October

 Wednesday October 2

We almost aborted ...... waking to a dull day with rain falling. Suddenly, the rain stopped and Pam said, 'Let's go'. And we did. Not straight to Snettisham, but making several stops along the way trying to winkle out some birds. They seemed to be as reluctant as us after the rains of the last few days. The whole summer really. The Selbrigg gate area has been tidied up sonsiderably. In addition to the removal of bushes and trees previously mentioned, the gateposts have been renewed. The old ones had hollow tops into which food was placed. No-one is now feeding the birds - although we always strew some around - and none were seen nor heard. Disappointing.

The friendly owner of the cottage at Sculthorpe Mill in whose garden the Spotted Fly nested this year, came for a chat. He obviously loved having them. Lucky man. Harpley Cottages' Swallows and Martins have left, as have ours, although we did see several Swallows throughout the day.

Valley Farm Lane had seen an influx of game birds. A recent release I expect as they were still clustered in large groups. Red-legged Partridges in one field, Pheasants another. The Pheasants had a leucistic bird among them.

The back lane to Abbey Farm had another game bird release, this time containing about fifteen Grey Partridges, our first this year. Are they really 'wild' birds? Part of me says that they are not tickable.Then, I think, which of the game birds is. Follow the crowd.

We have never seen fewer birds at Snettisham. The distant shoreline had a scattering, but not the thousands usually present at this time of year. The last pit on the reserve, normally full of Greylag, had half a dozen Cormorants, two Spoonbills and nothing else. No waders at all, not even Lapwing. One Grey Plover and a few Redshank on the Wash, with a sprinkle of distant Dunlin and Sanderling with two Curlew. I still enjoyed looking. As we neared the gateway on our return journey, a woman told us that there was a 'baby Gannet' just over there. We slowly reversed until we could indeed see a juvenile Gannet sitting amongst the Samphire. It gradually shuffled away, occasionally trying to fly. Its wings looked undamaged but it was unsuccessful. Good luck big bird.

We always see rabbits here, nice to see healthy animals, so much myxomatosis around still.

One can drive through Hunstanton forever without seeing the cliffs on the eastern side of town. Today, we drove down to the Yacht Club where they are in full view. Splendid in their ruddy glory.

Now the home of Rock Doves - feral ones really but the next best thing for a list - the Fulmars present during the breeding season have left.

We'd enjoyed our searching so much that the day had sped away from us. We decided to go home by the fastest route, getting in just before five.