Icy Cold

A pre-Christmas weekend break in Norfolk turned out to be a very cold one. Freezing conditions the week before and also a sprinkling of snow made the journey a little more hazardous than normal, but to be expected at this time of year. The ground was frozen solid, as were many of the water sources on the marshes. One bonus, was that the previously muddy areas were now not so muddy and passable without the need for wellies.

With so much water frozen a lot of the birds were forced to congregate together on smaller open patches. There was still plenty to see, with a good selection of waders and wildfowl on offer. It was just so bitterly cold that I couldn't stay out as long as I wanted to. The wind on the coast was really biting, and especially at my fingertips.

Dunlin

Dunlin flying over the ice. Not something I'm used to seeing.

Curlew

Curlew and Little Egret

Little Egret and Black-tailed Godwit

Little Egret

Down by the Beach

A cold morning at the beach in Norfolk during the winter months always throws up some good birds. These were taken at the start of this year, when it was cold, but not as cold as it is here right now. 

There were some Pintail on a pool at Cley, and on the sea were several Red-breasted Mergansers. The beach held all sorts of waders, with Oystercatchers, Dunlin, Sanderling, Plovers and Curlew. Geese were flying overhead making lots of noise, just in case I hadn't noticed the vast numbers with my own eyes. The sun had not been long in the sky, so it made for some very nice light.

Pintail

Red-breasted Merganser

Common Redshank

Oystercatcher

Sanderling

Sanderling and Oystercatcher

Morning Glory

Early mornings in Norfolk are great. If you can be out before the early dog walkers you can find some true gold. Much like these Golden Plover at rest with a few Lapwings. The sun was just starting to rise and the light was a nice orangey gold. I've said it many times, but this really is my favourite time of the day. When it's just me and nature, it feels like it belongs to me. Only I am seeing it at that time, and it feels special. Just need a few more of them to be bright like this, and not cloudy. Here are a few pictures of what I saw.

Golden Plover with a few Lapwings.

Grey Heron looking rather cold.

Grey Plover

Bar-tailed Godwits

Bar-tailed Godwit scouring the coast line

Black-tailed Godwit

The Darkest Months

When I took these images earlier in the year I was a bit disappointed with them. The light was not great, but it was better than these images portray. Having said that, and now that we have returned to deepest darkest winter, I now like the look of them. This is how things look a lot of the time at the moment in the early morning gloom. The cloud is thick and the sun struggles to penetrate, meaning that a lot of the birds appear to be colourless or varying shades of grey. I'm happy with these now and they look quite atmospheric.

Great White Egret

Marsh Harrier

Mute Swan

Goldeneye

In recent weeks some of our winter ducks have returned, and one of my favourites is the Goldeneye. Upwards of 20 are now on the local Redesmere lake. Always quite a timid duck, and so they tend to stay at some distance. These are no difference and they've been spending most of their time a good 200 metres from my viewing point. The odd few have taken a flight a little closer, but none of the males so far.

These are a couple of females that strayed close enough for me to get some pictures.

Female Goldeneye