Tuesday 1st February 2023: Holkham and Brancaster

 We spent the morning at Holkham Hall, starting with distant views of a Great White Egret and a flock of White-fronted Geese viewed froma lay-by as we approached the area. From St Anne’s Drive, where we parked the car, there were plenty of Wigeon and Lapwing, but no Snipe or waders such as we have seen in previous years. 

We set off to Holkham Gap with our first target the Shore Lark. These had been seen on the east side of the salt marsh but had flown shortly before we arrived and their current location was unclear. We eventually spotted them in the midst of the vegetation, but by the time I’d got my scope up they had disappeared again! We trekked across the marshy path behind the dunes scanning the area, and flushing some Redshank and a Little Egret, but could not relocate the Shore Larks, although Skylarks were plentiful. As we walked across the stream which cuts through the middle of the Gap, a birder walked towards and told us he had seen them at the left side of the saltmarsh. Off we went again, this time managing to find around a dozen birds, with reasonable scope views, although they were rather flighty.

We had spent considerable time and walked some distance chasing these birds, so headed towards the nearest hide for a rest! This overlooked the fresh marsh, but there were no new species here. I wanted to continue along the track for a better view of the White-fronted Geese, so the others roused their weary limbs and we trudged on, and were rewarded with excellent views.

After lunch we set off for Burnham Norton where there were reports of a Water Pipit. We were unable to find this, but stumbled upon a roving flock of farmland birds and were pleased to find both Brambling and Reed Buntings amongst the more common finches. Driving on to Brancaster we arrived at the harbour with a rising tide. The birds were therefore pushed in quite close to the car park and we enjoyed a rewarding half hour observing a variety of waders and wildfowl at close range in beautiful light. Bar-tailed Godwits were probably the highlight, being a new tick for us all.

Our last stop was back at Thornham Harbour where a gorgeous Barn Owl flew straight towards us before heading out across the marsh and disappearing behind the trees. However, we tracked him down again form the nearby pub car parkand enjoyed a few minutes observing him quartering the fields in search of voles. A fitting end to another rewarding day.