1st July - Cley NWT
A trip to Cley after nursery drop off to catch up with the Green-winged Teal was a rather damp affair. I'd missed the bird on previous visits and was now looking for a bird that was starting to moult on a damp drizzly day. Luckily there were very few teal about and eventually the GW Teal, which as been asleep woke up long enough to be identified. A Curlew Sandpiper from Dauke's Hide was the only bird of note being a 'year tick'. A couple of Spoonbill are now par for the course and the Great White Egret that flew East towards Kelling not an unexpected sight. I was only in 2011 I was 'twitching' my first GWE in Norfolk!
17th July - Paston Cliffs
The patch at Paston Cliffs is always quiet during the summer, but I still feel I should visit occasionally if only to appreciate more the birds that pass though here on migration. Whitethroat were very prominent along with at least 2 singing Chiffchaff, a Lesser Whitethroat was also seen along with the resident Dunnock and Robin. I was surprised to see two juvenile Yellowhammer and even more surprised to see a pair of Stonechat, despite them being a winter regulars. Are they both breeding nearby?
31st July - Garden
While tiding the garden I heard a group of Long-tail Tits in the hedge, pleasant to see but nothing unusual. As they flew from the hedge into our cherry tree I counted them 23, then a few more emerged from the hedge and some more. In total 38 Long-tailed Tit, quite a flock, do they have a group name?
1st August - Cley NWT
Laura and I had signed up for an evening talk and supper at Cley NWT by author Elly Griffiths who has a series of novels set on the North Norfolk coast. We had spent the afternoon at my parent's during which time we found an Elephant Hawk moth caterpillar in their garden much to Agnes' delight , before leaving her for a sleep over and heading out. Arriving early we wandered over to Bishop's Hide, there had been an influx of Wood Sandpiper in previous days, and with only binoculars and with unfavouring low sun we soon picked out 15 Wood Sandpiper. We also noted a Green Sandpiper and 3 Spoonbill before headed to the education center for a pleasant supper before an engaging talk and the obligatory book signing.
12th August - Hickling NWT
Agnes and I headed off to Hicking NWT for a 'Nature Adventure'. She helped me pack, we had binoculars, a net, a magnifying glass, sample pots and most importantly a picnic. Getting out of the car Agnes notice a Buzzard and Marsh Harrier high above us while I put on my boots. She also pointed out the shop sold ice cream, that it was closed, but okay as we I could buy her one on the way back! She hunted around the bug hotel but decided was was not a very good bug hotel and we should carry on, we soon found lots of butterflies, dragonflies and other insects. She took particular interest in the Grasshoppers and Bush Cricket i managed to catch, before deciding it was time to look at flowers. During all this a Bittern flew up from some nearby reeds and did a 360 circle of us before dropping back in close to it original spot. A few Marsh Harrier circled over head and a few Bearded Tit pinged in the reeds but only one was seen. In the Observation Tower Agnes served up our picnic and we count the Mute Swans, Agnes got to 19 but i continued on to 156 with very few being juvenile. We then took the 'informal path' through the reeds/woods a path only occasionally open. With reeds brushing our faces, butterflies and dragonflies perched at eye level, we look at some fungi and poked very long sticks into very deep stinky mud, before returning to the carpark, seeing Wood Sandpiper on the scrape and flushing Green Sandpiper on route. We didn't forget to have our ice cream before going home.
28th August - Winterton
For our regular spot of 'school holiday' birding, we parked up at Horsey Mill and headed out along the Nelson's Head Track, towards Winterton Dunes. Migrant birds were thin on the ground so we decided to look for some of the rarer dragonflies and damsel flies recently seen at Winterton, knowing that if we were lucky we might find a migrant or two. The weather wasn't ideal with drizzle falling as we reached the 'blocks' and toad pools. We wandered the dunes for a while as the weather slowly improved, seeing 2 Whinchat, a few Chiifchaff and Willow Warbler. As well as the resident Stonechat, Linnet and Goldfinch. A Green Sandpiper flew through only noticing us at the last minute and missing James by a few feet, a Pied Flycatcher was calling in a nearby dense Willow patch but could not be seen. We saw lots of Emerald Damselflies but not the hoped for Scare Blue-tailed Damselfly, although what turned out to be an 'old' female Blue-tailed Damselfly held are attention for quite a while. After a cold drink at the Mill, on what was turning into quite a warm day he headed home.
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