Dipping on Dersingham Darters, Titchwell Saves Day

My brother, his friend John King and I set off for North Norfolk this morning for a mainly bird oriented day of watching though we stopped at Dersingham Bog on the way to give me a chance to look for Black Darters. Sadly for me the weather was much worse than the BBC weather had forecast and a combination of blustery winds and a lack of sun meant that our search came to nothing. In fact very few insects of interest were seen apart from a few butterflies and the only bird species of note were a brood of Stonechats.

Darter free Dersingham and Purple Sandpiper.

A short journey took us to Hunstanton where John saw his first Fulmars for a few years while the beach was alive with lots of Oystercatchers. It was only a short hop from here to Titchwell where a good variety of species were seen.

Wood Sandpiper and Mediterranean Gull.

Our first highlight was a Purple Sandpiper which gave good views on the fresh marsh. A half dozen Spoonbills were also noted though they stayed distant throughout our stay. Commonest wader species was Ruff though a good sized flock of Black-tailed Godwits were observed and a large group of Dunlin arrived during our stay. Parrinder hide added Wood Sandpiper to our list and juvenile Mediterranean Gull was also seen.  A small number of terns included Common and Sandwich while other waders included Common Sandpiper, Bar-tailed Godwit and Turnstone.

Spoonbills and Ruff.

The sea added little to our total apart from a female Common Scoter and a Great Crested Grebe and after just a few minutes we headed back to the centre for some food. Once the grub was finished we  returned to the reserve but despite some intense searches bird numbers stayed fairly static  and we were soon forced to seek shelter due to some unscheduled rain falling. Whilst in the hide a Great White Egret did a fly pass though very little else of interest was seen. After the squally shower had passed we popped along to the screen hide on the East Trail

Great White Egret and Red Crested Pochards.

A good selection of species were seen from here and these included a better view of the Great White Egret that had been seen earlier. Ducks were well represented here and the highlights included a brace of Red Crested Pochards as well as several Pintails. David picked out a hunting Marsh Harrier that was the only one today. Final highlight of the day were two Turtle Doves near the Fen Hide, it's always good to get any views of this sadly declining species.

Turtle Doves.