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Griswold’s Vacations 2020 (1 Viewer)

ClarkWGriswold

Carpe Carpum
Supporter
Wales
Decided to focus this year on upping my pretty poor UK life list. Started the year on 286 and picked up Richards Pipit a couple of weeks ago to get to 287. Hoping to get to 300 by the end of next year - my 50th.

With this in mind I’m heading up to Norfolk for 4 nights on Monday. Stopping off at Deeping Lakes on the way for (hopefully) some roosting LEO’s. I’m keeping my fingers crossed the Wagtail hangs on and I’ll do some searching for Tundra Bean Geese. Anything else would be a bonus.

After this it’s up to the Cairngorms in Feb. Going to stop off at Musselburgh on the way back, and Strathclyde on the way up. I’ve managed to convince the OH the pup will need to stretch his legs. :t: Might even dip on the Black Duck for the umpteenth time!

Nothing else booked yet but any holidays are likely to be in dog friendly cottages in the UK.

Rich
 
Decided to focus this year on upping my pretty poor UK life list. Started the year on 286 and picked up Richards Pipit a couple of weeks ago to get to 287. Hoping to get to 300 by the end of next year - my 50th.

With this in mind I’m heading up to Norfolk for 4 nights on Monday. Stopping off at Deeping Lakes on the way for (hopefully) some roosting LEO’s. I’m keeping my fingers crossed the Wagtail hangs on and I’ll do some searching for Tundra Bean Geese. Anything else would be a bonus.

After this it’s up to the Cairngorms in Feb. Going to stop off at Musselburgh on the way back, and Strathclyde on the way up. I’ve managed to convince the OH the pup will need to stretch his legs. :t: Might even dip on the Black Duck for the umpteenth time!

Nothing else booked yet but any holidays are likely to be in dog friendly cottages in the UK.

Rich

Good luck Rich, I look forward to reading all about it.
 
Day 1

So I picked Bev up at 04:00 and met Paul there. A quick bacon sarnie and we were on our way.

Made good progress and were soon at Deeping Lakes. Heaps of Red Kites around Northamptonshire and plenty of Wildfowl on the lakes including Goldeneye and Wigeon. A Raven made a brief appearance over the lake as well and the area seems to have a healthy population of Green Woodpeckers.

Headed straight to the hide. Big thanks to Roger @devonbirder for all the great advice via Twitter. Despite the great advice I blanked on the owls. So we set off for North Norfolk. Taking Paul's advice we stopped off at the café at Titchwell. Lovely coffee and a pretty decent bacon roll followed:eat: Next it was off to find a pile of sh*t with a Wagtail on it. Amazingly the postcode provided took us directly there and the Eastern Yellow Wagtail was happily sat next to a Pied Wagtail. Lifer number 288 in the bag.B :)

Throughout the day we also saw plenty of Marsh Harriers, Brent Geese, Little Egrets, Red Legged Partridges etc.

Time to head to the cottage via Tesco in Hunstanton. So tired I didn't even make it into the hot tub:eek!:
 
Day 2

Having gone to bed so early the night before I was up at 03:30:eek!: Washed up all the dishes and started planning where to go for the day.

Decided to head to Abbey Farm at Flitcham. No sign of the Little Owls but they had been recorded earlier in the week. A few Teal, Gadwall and some Mistle Thrush were in front of the hide. Decided to check out the fields behind as these have been productive in the past. And so it proved to be this time:t:

Really pleased to pick up a Ringtail and wandering alongside the field gave Grey Partridges. In amongst the Chaffinches were a couple of Brambling. A Common Buzzard drifted over and a pale Buzzard then caught my eye in the bush over the field. A possible RLB but only having seen one before and not having a good enough view to get the distinguishing features it remained a possible.

Next it was off to Wells. Stopped to watcha big flock of White-fronted Geese and Curlews on the coastal road near Burnham Overy and then parked up in Wells. A short walk along the footpath and the longish staying Rough-legged Buzzard was quickly picked up. My second ever:t:

Next it was off to Waxham (at the entrance to Poplar Farm). A field full of Pink-footed Geesein Norfolk is one of my favourite birding sights. The wind had picked up making scanning through the flock a bit of an issue. Soon got on to mu target birds though - Tundra Bean Geese. Lifer number 289 in the bagB :)

Headed back to the cottage stopping at Abbey farm again. Stayed until it got dark but couldn't locate the Little Owls. A decent flock of Fieldfare came in though. These seem to be pretty this on the ground this year. Back at the cottage I roasted a loin of pork covered with garlic and slept in the hot tub whilst it cooked. Happy days:t::eat:
 
Other birds seen over the first couple of days included:

Whooper Swans
Egyptian Geese
Kestrels - heaps

And mammals seen were:

Muntjac Deer
Roe Deer
Bunny
Brown Hare

I'll finish writing this up later as the pup needs a long walk and Wales are playing Ireland this afternoon.
 
What an excellent start! Your first two ticks of the year are the same as my boys' last two of last year. Their life lists progressed from 283 to 308 over the course of last year, so your task looks eminently achievable, and hopefully you can hit it early and then overshoot some. I look forward to checking up on your progress!
 
Cheers Chris/ James.

Just got back from a brisk 5 mile walk with the pup. Nice to see some Siskins which are thin on the ground this year and the local Ravens cronking away.

Rich
 
Day 3

Headed back to Deeping Lake and dipped on LEO for a second time. 14 Goosander were a welcome sight.

Decided to head to Welney WWT. The Fen roads are quite "fun" in places. Very undulating! Passed a couple of Grey Partridges and a few Bewick Swans on the way.

Good numbers of Tree Sparrows and Reed Buntings on the feeders there. On the water were large numbers of wildfowl. Always enjoy seeing Northern Pintails. A single Great White Egret was also present. Decent coffee in the café at Welney.

Got lucky on the way home with great views of a Barn Owl
 

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Day 4

My last day in Norfolk so I decided to concentrate on a few of the fantastic areas nearby. Setting off at first light the scenery was amazing. Covered with a ground frost the Pheasants and Muntjac really stood out. With a bit of fog around I decided to head to Thornham first.

A good choice as the Twite were on the building there. Rock Pipits were around the moorings and a Spotted Redshank was in the channel.

Next it was off to Titchwell. The Woodcock had moved out of sight by the time I'd got there but I had a great view of a Water Rail at the first little pond. Next it was off to the hides. On the main track I had decent views of a hunting Short-eared Owl before going to the hide. Light here was dreadful. So bright pretty much everything was washed out. Plenty of Marsh Harriers around though which is pretty much a given at Titchwell - a great site for them. A Water Pipit was the highlight here.

Walking down to the beach gave views of Black-tailed Godwits and Turnstone and at the beach a couple of year ticks in the form of Grey Plovers and Bar-tailed Godwits. Decided to head off to Holkham. Stopped in the RSPB shop by the car park and picked up some pins and mugs for the boys.

Arrived at Holkham still in glorious sunshine. Some gorgeous dogs being walked there - none of which were in the roped off area:t: First flocks contained Linnets and Meadow Pipits. A little further around some birders were already on the birds that Holkham is well known for - Shore Larks. Quite a bit further away was a large flock of Snow Buntings. Always great birds to see. Heading over to the dunes an impressive flock of Common Scoters and a few Red-breasted Mergansers were on the sea. Velvets had been reported but I was struggling to pick any out.

Next it was off to Cley. Picked myself up a lovely wine glass with Curlew and Avocets on and have since been able to confirm it's fit for purposeB :)

The reserve itself was fairly quiet. Nice views of a Marsh Harrier and some Avocet on the pools. I tried my best to pick out a different Gull but, thanks to Michael over on the Gull thread, it's clear that I failed miserably:-O

Time to head back to the cottage for one last kip in the hot tubo:D
 
Day 5

Up early and cooked what was left in the fridge. Had planned on going to Grimsby for the Thrush but decided I just wanted to get back home and see the pup. (was ok to see the OH and children as well;))

Stopped off at Deeping Lake on the way home. The fog was thick on arrival and it took at least 3/4 of an hour for us to be able to scan the island. There must have been at least 10 birders looking but to no avail. Typically, 3 were found that afternoon!:C

Made decent time back home. Evident that the Heads of the Valley road still needs quite a bit of work doing but not too bad.

Had an amazing welcome off the boy when I went in the house. He's since not left my side as I think he's worried I'm going to leave him again:flyaway:

If you haven't been, North Norfolk is well worth a trip. The fields full of Geese is highly likely to make my top 5 of 2020.

Rich
 
That's a great report Rich, and brought back some lovely memories for me too.

Thanks lad.

Is that Heads of the Valley road still not finished!!! They must have been working on it for at least 10 years - rather lost count now!
 
That's a great report Rich, and brought back some lovely memories for me too.

Thanks lad.

Is that Heads of the Valley road still not finished!!! They must have been working on it for at least 10 years - rather lost count now!

Glad you enjoyed D.

Still plenty of working going on around the hill out of Abergavenny (if that makes sense?)

Rich
 
Stroll on Friday. Will be leaving for Nethy at 03:00. I'll be keeping an eye on RBA for the Strathclyde Gull.

Hopefully will be having pie and chips in Craig's Bar (Grantown) with the rest of the family Friday afternoon:t::eat:

Rich
 
Day 5

Up early and cooked what was left in the fridge. Had planned on going to Grimsby for the Thrush but decided I just wanted to get back home and see the pup. (was ok to see the OH and children as well;))

Stopped off at Deeping Lake on the way home. The fog was thick on arrival and it took at least 3/4 of an hour for us to be able to scan the island. There must have been at least 10 birders looking but to no avail. Typically, 3 were found that afternoon!:C

Made decent time back home. Evident that the Heads of the Valley road still needs quite a bit of work doing but not too bad.

Had an amazing welcome off the boy when I went in the house. He's since not left my side as I think he's worried I'm going to leave him again:flyaway:

If you haven't been, North Norfolk is well worth a trip. The fields full of Geese is highly likely to make my top 5 of 2020.

Rich

Looked a good trip, big fan of North Norfolk, Think the best thing about the Geese is getting there around dawn and watch the sky fill with them coming off the wash into the fields!
 
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