. Waw, a bird that always takes my breath away. Viewing was not the best. Through bare branches into a tree where the Waxwing was perched towards the back, obscured by more branches. I did take some photographs, none of which are suitable for publishing, even here. Very heavily edited in order to show some of the colour as the garden was in the shade and the bird was back lit.

 

After fifteen minutes of admiration by all, the bird flew away to roost.