The glacial ridge orientated east/west running parallel to the coast here in Norfolk is ideal for Firecrests. We found up to eight singing males when the weather started to warm a little. When I saw this individual it wasn’t singing just foraging avidly So I presume it was a female. She had a seed or something stuck to her bill. No matter what she did she couldn’t shake it off.
We were waiting by the lake in Holkham Park on the north Norfolk coast the other day; waiting expectantly for a returning Osprey. Ospreys don’t commonly hang around in the county so you do have to have a little luck to see one and this individual had been present a couple of days so was a good bet. When we arrived we were told it had just caught a fish and flown off south so the possibility of seeing a large fish eating bird of prey return with a rotund stomach to fish again was somewhat remote. But we stuck it out and gave it a try.
The Jackdaws in the distance seemed to be playing up a little which raised my hopes. Alex my competent young guest was the first to see a Red Kite and then a Marsh Harrier flying through. I naturally assumed they were the reason for all the corvid consternation. However when I looked behind us I was delighted to see the Osprey had returned. A young female she was quite inexperienced and we saw her attempt to strike fish three or four times without success before resting in a nearby tree. We were all appreciative of the excellent views and the length of time she allowed us to watch her.
Grey Wagtails are almost absent in Norfolk; not common at all. To find one you stand the best chance on a fast flowing river or a mill race… or a sewage farm. This male was nesting under a bridge in North Norfolk. Completely oblivious to the hullabaloo and commotion going on above.
It’s a new sport. Diver Racing.
There we were looking out to sea when a diver popped up in from of us. This was not the usual North Norfolk up-tilted bill pale faced Red-throated. This was a piebald bird with a symmetrical bill and a stonking great white flank patch. It was a Black throated Diver.
We walked down the shingle to get a closer look and the diver did what divers do … and dived. It came up a hundred metres further along the beach. We walked towards it and it dived again coming up a hundred metres away again. Each time we tried to get closer it moved on. We were racing it up the shingle beach.
The picture below is taken at a distance of … you guessed it … one hundred metres.
Letter From Norfolk 