Flora and fauna fascination in Norfolk.

Flora and fauna fascination in Norfolk.

Day 1 and 2

Cley Beach

The 17^th – 20^th May saw myself and Blair Jones heading off to North Norfolk for a long weekend of birds and wildlife, and we were not disappointed. As usual, Norfolk provided some great birding and scenery, and finally for me, a bird I have missed on many occasions in several countries. Blair managed to bag himself 14 lifers so he was very pleased.

We headed off at 4am on the Friday morning to both miss the worst of the traffic and to have a reasonably early start, and arrived at Titchwell Reserve around 9am (with a stop off on the way for a coffee). Straight away we were birding, and by the time we had reached the open area of the reserve we had added Robin, Blackbirds, Woodpigeons, Chaffinches, Dunnocks, Chiffchaffs, Jackdaws, Black-headed Gulls, Greenfinches, Wrens, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Goldfinches, Pheasants and Skylarks to what was going to be an impressive bird list. Once in the open area we scanned both sides of the path over the lagoons and the salt marsh where we watched small groups of Brent Geese feeding and flying, Reed Buntings, Meadow Pipits, a Common Sandpiper in a muddy patch, Kestrels hovering, Common Swifts aerial feeding in good numbers and Herring Gulls. From the first hide we had close views of a pair of Marsh Harriers quartering the reed beds, and a Gadwall, Moorhen, Coot, Sedge and Reed Warblers all entertained us. A number of Common Terns were flying and calling and across the water we could see a lot more bird activity, so we made our way to the second much larger hide.

Turnstone (Titchwell Beach).  A handsome bird in breeding plumage.

Here we had closer views of the Common Terns and a pair of Sandwich Terns showed well with a third ringed bird close by. I was able to see the letters on the blue ring and will be submitting this sighting to the ringing group. As we watched, the original pair got a bit frisky, and amongst some Black-headed Gulls on the water was a juvenile Little Gull. As there name implies, they are indeed little and when in with the Black-headed, they are half their size. A fenced off area to the left had both Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls nesting – the heads of the latter are jet black with delicate white marks above and below the eyes. The chocolate-brown heads of the Black-headed Gulls are a good contrast and made identification easier in the tight mass. As is always the case in nature, the inevitable occurred; a stray chick was caught by an adult Black-headed Gull and promptly swallowed down whole. A first-year Great Black-backed Gull also had an unfortunate chick as well and it promptly swallowed this chick in one easy go. It is disheartening to watch but this is nature in its full spectacle. We moved on towards the beach area watching a Common Buzzard, Avocet, Greylag Geese (with a small brood), Linnets and a Grey heron along the way. 

Sandwich Tern (Titchwell Reserve)

The beach was practically empty of people which was nice, and the tide was out so we made our way down towards the sea. The weather was quite comfortable and time was spent sea watching. Fairly close in feeding along the water’s edge were Oystercatchers and a number of Turnstones which looked immaculate in their fine breeding plumage. A Grey Plover also in full breeding plumage looked fantastic – what a contrast to their autumn plumage. A pair of Bar-tailed Godwits and a Curlew added a few more to the list, and out on the sea, a Great Crested Grebe and a Cormorant with a Little Egret flying past. We eventually made our way back to the reserve centre, noting Stock Doves and Vipers Bugloss in flower along the way, and after a nice bacon bap and a cuppa at the centre it was off next to Cley beach.

We arrived at the beach in Cley for some sea watching and this time we had more success. Soon we were starting to see small groups of Guillemots passing in both directions, and a mass of black quite far out caught our attention. This turned out to be a raft of 100+ Common Scoters which was a nice surprise.  Several Gannets made their way past and a Red-throated Diver gave fairly good views. I managed to pick out a Great Northern Diver which was unexpected, but it soon disappeared amongst the quite choppy waters.  We still had a few hours of good light so we made our way up along the coast road and parked up to walk to what is known as ‘Arnolds Pool’.  A good selection of birds was to be seen here and included Ringed Plovers, Avocet, Lapwing, Common Redshanks, 6 Bar-tailed Godwits mixed in with 16 Black-tailed Godwits, a single Dunlin, 2 Little Terns, Starlings, Curlew, 16 Knot in partial breeding plumage, and a distant Little Stint which I was hoping at first was going to be one of the recently seen Teminck’s, but not to be. En-route back to the car we watched a pair of Barnacle Geese feeding and a pair of Mute Swans with four cygnets.

Male Marsh Harrier quartering the reed beds (Cley)

It had been a great opening day to the trip, and just up in the road in Blakeney we checked into the White Barn B+B run to perfection by Wendy and Ray Millard. I have stayed here ten times now and use it every time I visit North Norfolk. It is well situated for the main sites, and the rooms are incredibly comfortable and clean, and the breakfasts are legendary. They are fantastic hosts and I thoroughly recommend anyone to stay here – it is incredible value for money and ticks all the boxes.             White Barn B+B, Back Lane, Blakeney, NR25 7NP.  01263 741359  email          raymillard@btinternet.com for a prompt response.

Day 2 – An early start and a bogey bird in the bag.

4.30am is a strange but magical time. Most of the world is still asleep yet the birds are belting out a dawn chorus of sheer beauty and variety. And so the hides at Cley Marshes beckoned, and arriving as the light was slowly lifting, we gently opened the shutters to see what wonders lay beyond. Luckily there was a good mix of birds, and a large group of Black-tailed Godwits were enjoying feeding amongst Shelduck, a pair of Teal, a pair of Wigeon, Gadwall, Moorhens, Mallards and Coot. At least 11 Common Sandpipers were counted, but there was no sign of the six reported Teminck’s Stints seen the day before. A pair of Spoonbills that hadn’t woken up yet were joined by a third bird, which like the other two, promptly stood on one leg with its bill tucked into its body, and remained motionless. A Greenshank was moving around on the edge of the water and a female Marsh Harrier passed over the reeds. An Egyptian Goose flew in and adopted the same behaviour as the Spoonbills. Soon it was time to head back to base for some breakfast, and along the way we listened to numerous Sedge and Reed Warblers, and the call of a Cuckoo (only the male makes the distinctive call) saw us scanning the distant telephone wires, where we located it sat right next to a second quieter male. In a nearby field, a Muntjac Deer ran across and quickly into some thick cover.

The reed beds at Cley Marshes

After a hearty breakfast which set us up for the day, it was off to Choseley Barns to hopefully find the group of Dotterels frequenting the area. Unfortunately there are a number of very large fields to scan, but a little luck was going to be on our side. A good number of Pheasants and Red-legged Partridges were seen. Every field had a good number along with an abundance of Hares which are quite a large animal when seen up close. Their distinctive large yellow eyes, black ear tips and no white on the rump when they run away are diagnostic features, as is their size too. Whether the farming practices are different here I’m not sure, but this is what a farmland area should be like, so different unfortunately to home where these species are few and far between. This was also true of Yellowhammers which are also in abundance here. Another birder pulled up next to where we were scanning over the fields, and we asked if he knew if the Dotterels were still about, and he said yes. The field we were scanning was where they were reported last year, but he informed us they were in a different field this year, and pointed out a line of cars in the distance. ‘That’s the field they are in this time’ he said, so with enthusiasm we drove down to join about six other cars. A couple we stood by pointed us in the right direction, and after a little searching with the telescopes in a vast open field, we located them scurrying about. Seven birds in total and a lifer – finally. This is one species I thought I would never get to see, and one that has eluded me for years. I have missed them here numerous times, in Hungary and Mallorca, but today I was to be rewarded with distant but acceptable views, and before they would eventually make their way up north to the Cairngorm Mountains. They lived up to what I was expecting and I was overjoyed to finally get a Dotterel in the bag so to speak.

One of many, many Hares.

The area was alive with birds, and after soaking up the Dotterels we backtracked slowly, stopping at various points where Common Whitethroats, Chaffinches, 4 Buzzards and 2 Red Kites were added to the list. A Shelduck was perched up on a hay bale which looked quite funny, and Stock Doves were added to the list. A quick stop off at Stiffkey Fen gave us 200+ Brent Geese and a pair of Spotted Redshanks was feeding on Stiffkey Pools. We moved onto Cley for the afternoon and watched Swifts feeding in large numbers over the reed beds, the usual reed bed warblers and singing Skylarks. Several Swallows had a few Sand and House Martins mixed in, and as we walked back the car, I stopped by a lady who was photographing what I though was going to be the warblers, but as it turned out, she was hoping for a bird I could just make out moving in the lower reeds. It made its way towards the top and I could see it was a beautiful male Bearded Tit. The female soon joined him and we followed them along as they reappeared several times, giving off the faint ‘pinging’ call and some great views before finally disparaging into the thicker reeds again. They are a smart looking bird.

A handsome male Bearded Tit (Cley Marshes)

The plan for the evening was to look for Nightjars at Kelling Heath, and so we headed off there after stopping for some snacks, and watched at least four male Yellowhammers again, singing Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers but sadly there was no sign of Woodlarks. It was still a number of hours before the light would fall, so we headed back down to the coast and visited Kelling Quags, where a nice stroll up onto some higher ground saw masses of Sea Thrift and Kidney Vetch in flower. A pair of Gannets passed out at sea and a large flock of Rooks and Jackdaws were feeding in an adjacent field. It was now around 7.30pm, so we headed back to Kelling Heath and waited for night fall.

As the light was slowly fading, male Yellowhammers serenaded us, and a Jay passed over along with numerous Woodpigeons. Swallows and Swifts were aerial feeding and the light continued to drop. The birds fell quiet apart from a Tawny Owl which started ‘hooting’ away around 8.20pm.  Soon after, the strange ‘barking’ call of a Muntjac Deer could be heard from within the Birch copse close by. This strange almost eerie call went on for a while and eventually a second Muntjac started to call back, followed by a third in another part of the heath. Our target bird had not become vocal by 8.50 but patience paid off – and with the heath land to ourselves we eventually heard the ‘churring’ call of a Nightjar, with a second male churring some distance away. It gave its long call several times and we were able to make recordings of this strange nocturnal call. I explained that after it finishes churring, the male will take flight and give a single contact note as he does so, and soon enough one came into view, showing the strange almost  ‘moth’ like flight and the distinctive white wing and tail patches. They are a great bird not just to listen to but to watch flying. A great end to another great days birding.

Male Yellowhammer (Kelling Heath) - another handsome bird.

All pictures copyright of N J Davies