After finishing my final uni assignment the previous morning, I was finally a free man. This only meant one thing. More time to go birding. It was my favourite haunt of North Norfolk that really wet the appetite, so I decided to book a b&b in Hunstanton for the weekend and have a mooch around a few reserves.
Having seen both the long-staying Hume's Leaf Warbler and Long-billed Dowitcher already, I instead decided that I would try and have a bit more of a chilled visit in which I would not do too much chasing.
So, after an early start I set off in the beloved twitch mobile (aka the Mini Cooper) in the direction of Norfolk. However, I had in mind a slight diversion on the way. I planned to cross the border into Cambridgeshire to Eldernell where there had been reported an insane 4 different species of Owl over the past few weeks. This was simply too much to resist and only added about an extra half hour or so onto the journey.
I arrived at Eldernell at around half 9ish and was greeted by the wrath of the elements. See in my excitement at booking the weekend trip, I failed to take into account what the weather and I was now paying the price for my ignorance. However, this was not to dampen my spirits (literally) as a Barn Owl was picked up hunting the nearby fields within a matter of minutes - a promising start despite the abhorrent wind and beating rain. A couple of birders also pointed me in the right direction of a roosting Tawny Owl which had been peeping out of its preferred tree trunk. Gladly, I headed in the direction of its chosen line of trees. It took a decent amount of scanning and shuffling about to find the right place but eventually I got lucky and picked it up in my soggy scope. I watched the bird in the battering winds and enjoyed by far my best ever view of this species.
Two down and two to go. A day with both Barn and Tawny Owls is always a good day no matter the weather. After viewing the Tawny I pressed on towards some flooded fields that looked promising. At this point the weather was at its worst and I felt like I was stood in the shower whilst strong gales battered me. However, a couple of Teal were picked up whilst a pair of Stonechat and a Meadow Pipit were both braving the elements. A distant white blob of a Little Egret momentarily had my hopes up whilst 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers flew over and one of their Green cousins also put in a brief appearance. But gladly the weather eventually settled and more people began to arrive at the reserve at around half 10 or so. This meant more eyes peeled for the secretive Owls. As I was walking back towards the line of hedges that the Owls had been favouring for the last few days, I noticed a group of birders gathered around watching something. This got my excitement up and I definitely upped the pace towards where they were standing. Upon arrival I was delighted to be informed that the group were in fact watching a roosting Long-eared Owl - a lifer for me and the target bird of the day! Hastily I got my scope up and with quite a bit of adjustment I eventually enjoyed good views of this very secretive bird hiding amongst the twigs.
I was simply delighted with seeing bird and watched it for a really long time before decided it was eventually time to move on. I had been informed that there were also two Short-eared Owls roosting further down the fence line so that is where I headed. On the way down I was checking each and every hedge and eventually struck lucky, picking up a Short-eared Owl with the naked eye; this wasn't in the location that the guys had directed me towards so it had to be a third Shortie. I was made up to locate the bird which was obscured by quite a few branches. This was to be my fourth Owl species of the day and I had managed to see all the birds I had set out for.
I continued on towards the end of the fence line where I failed to locate the other 2 Short-eared owls. Never mind. I couldn't resist then heading back towards the Long-eared Owl for seconds - I won't bore you with the details but just know that I spent a long time admiring this stunning yet secretive bird. With a shout of "Behind you!" from another birder I turned around to see the Barn Owl again hunting behind my back giving magnificent views. I felt as if I was in the middle of an ornithological pantomime scene!
After enjoying more views of this species I turned back around to have another crack at the other two Short-eared Owls. Luckily I was pointed in the right direction of one of the birds and enjoyed stunning views of it as it sat in a tree. This is the first time I've seen a roosting Short-eared Owl and it was particularly memorable.
After papping a few pics of the bird I headed back for yet more views of the star of the day, the Long-eared Owl. Eventually satisfied with my fill, I got back into the car, ate lunch and set off further north towards Norfolk.
Eventually I arrived at the second site of the day - Sculthorpe Moor. Due to their only being an hour left of daylight, I had to be hasty in my visit. This started well as amongst the Chaffinch on the feeders by the visitor centre, I saw a particularly bright orange looking bird. A look in the binoculars revealed that it was in fact a Brambling; a cracking winter visitor that I seldom ever get to see and a great start to my visit. But there was to be more bright visitors as the next hide revealed a few Bullfinch - including a couple of bright males.
After this, I headed for a brief walk around half of the reserve, picking up a calling Marsh Tit on my travels - yet another quality year tick. Eventually the light began to fade rapidly so I headed back towards the visitor centre feeders for one last look. This revealed a Nuthatch and a Treecreeper showing at point blank range - a fantastic end to the day.
What a great way to start my weekend up in Norfolk...
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