Tuesday 3 November 2015

Norfolk trip (Day 1) - Titchwell & Warham Greens

Titchwell sea watching
Sanderling
Teal in the rain
Warham Greens
Warham Greens location
Male Hen Harrier
Sunset in Norfolk
Digiscoped Barn Owl in the darkness
End of a great day

Never needing an excuse to return to Norfolk for a couple of days I was delighted when Paul (fellow pit watcher) asked if I fancied heading east to show him the main sites on the coast. With our bed and breakfast booked up well in advance we set off early  Friday morning at 5.30am ahead of the morning rush hour. Sadly the winds were southerly throughout the weekend so the aim would be about trying to see quality birds rather than rarities.

Given the forecast was for rain up to midday we opted to head to Titchwell so at least we could retreat to the hides if the rain got really bad. We went straight down to beach where we were joined by one other birder for some sea watching. Sanderlings, Grey Plover, Oystercatcher and Knot were spread out along the shore line. The Sanderlings got really close a number of times allowing us terrific views.  On the sea we found a nice variation of birds included a Black-throated Diver (unusual for Titchwell), Slavonian Grebe, 46 Common Scoter, Brent Geese, Great Crested Grebes, 5 Red-breasted Merganser and a female Eider. We also walked west where we found a dead Razorbill on the beach and we also came across many Ringed Plovers.  Paul then pulled a beauty out of the bag when he spotted a Great White Egret flying east straight in front of us to end a cracking session of sea watching.

The fresh marsh contained the normal array of goodies including Brent Geese, Shoveler, Wigeon, Teal, Shelduck, Dunlin, Snipe whilst a Marsh Harrier battled with wind on the east bank. As we looked south from the Parinder hide we could see a couple of thousand Pink-footed Geese feeding the fields before being moved on by the farms air guns.  A quick pit stop for the normal Titchwell Cornish Pasty was needed to warm the soul before were headed east.

We had a quick session in at Lady Annes Drive, Holkham were we recorded Egyptian Goose for the day list before we moved towards our final stop at Warham Greens where we hoped to see a Hen Harrier. Having never been to this site before and no signage we did have to back our judgement. As we headed down a very uneven drive, Paul saw a Rough-legged Buzzard feeding on a rabbit on a hay bale. Sadly the bird flushed as we were going for scopes but it was another good bird recorded. As the drive worsened we decided to park up and walk the rest of the way which was in hindsight a great decision as really it was only suitable for Land Rovers.


Initially we though we may have been a little early but just after 2.30pm I picked up a male Hen Harrier quartering the marsh. We were buzzing as the bird hunted looking for a late meal before roosting. The action didn’t stop there as we ended up seeing a total of 5 Harriers, 3 Ring-tails and two fantastic males. They were joined by three Marsh Harriers and finally a Barn Owl hunted about 500 metres to our left. A superb day on the Norfolk coast ending with a brilliant sunset.

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