You Tube Video (The Bird ID Company)
Distant shot of Spoonbill
RSPB Snettisham
Waders take flight
Golden Plovers over head
Happy twitchers
I decided I was going to make the most of
my Friday off by heading to the coast, the decision was which way to head. In the
end I opted for Norfolk - as soon as I’d mentioned it to Dave Twitcher
he was quickly on the case to get a full team assembled with us two joined by Bromsgrove Dave & Jarrad.
The 5 a.m departure from Hopwood was a good decision as there was plenty of traffic on the roads and the journey to RSPB Snettisham took just under three hours. I've never really been that taken with Snettisham as birds are generally distant and there is always a eerie atmosphere. The walk down to the reserve took us about 30 minutes on some very muddy paths. Reaching the shoreline there were large numbers of Knott, Redshank, Shelduck and Pink-feet flying over head.
Around half way down to the salt marsh I picked up a Barn Owl out hunting, always a great sight. The early morning winter sunshine followed the bird, making it look even more stunning. Our next raptor was a Peregrine that swept through the reserve making a real nuisance of itself before then heading out to the wader roost where it put up thousands of Knots and Golden Plover. We were all treated to some spectaular views of the waders swirling in front of us.
When reaching the salt marsh I picked up a Spoonbill that flew past us. I have only ever seen two in flight before so it was a very pleasing sighting. With scopes set it was now a waiting game to try and see the Pallid Harrier. In the first ten minutes we recorded Male Hen Harrier & a Marsh Harrier, then suddenly as I scanned east I picked up the striking juvenile Pallid Harrier. After shouting out the rest of the birders gathered, every one got it, the bird swept left and right showing some stunning markings before landing in the salt marsh. A brief but fantastic view of a wonderful bird of prey. Looking at the reported sightings this was the only time the bird was seen all day so we got extremely lucky. An awesome start to the day.
Thanks to Lee Dutton for use of his images.
Thanks to Lee Dutton for use of his images.
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