Dark-bellied Brent Geese near Burnham Overy
7 December 2016
We all assembled early in the morning, all of us ready and raring to go birding in North Norfolk once again. A stop or two to take in a brew and a rest stop along the way was welcome, we did pass a few birds along the way, pick of the bunch would have been the Whooper Swan flock. The first birding stop was at Burnham Overy, a walk down the hill from the coast road to link up with the seawall path. This route took us past flocks of Pink-footed, Greylag and Dark-bellied Brent Geese, among them a few Barnacle Geese grazed. Marsh Harriers hunted over the marshes between here and Holkham NNR, these raptors were often responsible for putting up the flocks of Lapwing and Golden Plover.
Reaching the seawall we passed flocks of busy Dunlin as well as Redshank and Grey Plover. At the dunes we headed along the beach looking for an autumnal leftover, a long-staying Issabelline Wheatear. Fortunately a flock of 20 Snow Bunting dropped in and gave us great views as they moved up and down the beach and fed on the strandline. A good search of the beach and adjacent dunes did not reveal the target bird, it was getting very breezy so we headed back enjoying the open, wild scenery and birds.
At the guest house we received a warm welcome with tea and cake. After a wash and change what followed was a team effort putting up the Christmas tree! I couldn’t claim to have helped out but it was up and ready for decorating in no time, a first for an Anser trip. Our hosts may have meant it as a jovial comment but at least it saved them a job. A good meal followed in one of the local Dersingham pubs and we were all ready for an early night.
8 December 2016
Breakfast was leisurely and was enlivened by the skeins of Pink-footed Geese heading from the Wash inland for the day. We made our way across country toward Docking, North Creake and Burnham Market to look for flocks and connected with a few groups here and there. It wasn’t long before we were at the Lady Anne’s Drive where we saw Wigeon and Snipe in the fields and were soon heading out to the beach, BW was last to set off and noted a Grey Partridge in the field next to the drive.
Out on the salt marsh between the dunes and woodland belt we searched for our target bird, 19 Shore Lark flew in toward us and landed nearby, the flock scuttled across the sand gleaning seeds as they went. It is always a treat to spend time with these charming birds and there was no hurry to leave them. It has been a brilliant winter for this species in the UK.
Shore Larks
Eventually we walked the short distance to the beach to make full use of the high tide to scan for birds. Out on the sea we logged Great Crested Grebes, a fly by Great Northern Diver as well as a few Red-throated Diver. A flock of c25 Velvet Scoter were fairly close in, a larger flock of Common Scoter with 15+ Velvet Scoter were further out with 4 Long-tailed Duck. Heading back through the Holkham Gap we took time to scan the mobile 400 strong Linnet flock, four Twite showed themselves to us when the flock settled on the beach.
Moving on quickly we wanted to catch the high tide period at Titchwell RSPB beach so we didn’t stop to take in many of the birds on the way. KL spotted a Kingfisher as it fished unconcerned by our presence from WW2 pill box. Reaching the beach as soon as we could was a good strategy, we enjoyed a great hour or so going through the birds that drifted past, many were close in. A few Red-throated Divers and a Black-throated Diver were seen well plus Great Crested Grebes and a hide and seek Guillemot. The birding was great, at least 25 immature/female Velvet Scoter were joined by 45+ busy Long-tailed Duck including some brilliant adult males. An adult male Common Scoter with two females, a few Red-breasted Mergansers, c 20 Goldeneyes and c8 Eiders also bobbed about in the waves, further out a flock of scoter were mostly Common but also contained more Velvets. Quite a show and among the best ‘sea-ducking’ for many years.
Wandering back we were able to enjoy the many freshwater dabbling ducks, Little Grebes, Grey Plover, Bar and Black-tailed Godwits, Dunlin, Avocets and Shelduck. Once again KL alerted the group saying she had seen a raptor with a white rump and suspected a harrier. A short wait and it appeared again, we watched a female Hen Harrier as it hunted the dunes and saltmarsh before flying high to the east. More Marsh Harriers were seen over the reed bed on the return walk.
With a bit of light to spare we tried our luck at Thornham Harbour and at Holme next the Sea for a dusk Barn Owl but it was just too windy and was now getting dark, time to head for our accommodation in Dersingham. The evening destination was a ‘Pub of the Year’ in Snettisham for a meal and a drink to celebrate a good day.
9 December 2016
Another morning and another Pink-footed Goose fly-by breakfast, replete we loaded up the car with our gear for a drive inland searching for geese inland, when able to stop and scan safely we settled on a large flock of Pink-footed and Greylag Geese, although no other species were seen we could at least appreciate the birds in full view and without causing them to take flight.
We decided as a group to try our luck back at Burnham Overy Dunes again, another good birding walk this time from the harbour to Gun Hill followed, a thorough search delivered Stonechats and a few thrushes but it wasn’t until we nearly gave up when NS found the Issabelline Wheatear feeding between the saltmarsh and dunes. We spent a good while enjoying it, taking in the features until everyone was satisfied. This is still a very scarce bird in the UK and unusual to see one in the month of December.
Issabelline Wheatear at Gun Hill
As it was our travel day back home we discussed various birding possibilities but we could only manage a short stop at Choseley Drying Barns. A Rough-legged Buzzard had been reported, we could only find a very white Common Buzzard in the location where the RLB was last seen so it may have been a case of mistaken identity. It was busy at the barns with farm machinery so this concluded our birding for this trip other than seeing dozens of Egyptian Geese near a roadside pond.
Thank you to everyone who joined me on another successful visit.
Martin
Anserbirding 
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