CATTLE EGRET and Classic Birds of the Norfolk Broads

On Monday, we headed up to the Norfolk Broads, as I was very keen on seeing the Cattle Egret that has been present up there for a couple of weeks. We started off at Buckenham Marshes, to look for Geese. We got round to the viewpoint, and we picked out 2 distant Taiga Bean Geese amongst the pink-feet alongside 2 other birders. There were also 6 Eurasian White-fronted Geese present amongst the other geese. A Dunlin flew over as did a Brambling, and there were some distant Cranes calling on the other side of the river. A male Peregrine was causing a lot of havoc amongst the ducks, but it didn't stop the Wigeon from showing very well by the path...

We then made our way up to Sea Palling, and onto the Hickling Road that connects Sea Palling and Hickling together. We found the cow field with with the white cows in, and Dad soon clocked on to the Cattle Egret, a lifer for me, and we got very lucky as it showed very well...

We then headed to Stubb Mill, at the Hickling Broad Raptor Roost. We got their quite early, and we picked out 2 Cranes in the field. We went on to see 5 in total. The pictures below show a juvenile in with this flock...

The totals of the roost were as follows:

2 Hen Harrier, 5 Crane, 34 Marsh Harriers, Goosander (flyover), Sparrowhawk, 6 Red Deer, 3 Chinese Water Deer (we left a bit early hence the short list)

Stour Estuary

It seems ages ago that Dad and I went on the Stour Estuary. In fact it was the 5th January. Anyway, we had a great day, and I collected 18 new species for the year making my total 103. When we got onto the boat and got rolling, it was very misty, but the birding day started. We started off with plenty of Goldeneye and Red-breasted Mergansers.

We then got a lot of Brent Geese

We then passed a group of Pintail and Wigeon, with a few Teal

Plenty of Great-crested Grebes roamed the estuary

We then spotted a delightful Shag

We then got 5 Eider in Holbrook Bay, the first sightings in about 10 years, but were only viewable through a scope. A bit further on though, a group of Goldeneye took up from the side of the boat, and a female Long-tailed Duck was amongst them. Very fleetingly, we got a view through bins, but it was soon past the boat. We had an Egyptian Goose fly past the boat too.

We also got plenty of waders like Turnstones....

And Black-tailed Godwits with some Bar-tails too, but his is a Black-tail.

We then came into Harwich Harbour, and the raptor spotter saw a Peregrine distantly on a blue crane....

Still got to post about the Barton Broad and Hickling Broad trip, plus the Thetford Area trip that was yesterday so keep posted. If you can't wait then look at the Daily Sightings page. Happy Birding.