A rather grey,overcast and damp day but the first thing that caught my interest was the fact that birds were in song!!! Song Thrush, Robin, Collared Dove and Dunnock were all part of the chorus around the cottage and emphasized how further on events were despite our not being that far south!!
A strategy of working our way along the north Norfolk coast had been agreed so we set off and , progressively, kept calling in at notable bird sites. We'd left Cley and Salthouse for later incidentally.
At Morston Little Egret, a Spotted Redshank and Grey Plover provided close and good views. Our first Marsh Harrier (2 females) at Stiffkey together with a huge pack of Pink-footed Geese put me in routine scanning mode for a while!!
Later, a single Grey Partridge at Choseley was a salutary reminder of how drastic has been the decline in this species over the years. Along with other farmland dependant birds the losses and changes have been catastrophic and begs the question of whether current day birdwatchers will ever enjoy the situation which we all took for granted as being normal in the past!!.
Titchwell RSPB reserve provided its usual rich array of species ranging from Water Rail, various duck, Avocet, Black-tailed Godwit, Snow Bunting, Bearded Tit, Water Pipit and Ruff along with many others and kept us busy for some time. Met up with friends and made arrangements for the evening before moving on.
At Stiffkey we had various Marsh Harriers going into roost, at least 10 Little Egret and a couple of both Short-eared Owl and Barn Owl ( although not the dark breasted individual which had been seen previously). Later we all met up for a drink to exchange notes and reminicences!!
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