This weekend was my long anticipated trip to Norfolk, I’d been looking forward to this for months, as usual I’d be on a family holiday (this time including the mother-in-law) but still it might give me a rare chance to get out and about and see some new birds.

Our cottage was at Stiffkey (pronounced Stookey by the locals) on the north Norfolk coast. The village is very small with one pub but it backs onto the salt marshes and beach, an important site for Brent Geese in winter – when they come over from the Russian Tundra when its frozen. Approximately 2000-3000 of them winter in the Blakeney area and they won’t leave til mid May. I was also hoping to maybe catch up with a rare migrant, and so signed up to Bird Guides to prepare (I’ve not been able to justify the cost in the past).

The first evening, Friday, we took a walk over the back of the cottage and to the Salt Marsh, on the way I got my first ever view of a Stoat, a fleeting glimpse as it dashed across our path. Marvellous. Down at the Marsh there were Redshank and several Brent Geese, also a few LBB’s that I couldn’t identify. We didn’t stay too long as it was tea time for the boy, so I had to make do with that to whet my appetite.

The next day we were off on the light railway from Wells to Walsingham, a brilliant narrow gauge railway that really suits kids. From the train we had cracking views of Partridge, Red-legged and Grey, as it went slowly (and I mean slowly) through the fields. Some birds were really close and gave me some of my best views of these lovely birds – I bet we saw about 20 partridge on that 30 min trip. At Walsingham we visited the Abbey ruins, this is set in a wonderfully large woodland, and we had a really nice walk, not too much about but really pleasant. The highlight was all the ladybirds coming out of hibernation, literally hundreds of them everywhere, all clinging together on posts in little colonies – my son was fascinated.

That night, when George was in bed and Mother in Law was tucked up in front of the box, we set out on an owl hunt. We could hear Tawny Owl from the cottage as we left, at least three different birds calling, and so we set out over the route we’d taken the previous evening to see if we could see any owls on the wing, we’d spotted a couple of Barn Owl boxes and so hoped something would be about.

A bat flew down the main road as we walked down and we were soon onto the fields, no sign of any bird activity but the view of the moon and Venus was beautiful in the dimming light and I stopped to take a few photographs with the tripod. I’m quite pleased with the results.

As we moved round it got darker and darker, but still no owls. We stopped again to take photographs of the starscape, the darkness, with us being in the middle of nowhere, was much better for viewing the stars and we stood and watched several “shooting stars”. Unfortunately we returned without seeing our owls (my wifes owl curse continues) but having seen such a lovely star scene we weren’t disappointed too much.

The next morning I was off on my own for a few hours, up at 6am, and down to the marshes behind the cottage. Again I was keener on the photography of such a beautiful scene than the perhaps I should have been. Some of my shots were again very pleasing and so I neglected the birds for a while.

After satisfying my creative urges then it was back to birding. First job, get a decent photo of Brent Geese. Crawling through the mud I approached their feeding ground, it proved a great lesson in field craft and I got very close ( within 4 metres) before they flew off to join some other geese that flew over. Later I found they are much happier being approached when they are on the water and so I got the shot earlier in the blog without getting my knees muddy. Its better than my “sneaking” shot as the sea makes a nice contrast.

I made my way across a series of wooden bridges to the beach area, the tide was out and so I got right down to the beach. Several Pipits were in the area and I need to check my photos to see if I can id them after the event, pipits aren’t my speciality. As I reached the beach I saw several Oystercatchers and a large flock of what I think were Knots, among them was a Grey Plover. There was also a single Dunlin and a couple of Redshank (lots of these further up the beach. At that point I noticed the tide turning and so, knowing how easy it is to get cut off I made my way back to the shore. I’m glad I did because by the time I got back, a good fifteen minute walk, the water was literally gushing up the channels and the landscape had altered, even in the sort time I’d been down there.

That day we went to Holkham Hall, not far up the coast, and no sooner had I parked the car than I spotted a Treecreeper on an oak nearby. Over I went with my camera and proceeded to snap away while it visited its nest on several occasions. George had fallen asleep on the way so I volunteered to “car sit” while the wife and mother in law went into the bygone museum (aren’t I good). So I got a good half an hour or more photographing the Treecreeper as it visited and got my best ever photographs of what’s been a frustratingly un-photogenic species for me.

As I stood there I got talking to a local couple who told me about a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker they’d seen in the nearby woods, so I hoped to go try and spot it later in the day. First things first though, George had woken up, and so we went to meet Mummy. On the way, on the grass near the lake, we caught up with a Yellow Wagtail and a couple of Pied Wagtail – the Yellow was my first of the year.

After lunch – which we spent watching some baby Mallards on the lake, with Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Swallows and Mute Swans in attendance – I went to try to find the LSW in the wood north of the lake. Unfortunately I didn’t have too much luck, but did follow a fascinating nature trail with loads of interesting facts about the Trees and wildlife, and got some nice views of Nuthatch in the wood. There are few decent sites for LSW in Derbyshire and so I should check those soon before the leaves appear on trees so I can finally nail this species.

Monday, our last day, was spent on a Seal Trip to Blakeney Point. The sea was very choppy as we got out of the harbour but we did see a seal or two in the sea – normally there’d be hundreds on the beach but apparently low fish stocks mean there having to spend much longer hunting recently. On the Point there were Oystercatchers, a Ringed Plover (perhaps a LRP – didn’t get great views), a few different Gull species and Sandwich Tern.

With that done, thankfully as George didn’t enjoy the boat too much, we set off back to Notts vowing to return in August and visit Titchwell and Snettisham. Can’t wait.