Saturday 4th February 2023: Norfolk Broads

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Smew

We added an extra day to our Norfolk trip as there were reports of some interesting and less common birds on the Norfolk Broads, an area we have not visited before. At Rollesby Broad it took just a few minutes to find a group of Redhead Smew, and after pausing for photos, we rewarded ourselves with a cup of tea in the adjacent cafe!  

From here we continued on to Filby Broad. This was less accessible than Rollesby, requiring a walk from the village across the fields and a footpath to reach a viewpoint where the reeds had been cut back, giving a view across the water. There were plenty of  Great-crested Grebes and Tufted Ducks here on the open water, but after scanning for some time we spotted one of our target birds, a Ring- necked Duck which swam into view from an area at the edge of the open lake where low hanging trees drooped over the water. Eventually, a Red-crested Pochard appeared amongst the tangled branches too, but the hoped for Ferruginous Duck eluded us, and with a long journey ahead, we decided we could linger no longer. Nevertheless it had made for an interesting and worthwhile extension to our trip.



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