25 January 2020 - Day 1 in North Norfolk

Dad and I set off from Sussex at 04:00 in the morning and arrived in North Norfolk at 07:30 where the first bird we saw was a Barn Owl hunting over arable fields between Heacham and Sedgeford. We soon found the dung heap at Sedgeford and, having parked the car, we set up our scopes and waited for the Eastern Yellow Wagtail to appear. Three Red Kite and our first skeins of noisy Pink-footed Geese kept us entertained while we waited for the wagtail. After 30 mins or so of not seeing the bird, we saw some other birders back along the lane waving to us so we quickly relocated to where they were standing overlooking another large dung heap on top of which was the Eastern Yellow Wagtail. Over the next 15 mins the bird showed very well and was heard calling a couple of times before flying off with a Pied Wagtail.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail (nominate form tschutschensis), Sedgeford, Norfolk

Our next stop was Thornham Harbour where after a bit of searching we eventually found the flock of ten Twite first on the roof of the coal barn and then perched in a tree on the landward side of the seawall. From here we continued along the coast road to Burnham Overy seeing a female Merlin just as we were entering Brancaster Staithe. Upon arrival at Burnham Overy there were 55 Barnacle Geese in fields to the north of the A149 and masses of Pink-footed Geese to the south though we were unable to locate the three Tundra Bean Geese seen the day before. 

Pink-footed Geese, Burnham Overy, Norfolk

Barnacle Geese, Burnham Overy, Norfolk

The car park at Holkham Gap was heaving but we were not deterred from going to look for Shorelarks and Snow Buntings. Fortunately an area has been roped off to encourage these birds to feed without being chased off by the numerous dogs that were being taken for walks by their owners. Here we found a lovely flock of c60 Snow Bunting feeding just a few metres inside the roped off area but despite much searching by us and many other birders we could not find any Shorelark. On the other side of the dunes there was a huge raft of Common Scoter perhaps 5000 strong on the sea and with these we eventually found five Velvet Scoter and four Red-breasted Merganser further out. Back at the car park there were two showy Grey Partridge near the new visitor centre and a flock 15 White-fronted Geese which flew round but unfortunately dropped down out of view. 

Snow Buntings, Holkham Gap, Norfolk

Grey Partridge, Holkham Gap, Norfolk

The long staying juvenile Rough-legged Buzzard was in its usual favoured spot on the outskirts of Wells-next-the-Sea giving reasonable perched views, the first I have seen in the UK since the Mount Caburn bird! Also seen here were three Marsh Harrier. With time to spare we headed off to Salthouse where a Waxwing had been found the day before near the church. Fortunately this took very little finding with a helpful birder on site pointing us in the right direction to the bird which was sitting on top of a pine tree, before moving to a hedgerow where it fed happily on berries. 

Juvenile Rough-legged Buzzard, Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk

Waxwing, Salthouse, Norfolk

Our final stop was at Stiffkey where we walked west along the coastal path towards Warham Greens. We stayed until it was almost dark seeing an adult male and a ringtail Hen Harrier, two more Marsh Harrier, two Common Buzzard and a total of 42 Little Egrets heading to roost in the failing light. A total of 72 species recorded.