Norfolk Trip - Day Four

Well I'm back in Seaton writing this, and am really knackered! The M25 was a nightmare, and for the rest of journey it was lashing down with rain! We left the Welney area at 16:45 and arrived home (after a KFC) at 22:50. Anyway, back to this morning....

We loaded the car up and waved goodbye to our B and B....

I HIGHLY recommend this as a place to stay for birders, it's VERY birder-friendly. Actually I recommend it even if you're not a birder - excellent place!

We headed off west, stopping on the edge of Holkham to have a look at the White-fronted Goose flock, this was the first time we'd seen them on this trip! 169 in all, which as far as I can remember is the most I've ever seen here.

A small part of the White-front flock

We then moved on to Holme-next-the-sea, and met up with 'Dad's party' to have a look over the sea. This was the first occasion our two groups met up to do something other than eat!!!

From right to left; 'Dad', Chris, Karen, Bun, Dave, my scope and John

The sea was excellent, especially bearing in mind we were only watching it for about twenty minutes! The highlight were six Long-tailed Ducks very close in, five of them being stunning drakes. Gorgeous birds! Also on the sea a few Red-breasted Mergansers and Great Crested Grebes, with three Velvet Scoters past in a large flock of Common Scoter, nine Pintail west and Bun had a distant 'white-winger' also west, probably a Glauc. The Sea Buckthorn on the edge of the golf course was FULL of Fieldfares.

We carried on south, splitting from the more senior group. After another few fruit-less laps of Wolverton we headed down into Cambridge for the two goodies we had failed to see on the first day. We rolled up in Coveney at about midday. After a few glimpses, Karen saw the Rough-legged Buzzard quite well, but Bun and myself only managed a three second glimpse. We stayed here til nearly 15:00 but it didn't show again. This place is obviously excellent for raptors, as we also saw two Buzzards, a superb ringtail Hen Harrier, a Peregrine, a Merlin (albeit a little further north), three Kestrels and a Sparrowhawk!

Our last stop of the day, and of the trip, was to look for our second target bird in this county. This one was MILES easier than the Rough-legged though. Nearly as soon as we stood on top of the flood bank at Pymore we could see it on the far side.

Yes it was REALLY distant, but still a nice bird, and a lifer for two thirds of the team!

The Great White remained in view 'til dark, when it roosted with a few Little Egrets. As it was on Sunday, the flash was packed with wildfowl. All the usual suspects, including loads of Whoopers and Bewick's again. As the sun set, two Barn Owls appeared and hunted around us as the sun set over the flash....

Goodnight....

Well what a fantastic holiday, and I hope you have enjoyed reading about it. Thanks to Bun and Karen for being excellent company, I enjoyed every minute of it. Roll on next year...