Birding Norfolks East Coast

Flush with our successful trip to Abberton yesterday and with better weather forecast today we hatched a plan to see a few more quality birds today. We began with a visit to Buckenham Marshes and despite the early morning sun making viewing difficult we managed to locate the Taiga Bean Geese shortly after arrival.

With the plan off to a good start, we headed seven miles North-East and stopped at Acle Bridge. Shortly after parking the car we were looking at twenty-five Common Cranes.
Ludham Bridge was our next destination and again we connected with both Whooper and Bewick's Swans immediately. We also added Golden Plover to the list when a flock of 50+ birds was seen.

Whooper and Bewick's Swans

The main target today was the Desert Wheatear at Eccles-on-Sea and we were now only 10 miles away from it. After parking, at Cart Gap pay & display car park we walked along the beach and found the Wheatear busily feeding among the concrete sea defenses.

Desert Wheatear

Heading back down the East coast we stopped at Hollesley Marshes in Suffolk and found a Peregrine perched in a tree a short distance from the car park. The main target here was the Siberian Stonechat and we found it in the field next to the winter flood shortly after arriving. It then flew to brambles close to the sea wall, giving superb views before it flew back into the thicker cover of the reedbed

Siberian Stonechat

Our final stop of the day was to Shingle Street where we spotted a Short-eared Owl perched on a metal post in front of one of the resident's houses.

I ended the day with another twelve additions to the year list and for the second day in a row, we had connected with every single target on our list.