A Numbers Day

 Thursday November 16

It was one of those occasions when I asked myself ,' Why am I out in this'. It started raining as we left, gradually increasing in wind-hurled volume, smacking onto the windscreen. Huge puddles gathering roadside, soggy brown leaves clogging pavements where a young mother struggled with her pushchair. Influenced by the desire to make the most of any birding days available before December 4, we drove on westward. Pam has been offered a cancellation date for her hip revision. two weeks earlier than first mooted. She accepted gladly.

Shortly after Docking, the rain eased, then stopped. Still a very low and dark grey overcast, but dry for the rest of the afternoon.  

Apart from the expanse of creek filled mud, the first thing Pam noticed at Snettisham was the long line of massed Golden Plover. Very distant and a counting challenge. I knew that it was one of - if not THE - largest flocks I'd ever seen, as I scoped the perfectly still huddle. For no apparent reason, the whole flock took to the air, a swirling cloud of dark grey against a slightly paler backdrop. 

 


 


As they flew towards us, climbing ever higher, they filled the sky. No way could I fit them all into the viewfinder. Waw. No photo could do them justice, certainly not one wielded by me.

Backing down the slipway between the last two pits, I scoped the bird-filled water, only two small strips of island showing, the water level still extremely high. At the far end, a Black-throated Diver fished very actively, showing occasionally. Always very distant and seldom showing for more than a few seconds. Sue Bryan managed some decent photos from the far hides - but it led her a merry dance first. I saw five handsome males and a single female Goldeneye amongst the pestillage of Greylag Geese ever present. There were also half a dozen Great Crested Grebes and the same number of Little Grebes adding to the diving feeders, popping up all over the place.

On the way out, Pam spotted a lone male Pintail asleep on top of the bank beside the biggest of the creeks. As we were identifying this, a female, or young, Sparrowhawk arrowed low across the path,  before landing on the mud. A short respite before it was off again.A Snettisham tick.

Still crowded, but room for us to park on Hunstanton Cliffs. A distant dark line, carried out on the receding tide, was a mass of Common Scoter. I scoped for at least twenty minutes, in awe at the numbers and their active behaviour, the whole flock sometimes diving, flying to catch up with the main body as they moved eastwards, then the same again. There must have been over a thousand birds, the biggest flock I have ever seen in Norfolk. The only other mass I've seen - even bigger - was the moulting flock off Black Dog in Aberdeenshire. I tried hard but did not see any Velvet Scoter amongst them. Maybe if they'd been nearer..... None of those I saw fly showed a white flash.

 

Apart from a small number of White-fronted Geese winkled out from the foliage at Holkham, there were no other sightings of note. 

As we neared home, the size and frequency of the roadside puddles was proof that it had rained heavily all day - Adrian said so. Weren't we lucky.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 12

Image
 Monday May 6 Most of the morning was occupied getting in touch with the car insurance people and then Autoglass - then waiting for Autoglass to get back to us.  A  stone chipped our windscreen on the way through Skye, since then its become a one foot plus horizontal crack on Pam's side. End result. We take the car to Lewis or Skye or wait until we get home. The garage here 'doesn't have the equipment to deal with the sensor in the front screen'. Ian, Heather's husband, says he does them all the time! Ah well, live with it.  Almost the first bird we saw as we drove north was a lovely male Hen Harrier. It was distant but I had to try, one of these days I'll get a decent photo. Original photo before editing, taken with 500mm lens    Edited     As we drove down to Loch Paible, a flock of fifteen Whimbrel dropped in to the near corner.We needed to turn the car, by which time the birds had gone, this Wheatear posed nicely for me.    A short d...
Read more

Moth Migration

Image
 Wednesday October 9 Like birds, moths migrate when the season and weather conditions are right. Recently, we have had easterly winds with a mouth watering fall of birds which we have been unable to walk and see. Many Yellow-browed Warblers, Eastern Crowned Warbler in Shetland, a possible Amur Stonechat and an Asian Desert Warbler in Norfolk. Our moth traps have had a reasonable sprinkling of the migrant moths - although some could be breeding here by now. Palpita Vitrialis Scarce Bordered Straw Delicate   and Rusty Dot Pearl
Read more

Day 19

Image
  Monday May 13   The day started slowly and ended at a gallop. A morning spent doing chores meant an even later start than usual, well past mid-day. Loch Druidibeg was the intended destination but we missed the turning and ended up at Loch Eynort. Both are in South Uist, but Druidibeg is not signposted on the northern approach. We even found a parking space in the small six car parking area, where we sat looking at a pretty empty sea. Eventually, Red-breasted Merganser, Shags, a Great Northern Diver and an Otter on the sea and Willow Warbler, Chaffinch, Robin, Blackbird, Dunnock, Cuckoo, and a Lesser Redpoll from the small wood alongside. AS we reversed away, Pam noticed the reg plate on the car beside us. It was WOC, Ian and Sue's car. We left them a note and drove on in the rain. We found Druidibeg this time. RSPB Scotland Loch Druidibeg, a community nature reserve formed in partnership with local crofters and the community estate. It is a Special Protection Area and Site...
Read more