Norfolk weekend day 1 - wader bonanza

Free weekends have been a scarce commodity of late and with a decent weather forecast, I decided to 'go for it' with a crack of dawn Friday start - destination North Norfolk! I had a bed for the Friday night in Sheringham but the whole world was descending for various 'non birding' events on the Saturday - there was literally, no room at any Inn or B&B. As luck would have it, driving through Old Hunstanton, I noticed a 'vacancies' sign - a quick stop and query got the desired result, a B&B for Saturday night! (Hmm, didn't think to check out the room though.....)

Titchwell was my first port of call, a Pec. Sand had been showing well the previous day....

The Island hide was my first stop where 2 Little Stint and 2 Curlew Sandpiper (one below) were amongst a small flock of Dunlin. A single Snow and Lesser White-Fronted plus presumed escape Ross's Goose were amongst the Geese. The Pec. Sand was quite distant but I could see it would be easier to view from the path, so off I went.







The Pec was showing well but nowhere near enough for photography so, onwards to the next hide where Lapwing, Ruff, Knot, Golden Plover, Redshank and Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, Black and Bar-tailed Godwit were added to the list. There was a very strange Ruff with leucistic head - I just wondered if this was the bird seen distantly which had sparked the 'possible Phalarope' rumour earlier....








And then to the beach, (with a Whimbrel over and calling on the way!) where well in excess of a thousand Knot were gathering as the tide retreated. This was photographic heaven, although it was too overcast for real quality shots - I was busy for the next three hours. Apart from Knot, there were numerous Oystercatchers, good numbers of Sanderling, Ringed Plover, Barwits and Turnstone. Grey Plover were in a distinct minority - these remain one of my favourite waders but they don't like being approached by people and photographers - even less!!

Just a few of the better pictures (Barwits, Turnstone, Sanderling and Knot) from the session below, I was particularly pleased with the Turnstone working out how to turn a rather large stone plus the juvenile Gannet (like something out of Jurassic Park) taken from the beach!! And as for that Curlew, I reckon she was at the front of the queue when bills were handed out!
































Feeling pretty euphoric, I made my back to the reserve where the buzz was that the Pec. Sand was showing really well again. It's not easy to jog with a Gitzo and 500mm lens over the shoulder but I tried. I needn't have hurried - great views were had for 45 minutes or so, with the bird down to just 30m or so at times.









Could the day get any better? Just time to call in at Cley on my way to Sheringham. Cley was 'quiet' but it's own high standards but some missing waders got ticked immediately: Avocet, Common Snipe and Green Sandpiper. There was a Gull gathering of about 500 Black heads with a single juv Med Gull present. A couple of Marsh Harriers also came down and landed near the waters edge.

Just in case you haven't been counting, the tally of different waders was 23 for the day from a total of approx 70 species. There's 'not much' around in Norfolk at present but I tell you what - that was quite a days birding with a camera!

And more to come.....

Venus Pool - obliging Greenshank

Greenshank have been rather scarce this year and other than a trio flying through, this is the first one I've seen on the deck at Venus Pool this year! Obligingly, it chose to land right in front of the hide, feeding, resting and then.....









'regurgitating' the odd pellet (which I caught in graphic detail!) Have you ever wondered what happens to all that undigestible rubbish a wader consumes?









The light was sadly very poor otherwise these would have been stunners - as close as they come!

A feast in store this weekend - a Norfolk trip beckons - watch this space.....

Venus Pool - Pec 'n Arctic Tern around

A 'well chuffed' Jason Buckley found and got the news out of a Pectoral Sandpiper at VP and whilst this is more 'record' imagery - a great Shropshire find and tick no 149 for my 2007 County list (just one more to go!!) The poor Kingfishers got ignored as there was also a juvenile Tern busy fishing over the pool. This was undoubtedly an Arctic, the small legs, short all black bill and pale carpal bar all pointing in this direction. Sadly, neither bird stopped for long and both were gone by the evening......













The day ended with a mercy mission involving TWO swans, clearly distressed and having to be rescued (if only from the fiercely territorial local pair!) then taken to a local wildlife hospital. I must confess to being somewhat relieved at not having to handle a swan in the hand, the biggest hazard seemed to come from the copious amount of feather fleas however! (No swans were harmed during the filming of these shots - Martin is a qualified ringer!)

Venus Pool - Little Stint (for the record)

Even though a commonly heard grumble is "not much about", the week which had started off well, certainly kept a surprise in store. I was having a 'night off' but the animated mobile indicated action was afoot in the form of three Little Stint at VP (many thanks to Geoff and Paul). I have to say, at distance, this is strictly record shot material but with Common Snipe now coming back on the scene and of course, the ever present Kingfishers - an upload was still worthwhile.....

Venus Pool - Redshank passing thro'

A Redshank calls by... Taking the weight off his legs but then being chased around by a local Lapwing. The juvenile Little Grebes are still active in front of the hide, caught in reflective mood - not sure how tasty a Stickleback is! Those white secondaries that Paul King captured still on display too. A passing Rook got frozen in time - pleased with this shot as a black bird against a bright sky poses big exposure problems - oh well, keep practising.....

Venus Pool - Invaders from the 'East'

OK, I know a sighting of Mandarin is not going to set the world on fire but it's on the 'British List' and up until now wasn't on my Venus Pool list! It is now, I presume these are either juvenile or eclipse males with that red bill. Very attractive ducks whatever and quite aggresive little characters - breezing in, pushing other birds around and acting like they owned the place. They appeared to be settling down to roost the night.

Belvide - all quiet on the wader front

Did I fancy a few hours at Belvide? With Long-eared Owl and Osprey seen recently plus the chance of a wader or two, it seemed like a good idea. So I joined Cheryl Davis, Martin and Kath George for what turned out to be a 'quiet' session with hardly a wader and certainly no rarities in sight..... But we did see Green and Common Sandpiper, Snipe plus a few Common Terns, Pintail, well in excess of 100 Gadwall, ditto GC Grebe - all too distant for a lens. So, attention (for pics) had to turn to common birds with youngsters in particular catching the eye. Chiffchaff, Tree Sparrow and a Marsh Tit were well within range. A floating creche held a very happy family of Tufted Duck and two juvenile Great-crested Grebes which were busy practising the art of courtship display - difficult to capture the 'moves' in a still frame but they certainly learn young at Belvide and it proves - there's always something to see when there's 'nothing around', you just have to keep looking.....