We decided to take advantage of the Easter break and spend a long weekend in North Norfolk, camping overnight at Burnham. Luckily for us it coincided with the hottest Easter for 100 years so we topped up our tans at the same time. Two years ago we had heavy snow which was no fun.
Our first stop was a lay-by just before Lakenheath to see if the Nightingale had returned again this year and found a huge Polish lorry parked there for the night ! We squeezed in and as soon as we got out of the car heard it singing its fantastic song in the pre-dawn along with a distant Cuckoo. We were to hear another one on the trip but didn’t want to disturb them into showing themselves just for a tick.
We made a flying stop at Weeting for brilliant if distant views of Stone Curlew in the early dawn sunlight. Then we stopped off for a longer stroll at a side road leading into the forest. The place was heaving with Willow Warblers, Chiffchaff and Wood Lark - we even heard and saw Garden Warbler. Lakenheath has changed a fair bit from the days when we used to cross the stile at the far end of the embankment and walk for ages to the Poplar plantations. Now it is a top notch site in its own right with a new visitor centre and lots of trails, attracting a variety of birds to rival most places. I really enjoy coming here even if the Orioles haven’t arrived. Seeing a dozen Hobbies hawking overhead is a sight difficult to beat, one of the great birding experiences. We had prolonged views of two Bitterns flying right in front of us (whereas at Titchwell I rarely seem to see them) and a pair of Garganey. There was even a side show put on by a Harris Hawk. We also heard the Cranes in the distance but decided against walking right to the end to try and locate them due to lack of time. You can spend much longer there walking the trails but we wanted to get on.
We set up the tent which seemed to take about two hours to the amusement of the families that were already there and sped around the corner to Titchwell. It was still warm and sunny in the early evening sunshine as everyone made their way out – my favourite time there.
We seemed to have the place to ourselves after the Easter crowds had thinned out a bit. The highlight for me here was the stunningly plumaged Spotted Redshank nearly completely black. We got two Common Terns but missed out on the Little Terns on both visits. We found the Red Crested Pochard that someone told us was nesting there. As it started to get dark I had a nagging feeling of dread as I had read on the notice board there was a Wood Sandpiper present but I couldn’t find it anywhere when it finally showed itself among the Ruff - right in front of us where I had looked several times. How do they do that? I also saw my first ever Yellow Wagtail along with a Golden Plover. Someone pointed out a Pale Bellied Brent to me which I had overlooked even though I always look out for them. I couldn’t make out any of the reported Sand Martins – but I missed them at Lakenheath too. There was also an early Swift reported going over. The stunning new Parrinder hides are a world away from the traditional ones and look like they have been designed by a Danish architect – the windows are brilliant once you work out how to use them !
To get to Choosely barns take the last left turn just before you get to Titchwell reserve. I like coming here just to listen to the Corn Buntings in the peace and quiet always hoping for a Tree Sparrow. Whitethroats and Blackcaps looked stunning in the strong sunlight. But today it wasn’t so quiet as there had been a fall of Dotterel. We got involved in an old fashioned, unexpected Twitch. We traipsed down the track along with everyone else, getting poor views of 3 in the distant heat haze. Someone said 14 were present! We got back to the car for a breather and got chatting to a knowledgeable local birder who promptly set us all off again by pointing out a tiny Merlin on the wires. Hurriedly getting my scope on it before it flew it turned out to be a Corn Bunting! That lead to a round of everyone telling their own stories of mis-identification - Mine was stringing a Water Rail into a Spotted Crake! - Eventually I went round the back of the barns and found another fall, this time of 5 Wheatear. We later saw four more at the reserve.
Later we drove to Cley where we saw Spoonbill, and 2Greenshank but missed out on a Green Sandpiper that was present. There were also a lot of Sandwich Terns present. I was really pleased to see the Greenshank as its one of my favourite birds and something I always look out for. Just before it got dark we dropped in at Holkham where we were told about some Redstarts at the hides but we couldn’t find them and there wasn’t much else about. It was now too dark to bird but not for Barn Owl which we caught hunting over the misty fields. It was the end of our day and the trip – I wanted to stay a bit longer, there was the Citrine Wagtail that turned up near Sheringham, Ring Ouzel and Whinchats about. It had been a mad two days and I wish I could have stayed longer but we had seen 115 birds, the majority brilliant views in bright sunny weather and now we had to go home.
Our first stop was a lay-by just before Lakenheath to see if the Nightingale had returned again this year and found a huge Polish lorry parked there for the night ! We squeezed in and as soon as we got out of the car heard it singing its fantastic song in the pre-dawn along with a distant Cuckoo. We were to hear another one on the trip but didn’t want to disturb them into showing themselves just for a tick.
We made a flying stop at Weeting for brilliant if distant views of Stone Curlew in the early dawn sunlight. Then we stopped off for a longer stroll at a side road leading into the forest. The place was heaving with Willow Warblers, Chiffchaff and Wood Lark - we even heard and saw Garden Warbler. Lakenheath has changed a fair bit from the days when we used to cross the stile at the far end of the embankment and walk for ages to the Poplar plantations. Now it is a top notch site in its own right with a new visitor centre and lots of trails, attracting a variety of birds to rival most places. I really enjoy coming here even if the Orioles haven’t arrived. Seeing a dozen Hobbies hawking overhead is a sight difficult to beat, one of the great birding experiences. We had prolonged views of two Bitterns flying right in front of us (whereas at Titchwell I rarely seem to see them) and a pair of Garganey. There was even a side show put on by a Harris Hawk. We also heard the Cranes in the distance but decided against walking right to the end to try and locate them due to lack of time. You can spend much longer there walking the trails but we wanted to get on.
We set up the tent which seemed to take about two hours to the amusement of the families that were already there and sped around the corner to Titchwell. It was still warm and sunny in the early evening sunshine as everyone made their way out – my favourite time there.
We seemed to have the place to ourselves after the Easter crowds had thinned out a bit. The highlight for me here was the stunningly plumaged Spotted Redshank nearly completely black. We got two Common Terns but missed out on the Little Terns on both visits. We found the Red Crested Pochard that someone told us was nesting there. As it started to get dark I had a nagging feeling of dread as I had read on the notice board there was a Wood Sandpiper present but I couldn’t find it anywhere when it finally showed itself among the Ruff - right in front of us where I had looked several times. How do they do that? I also saw my first ever Yellow Wagtail along with a Golden Plover. Someone pointed out a Pale Bellied Brent to me which I had overlooked even though I always look out for them. I couldn’t make out any of the reported Sand Martins – but I missed them at Lakenheath too. There was also an early Swift reported going over. The stunning new Parrinder hides are a world away from the traditional ones and look like they have been designed by a Danish architect – the windows are brilliant once you work out how to use them !
To get to Choosely barns take the last left turn just before you get to Titchwell reserve. I like coming here just to listen to the Corn Buntings in the peace and quiet always hoping for a Tree Sparrow. Whitethroats and Blackcaps looked stunning in the strong sunlight. But today it wasn’t so quiet as there had been a fall of Dotterel. We got involved in an old fashioned, unexpected Twitch. We traipsed down the track along with everyone else, getting poor views of 3 in the distant heat haze. Someone said 14 were present! We got back to the car for a breather and got chatting to a knowledgeable local birder who promptly set us all off again by pointing out a tiny Merlin on the wires. Hurriedly getting my scope on it before it flew it turned out to be a Corn Bunting! That lead to a round of everyone telling their own stories of mis-identification - Mine was stringing a Water Rail into a Spotted Crake! - Eventually I went round the back of the barns and found another fall, this time of 5 Wheatear. We later saw four more at the reserve.
Later we drove to Cley where we saw Spoonbill, and 2Greenshank but missed out on a Green Sandpiper that was present. There were also a lot of Sandwich Terns present. I was really pleased to see the Greenshank as its one of my favourite birds and something I always look out for. Just before it got dark we dropped in at Holkham where we were told about some Redstarts at the hides but we couldn’t find them and there wasn’t much else about. It was now too dark to bird but not for Barn Owl which we caught hunting over the misty fields. It was the end of our day and the trip – I wanted to stay a bit longer, there was the Citrine Wagtail that turned up near Sheringham, Ring Ouzel and Whinchats about. It had been a mad two days and I wish I could have stayed longer but we had seen 115 birds, the majority brilliant views in bright sunny weather and now we had to go home.
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