Also along the Blakeney - Morston field fringes this evening, this showy pair of Grey Partridge. Such a scarce species locally (& has been for years now), so views as good as these were very welcome indeed. So smart 👌
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...and here's the trio of Ring Ouzels from this evening as the sun began to set. The left hand bird appeared to be snoozing in the sun but they all disappeared a minute or two after taking these grabs.
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Ring Ouzels were a highlight today ~ four seen this afternoon: one near Salthouse & three west of Blakeney this evening (& ♂️ Common Redstart too). Add in a pair of Garganey, 2 Spotted Redshanks + Chiffs & Blackcaps galore on a grand TG04 day.
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Out on the marsh, a Spoonbill dropped on to Simmonds' to go with a couple of Great Egrets seen earlier in the evening. The Twite, White Wagtail, Barn Owl, a nice variety of shorebirds + Red Kite & several Marsh Harriers made for a good Cley day.
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Lynnette & I have spent quite some time trying to see the tricky-to-pin down Twite. We saw them (badly) last week & this was an itch that needed to be scratched. Saw 7 briefly this morning at Iron Road & tried again tonight. Scope view success!
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The White-tailed Eagle was a 2CY male, fledged in Dorset last summer, the 1st breeding record there in 240 years. The parents were released on IOW in 2020, before pairing in Dorset in 2023. Juv ♂️ is ringed, G834 (& parents are ♂️ G463 & ♀️ G466).
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Out wandering when what's most likely an Isle of Wight White-tailed Eagle dropped onto the reserve ~ we saw it leaving North Scrape & off over Hilltop (passing a few birdwatcher Coast Road houses in the process) from the windy beach. x20 video 😅
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One black-billed (with raspberry legs and green-ing lores already...)...
...and one with a bill still transitioning to black. Very, very interesting...
Keeping out of the perpetual wind, we headed into the valley again today & it was good! Two Great Egrets, several Red Kites, at least four Marsh Harriers, a couple of dozen Buzzards, six or seven Chiffchaffs, a pair of Ravens. Great patching 🙂
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More of the Magpie tail...
The Hangs
March 26 2026
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Magpie tail iridescence...
While looking at roadside plants alongside the edge of the Hangs, I came across a freshly deceased Magpie.
The tail looked incredible in the sunlight...
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Great Egret & Little Egret along the Iron Road, Salthouse today. Currently at least three or four GEs around the reserve and surrounding marshes, fingers crossed they linger & get busy soon (it's a species that's come a *very* long way from the twitched adult in 1993. Little Egret is a well-described success story too. It took me a while to see my first at Cley ~ I missed May singles the first two years I worked on the reserve before a spring bird in 1992. A couple of years later, I picked up a flock of four ~ almost unheard of at Cley at that point. Thirty years on and it's like another world for both species here.
Great Egret heading back down the ditch from Iron Road this afternoon.
Heading east...
April 1993 & on a murky Monday, I found a Great Egret on North Scrape, still a BBRC species then. Monday was a day the reserve was closed but we'd open up if we had a good bird for folks to come & see, which they did for the Egret. Times change.
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Gusty today around Cley & hard to keep anything still. There were birds: a 2CY Caspian Gull past Arnold's, 3+ Great Egrets on the marsh & a half-summery Water Pipit next to a Little Ringed Plover on the Serpentine (+ ubiquitous Marsh Harriers).
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The 1st TG04 Glossy Ibis of the year for us y'day ~ the heady days of the in-out May 1992 bird long gone for this now annual visitor. These two went from the marsh to Arnold's & then high ENE, out to sea & away early evening. More fun than Twite!
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More sunshine took us up the heath again today. Late winter birds in the shape of Woodcock & 4 Fieldfares, plus neat views of Marsh Tit (increasingly scarce in TG04). Our 1st Comma, another Adder & Orange Underwings too.
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Bright & breezy at Cley today but still plenty to see ~ 3 Great Egrets, 2 Little Ringed Plovers, a scruffy Water Pipit, some very summery Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits & this Red Kite soaring overhead when we were along East Bank.
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Natural beauty...beyond stunning...
Blakeney Point
March 14 2026
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Shorelark
Blakeney Point
March 14 2026
One of the poorest winters for this classic & stylish visitor I can remember. We searched high & low for this one & a second walk along the landing ridge paid off when Lynnette picked it up on the saltings.
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What a day! It's been a while time since we've had a 20k step adventure & a magical walk up & down Blakeney Point clocked up over 10 miles (we zig-zagged, a lot 😅) on a stunning March day. The last gasp find from Lynnette was the Shorelark. Epic!
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Common Crane
Old Womans Lane, Cley
March 11 2026
A little bit of patch gold on a breezy early, early spring afternoon.
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Common Cranes are a regular (annual) sight over Cley in spring, when the warmer days coincide with a bit of a breeze and entice Broadland (and Fenland) birds to go for a fly along the coast. Occasionally there's the odd bird seen in autumn too. Cranes on the ground are much less frequent here & they'll often hang out on the marsh when they do ground themselves. All of that made today's bird, feeding on the expansive fields along Barn Drift a bit more of a surprise. It headed to the reserve to roost on Pat's Pool late in the afternoon.
On the walk home over the Hangs, a pair of Ravens gave us a fly-by (what a change in status for them in Norfolk over the last decade). Then, better still, some patch gold when Lynnette quietly grabbed my arm along Barn Drift, Common Crane!
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Just another murky Monday...
A walk over the heath to Salthouse wasn't awash w/highlights, bar a flock of Yellowhammers around the gorse & then 2 Spoonbills behind the duckpond. Better was to come, my 1st TG04 Cattle Egret of the year up from the marsh & off the valley.
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The Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits are building in number on the marsh at the moment (100 on the south side & more on the north). Many retain the familiar grey garb of winter but there's the odd one already advancing into summer attire. Eyes open for an early L3 soon 👀 🤞
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Nice to see 3 Spoonbills feeding around Pat's Pool ~ it's 42 years this summer since I saw my 1st ones at Titchwell on a truly revelatory YOC holiday (based in Sheringham) in August 1982 & I still absolutely love these birds. A special species & now a local breeder too 🙂
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Before the murk descended & the sneaky easterly breeze made it chilly, there was some warmth to the day & blue skies this morning. Gulls galore in the newly ploughed fields along Old Woman's Lane + a Chiffchaff in the copse along the Drift was all I could find...
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We've got a bunch of "favourite views" around home & on an afternoon like this afternoon, it's hard not to think of the view across Arnold's Marsh off towards the village as being one the very best there is, anywhere...
So special.
No filters either 😊
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Long-tailed Duck on Arnold's One more...
...can't resist!
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Long-tailed Duck doing his thing on Arnold's this afternoon.
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Long-tailed Duck,
Arnold's Marsh
February 24 2026
The late afternoon light did cool things to the colours of this gorgeous bird, almost monochrome at times, the shades of brown eased to soft dove-greys. Exquisite!!!
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A mild Tuesday, a bit of a breeze & warm afternoon sunshine for our 2nd go at the stunning drake Long-tailed Duck that's been in & out of Arnold's Marsh today. Could have watched this sensational bird all day ~ adult drakes on the marsh are rare!
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Ah the glamour of Norfolk goose-watching 😅 A couple of muddy fields in the grey gloom & a fair few Tundra Bean Geese (2 & 10) along with a couple of Russian White-fronts & 4. 5k Pinks. Not an easy afternoon in the dismal light but a good return.
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