Black-winged Kite; Hempstead, Norfolk

In 2023, Brian and I made a return trip to Norfolk to connect with the Black-winged Kite. We had dipped the bird the previous day, and Dad was unable to join us on the return trip.

Brian was free today and offered to drive him to Sea Palling, and hopefully, give him another chance to see the bird.  We met Brian at 5.30am, and arrived at 7.30am. The news services said to park in the Sea Palling car park and walk along "The Marrams" to the metal gates. We had just finished feeding the parking meter when Dad asked a local couple walking their dog for directions, and was told we could have parked much closer along the road for free.

The couple was walking back towards the area we needed to walk, so we left the car in the car park and followed them. It was about a mile before we reached the "Double metal field gates". I set up the scope and had a quick scan of the surrounding area, and Brian had a quick scan with his bins. I was just about to have another scan when Brian said he thought he had the bird, but needed the scope to confirm it. A quick look through the scope, and there was the Kite perched on the telegraph wires. We watched the bird for a couple of hours, during which it made short flights, hovered, caught prey items, and returned to the same bare tree to eat its meals. But it always remained distant and never came close enough for any photos.

The metal gates we viewed the bird from

Next stop was a walk up the steps and onto the beach. Dad and I walked along the shoreline and stopped when we started seeing the Little Terns fishing in the bay. Brian decided to walk further on and get closer views, albeit at a safe distance from the roped-off area.

Little Tern

As we returned to the steps, I noticed a dark shape on the water. A closer look through the scope revealed a drake Common Scoter.

Common Scoter

Before heading home, we stopped at Weeting Heath, hoping to get Dad another year tick. As we opened the hide window, a pair of Stone curlews were spotted immediately. We also enjoyed nice views of three Spotted Flycatchers.

Stone Curlew