Richard's Pipit
Coffee time
Stunning Norfolk coast
After a hearty breakfast at our wonderful barn conversion bed & breakfast we headed across to Hunstanton where my birding buddy located the shy Great Great Shrike in a distant field. We hung around whilst a few more birders got on the bird before headed to Thornham Harbour.
The plan was to walk to Holme to try to see one of the Richards Pipits which had been reported the previous weekend. As we reached the car park a large pipit flew in from of us and landed by a small pool. Surely not….we thought but as we got the scope on the bird it was clear we had a moment of sheer luck as it was a striking Richards Pipit, a lifer for myself. This long legged Pipit was in superb condition and was exceedingly striking. I just managed to grab a quick shot before a shell-suited walker flushed the bird into the salt marsh.
As it now traditional I treated my birding buddy to a treble helping of Coldplay karoake as we headed up the coast in good spirits. A quality coffee & amazing flapjack were duly dispatched however my birding buddy was looking peaky after he could not find anything cheaper than a coffee & a tea cake. Those spirits were dampened as we dipped the Raddes for the second time, plenty more chances we thought.
Next stop was a session of sea watching at Cley. A closed road meant a lengthy diversion which led to a monumental disaster as we missed Black-browed Albatross by minutes. We did carry on as more birders arrived however we were on the floor in terms of morale.
We wrapped up the day at Wareham Greens where there had been a significant fall of Redwings and Song Thrushes. Tough day at the office after a good start.
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