Sunday
8th May fresh ESE Sunny
and warm 24C
Awake
in my tent at an early hour I listen and hear woodlark and tree
pipits singing. Getting out of my sleeping bag, getting dressed and
wlking from the woodland to the heath I see woodlark and tree
pipit; the latter is bird number 234.
I
take my tent down and pack, making sure that my rhododendron
surrounded clearing is clear of anything there before.
It
is still before 6:00AM and I feel like a 'Big Day.' Coal tit,
goldcrest and nuthatch before leaving Dersingham, Ihead for
Snettisham. Last night's reason for heading this way, the alpine
accentor at Gibraltar point, has flown and therefore Ithink I will
head back to Titchwell via Holme. Can I get 100 birds today?
Arriving
at Snettisham about an hour after the high tide mark, there are sill
a good number of knot and oystercatchers at roost. It is around
8:30am and hot already. It is pleasant to shelter from the sun inside
the bird screen. The closely packed knot hav a few more red, summer
plumaged individuals than a few weeks ago yet most are still grey.
There are two silent bird photographers in here. They have their lens
focussed on the knot flock and ignore the action as a peregrine
causes starling like murmurations of knot flocks over The Wash. They
also ignore a rather humourous clash of two male black-headed gulls.
A rogue male is trying to seduce another male's female. He hovers
about a metre over the female as she keeps trying to peck him.
Eventually the pair's male attacks the interloper and together they
fight with beaks locked on the shingle. They roll around for a
few minutes before disengaging and posturing.
Not
a click from the cameras. Each to their own, I prefer the behavioural
stories.
A
text from The Oracle, bonelli's sp. Singing at Gibraltar Point. I set
off. On reaching the main road the news is that the bird hasn't been
either seen or heard again and so I decide to head for Hunstanton and
Holme.
Walking
along the cliff path at the former a pair of Mediterranean gulls fly
past.
After
lunch in the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, NWT, cafe an a chat with an
ex-president of the NWT over farming subsidies and the Norfolk beef
industry, I go through the Norfolk Ornitholical Association's bird
observatory area and wave to the warden who is busy on the phone.
Reaching the plank walkway along the sand dune ridge, I push and
cycle to Thornham and onto Titchwell.
A
birder calls me over. He has found a whinchat and wants to
share it with me. Lucky me, another new bird to see for the year
list. 235. Another birder shares his telescope a little
further along the path so that I can see two wood sandpipers
and add them to the year list too. 236.
A
birder from Willenhall. Near to Wolverhampton one of my old home
places, tells me that he has seen two spotted flycatchers
nearby and soon enough we are watching them as they fly catch from
perches in the willows. 237. Three new year ticks in quick
succession, can't be bad.
The
day list is seventy five and with Titchwell still to explore
properly, the list climbs steadily. Brent geese are still her in good
numbers and a greenshank has replaced the wood sandpipers. A
short-eared owl quarters Thornham Marsh and is chased by a marsh
harrier spectacularly.
Year
listing isn't finished for the day yet as a grasshopper warbler reels
and by climbing on a bench, I get a very brief view of it before it
drops down into thick cover.
Red-crested
pochard on Patsy's Pool takes the list to ninety-eight for the day
and despite the sun having almost set I decide to cycle to nearby
Choseley Barns to try for the final two birds that would take me to
the magic 100.
The
sun sets and the thinnest of crescent Moons is in the clear sky. The
dotterels aren't on view but a male yellowhammer is singing and easy
to see.
Ninety-nine.
All
the partridge seem to be red-legged but using my camera as a
telescope I can just make out a dark belly on a distant bird. Grey
partridge, bird number 100 for the day. Brilliant.
So
the year list now stands at 238, 29 birds ahead of this time last
year.
30.4
miles 691 feet up elevation 801 feet elevation down
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