Late May in Norfolk

I've just spent a few days in Norfolk, the weather started off reasonably but with chilly E-NE breeze by Sunday morning fog was slow to clear and in some places it never left the coastal strip. I was up there to meet my brother and long standing friend Mark(we met in 1969) for hopefully some serious birding. It was two weeks later than normal but as you know 2 weeks is a long time when it comes to bird migration. We saw hardly any waders apart from the regular breeders. The reed beds were fairly quiet, Reedlings kept in cover Bitterns booomed, although one did fly quite some distance over Hickling NNT Reserve. The only rarity and there were only 3 that put in appearances along the coast was a Black-eared Wheatear at Cart Gap. There was a chance that I could have made that if I hadn't headed to Kelling Heath earlier that morning. The bird was only seen by one observer for 10 mins, that would have been about the time it would have taken me to get there from my house. Never mind, another will be a long later.

Below is a pictorial review of 3 days that I managed to get some birding in.










































Comments

Unknown said…

Dear Tony - Fabulous photos, as always, much appreciated. Wouldn't it be helpful, though, if you could provide a list at the end - or underneath each pic - of the species involved. I got most of them here (even recognizing the Dartford Warbler, though I've never actually seen one)but there is room for confusion.
Do the exotic waterfowl in Regents Park breed there? The red-breasted and bar-headed geese, for example? The smew?

All best and grateful, as always.
James
Hi James, sorry for this late response. I do sometimes label the photos but have been told by some that view my blog that they like the challenge of identifying the birds. In future I will label the one's that maybe difficult.
Breeding of the parks waterfowl ceased a few years back due to staff changes.