Little Auks and more!

On the way to Flamborough Head we saw several small parties of Grey Partridges in the fields. At Flamborough Head we were straight onto Little Auks streaming past mostly heading North in small groups. There were good numbers seen in the couple of hours of seawatching myself and Dave did and the total for the day was recorded at 308. We also saw several Red-Throated Divers close in just off the rocks and 2 Velvet Scoters and a single Sooty Shearwater.
We then went to Easington in hope of a little bunting seen earlier. No luck but there was a group of Black Redstarts by the church one stunning male and three females. We also connected to a fabulous Great Grey Shrike by the cemetery.
Finally on the way home we went to North Cave Wetlands and had good views of the bizarre bobbing Jack Snipe along with a Common Snipe for comparison. We also saw a female Marsh Harrier.

Sublime Norfolk

Yesterday myself and Dave Evans had an early start for a day's birding in Norfolk. We got to the Wolverton triangle by 9 and spent an hour going round and searching on foot to no avail. We decided on one more circuit before moving off to the coast and unbelievably there by the side of the wood on the grass verge was a magnificent Golden Pheasant. I rushed to grab the camera but by the time I had it in hand a horse rider had gone past and spooked the bird which returned into the undergrowth not to be seen again.
We then moved onto Burnham Overy Staithe and quickly saw a large flock of 50-70 Lapland Buntings. They could be viewed in flight but when they landed in the stubble field they disappeared underneath the grass! It was obviously not going to be the best day for photography. We moved along the coast to Holkham in search of firecrest and rough-legged buzzard but the trees appeared lifeless and it seemed hopeless to find a small bird in the large wooded area. We went 100yds west of the end of the drive and suddently saw a small bird fly into low undergrowth and start flitting about in true gold/firecrest behaviour. As we had earlier seen a Goldcrest we needed a good view and the Gods were with us as it moved up into the tree where it ws clear we were watching a beautiful Firecrest. The bird books really dont prepare for you how bright and exquisite this little gem looks in the flesh. A truly unforgettable experience to see my first one and this rivals the first Hawfinch I ever saw.
No rough-legged buzzards were seen but there was a Common Buzzard close by and an unusually raptor like Wood Pigeon !
We moved to Wells and quickly saw the Black Brant present with Dark-bellied Brent Geese. There was another goose that intermediate features between a black brant and a brent goose.
It was then onto Buckingham marsh where we had a distant scope view of the long staying Lesser white fronted goose present with 70-80 Taiga Bean geese. A nice male Marsh Harrier flew by on the walk back to the car. We then drove the short distance to GreatYarmouth and incredibly we had parked at the exact point along the coast where the Velvet scoter was present about 50m out to sea!
Finally we went to Bradwell and saw a fine looking Ruddy Shellduck in a group of Egyptian geese. Quite an incredible day where we were successful in all target birds. Norfolk continues to be a mecca for birding and will no doubt draw us back soon

                                               Above a very approachable Pink-footed goose.

                                            Above is the Black Brant goose hiding his head!

Above is a shit picture of the Firecrest we saw!

Above are the pretty Egyptian geese

                                           This is the even prettier Ruddy Shelduck

                                                Record shots of the female Velvet Scoter

                                                          Male Marsh harrier