This morning we returned to Sea Palling, and this time had success in locating the Iceland Gull, which spent some time splashing about in the shallow surf, before striding out onto the beach, where it continued to preen its feathers, before eventually settling to rest, enabling Tim to get some photos.
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| Iceland Gull |
The bird was a juvenile, with darker breast feathers than we are used to seeing, but the white primary feathers were clearly visible, making it easy to identify, even for non-experts such as us!
Again, there were plenty of Sanderlings and Turnstones busy foraging here, always a delight with their frantic movements, and endless activity. A few Oystercatchers were notably more sedate as they fed alongside. There were plenty of Herring and Black Backed Gulls, but amongst them a couple of Caspian Gulls stood out, with long legs and upright stature, pale heads and dark eyes.
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| Caspian Gull |
Our next stop was at Great Yarmouth where two Shore Lark had been reported on the beach. We couldn’t locate these, and on a Sunday lunchtime the beach was busy with families and dog walkers. But an unexpected bonus, was the appearance of at least three magnificent Short-eared Owls hunting over the grassland at the back of the beach. Apparently they are regularly seen here, but we had superb views as they soared and swept low at close range, a truly awesome experience that certainly compensated for the lack of Shore Larks. The photos below were taken by Julie Marshall who we met at the site and has kindly shared her pictures and given permission for me to post here.
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| Short-eared Owl (Julie Marshall) |
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| Short-eared Owl (Julie Marshall) |
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| Short-eared Owl (Julie Marshall) |
It had certainly been worthwhile to add a night on the Broads to our regular north Norfolk trip, with some star birds, and this was a great way to end our trip before heading south towards Sussex.
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