Friday 28 April 2017

Three Days in North Norfolk - 3


Sedge warbler in the Cley reedbed

This is really a post for our list of wildlife sightings over the three days - plus a few photos.

All sightings were made in North Norfolk during a short post-Easter break.

The places we visited (and saw wildlife) included:

[1] NWT Cley
[2] NT Morston Quay, Blakeney
[3] NWT Holme Dunes
[4] Snettisham (beach near RSPB reserve)
[5] Hunstanton
[6] Holkham estate
[7] Brancaster staithe
[8] Hawk and Owl Trust Reserve at Sculthorpe Moor
[9] (English Heritage) North Elmham Saxon Cathedral - in the Wensum Valley, where hedgerows removed by the 1980s have now been restored.
[10] (English Heritage) Creake Abbey

We are far from expert birders and sometimes get our identifications wrong. But it is always interesting to record what we have seen... and to enjoy the surprises along the way.

Birds...

[1] Avocet
[2] Bar-tailed Godwit
[3] Bearded tit
[4] Blackbird
[5] Black-backed gull
[6] Black-headed gull
[7] Blue tit
[8] Bullfinch
[9] Buzzard
[10] Carrion crow
[11] Chaffinch
[12] Collared dove
[13] Coot
[14] Cormorant
[15] Curlew
[16] Dunnock
[17] Goldfinch
[18] Greylag
[19] Great tit
[20] Grey Heron
[21] Herring gull
[22] House martin
[23] Kestrel
[24] Knot
[25] Lapwing
[26] Linnet
[27] Little egret
[28] Little Owl
[29] Little ringed plover
[30] Long-tailed tit
[31] Mallard
[32] Marsh harrier
[33] Moorhen
[34] Mute swan
[35] Nuthatch
[36] Oystercatcher
[37] Pheasant
[38] Pied wagtail
[39] Pinkfoot geese
[40] Red-legged partridge
[41] Redshank
[42] Reed bunting
[43] Ringed plover
[44 ] Robin
[45] Sedge warbler
[46] Shelduck
[47] Shoveler
[48] Skylark
[49] Song thrush
[50] Sparrow
[51] Starling
[52] Swallow
[53] Teal
[54] Wood Pigeon 
[55] Wren


Cley - the path to the sea via Arnold's Marsh

Mammals...

[1] Grey squirrel
[2] Hare
[3] Muntjac
[4] Rabbit
[5] Rat and one young
[6] ?Vole
[7] Weasel (seen by David and confirmed by wildlife ranger)


Amphibians...

[1] Tadpoles and frog spawn

Cley windmill and the tower of St Margaret's, Cley

Insects...

[1] Alderfly
[2] Black beetle (not sure which sort...)
[3] Brown-tail moth tents and caterpillars
[4] Eyed ladybird? (awaiting iRecord identification)
[5] Green-veined white butterfly
[6] Harlequin ladybird
[7] Kidney-spot ladybird
[8] Orange-tip butterfly
[9] Peacock butterfly
[10] Woodlouse

NWT Holme Dunes - Brown-tail moth tents and caterpillars

As above - shades of Miss Havisham and her wedding cake, perhaps...

Sea purslane - I think on the mudflats at Morston Quay

Water front at Wells-next-the-Sea

Looking back to St Nicholas church, Blakeney, with its distinctive pair of towers

Herring gull at Blakeney

Remains of St Edmund's Chapel, Hunstanton (Hunston)

North Elmham Chapel/Saxon Cathedral

North Elmham Chapel/Saxon Cathedral from the castle mound

North Elmham. Guess who is happy to have found a sign...

Oystercatcher in evening sunlight

4 comments:

Ragged Robin said...

I've so enjoyed this wonderful series of posts and photos :) You visited so many lovely places and a great list of sightings! :) Brought back a few memories of my one and only trip there a few years back when we stayed in Blakeney. Sadly, the weather was absolutely awful - freezing cold and heavy rain which I think has put off my family for life! :( So hope I can return one day though as so many wonderful reserves and villages - not to mention the churches :)

Simon Douglas Thompson said...

Sedge warblers with their cleopatra eye make up

Amanda Peters said...

Wow amazing photos of the wild life you have found and it looks like a lovely place...
Amanda xx

Crafty Green Poet said...

lovely photos, specially the amazing moth tents