Norfolk Little Auking

Cley Coastguards

Brent Geese

 Possible Stejneger's Stonechat

 Possible Stejneger's Stonechat

Stonechat getting plenty of visitors

  Possible Stejneger's Stonechat

 Possible Stejneger's Stonechat

Short-eared Owl

Brambling

Holme Dunes

Shorelark in the rain

Best shot possible in fading light

Rainbow with shower approaching

A lie in was needed on Saturday after a late night drive back from Cornwall. After a rather chilled day with Mrs D I was all set to hit the patch early Sunday morning. Those plans went astray after a late night text from the Captain saying he was off to Norfolk the following morning. I used my normal cheek to find out which way he was going which led to me meeting him on the edge of Midlands as he was happy to drive. A real bonus days birding.

Destination would be Cley Coastguards where the previous days winds resulted in an amazing selection of birds passing through. We landed at 9.30am and to be fair we had missed the early reported Skua & Auk passage. Both myself and Ian were very keen to see just one Little Auk and whilst the Auks were being reported in a number of places on the other side of the Wash or in the Humber. There were some very distant skuas but they were impossible to call but I did record my first Pale-bellied Geese of the year, Red-throated Divers, Wigeon, Teal, good numbers of Thrushes, 15 Ringed Plover and large rafts of Scoter.

Next stop would be Salthouse where a probable Stejneger's Stonechat had been reported for a number of days off Meadow Lane. The bird took around fifteen minutes to appear and then showed nicely at a distance of around 100 metres. The birds certainly looked different to the Common Stonechat, it struck us both it was Whinchat like and looked longer in it's body. We have to wait a decision to see whether it's actually accepted as a Stejneger's. This link I found was am interesting reading from a Korean website. 

We then had our second session of Little Auk sea watching from Salthouse. The movement had slowed down a lot with us only seeing a Little Gull, a Red-throated Diver & yet more Common Scoter.

A rest was needed from the biting wind so we retreated to the visitor centre for coffee & cake. There we hatched a plan to try Holme given it's location it could give us our best chance of the day.

As we got out of the car at Holme a Brambling started calling from the pines, always a sign winter is on the way. The beach was very busy with feeder waders including Grey Plover, Oystercatchers, Sanderling, Brent Geese, Godwits, Dunlin, Sanderling and Redshank. Common Scoter were constantly flying back and forward on the horizon. Then the Captain called out " I've got two Little Auk west at 12 o'clock". I instantly picked them up & helped out a couple standing with us. These two tiny bombing Auks with dusky under wings were a very welcome addition for us both. 

The couple by us were also extremely pleased and kindly shared where they had seen 6 Shorelark in the hour previous just along the coast. When we arrived the weather had turned and birders who retreating saying they had not seen the birds. A quick scan in the area revealed all 6 Shore Lark. Shore Lark are always amazing birds to watch.

As we left Norfolk 14 Pinkfoots flew over to round off a memorable day.