NORTH Norfolk Blues? Given the forecast for glorious weather in North Wales for the Bank Holiday weekend, who in their right mind would choose to travel to the one part of the country that had cold winds and grey skies?
A birder, that's who.
And where? UK birding Mecca, the north Norfolk coast.
While day trippers in Llandudno and Llanfairfechan were enjoying ice creams and Punch and Judy, we were battling the elements at Titchwell and Cley-next-the-sea, wearing hats, gloves and fleeces to keep warm, and all for the sake of seeing birds.
And see them we did, quite a lot of them in fact: 133 different species over three days, which is more than we would probably have done at home!
First thing in the morning before breakfast, we'd head down to Titchwell RSPB Reserve and take a look at the birds on the lagoons.
From the comparative warmth of the hides we enjoyed great views of Avocets, Brent Geese, and mixed flocks of waders.
Looking absolutely stunning in their attractive breeding plumage were five Spotted Redshank. Their summertime silver-spots-on-black livery really makes these birds stand out from the crowd; the rest of the year when their feathers are greyish-brown they can hide much more easily amongst their Common Redshank cousins.
Spotted Redshank
Little Gulls and Little Terns also put in an appearance, but proved almost impossible to photograph.
Once we braved the winds to walk out onto the beach for a spot of seawatching, but the waves were too rough to pick out any bonus birds amongst the rafts of Common Scoter bobbing about.
Somehow, a cooked breakfast tastes so much better after a good birding session! The new Norfolk Wildlife Trust (NWT) visitor centre at Cley had only opened that morning when we turned up later for coffee – I can recommend the locally-sourced organic cakes!
By the car park, we heard the strikingly strident song of a Cetti's Warbler calling from deep within a bush. Amazingly, we then saw this elusive bird fly out only to promptly disappear into the depths of the next bush.
But when it comes to birdsong, nothing can beat a Nightingale.
This time with our local crab sandwiches, we sat on the verge of a narrow lane listening to the beautiful silvery melody as the bird sang out of sight in the bushes.
A drab brown bird emerged opposite us and flew a short way down the lane. The haunting melody started up again, this time from bushes further away and we congratulated ourselves on having seen our second elusive chorist of the day.
Our timing on this trip was incredibly lucky. Strolling across Kelling Heath, not looking for anything in particular we passed a gorse bush just as Mr and Mrs Dartford Warbler hopped up onto the top to enjoy the brief spell of sunshine.
Pulling into a lay-by near Burnham Market to let White Van Man rush by, we looked out of the car window to see a Montagu's Harrier quartering a field of oilseed rape.
What were the odds of us stopping there at that precise second?
A bit of a detour saw us on the edge of Norwich, looking for a rare Iberian Chiffchaff that had been seen in the area.
No other birders were around to give us a clue where to look, but who needed them when the bird itself hopped up into full view and sang its distinctive song right in front of us at full throttle.
And having gone that far, why not drive a bit further south to Graffham Water, where an extremely rare Wilson's Phalarope had just arrived?
My kind of bird this: the brightly-coloured female lays her eggs and then leaves the drab male in charge of parental duties!
Being roughly in the area, we were among the first to enjoy great views of this beautiful bird with a peachy breast and blue-grey head, but she showed off to admirers for the whole weekend, how obliging!
Another first for me was seeing a Stone Curlew. I'd heard all about these birds but never actually seen one, and such is their scarcity today, that you're unlikely to outside special reserves such as Weeting Heath NWT.
Looking out onto a rough, stony patch of heathland, all you can see initially are rabbits, hundreds of them doing a very efficient job of keeping the grass short.
Lapwing pairs shepherded their little families of back-and-white chicks, but no sign of Stone Curlews.
Until the warden pointed them out: “See that bush? Good, go three rabbits to the left and just in front of that dead stick you'll find a Stone Curlew on its nest.”
It still took a good telescope to make out the bird, perfectly camouflaged and motionless, huddled on the bare ground over its eggs.
Even once you knew where to look, only the baleful gaze of its deep yellow eyes gave it away.
So we didn't see much sun, but we saw some good birds, some great birds, and some truly awesome birds – oh, and ate some fantastic food as well.
Not a bad weekend, all in all!
And in case you're interested, here's my bird list for the weekend:
Little Grebe
Great Crested Grebe
Cormorant
Bittern (heard)
Little Egret
Grey Heron
Mute Swan
Pink-footed Goose
Greylag Goose
Canada Goose
Brent Goose
Egyptian Goose
Shelduck
Wigeon
Gadwall
Teal
Mallard
Garganey
Shoveler
Pochard
Tufted Duck
Lesser Scaup
Common Scoter
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Red Kite
Marsh Harrier
Montagu’s Harrier
Sparrowhawk
Buzzard
Kestrel
Hobby
Peregrine
Red-legged Partridge
Pheasant
Water Rail (heard)
Moorhen
Coot
Oystercatcher
Avocet
Stone Curlew
Little Ringed Plover
Ringed Plover
Grey Plover
Lapwing
Knot
Sanderling
Temminck’s Stint
Dunlin
Ruff
Black-tailed Godwit
Bar-tailed Godwit
Whimbrel
Curlew
Spotted Redshank
Redshank
Greenshank
Wood Sandpiper
Common Sandpiper
Turnstone
Mediterranean Gull
Little Gull
Black-headed Gull
Common Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Sandwich Tern
Common Tern
Arctic Tern
Little Tern
Stock Dove
Woodpigeon
Collard Dove
Turtle Dove
Cuckoo
Barn Owl
Swift
Green Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Woodlark
Skylark
Sand Martin
Swallow
House Martin
Meadow Pipit
Yellow Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
Pied Wagtail
Wren
Dunnock
Robin
Nightingale
Stonechat
Blackbird
Song Thrush
Mistle Thrush
Cetti’s Warbler
Grasshopper Warbler (heard)
Sedge Warbler
Reed Warbler
Dartford Warbler
Lesser Whitethroat
Common Whitethroat
Garden Warbler
Blackcap
Wood Warbler
Chiffchaff
Willow Warbler
Bearded Tit
Long-tailed Tit
Coal Tit
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Nuthatch
Treecreeper
Jay
Magpie
Jackdaw
Rook
Carrion Crow
Starling
House Sparrow
Tree Sparrow
Chaffinch
Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Siskin
Linnet
Yellowhammer
Reed Bunting
Iberian Chiffchaff
Wilson’s Phalarope
