Holkham

A cold Spring day along the Holkham fresh marsh, and there was plenty to be seen. Brent geese were in good numbers, and there were plenty of waterfowl. Ruff seemed to appear out of thin air, as every time I turned round there were more. Egyptian Geese were making one hell of a racket, and one pair seemed to be nest building high up in the pines. 

On the beach and shoreline, a handful of Sanderling were scuttling about whilst being ably supported in numbers by the loud calling Oystercatchers. Although the sun was out, like many walks at Holkham, it was very much on the cold side.

Brent Goose (dark-bellied)

Egyptian Goose, and a few Ruff.

The lovely Sanderling at the waters edge.

 A pair of Wigeon on the marsh.

Hickling Broad

The weather forecast was good, but it turned out to be a bit gloomy on my visit to Hickling Broad over the Easter weekend. It seemed as though there wasn't a great deal around either as we followed the 3 mile path around the Norfolk Wildlife Trust reserve. The reedbeds were very quiet, and not much was on the water or flying overhead. Quite possibly things will hot up a bit in the coming weeks.

That said though, and on reflection, we did see and hear some very good birds. One of my warbler highlights of any year, is the return of the Sedge Warbler. A fantastic little bird that will sing and climb the sedge or reeds that it is in. This was my first seen of the year, so it was a nice to see it performing.

Sedge Warbler

Another unexpected find was this Egyptian Goose, that was stood alone in a field.

Initially when I saw this swan in flight I thought it could be a Whooper Swan, but having taken a few pictures and zoomed into it's bill, I am more convinced that it is in fact a Bewick's Swan. At the time it was very distant and difficult to tell. 

Bewick's Swan

There were lots of Chiffchaffs around and to hear. Not as nice as hearing a Bittern booming though. We heard one of these booming several times as we sat in the aptly named Bittern Hide. Unfortunately we didn't see it, but it was nice to sit and listen to it.

Chiffchaff

Pallid Harrier - Flitcham

Last weekend, I spent what is fast becoming a Birthday event for me, a lovely weekend in Norfolk with my parents bird watching. Alongside that is some good food, drink and plenty of laughs and reminiscing. I look forward to it immensely once Christmas is out of the way.
There are always some good bird highlights and possibly one of the best for a while, was the sighting of a Pallid Harrier at Abbey Farm, Flitcham. It has been in the area for a while, but I wanted to catch up with it as this was a lifer for me.
We waited for 15 to 20 minutes before it showed itself, rising up from the stubble before disappearing once again. Another 5 minutes passed before it showed again. This time quartering the field in what was a real spectacle. We lost it over the hedge line before it shot straight through a gap in the hedge close beside us. An awesome sight and one I will remember for a while to come.

All shots are quite distant, but I'm pleased to have got some record shots of this harrier.

While waiting for the Pallid Harier to show, we were entertained by some large flocks of Brambling.

And a pair of Egyptian Geese.

Geese a plenty - Norfolk

Geese are always plentiful in Norfolk during the winter months, and I managed to come across a couple of species that I'd never seen before. The first was the Black-bellied Brent Goose. They winter largely on the East coast, and Norfolk holds good populations. They depart again in March. I don't know if it was because I'd not seen them before, but I did find them to be quite a good looking goose. Certainly nicer to look at than the numerous Canada Geese we see all year round.
The second species I'd not seen before was the European White-fronted Goose. I only saw two and didn't manage to get any shots of them, but it always makes a trip worthwhile when you see something new.

Black-bellied Brent Geese

Pink footed Geese were always on the move, or so it seemed. Huge skeins could be seen high up in the classic V formation.

Pink footed geese overhead.

 

Egyptian Geese were quite plentiful. They seemed to turn up in most places.

 

 

 

 

 

Attenborough Nature Reserve

I've not had much time to get this week, so I have delved into the archives again for this post.
I visited Attenborough Nature Reserve in Nottingham last summer. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful place. Plenty of bird life and all very varied too. Lots of Common Tern, Little Egrets, Herons, Hobby, plus many different varieties of warblers. All in all, it's somewhere I'd love to go back to. I'd recommend it to anyone.

Early morning sunrise.

Linnet

Egyptian Goose

Common Tern



Egyptian Goose

I've come across the Egyptian Goose with increased regularity this year. A mainstay of Keg Pool at Etherow Park, I also saw a pair at Cley last week. I even came across a couple in Brussels. A goose that in my opinion can look particularly ugly and agressive. No matter how they have happened to end up here, they seem to be here to stay and spreading.

Egyptian Geese at Cley.

This particularly agressive Swan clearly doesn't like these geese. Having said that, it didn't like me either and I had to beat a hasty retreat.