Tundra Negative - 2

 Tuesday January 14

These Tundra Bean Geese were at Sharrington, and had been there for several days, along with a large group of Pinkfeet. Following a BirdGuides Google maps link, we were soon in the right area. No sign of any geese at all. There were men working on loading a mountain of sugar beet into a waiting lorry in the adjacent field. That was probably the reason for their absence.

There was very little traffic about, we were able to pull up onto the pavement opposite the Red Lion in Stiffkey so that we could scan the wet marsh beyond the river. I used my monocular, as my left eye is finding it increasingly difficult to focus when using binoculars. At the furthest edge of the small valley, a Glossy Ibis was making its way across the wet meadow, feeding as it walked. With my usual optimism, I took a few photos.


Next stop, Holkham. A scan from the gateway saw plenty of ducks had returned to the now unfrozen pools. Male Shovellers' white breasts stand out well. To the right of the walled area. a mixed flock of geese fed. Greylag, Egyptian and a good number of Russian Whitefronts, the black-barred bellies of the adults and their white topped beaks very obvious.

Lady Anne's Drive was very empty compared with usual. We were able to park sideways on in order to scope through a gap near a big tree. Neither of us saw the parking warden turn up. He wanted us to park nose on so that others could park.Pam pointed out that there was not another car for some distance and we'd move if there was a sudden rush. Next point was that he could see that we were birdwatchers and we could look through the windscreen. Not with a scope and me unable to walk/stand outside. He eventually gave us a wink and said 'ten minutes'. In that short time I found one wader feeding amongst the tussocky grass at the other side of a large pool. I tried hard but it was a Black-tailed Godwit, not the Long-billed Dowitcher we were hoping to see. Maybe the smaller bird was also somewhere in the long grass. Another day.

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