Saturday 9th September 7am start!!!!
Alarm went off a silly time and I left packed with 2 flasks and lots of food all excited and ready for a BIG birding day!!! I arrived at Holme at 7am and parked by the 5-bar gate half way down 'Firs' road. It was a very high tide (8.4 metres). It was a beautiful morning, and the sea came right up to the dunes, pushing thousands of waders off their feeding grounds, swirling in masses, it was a spectacular sight and an unusual one, you don't normally see this at Holme as the sea rarely comes up that high, whereas at Snettisham it comes up further, which is why Snettisham is one of the best places to see thousands of waders put up by the tide.
I followed the coast path towards the reserves, passing 3 other birders on route. I was hoping this was going to be an exciting day! High tide was just after 8am, I met up with Jed Andrews (warden of HBO - Holme Bird Obs.) and some others for a sea watch. Birds that I saw were, 1 Arctic skua, eiders, common, sandwich terns and adult and Juv. gannets.
The others (warden + friends) had seen 'a single Pomarine Skua and three Arctic Skua, 250+ Gannet, the first two Velvet Scoter of the autumn, two Red- throated Diver and 200+ Teal and 2 black terns. Also later in the day somebody has seen a Barred Warbler present early am and a Redstart in the paddocks (behind bungalows).
I walked as far as Thornham channel where I saw 40+ ringed plovers, 100+ sanderling, bar tailed godwit x 10 and a Sparrowhawk being mobbed by a tern. I walked along Thornham bank and took some pictures of the morning sun glittering across the water, 'saw some linnets by sluice, swallows and little egrets. Walked back to HBO for sandwiches, 40 winks and a yarn. A birder came up and told us he has seen a barred warbler!!! in the bushes either side of the road just before the gate half way down the road - lucky him!!! I spent a long time walking up and down the main bank scanning for something magical in the sea buckthorn and elderberries but alas nothing massively exciting, apart from a white throat, great tit and chaffinch! Oh I did get very excited when for a split second I thought I was looking - ha ha! at a snowy owl sitting in the grass, but then a head raised up to reveal a very funny looking white pheasant with a short tail!!!!!!!!! - got the heart racing though I can tell you!! (This was the most excitement I had that day!!!). Walked back to the car via the 'forestry' and spent a long time here scanning bushes (a brilliant spot in migration) but nothing again apart from magpies! When I reached where my car was parked, there were several people standing about looking for the barred warbler, but no one had seen it. I bumped into a couple of friends who had just seen a redstart behind the bungalows in the paddocks, so I went to have a look and did I see it??? NOOOOO!!!!!! Drove further along road to Redwell Marsh Reserve (NOA) and saw a few pied wags and 2 very beautiful red-legged partridge. Popped in to parents for tea and cake and then stopped in Hunstanton on way home to view evening tide and stupid holiday makers leaning over seawall by cliffs and then wondering why they got soaked as a wave came up and sloshed them!!! Ha ha!!!! :girl: :flyaway: