Norfolk
Yesterday I spent a very enjoyable day up in North Norfolk with Glen and Mark. It was a very early start, with my alarm going off at 4.10am so that I could pick Glen up at 4.45am. I had arranged to meet Mark at 7.30am at Edgefield, with our first target being Parrot Crossbill. Glen and I arrived at 7.00am and were soon watching a pair of Parrots amongst 6 Common Crossbills. The views were distant but the bill size and shape and bull neck appearance were immediately obvious. Mark soon arrived and although we saw the flock that numbered 20ish birds they only settled on the woodland side of the pines. When they took to the wing the size difference between the 2 Parrots was noticeable. The best view we had was of a female that settled with 4 other crossbills on a dead pine out in the open. Once this bird had departed we headed off to Titchwell stopping on route at Choseley Barns for Yellow Hammer and Corn Bunting. It was good to arrive at Titchwell before the crowds, this reserve attracts a good number of visitors. We did see some good birds, but it was not up to its normal standard. The highlight here was the large number of Common Scoter on the sea with at least 20 Velvet’s amongst them. After an early lunch we headed east hoping for a recently arrived Rough-legged Buzzard at Holkam Freshmarsh. We drew a blank here but had good views of Marsh Harriers, 3 or 4 Red Kites and several Buzzards. We then stopped at the pitch and put golf course at Wells-next-the-sea hoping for Black Brant. there was a good number of geese but they were unfortunately flushed by dog walkers. Even though they only flew a short distance they were hard to go through. We decided to head to Stiffkey and wait for the raptors to come into roost, 3.00pm is a bit early but there was nothing nearby that was worth going for. It turned out to be the right decision, we had great but distant views of a male Hen Harrier. This bird was in the air for at least 10 mins, occasionally mobbed by a female Merlin. We the were treated to a nail biting encounter as the Merlin then tried to catch a pipit. This life or death situation was made even harder for the pipit due to the fact that the harrier also tried to get in on the act. We will never know if the pipit made it to safety but it may have just managed to reach the dense vegetation on the edge of the saltmarsh.
A crap photo of the head of a female Parrot Crossbill at Edgefield Wood. Luckily for us this wasn’t our only view.
Spring is in the air at Titchwell.
These Avocets were flushed when someone opened the window of Parrinder Hide.
Curlew belts out his characteristic song.
Mark and I scanning for something of interest, our 3rd members skinny leg is in the left-hand corner.
Part of the flock of over 3,000,000 Common Scoter, Velvet Scoter and Goldeneye.
Velvet Scoter (above) Common Scoter (below)
Little Egret, with the great white hunters below.
We didn’t encounter the usual large numbers of Pink-footed Geese.
| Mute Swan | 1 | Stone-curlew | Green Woodpecker | Common Chiffchaff | |||
| Pink-footed Goose | 1 | Collared Pratincole | Great Spotted Woodpecker | Willow Warbler | |||
| Greylag Goose | 1 | Little-ringed Plover | Lesser Spotted Woodpecker | Goldcrest | 1 | ||
| Greater Canada Goose | Ringed Plover | 1 | Greater Short-toed Lark | Firecrest |
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| Brent Goose (dark-bellied) | 1 | European Golden Plover | 1 | Wood Lark | 1 | Spotted Flycatcher |
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| Black Brant | Grey Plover | Sky Lark | 1 | Red-breasted Flycatcher |
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| Egyptian Goose | 1 | Northern Lapwing | 1 | Horned Lark | Pied Flycatcher |
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| Common Shelduck | 1 | Red Knot | 1 | Sand/Bank Martin | Bearded Tit |
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| Eurasian Wigeon | 1 | Sanderling | 1 | Barn Swallow | Long-tailed Tit |
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| Gadwall | 1 | Little Stint | Northern House Martin | Blue Tit | 1 | ||
| Eurasian/Common Teal | 1 | Temmink’s Stint | Red-rumped Swallow | Great Tit | 1 | ||
| Mallard | 1 | Baird’s Sandpiper | Richard’s Pipit | Crested Tit |
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| Northern Pintail | 1 | Pectoral Sandpiper | Blyth’s Pipit | Coal Tit |
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| Garganey | Curlew Sandpiper | Tawny Pipit | Willow Tit |
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| Northern Shoveler | 1 | Dunlin | 1 | Olive-backed Pipit | Marsh Tit |
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| Red crested Pochard | Ruff | 1 | Tree Pipit | Nuthatch |
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| Common Pochard | Jack Snipe | Meadow Pipit | 1 | Eurasian Treecreeper | 1 | ||
| Tufted Duck | 1 | Common Snipe | 1 | Rock Pipit | Red-backed Shrike |
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| Greater Scaup | 1 | Eurasian Woodcock | Water Pipit | Great Grey Shrike |
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| Common Eider | Black-tailed Godwit | 1 | Yellow Wagtail | Woodchat Shrike |
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| Long-tailed Duck | Bar-tailed Godwit | 1 | “ ” Blue-headed | Eurasian Jay |
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| Common Scoter | 1 | Whimbrel | “ ” Grey-headed | Black-billed Magpie | 1 | ||
| Velvet Scoter | 1 | Eurasian Curlew | 1 | “ ” Ashy-headed | Eurasian Jackdaw | 1 | |
| Common Goldeneye | 1 | Spotted Redshank | Citrine Wagtail | Rook | 1 | ||
| Red-breasted Merganser | 1 | Common Redshank | 1 | Grey Wagtail | Carrion Crow | 1 | |
| Goosander | Common Greenshank | White/Pied Wagtail | Common Starling | 1 | |||
| Red-legged Partridge | 1 | Lesser Yellowlegs | Bohemian Waxwing | Rosy Starling |
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| Grey Partridge | Green Sandpiper | Wren | 1 | House Sparrow | 1 | ||
| Common Pheasant | 1 | Wood Sandpiper | Hedge Accentor | 1 | Eurasian Tree Sparrow |
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| Red-throated Diver | 1 | Common Sandpiper | European Robin | 1 | Chaffinch | 1 | |
| Black-throated Diver | Turnstone | 1 | Common Nightingale | Brambling |
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| Great Northern Diver | Red-necked Phalarope | Citrine Wagtail | European Serin |
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| Little Grebe | 1 | Grey Phalarope | Grey Wagtail | European Greenfinch | 1 | ||
| Great Crested Grebe | 1 | Pomarine Skua | White/Pied Wagtail | European Goldfinch | 1 | ||
| Red-necked Grebe | Arctic Skua | Bohemian Waxwing | Eurasian Siskin | 1 | |||
| Slavonian Grebe | Long-tailed Skua | Wren | 1 | Common Linnet | 1 | ||
| Northern Fulmar | Great Skua | Hedge Accentor | 1 | Twite |
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| Northern Gannet | Mediterranean Gull | European Robin | 1 | Lesser Redpoll |
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| Great Cormorant | Little Gull | Common Nightingale | Common Redpoll |
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| Great Bittern | Sabine’s Gull | Common Blackbird | 1 | Arctic Redpoll (coues’s) | |||
| Little Egret | 1 | Black-headed Gull | 1 | Fieldfare | 1 | Common Crossbill | 1 |
| Grey Heron | 1 | Slender-billed Gull | Song Thrush | 1 | Parrot Crossbill | 1 | |
| Eurasian Spoonbill | Common Gull | 1 | Redwing | 1 | Two-barred Crossbill | ||
| Euroean Honey-Buzzard | Lesser Black-backed Gull | 1 | Mistle Thrush | 1 | Common Rosefinch | ||
| Black Kite | Yellow-legged Gull | Cetti’s Warbler | 1 | Common Bullfinch | |||
| Red Kite | 1 | Herring Gull | 1 | Grasshopper Warbler | Hawfinch | ||
| Eurasian Marsh Harrier | 1 | Iceland Gull | Sedge Warbler | Yellow Hammer | 1 | ||
| Hen Harrier | 1 | Glaucous Gull | Marsh Warbler | Rustic Bunting | |||
| Montagu’s Harrier | Great Black-backed Gull | 1 | Eurasian Reed Warbler | Little Bunting | |||
| Northern Goshawk | Black-legged Kittiwake | Great Reed Warbler | Reed Bunting | 1 | |||
| Eurasian Sparrowhawk | 1 | Little Tern | Icterine Warbler | Black-headed Bunting | |||
| Common Buzzard | 1 | Black Tern | Melodious Warbler | Corn Bunting | 1 | ||
| Rough-legged Buzzard | White-winged Black tern | Blackcap | |||||
| Osprey | Sandwich Tern | Garden Warbler | |||||
| Common Kestrel | 1 | Common Tern | Barred Warbler | ||||
| Red-footed Falcon | Arctic Tern | Lesser Whitethroat | |||||
| Merlin | 1 | Barn Owl | 1 | Common Whitethroat | |||
| Eurasian Hobby | Little Owl | Subalpine Warbler |
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| Peregrine Falcon | Tawny Owl | Greenish Warbler | |||||
| Water Rail | Short-eared Owl | Pallas’s Warbler | |||||
| Common Moorhen | 1 | European Nightjar | Yellow-browed Warbler | ||||
| Common Coot | 1 | Common Swift | Hume’s Leaf Warbler | ||||
| Common Crane | Common Kingfisher | Radde’s Wrabler | |||||
| Eurasian Oystercatcher | 1 | European Bee-eater | Dusky Warbler | ||||
| Black-winged Stilt | Hoopoe | Western Bonelli’s Warbler | |||||
| Pied Avocet | Eurasian Wryneck | Wood Warbler | 89 |
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