Monday, October 14, 2024

East Anglia Hols part 2.

 Walberswick, Suffolk.

We packed up at Salthouse and drove the 63 miles south through broadland to our Suffolk destination. Walberswick is always a favourite when we are here, but we've not stayed in the village before. Our house for the week was just about opposite the Anchor Pub, very handy.

Above - Thats us to the left of the large blue grey house .

Walberswick

A wander around the village and harbour in the afternoon had 2 High flying Bearded Tits over the allotments, a late Common Sandpiper and a Kingfisher sitting in the roosting Herring Gulls on the edge of the harbour piles.

Sunday 29th September - 

We had a few hours at the Aldeburgh Food Festival at Snape Maltings today. Very nice...

Not much of note seen other than yesterdays Kingfisher still with the gulls, 1 Little Egret and a lot of Dunnocks ...

See those Gulls, theres a Kingfisher with them!


Monday 30th September

A storm today, SSE 6 blustery with rain fair with some sun after 3pm. Despite the weather looking like it might ground some migrants there was absolutely nothing, not even a chiffchaff. 

Tuesday 1st October

Peggy's birthday today, she is 11.

Weather still shocking. Wet, drizzle, SW4, dark. Rain did not stop for a minute during daylight hours. We've never seen this in sunny Suffolk!

A Snipe in-off plus a female Pintail over the marshes summed it up.

Wednesday 2nd October

A bit better today though not much. NE3 Cloudy, some drier spells but odd heavy showers.

We walked down to the beach and back to the village to the bridle path to Southwold.

A few Siskins flew S, 35+ Dark bellied Brent Geese, 3 Turnstone, 2 Great White Egret, Bearded Tits heard, Cetti's likewise, 100+ Barnacle Geese, feral birds, 2 Swallows.

In better weather we had a look around Southwold. Hopefully  it will improve tomorrow.

Thursday 3rd October.

Wind has dropped to a light NE2, Getting brighter as the day went on.

7am walked Peggy to the beach. A Muntjac was in the allotments, 400+ Barnacle Geese flew N low overhead.

Todays visit was down to Aldeburgh. Rain had stopped and the sun shone. A bit of a shop and some chips on the beach followed by a walk on the beach just south of Thorpeness. We then went on to Sizewell where the new power station works have begun.

Sizewell, at the N end of the dunes, a lovely fresh shiny female Adder was basking right out in the open.

At the outfall were 2 ad Little Gulls, and a fw Mediterranean Gull plus Common Tern.

In the car park, Hairy Shieldbug, Common Darters and a few Southern Hawkers were seen.

Hairy Shieldbug 


Friday 4th October

A fine sunny day finally. While up north is getting lots of rare and scarce birds there is still nothing at Walberswick. Before lunch we walked down to the beach and around the marshes.

24+ Bearded Tits were seen nicely, 4 Swallows flew S and a nice Slow Worm was found crossing a path in the reeds.

Slow Worm in the hand...




We were heading to Southwold this afternoon but a tip off from a local lady directed us to Southwold Church Yard where a Pallas's Warbler had been found. There was no sign when we arrived so we went shopping for an hour returning later.  Soon after we got back someone located the bird and about 8 of us had good views as it fed in and out of thick trees and shrubs. It was chased at one point by a Yellow browed Warbler and a Pied Fly was also showing well. Others had seen a Firecrest but we could only find half a dozen Goldcrests. Still, my earliest ever Pallas's Warbler is a great way to end our holiday.

Norfolk and Suffolk, its been a blast! Back soon...


Thursday, October 10, 2024

East Anglia Holidays




Salthouse, Norfolk.... 

On 21st Sept we headed off to Norfolk for the first leg of our two week holiday to the not so far east.

It is 12 years since we stayed on the North Norfolk coast so it was good to be back. The house for our week was in Salthouse, a nice little village handy for the coast and surrounding countryside.

To stop this post getting too big I'll do it by date...

Saturday 21st Sept. 

We arrived at our destination around 4.30pm after enduring some typically slow A1 roadworks on route.

As we entered the house for a look around, I opened the back patio doors to be greeted by a calling Yellow browed Warbler! Not a bad start. It seemed to be in next doors garden for 10 minutes but it remained hidden then all went quiet. It had clearly moved off.

Sunday 22nd

A mild, warmish misty day with a light Easterly breeze.

An early walk down to the Salthouse Marshes and on to the beach.

An imm Spoonbill dropped in, a Kingfisher flushed from a footbridge and flew off over the fields, 1 Black tailed Godwit flew E. Little Egrets were in all corners and ditches. On the shore an Arctic Skua flew East close in along the beach, 2 Wheatears hopped around the shingle. 3 Cetti's Warblers remained hidden while singing and a female Blackcap was in our garden. 


Above - Salthouse Marshes and Gramborough hill


Kelling Quag 3.45pm

A nice male Siberian Stonechat proved quite tricky to get to grips with in a mobile flock of 10 Stonechats and a Whinchat. It eventually gave some decent views on weeds and brambles by the track.




Monday 23rd.

A new plant for me was on the road edge, Common Calamint.

Common Calamint


After lunch, a trip along to Cley Spy at Glandford proved costly where I needed to sell an kidney and part exchange the car for a new pair of binoculars! Swarovski NL Pure 10 x 42.  I hadnt even planned getting them but my old Leicas are 18 now, so I felt it was now or never. These new ones will out last me.

While testing the 8s and the 10s alongside my Leicas, a Hobby over a plantation made me reach for the most suitable under the circumstances. The 10x. Hence my choice of purchase. Nice timing from the Hobby! A Red Kite overhead was also useful.  

On the way back in to Salthouse, the same or, more likely, another Yellow browed Warbler was seen and calling in a garden up Church Lane. 

An hour before dusk we headed along to the East Bank at Cley for a stroll. Love it here, you can feel the birding history!

On Arnold's Marsh we had 1 Spoonbill, 1 Avocet, 30+ Black tailed Godwits, 5 Ruff, 1 Pintail. 1 Bearded Tit, 4 Marsh Harriers, 3 Water Rails squealing unseen, 3 or 4 Cetti's Warblers likewise. 4 Egyptian Geese flew East, then the star act. The North Foreland Plantation holds an egret roost so we counted them in - 

24 Little Egret, 18 Cattle Egret and 4 Great White Egrets all arrived. They werent here like this when we last visited! I also met up with Mark Golley who showed us a Silver spotted Veneer he had caught last night.

A lifer - Silver spotted Veneer Euchromius ocellea part of a large influx into the UK. Photo - Mark Golley


East Bank, Cley 


Tuesday 24th.

Out and about around Morston, Blakeney and Holt.

At Morston, 7 Spoonbills roosted on the saltmarsh, 10+ Little Egrets, 70+ Golden Plover.


Spoonbills, Morston


Wednesday 25th.

An early walk down to Gramborough Hill.

4 Great White Egrets, 1 Blackcap, 2-3 Cetti's Warblers, Water Rail, Marsh Harrier, Chiffchaff, 14+ House Martins, 400 Pinkfeet. 

The day was spent visiting Cromer, Holt, Cley etc. At Wiveton  a Muntjac was running around the village green like a terrier!

Another evening on the East Bank was much the same as before.

Jane and Peggy on Cley Beach at the end of the East Bank


Thursday 26th.

A walk down the Beach Road had a light E movement of Swallows with 50+ seen.

This afternoon I arranged to visit Mark Golley at his home in Cley. The main purpose of this was to see his collection of Richard A Richards artworks. This might need a short post of its own...

Cley Church

We visited Richard Richardson's grave in the churchyard at Cley,

A 1959 original Spotted Sandpiper by the great man himself...


Friday 27th our last day. A N gale battered the shingle at Cley so I went for a seawatch. It was amazing to see that the coastguards had washed away some years ago and the beach shelter was half buried in the shingle. The car park is in a different place now.

An hour and a half with a few others in the shelter had 4 Bonxie, 1 juv Pomarine Skua, 7+ Arctic Skua, 8+ Manx Shearwaters, 15+ Little Gulls, 100+ Common Scoter, 1 Pintail and 2 Red throated Divers.

To be continued.....

Cley Beach before the storm