Bit Of A Treat Before Breakfast (1 Viewer)

After yeserdays storms (like you need that in July!) i took an early morning bike up to Horsey today. Weren't expecting too much this time of year, it's just nice to get out and about before anyone else on a day like today.

But not bad at all, plenty of birdsong in the early morning sunshine, what a difference 12 hours makes ! .... Yellowhammers, finches, sedgies etc. c5 Marsh Harriers circling about over the marshland away to the east of the main road, and a cracking view of one as it floated slowly over and scattered the hares in the field.

From the vantage point up on dunes an onshore wind still blew fairly steadily but there wasn't much doing either to sea or on the beach; a party of 6 Cormorants came off the sea, couple of plovers & one Common Sandpiper (not too spectacular maybe, but my 1st of the year).

An unashamed plug for the cycling lobby now follows as there's no way i'd ever have seen this if i was driving .... ambling back down the B1159 at a low rate of knots, through a small gap in some trees i caught a flash of a 'grey hump' just showing above the grass in a field. Initially i thought nothing of it but curiosity got the better of me so round i went back for a better look, glad i did .... 2 Common Cranes came out of the long grass into a clearing not 50 yards from the road. Close enough to get a couple of pics through my bino's, I don't think i've ever seen them that close before, a bit of a treat i'd say.

Forgot my pen and paper so no list as such, but from memory noted these

Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Chiffchaff
House Sparrow
Pied Wagtail
Yellowhammer
Sedge Warbler
Skylark
Meadow Pipit
Swallow
Swift
House Martin
Rook
Crows
Oystercatcher
Ringed Plover
Common Sandpiper
Common Tern
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Black-headed Gull
Cormorant
Marsh Harrier
Common Crane

Oh, and a couple of farmyard roosters by Blood Hills windfarm

A real treat indeed! Just saw two last Wednesday in the Hickling Broad reserve and it cost me a bottle of Faustino V Rioja, worth it though!

Sounds like a cracking morning Carlos. The Cranes i bet especially made your day.
There a very rare bird in Britain, i didn't even know that they passed through Britain until now.

Marvellous sighting Carlos :t:

I wished I lived a bit closer to pop down for a look. I recently saw a Crane at Campfield Marsh in Cumbria but with only distant views. They are remarkable birds to see, especially in the wild.

Nice one carlos, those cranes must have been a real treat. As you say its nice to be out before the crowds on mornings like those, nice list to match.
bert.

Stonechat2 said:

... There a very rare bird in Britain, i didn't even know that they passed through Britain until now.

Click to expand...

Yes, luckily this is one place where they actually aren't that rare. As i said, i've never been that close before but you can (fairly) regularly see them, sometimes flying just above the low treeline which borders Horsey Mere & Hickling Broad.

Certainly a nice sighting. And a really strange call as well, quite unlike any others i know.

Carlos GY said:

Yes, luckily this is one place where they actually aren't that rare. As i said, i've never been that close before but you can (fairly) regularly see them, sometimes flying just above the low treeline which borders Horsey Mere & Hickling Broad.

Click to expand...

That's where we caught glimpses of them! Also a juve seen from Stubb's Mill.