Desert Wheatear
There’s only one problem with Britain’s best birding county –knowing which season to visit to get the most from your holiday! This special five day birding tour offers the best of both world’s as we combine the returning winter visitors with the last migrants of autumn in an exciting combination. By late October, the coastal fields of North Norfolk are brimming with Pink-footed Geese, wintering here in increasing numbers from their Icelandic breeding grounds. Approximately 100,000 visit the area at this time, and this is a great time to see them as they mass at Holkham Freshmarsh in huge flocks,often accompanied by a rarity such as Ross’s, Snow, ‘small race’ Canada or Tundra Bean Geese. Dark-bellied Brent Geese return and are often accompanied by a North American Black Brant, and the marshes are filled with flocks of wildfowl. Our search for winter visitors continues at Holkham with the chance of an early Shore Lark, and Snow Bunting too will be arriving now. Out in the Bay, rafts of Common Scoter could contain one or two Velvet and Red-throated Diver, Slavonian and Red-necked Grebes, Common Eider, Red-breasted Merganser and even Little Auk may be noted at this time. The pine belt here may contain vast flocks of tits and Goldcrests, the latter newly arrived from the continent, and Firecrest, Yellow-browed and Pallas’s Warblers are all regular late autumn migrants here. This is just the sort of time a Pied or Desert Wheatear, Dusky or Hume’s Leaf Warbler could appear! Flocks of migrant winter thrushes will be arriving in force now, and Brambling, Eurasian Siskin, Lesser Redpoll and Common Crossbill are all likely in the pines. At Cley and Titchwell reserves, a range of waders and wildfowl will be present as well as resident Marsh Harrier, Pied Avocet and Bearded Tit with Great Bittern always a possibility. Spotted Redshank and Common Greenshank, may occur, along with a late Little Stint or Curlew Sandpiper, and Eurasian Woodcock, Common Kingfisher, Jack Snipe or late rarity such as White-rumped Sandpiper is always possible. In the Broads, we will search for Common Crane in its only UK haunt, and visit Strumpshaw and Buckenham where Great Bittern, Water Pipit and masses of wildfowl may be seen. Raptors are a major feature here, and our dusk visit to a splendid roost site should yield good numbers of Marsh Harriers as well as Hen Harrier, Merlin, Barn and maybe Short-eared Owls. The forests of Breckland are our only reliable area to seek elusive Hawfinch, and we will hope to see these magnificent birds feeding quietly under the trees. Marsh Tit, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and Common Crossbill also occur while we will also stop at a local site to look for the localised Willow Tit.
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Introduction
