Vis. Mig. (1 Viewer)

Hi all.
I'm simeon (15) and I live in Norfolk. I have been birdwatching for 9 years now, but I am interested/confused about one thing in particular. It's fairly local to me in Norfolk, but most people will know what I'm on about.
Yesterday, I visited Holme with a friend, Connor. We were at Gore Point by about 7:20am, to see some migrants going over. It was a westerly wind, but we still managed to get 113 Meadow Pipits, 5 Tree Sparrows, 4 Greenfinches, several Linnets, 9 Siskin, the odd Skylark, 10 Snow Buntings, and 9 Pied Wagtails!
Whilst having a discussion with Connor about how all the birds got concentrated at Hunstanton (thus making the cliffs there one of the best sites for vis. mig. in the area), I suddenly wondered where all the birds go after Hunstanton.
I always hear about something getting tracked all along the coast (say, a crane, or something); Cley, Holkham, Titchwell, Holme (sometimes Hunstanton), but then thats it. They're gone. They just seem to pop off the radar. It might just be me being ignorant, but they never seem to get further than Hunstanton.
Why is this??? Do they go up north, to Lincolnshire? Please, someone enlighten me.
I then thought, this morning, what might happen to some of those birds.
On migration, most birds tend to follow the coast, unless that is, if they're tired. Some birds do come inland.
I live in Denver, near Downham Market. My local patch is Whin Common, just south of the village. In Autumn, Meadow Pipit, Skylark and Pied Wagtail are easy to get on "visible migration", as are Sand Martins, House Martins, and Swallows. They are going south, obviously.
Are these the same birds that go all round the coast sometimes? But then why don't I get birds on migration in the spring, going north?
Please reply to this post if you have any comments or answers, because in my opinion, its a very interesting topic.
Thanks, Sim

Hello Sim,
On behalf of the staff, welcome to the Birdforum. I hope you'll enjoy it here and hopefully someone from your neck of the woods will have some enlightenment for your question.

Hi,Sim,welcome to BF.

The birds you describe will probably move up the coast (crossing the Ouse Washes).
The numbers of birds in autumn are a lot larger, for the obvious reason that there are a lot of young birds. There are also differences in migration routes: if birds are going north, Northern British breeders may hit the coast in Norfolk (depending on the wind of course) and follow that, while in autumn (when going south), they will not follow the coast that much. However, then you'll find Scandinavian birds happy to reach the shore (and especially if the wind has been bad, they will be knackered).
In good weather, many birds will fly too high overland to be seen – good migration days may actually be unnoticeable! If they want to avoid crossing the sea, they'll come down, increasing your chances of seeing them.
I hope this answers some of your queries...