Party going on in my street until 1am which included massive bonfire of someone's hedge, got up at 6am to wash piles of ash off my car!!!! (not happy!)
Arrived at Holme main beach at 10am. Walked along dune paths to Gore Point - beautiful morning, had a stunning female Northern Wheatear sitting on buckthorn briefly and then flew off to beach. There were dozens of swallows and housemartins gathering on the beach in the distance, it was a beautiful sight. I counted 12 ringed plover, 1 curlew, 4 little egrets, a juv. pied wagtail playing in the tidal pools, 2 dunlin, lots of meadow pipits. Crossed the beach at Gore Point and had a good look round NWT Forestry (11am) , 1 juv. kestrel and all in one sallow bush, had 2 chiffchaffs, 4 long tailed tits, 1 blue tit and one very nice lesser white throat flicking about in the sunshine, 1 heron over marsh. Left the forestry and walked back along top coastal path behind back of bungalows and saw a great spotted woodpecker fly into a willow and then back to village carpark to where car was parked by loos. As I then drove down the Firs road, I saw a spectacular sight ahead of me - at least 200+ swallows and martins jostling for space and chattering away on the telegraph wires either side of the Redwell Marsh entrance gate!!! 5 linnets and a wood pigeon got up from a puddle in the road. Parked at NOA carpark and walked towards the Firs House to buy icrecreams for Chris and Jackie Mills who were manning the Bird Observatory today, when I spotted a lizard on the steps next to house, as I made a bee line towards it, a massive labrador sitting next to owners at picnic table having an ice-cream gave a masssive deep bark at me, which of course terrifed the lizard into the undergrowth - not alot of point in me getting the camera out now!!! 1pm - Sat at HBO having lunch and ice-cream and chocolate cookies - lovely!!! 3pm - Chris picked up a male marsh harrier, sparrowhawk and a hobby all within half an hour of each other!! Around 4ish I left and was then going on Titchwell but decided to just pop over to dunes opp. carpark as tide was in again - saw one common scooter flying by west and 13 gannets going east. A couple in the carpark had also just seen a kingfisher.
Got to Titchwell at 5.30pm. Had Spoonbill fly over path!!! and 10 minutes later was watching Pectoral Sandpiper along with several other people!! I counted at least 12 juv. pied wagtails on the scrapes, 2 egyptian geese, 2 bearded tits, dunlin, knot, assortment of usual gulls, 13 grey plover, 57 canada geese and loads of greylags, 1 redshank, several juv. shelduck, 2 curlew, 2 herons, 26 little egrets roasting on dead trees along with cormorants and a male marsh harrier sitting on post in front of reeds. On the sea, 3 eiders - tons of waders feeding by sea edge on mussels etc including oystercatchers, knot, turn stones, sanderlings, 22 ringed plover, herring, lesser black backed, common, black headed and black blacked gulls. Finished off with 3 long tailed tits in carpark - now 7.30pm. Chinwag with parents and then home.
Best Wishes Penny:girl: