Not the Best

 Sunday July 2

Maybe not the best, still enjoyable. The countryside looked lovely as we drove west. Roadside verges overblown with seeding Alexanders, Cow Parsley, Wild Carrot and Willow Herb.Trees in full leaf met above the road, producing .dense patches of shade and blinding sunlight. 

The first stop was at Sculthorpe Mill, its fairly full car park, redolent with the smell of breakfast bacon, witness to the late departure of overnight guests. It wasn't long before a pair of Grey Wagtails appeared on the roof, beaks full of insects, looking watchfully around before entering their nest. Both Spotted Flycatchers are now busy flying into and out of the creeper, feeding hatched young.We left them in peace.

No Little Owl nor Tree Sparrow at Flitcham, next stop the desert of Snettisham. Miles of exposed mud, dotted with pied Shelduck and some well grown young. A few scattered Oystercatchers and a couple of Avocets were all we saw.

The last pit had masses of Greylag, there were over a hundred. Careful scanning through the islands saw three Common Terns sitting on nests, amongst the Black-headed Gulls. A group of twenty Black-tailed Godwits flew away overhead. Most worthwhile were four Spotted Redshank, in their black summer plumage, roosting off the tip of a small islet. 

Once the horrendous calming humps on the initial track out to Holme reserves have been negotiated, the track is good. A Sedge Warbler was the only song we heard, the expected Magpies hopping amongst the long grass in the dune scrub.  Konik ponies fed calmly in their cordoned area.


Too windy for any Odonata activity along the boardwalk. The Damselflies in particular enjoy the warmth of the wooden fencing. Our first Swifts of the day swooped over the dunes, on their way south already? Hirundine seem to be in short supply this year. There were House Martins on the usual Harpley Cottages, where a pair of Swallows were the only ones we saw all day. The pair of House Martins nesting in next door's eaves has been successful, which is good. Our pre-formed nests are still unoccupied after about five years. Only used by roosting Sparrows in the winter. The Highes' long standing Martin tenement is also unused this year.

At Holkham, I found a huddle of white birds, partly obscured by a large tree. The twenty eight I could see were all Spoonbills, great to witness. A few more were still in the nesting trees. A male Marsh Harrier and a Little Egret plus one Shoveller completed the bird count.

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