I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside

My Brother and I took a little break from county matters today and headed over to north Norfolk for a day of birding. Packing up some of my warmer clothes I set off expecting to see some quality stuff. Although it was a nice and sunny day the cold breeze meant that we had to endure some pretty cold conditions, thankfully it was worth it.

Sheringham birds and views.

Our day began at Sheringham where the target was the Purple Sandpipers that sometimes take temporary winter residence in this part of the world. Turnstones were the commonest species and many small flocks could be seen feeding along both the promenade and on the neighbouring beach and rocks. A stiff onshore breeze brought a few birds closer to shore, mainly Red-throated Divers and a few auks some of which were definitely Guillemots. On a rock close to the town's museum we found a group of three Purple Sands, my first for several years and they posed nicely too. Having found our target we then moved on as we had a list of places that we wanted to visit.

Stonechats at Salthouse.

Just a little further along the coast road we pulled in at Salthouse where our goal was to see the large flock of Snow Buntings that had been seen near Gramborough Hill, A stiff breeze made the prospect of seeing passerines a little unlikely and a period of searching confirmed our fears, there were none there. A pair of Stonechats were evidently made of sterner stuff and showed well while several more auks passed along the coast travelling east like many of the other species. Gulls are not normally my bag but even I couldn't ignore a first winter Glaucous speeding past in the direction of Cley. After this we left stopping briefly near Stiffkey in case the Cattle Egrets were showing but that hope turned out to be a little forlorn.

Awful record shot of one of eight Shorelarks at Holkham.

Lady Anne's Drive at Holkham on the other hand turned out to be rather good with decent numbers of both Brent and Pink-foots present while at least half a dozen Egyptian Geese favoured the same fields. We did not spend much time here because although a Marsh Harrier was appreciated it was the eight reported Shorelarks that were calling us. A twenty minute walk led us to the prize, a small flock of eight ignoring the many pooches to feed on the saltmarsh. While my record shots could only aspire to mediocrity it was still nice to see them. Having picked up this lovely species we set of for the car and from there made a final stop of the day to Titchwell.

Water Rail and Ringed Plover.

Plenty of cars as usual were parked up at the reserve but we did manage to find a space, it's so nice that the dog walking club leaves a few spots for birders here. A Water Rail showed very well from the path near to the centre, it's always good to get good views of this elusive species. Continuing our walk we headed out to the beach but this was by far the least interesting section of the day and only a few waders and a further sighting of  Marsh Harrier helped to pass the day. A nice bonus between the centre and the car park was a Chiffchaff, January records are always good. With the winter sun slipping closer to the horizon we decided to call it a day and set off on our way back to Northants. I'm not sure how many species we saw but it was a decent day and that's what counts isn't it?

A few more birds from Titchwell.