We set off in the drizzly, early Sunday (13/12) morning darkness. Driving through the fens, the sight of pretty dense fog was a little concerning. However, having passed through King Lynn, conditions cleared nicely and in fact, it appeared to be a pretty nice morning.
We arrived at around 09:15am to be greeted with jam-packed car park. However, we soon found a space and before long, were trudging off on the long walk to the southern end of the reserve, past the beach chalets, pools and bird-laden mudflats. The tide was very much out and the mud was littered with hundreds of Shelduck, the odd swirling mass of Knot and the air was full of the calls of both Golden & Grey Plovers. Several Pintail flew by while 1 or 2 Goldeneye could be seen feeding on the reserve pools.
At the far southern end, we joined a line of birders up on a bank looking across the area supposedly favoured by the Pallid. The bird had last been seen some 15 minutes previous (as always!) but had disappeared behind another bank. Scanning about in the hazy sunshine soon revealed birds with 3+ Marsh Harrier cruising about and a distant 1st-year Spoonbill out on the saltmarsh preening. Regular, vocal groups of Pink Footed Geese headed inland and a couple of Egyptian Geese flew through.
Around 45 minutes had passed us by, before we were awoken from our slumber by a nice ringtail Hen Harrier that flew past us purposefully, out onto the saltmarsh. A Great White Egret then appeared not too far away from the Spoonbill, and continually appeared and then disappeared again, unsettled by the presence of a roaming cream-crown Marsh Harrier! We had accumulated a very decent supporting cast, but so far no star of the show!
Thankfully, that soon changed as the Pallid Harrier suddenly appeared flying strongly across the grassy area in front of us, swooping briefly at some waders and showing off those bright orangey underparts, diagnostic collar and really nice distinctive barring on the tail. It soon dropped down into vegetation and out of sight, however around 20 minutes later it was up again and gave a fabulous display. It landed briefly in the top of a bush before hunting a small area for several minutes affording incredible scope views. I didn't manage any pics/video but Dave managed to get some great footage of what was a lifer for all of us (view at 1080hp).
The small size of the bird was quite noticeable and while hunting, very agile for a Harrier, almost Accipiter-like.
The bird went down again for a while and appeared one last time, before heading off over the bank. Our queue to leave!
Two-thirds of the way back to the car, a passing birder casually informed us of 2 Waxwings a little further along the path feeding on berries. Ummm...awesome!! Sure enough, we were shown a rather distant alder tree and there in the top were two stunning Waxwings, my first for what seems like ages. Thankfully they soon relocated to scrub close by and afforded great views, all be it in very gloomy light. What an unexpected treat!
The shout then went up of a Rough-Legged Buzzard from a guy looking out towards the wash...it was all kicking off! The others went over to take a look, but I continued to enjoy the Waxwings for a little while longer. Eventually, I went and had a look. Gareth got me onto the bird. To say it was distant was an understatement, could've been a plastic bag for all I'd have known! The guy who found it though, had seen it fly in and had seen all the features. It was sat on the edge of the saltmarsh and I could just about make out at x60 a cream-headed buzzard-shaped spec sat there. As hard as it was, we dragged ourselves away from here and the Waxwings as it was 1pm. Time was pressing and we had other things to see!
We had two more places to try before heading for home. Next was the Choseley Drying Barns area for better views of RLB, before hopefully finishing at Thornham for Shore Lark & Twite. Fingers crossed there'd be enough time!
It took us around 25 minutes to get over to Choseley. We slowly crawled up the lane to the barns, scanning for anything resembling a RLB. On reaching the barns at the top of the hill, we noticed several birders at the bottom of the slope, south of the barns.
We got down there and no sooner had I parked up, over came a lovely Rough-Legged Buzzard! We quickly piled out of the car getting good views as the bird headed west and eventually out of sight.
We were told of another that had been showing to the east. A few minutes later, Dave picked this bird up distantly on the horizon soaring about, getting hammered by one or two of the local corvids in the process! It showed for a while but it had begun raining so we retired to the car for a coffee and we then drove back west to Thornham.
From the car park at Thornham, we set off along the coastal path to the east end of Holme Dunes. It was still pretty gloomy with a steady fine drizzle, however on we went! The beach on the northern side of the dunes was where we headed for. Here, looking for the Shore Larks, we stumbled across a very confiding trio of Snow Buntings, a great added bonus! As with all my vids, view at 1080hp!
Moving further along the beach, it wasn't long before we found the 3 Shore Lark, a bird all three of us hadn't seen for a good five years or so. Propper little characters and I'd forgotten have fast they can scuttle along! We enjoyed these for a fair while, before moving further round the beach for a stab and finding some Twite.
Surprisingly quickly, we found some finches, all Linnets moving about on the edge of the saltmarsh. However, another small flock of 10-15 appeared soon after, containing those diagnostic twanging calls of Twite!
What a day it had been!! Brilliant views of the Pallid, which I have to say, was a stunning looking bird. We also dipped literally nothing and had the added bonuses of the Waxwings & Snow Buntings. What a fitting way to end such a memorable day...
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