13 May 2012
At long last we managed to get out birding again - it
was 1 March we last went. I can't
believe it has been so long. It's no
wonder our list doesn't grow all that much.
Anyway, on Friday evening when we saw the weather forecast for yesterday
we decided we would go.
#We were up early and on the road for 7.15am heading
along the A47 towards Cley again. It was a
good run too with no hold for a change.
The weather was nice and dry and sunny all day. We finally arrived there at around 1030 ready for
the off. On the way with me driving we
got collared dove, blackbird, magpie, starling, woodpigeon, pheasant, jackdaw,
buzzard, crow, green woodpecker, rook, red kite, sparrow hawk, peregrine,
mallard, sky lark, swallow, lapwing, shellduck, greylag. That red kite seems to be becoming a regular
along there near Peterborough. It's good
to see them spreading too.
By the time we got to Cley I was busting for a wee
so I headed off and left Jan to lock the car.
We decided that coffee was due before we headed off round the site and
while we sat drinking it we could see that the reserve didn't look all that
busy with birds. There were a lot of birders
about though with groups all standing around together in various places looking
at something of value. Most of these groups
were up on the beach path or on the path along the eastern side of the reserve,
both of which are out of bounds for us on our scooters.
We soon joined in as best we could by heading off
the three hides that stand together.
Another birder put us on to the Temminck's and Little Stints as well as
a Dunlin before he left. Jan had to go
off back to the car for something she had forgotten so I sat in the middle of
the three hides waiting for her to come back.
While I sat there a family came in; son, baby, mum and dad. The boy was about 5 or 6 I think. he was looking out the birds but didn't know what
he was looking at. I gave him a run down
what birds were there and then had a brain wave. Jan had bought two new field guys for us and
as I had my old one with me too, I gave the book to his mum and said the lad
could have it. He was very pleased and
kept saying 'thank you'. Thing is, if
giving the lad that book it encourages him to keep on with birding, then it's
not wasted is it?
Our list at Cley then was ... mute swan, marsh
harrier, black headed gull, sedge warbler, siskin, cetti warbler, avocet, knot,
coot, pied wagtail, shell duck, common tern, temminck's stint, little stint,
little ringed plover, dunlin, tufted duck, goldfinch, red shank, pochard,
shoveller, turnstone, oystercatcher, swifts, little egret.
After that we headed for Titchwell again with no worries
about having to rush because of the light fading early. On the way we called in at Wells. No new birds there and to be honest, at £4.50
a day to park we won't be stopping there again.
As it was found a free disabled driver's space and got in there. I don't think we will be stopping there
again! After a so-so pint of real ale we
headed off to Titchwell.
There was so many birds there that our poor ID
skills really did lets us down badly.
LBJ's were dashing all around us far too fast for us to get a good look
at before they were off again. How many
we missed out on because of it we don't know.
We did however manage to get some good sightings, at least for us that
is - but again it was with help. A
whimbrel was pointed out as well as a female red crested pochard and one we saw
but couldn't ID was declared
to be a meadow pipit. Our full Titchwell
list then was ... robin, moorhen, whitethroat, greylag, coot, pochard, wood
pigeon, white fronted geese, marsh harrier, mallard, shoveller, tufted duck,
shellduck, pochard, little stint, black headed gull, herring gull,
oystercatcher, white wagtail, reed bunting, common gull, brent geese,
turnstone, sanderling, ring plover, sedge warbler, meadow pipit, whimbrel, red
crested pochard, great tit, bearded tit, lesser red shank, grasshopper warbler,
black cap, willow warbler, grey heron.
By the time we got back to the car we were happily
tired but cold. Setting off we headed
for Hunstanton where we went to the Marine Bar for a drink and I had pish, fhips
'n pushy meas ... very nice too. We
finally got home at around 10pm and were pleasantly surprised to be able to get
our car parked just across the road, and half up the street.
Top and bottom of
it? A pretty good day with 66 species
seen - our biggest daily total with around 26 for the yer list and a couple of
lifers too. We were very happy with it
anyway.
