Hello
A day out on the North Norfolk coast today started with a three hour excursion at Snettisham. Right from the word go hundreds of Starlings and Fieldfares were flying past us heading in to a strong south-westerly wind, most of them at very low level and presumably in off the sea further to the north. Four Waxwings went past with one flock of Starlings.
High tide was at dawn and we witnessed thousands of waders on the edge of the ebbing tide, Golden Plover, Knot and Oystercatcher being the most common. Also thousands of Pink-footed Geese flew from the flats and shallows to inland fields and six species of raptor included a fine juvenile male Pallid Harrier plus Hen Harriers, Marsh Harriers and a female Merlin.
Other birds included Stonechat, Common Scoter, a flock of Whooper Swans, Brent Goose, Pintail and a Spoonbill.
Inland from Brancaster we looked for a Rough-legged Buzzard reported the day before but there was no sign. Sugar Beet harvesting attracted Black-headed and Common Gulls and nearby additional raptors included Peregrine and Red Kite bringing our raptor species total to nine for the day.
We spent the last couple of hours at Titchwell where the highlights were a stunning adult male Hen Harrier, a drake Long-tailed Duck, plenty of common waders, lots of Marsh Harriers, Water Rail, three Red-crested Pochard, a Water Pipit and more flocks of Brent and Pink-footed Geese.
Regards
Neil M
A day out on the North Norfolk coast today started with a three hour excursion at Snettisham. Right from the word go hundreds of Starlings and Fieldfares were flying past us heading in to a strong south-westerly wind, most of them at very low level and presumably in off the sea further to the north. Four Waxwings went past with one flock of Starlings.
High tide was at dawn and we witnessed thousands of waders on the edge of the ebbing tide, Golden Plover, Knot and Oystercatcher being the most common. Also thousands of Pink-footed Geese flew from the flats and shallows to inland fields and six species of raptor included a fine juvenile male Pallid Harrier plus Hen Harriers, Marsh Harriers and a female Merlin.
Other birds included Stonechat, Common Scoter, a flock of Whooper Swans, Brent Goose, Pintail and a Spoonbill.
Inland from Brancaster we looked for a Rough-legged Buzzard reported the day before but there was no sign. Sugar Beet harvesting attracted Black-headed and Common Gulls and nearby additional raptors included Peregrine and Red Kite bringing our raptor species total to nine for the day.
We spent the last couple of hours at Titchwell where the highlights were a stunning adult male Hen Harrier, a drake Long-tailed Duck, plenty of common waders, lots of Marsh Harriers, Water Rail, three Red-crested Pochard, a Water Pipit and more flocks of Brent and Pink-footed Geese.
Regards
Neil M
 |
| Distant shots of a Pallid Harrier |
 |
| Fieldfare |
 |
| Sugar Beet harvesting |
No comments:
Post a Comment