Eastern Yellow Wag 2-0 John

I've had a couple of slightly frustrating visits to Norfolk within the last few weeks. Both were motivated by the possibility of seeing the smart, long-staying 1w male Eastern (Alaskan) Yellow Wagtail on farmland close to the village of Sedgeford in west Norfolk.

The first visit on Sunday 02/02 began well, with great views of loads of Whooper Swans and a handful of Bewick's, seen from the A47 near Guyhirn.









Just 15-20 minutes from Sedgeford, my phone pinged to say the Wagtail was still there. Should be easy I thought! The next 3+ hours said otherwise and I, along with many others fruitlessly scanned the idyllic dung heaps and surrounding fields to no avail!

I spent the last part of the day at Thornham, briefly getting obscured views of the wintering Twite flock, hiding away feeding on weeds by the car park.

I walked down to the beach / W end of Holme to have a look at the sea and see a few waders. There was nothing spectacular but the walk until dusk produced a hunting Peregrine, a Barn Owl, a pair of Pintail, Goldeneye and Red Breasted Merganser on the sea, plus all the usual beach waders at this time of year - Barwits, Grey Plover, Knot, Sanderling, Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Oystercatcher & Curlew.









The second visit to Norfolk, on Friday 28/02 was a complete and utter washout! Gareth and I had the day off and thought we'd have a day along the coast as well as hopefully pinning down the wagtail this time. We wavered as to whether it would be worth going because of the poor weather forecast but in the end decided to go for it.
Unfortunately, I forgot my camera which was not a good start, although as it turned out, there were zero opportunities to use it!

First up, we clocked a few Whooper Swans on the way, near Guyhirn under grey skies, but as yet, no rain. The wagtail's favoured dung piles had been removed in the week (of course they bloody had!) and you guessed it...we dipped! This was a bird I was obviously, just not meant to see, so never mind! My first Brambling of the year, feeding with a load of Chaffinches, did at least cushion the blow a bit!

By mid-morning the heavens had truly opened and that's how it stayed for the rest of the day. For once the forecast was spot on! A scan of Holkham Freshmarsh produced quite a bit, with 6 Spoonbill, 6 Cattle Egret, some distant White Fronts and Barnacle Geese, lots of Egyptian Geese and quite a few Marsh Harrier.

We sucked up the courage to head out onto Holkham beach and inevitably got soaked. c50 Snow Bunting showed briefly in the roped-off area and then out on the beach, while offshore were a Long-Tailed Duck, 2 Common Scoter and a few Red-Breasted Mergansers. Scant consolation really for the soaking we got!!

Finished the day off at Titchwell which was largely birdless to be honest, as the freshmarsh very full of water. We did well then, to see the wintering Water Pipit on what few islands were left, as well as a lovely adult Med Gull and a handful of Avocet. The cold and the wet had, by then taken their toll and off home we went, with the car heater on full blast!