This year however, with a gorgeous-looking male Desert Wheatear in situ near to Cley, Norfolk, I was more than tempted! On Friday 28/10, I made a bit of a last minute decision to go the next day and despite not being able to get anyone else to go with me, it was too tempting to pass up and so for a change, I had a day out by myself!
I set off mega early, with the aim of arriving at Cley east bank for sunrise to make the most of my day and also to enjoy my time there without the hoards of people that would inevitably be about.
I'm really glad I did, arriving at 07:50am to be greeted by an absolutely stunning sunrise, with not a breath of wind and surprisingly mild temperatures.
I began my walk up the east bank, with a large skein of Pink Foots over, a hunting Marsh Harrier, a few calling Bearded Tits and plenty of common wildfowl and waders en route.
At the top of the east bank, a nice Lapland Bunting flew low over west calling, further adding to an enjoyable start to my day. It was a bit of a walk along the shingle and down towards the sea pool area where the Wheatear had been showing the previous day.
A couple of birders were already there and before I reached them, I could see the Desert Wheatear bombing about, across a fairly flat, shingle area close by. One of the guys soon left and over the next 20 minutes or so, myself and the remaining birder enjoyed a stunning show.
As more birders appeared, the Wheatear disappeared for quite a while. In the meantime I had views of a couple of flyover Shorelark, an unexpected Swallow through slowly east, my latest ever, as well as having the constant backdrop of pinging Bearded Tits from the nearby reedbeds.
Most went off after the Wheatear that had been re-found c.200m west. I stayed put and was rewarded as the Wheatear returned, right in front of me, which I had to myself for a little while before everybody returned to see it. I wanted to move on, however couldn't resist staying a while longer to enjoy such great views of an awesome bird.
I eventually left to enjoy the rest of my day elsewhere. My walk back to the car produced at least 5 Red Throated Diver and a few Guillemot on the sea, another flyover Lapland Bunting high overhead, plenty of wildfowl and waders as well as views of some more Beardies.
Before departing Cley, I popped over the road to Walsey Hills to listen in for the Dusky Warbler my mate Kieran had found several days previously. I heard it calling relatively frequently and probably saw it briefly too, as it was chased off by a Robin, but I soon hit the road again. Knowing how skulky Duskys can be, I could've been there for hours and still not seen it!
I drove west along the coast road to Burnham Overy Dunes via a stop off for coffee at the trusty Wells Co-op. BOD wasn't a place I particularly wanted to go to as I couldn't be arsed to walk all that way, plus I knew it would be milling with people. But with yet another rare wheatear, this time an Isabelline showing in recent days and reportedly still there, I kind of had to drop in.
I surprisingly found a nice easy space to park by the A149 and trudged off along the long old track to the dunes and to Gun Hill.
As predicted, the route was crawling with people. Birds on the way included a covey of Grey Partridge, plenty of Pink Foots and a couple of Bearded Tit bombing over my head calling. It wasn't too difficult to work out where the wheatear was, with a stationary army of people visible from a distance, slightly east of Gun Hill. Woopee!
The Isabelline Wheatear was visible pretty much straight away on the crest of the nearby dune ridge (grotty photo below). It proved to be quite mobile and flighty but I could still make out all the key features through the bins, particularly the striking paleness of the bird.
After a short while, I took a walk round to the beach side to get away from the hoardes. The wheatear reappeared briefly on the beach before flying back towards the dunes. Three very vocal Lapland Buntings then circled overhead for a bit but sadly didn't land and were soon on their way again. I then left to enjoy the last part of the day, looking for my own birds at Thornham.
I like birding at Thornham, I always manage to see something half decent. Again it didn't disappoint too much, soon clapping eyes on approximately 10 Twite amongst larger numbers of Linnets, close to the car park. I do love the twanging calls of Twite as they regularly take flight and circle over the saltmarsh, before again dropping to feed. Interestingly, there was a colour-ringed bird amongst them, however I couldn't get enough on it before they were off in the air again. Presumably one of the peak district birds that regularly appear here each winter.
I took a walk right out to the beach and to the mouth of Thornham channel to look for buntings and Shorelarks. I was rewarded with yet another flyover Lapland Bunting for the day, heading off inland, however nothing else too notable other than a nice selection of waders. The day was drawing to a close, ending with fantastic, memorable views of a hunting Barn Owl and a couple of Marsh Harriers in the fading light.
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