Friday 22nd February Day one of 3 day Group Tour NW Norfolk

We started the day with a couple of quick stops en-route to the coast first to enjoy 4-5 Grey Partridge, then  a few Golden Plover mixed in with Lapwing

We reached Holme a took a walk into the dunes & on to the shoreline, there was a nice group of Skylark & Linnets. The shallow pools yielded a nice mixture of shorebirds, Dunlin, Sanderling, Grey Plover, Ringed Plover, Turnstone, Bar-tailed Godwit c200, Curlew c100 plus Redshank & c200 Brent Geese along the waters edge. Eventually after a bit of waiting the Snow Bunting arrived firstly flying past & overhead, a nice group of around c40, but they landed distantly. We walked over & were soon enjoying them at close quarters. They were restless & mixed up with a nice flock of Linnet & Goldfinch.

We then headed up to the Observatory where we seawatched, producing close inshore Eider, Red-breasted Merganser, Goldeneye & several flocks of Teal. More distantly several 1000 Common Scoter were to be seen occasionally in flight, plus 3 Long-tailed Duck flew east.

It was a very cold day, with biting easterly wind & we warmed with a cup of tea, but were soon distracted as I Peregrine put 100+ Curlew, 200 Brent Geese into the air. A distant Marsh harrier & Buzzard also present.

En-route along the coast we stopped off much closer views of 2 hunting Marsh harrier. We lunched & then headed off inland & had a couple of successful stops around farm barns with a lovely flock of c100 Yellowhammer, c20 Corn Bunting, c30 Linnet & c30 Brambling.

We then headed on to Titchwell & had a good slection of wildlfowl & 1000's of gulls. Highlights were female Red-crested Pochard, several really smart Pintail, c30 Snipe, 5 Ruff, c20 Black-tailed Godwit, c30 Dunlin & 2 Spotted Redshank.

We finished the day at a raptor roost with good success 2 Merlin, 7 Hen Harrier, 1 Peregrine & Kestrel 

88 species recorded