Santon Downham & Hockwold Fen – Friday 2nd January 2015
We went to Santon Downham today to try and get a glimpse of a Great
Grey Shrike, which has been reported there and at Grimes Graves. They are
probably one and the same bird as the two locations are quite near each other.
On our way we saw several hundred Corvids gathered together around Bodney Camp
and I saw a Muntjac Deer.
The Great Grey Shrike has eluded me for several years now and it
continued to elude us today. We didn’t see any sign of the bird, however we did
see a male Sparrowhawk, Blackbirds, Great and Blue Tits. The next day the Great
Grey Shrike was seen in the location about an hour after we were there.
We decided to move over to Hockwold near RSPB Lakenheath as there
had been a Great White Egret reported there in recent days. When we got there,
there was no sign of the bird but the there were plenty of other birds about. Would you believe it the next day it was reported there at 10am!
Little Ouse & Hockwold
A kestrel hovered right near us but I was in the wrong position to
get any footage of it and on the Washland there were a group of Mute Swans,
oddly, one adult and seven cygnets although another adult turned up on the
river (Little Ouse) a bit later on. They were also 8 Coots, a Little Grebe, a
Little Egret, a Heron, Crows, Pheasants and two Great Crested Grebes.
Moon
While we were sitting there a Murmuration of Starlings (several
thousand) passed over us and although they did a few swirls they were intent on
getting further north before roosting.
Our last sighting of the day was a Barn Owl quartering the opposite
bank of the Little Ouse before catching something and roosting on a fence post.
Unfortunately by then it was too dark for any pictures or videos.
We made our way home seeing three Muntjac Deer as we drove through
Thetford Forest.
Keep your eyes peeled and good spotting.
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