29th October - Holkham Gap and RSPB Titchwell Marsh, Norfolk

The clear blue skies of yesterday afternoon were gone come the morning and we were greeted with a drizzle that finally became quite heavy rain by around mid morning.  After breakfast we decided to set off to the east and hoped that the rain would move through.  The forecasts indicated this would be the case, but then you never knew.

We headed to Holkham Gap and as we drove up Lady Anne Drive to park it was still raining.  We decided to wait it out as away to the west was a large patch of blue sky.  Cars continued to pull in and park and you start to worry the whole place will be busy, but the beach and dunes is such a vast expanse it seems to swallow up the masses.

With the rain finally stopped we kitted up and set off towards the beach.  Before we left though I stopped to photograph the Wigeon close to the drive, their whistle calls could be heard constantly from across the grazing marsh

A Red Kite had been cruising the area just as the rain eased but was not viewable as we set off, a Kestrel though flew in and landed quite close to the Wigeon and started to tear apart a catch it had just made.  It was though behind the drain and we could not make out what it had caught.

You follow a board walk that winds around the pine trees and then opens up, The Gap, the view in front of you is amazing and at the time it was difficult to believe that only 15 minutes earlier it had been pouring with almost horizontal rain.

We walked across the beach heading for the sea, memories flooding back of a family holiday Thirteen years ago.  This is the north sea, but here on a sunny day the water is as clear and as blue as any tropical island, what it isn't is warm.

Scanning the sea revealed more Red-throated Divers.

And a single Guillemot

As expected the large number of persons seen in and around the car park had just been absorbed by the vastness of the beach.  There was not the large number of birds along the water's edge as seen yesterday at Titchwell, but there was a single Sanderling that was feeding just off the water in a pool.  With the black markings around the coverts and some scaling on the back this was probably a first year bird.

With some patience and getting down low the Sanderling started to come closer as it fed with the sewing machine like drilling beak.

As I said yesterday the Sanderling is such a photogenic bird they are impossible for me to pass by and as this bird came closer I took my time to stay low and enjoy it presence.

Here the water took on a dark background, contrasting the silver grey plumage of the Sanderling.

Then moving from the water to the ribbed sand, which provided some nice reflections in the water.

Piper!

I just kept shooting.....

If you go back to the banner photograph of this blog you will see me on one knee and photographing this Sanderling.  You can just see the Sanderling in the bottom right hand corner.

Feeding around the discarded and broken razor shells.

You have to make a decision to stop, its hard but the time has to come.  Fortunately the Sanderling was disturbed by someone else and made the decision for me.  I turned my attention back to the stunning scenery around me, wide expanse of sand and beautiful white clouds in a azure blue sky.

We turned and walked towards the west, out on the sea a first year Gannet was just off shore, diving into the sea frequently.

The technique has been learned quickly, flying around looking down into the water, then a turn, leading with the bill and eyes, wings are slowly drawn back to accelerate a dive.

Then it would do it all again

The underparts are not as dark in the sunshine.

This was more of an angled dive rather than the high vertical plunge.

Then from no where another young Gannet appeared and flew around together.

A third bird then appeared as well and slowly they drifted away to the west.

Looking south the clouds were dramatic and the sand was being blown across the dry areas of sand.

The sand blowing can be seen better in this short video

Off shore there were more Red-throated Divers, walking east more stunning views of the beach

Another single Sanderling flew past.

We headed in land through the dunes where I saw a distant Snow Bunting in the grass.  I resisted the temptation and walked on.  I was interested in the roped off area on the south side of the dunes.  Four Shore Larks had been reported but despite an extensive search there was no sign of them, there were plenty of Skylarks and Meadow Pipits appearing from the vegetation which was probably where the Shore Larks were.  I thought I had found one but as I got closer I lost i completely.

In the end we decided to give up the search and headed back to the car park, walking along side the pines and then across the board walk once again.  We popped into the Look Out for a coffee and something to eat.  The cafe looked out across the marsh and a white egret appeared.  At first I thought Little Egret, but something made me look closer and I then saw a yellow bill which could only belong to a Great Egret.  This was the best record shot I could get.

In the grazing fields there were good numbers of Pink-footed Geese, some close to the car park fence.

Over the course of the next few weeks the number of geese will increase to thousands and in the morning and at dusk the skies will be filled with skeins of these dainty geese as they make their way to and from the roosts out on the mud of the Wash to the feeding grounds in the fields along the North Norfolk coast.

We headed back to Titchwell and from the visitor centre headed to the hide on the Freshwater Marsh, yesterday we had missed the Jack Snipe, but today it was present.  We were able to see it through a  birders'scope, but it was impossible to see with binoculars.  Finally it, for some reason, flew from the spot we had seen it in, over our heads and across the path to the marsh on the west side.

A Ruff was seen on the mud.

And was then joined by another and they moved out to the middle of the pool.

We then walked to the Parmenter Hide, a collection of two spectacular hides, one looking across the Freshwater Marsh, the other the Salt Marsh.  There are hardly any birds on the salt marsh, but the fresh water was much more productive.

A couple of drake Pintails were in the centre of the pools and there were Black-tailed Godwits, Dunlin, Ringed Plover.  Close in were Teal and Wigeon and of course there were hundreds of Golden Plover.

It was the teal that caught my eye, the drakes showing the lovely rich colours on the head and the bright green speculum.

Back on the footpath there was some lovely light again providing some lovely reflections in the water.  Golden Plover.

And the stunning colours oi a Lapwing'

And so the short break in Norfolk came to an end, some great birds and the opportunity to get close to birds I wouldn't normally get the opportunity with.  There were two disappointments though, the low tide that should have been high at Snettisham and the strong wind that put paid to any chances of seeing raptors and owls.