Salthouse To Choseley Barns To Abbey Farm – Friday 17th April 2015
One Of The 41 Hares We Saw
Another beautiful Spring day so we decided to go up to the North Norfolk Coast. We left home at 10.50am, it was sunny with some cloud with a slight breeze and a temperature of 13˚C although when we got to the coast the temperature had dropped to 12˚C and the wind had freshened up making it feel more like about 5˚C and it did cloud over a few times as well.
On our way we saw 2 Kestrels, one hovering over a roadside verge and the other eating its catch in a tree. One thing we did notice, especially the nearer we got to the coast was an increasing amount of plants with green flowers not only in the road verges but also along the sides of fields. We later found out this was a plant called Alexanders (Smyrnium olusatrum) it is also known as Horse Parsley, Allsanders and Smyrnium. It has been known since the time of the Greeks and is a Mediterranean cultivated plant. It is an edible plant that has a flavour said to be between celery and parsley and was widely used until celery replaced it. The Romans brought it with them to eat the stems, leaves, buds and roots. However, Norfolk Wildlife Trust have warned that the proliferation of this plant is putting some of our wild plants and flowers at risk because of its vigorous growth, it shades areas pretty quickly. It is a tender plant and is killed off by harsh winters. If you like a Gin and Tonic, it is said that the addition of an Alexander leaf gives it a new taste and is highly recommended.
Alexander
We decided to start at Cley because we wanted to visit the enlarged Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s Visitor Centre and I wanted to get there before it got too busy. It does all look rather swish and I particularly liked the new outdoor viewing area. My only criticisms of the new centre is that I am not sure that in the Winter the fact that you have to go outside to another building to use the loo is going to go down well and the existing centre is a nightmare for people like me who have restricted mobility. The tables are packed so close together that it is difficult to get to a table, other than an outside one, when it is busy. Also the shop is impossible for me to actually get round and look at things. I should think when it gets busy in the centre it will be absolute chaos but I’m a miserable old xxx, so my opinion doesn’t really count.
Norfolk Wildlife Trust Cley Visitor Centre
We had our lunch in the visitor centre overlooking the reserve where we could see Avocets, Shelduck, Little Egrets etc. After our lunch we went to Salthouse, seeing a Marsh Harrier on the way, first stopping at the Duckpond where we could see several biggish Rats mingling with the birds and vying for the food. Apart from the usual Black-headed Gulls and Mallard there was a pair of Tufted Duck on the pool. I’m sure this Duckpond gives so much pleasure to many people. We carried on to the Beach where we saw Herons, Corvids (Jackdaws, Rooks and Crows), Oystercatchers, Blue Tit, Skylarks, Lapwing, Teal, Rabbits and 3 Wheatear.
Mallard & Black-headed Gull At The Duck Pond
Then we made our way to Salthouse Heath where we heard a Chiffchaff and saw a Blackcap, Chaffinch, 12 Curlews fly over and 2 Buzzards being mobbed by some Crows. The coconutty smell of the Gorse was delicious. There were plenty of Alexander plants here too.
Salthouse Heath
Moving on to Blakeney Harbour we got the first sighting of Brent Geese beginning to flock up to begin their migration to their breeding grounds in Svalbard and Scandanavia. Over 100,000 birds (nearly half the world’s population) overwinter in Britain after breeding and they will return in October. It was very busy around the harbour but unfortunately more with people than birds. We did see 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Black-headed Gulls, Redshank, and Canada Geese.
Our next stop was Morston Quay, we haven’t stopped here for a while but apart from several hundred Brent Geese, Redshank, Little Egrets, Pied Wagtails and Black-headed Gulls there wasn’t much going on. We made the mistake of sitting on one of the benches and having an ice cream (thinking it must be nearly Summer); although it was now sunny, the wind had stiffened considerably and become what is known in Norfolk as a “Lazy Wind,” in that it prefers to go through you rather than round you! The temperature now felt like about 3 or 4˚C even the car was now showing 12˚C. There was no danger of the ice cream melting before we could eat it!
We carried on to Stiffkey Saltmarsh where again the Brent Geese were coming in, in their hundreds we also saw some Greylag and Canada Geese, Little Egret and a couple of Skylarks ascending to the heavens.
River Stiffkey At Stiffkey
On the way to Holkham we saw a Kestrel and then in Lady Anne’s Drive we found a very different picture to what we have been seeing over the Winter. Gone were the wall to wall Geese and replaced by a few pairs of Shovelers, Oystercatchers, Wood Pigeon, Lapwings, Coot, Teal, Pheasant, one solitary Curlew and a pair of Buzzards.
Then it all got a bit messy in that the A149 was closed and we had to take a detour to Burnham Market before we could get to Burnham Overy Staithe and when we got there the tide was the highest we’d ever seen it and there was still an hour to go before High Tide. However pleasant the afternoon had become (as long as you stayed in the car) these were not the best conditions to see shore birds in, mainly because there was no shore.
We then had to go back to Burham Market so we could get to Burnham Norton where we could see Canada, Greylag, Brent and 2 Egyptian Geese, Jackdaws, Black-headed Gulls and a solitary Cormorant.
Moving on to Brancaster Staithe we obviously found the same conditions with Black-headed Gulls being the only obvious birds. We did try to get down to Brancaster Beach but this was obviously a high Spring Tide and the road was flooded. We made a comfort stop at RSPB Titchwell before deciding that we would try to see the Dotterel that had been seen at Choseley Barns for the last couple of days. As we went through Titchwell Village there was one solitary Swallow on the wires.
Arriving at Choseley Barns we parked on the hard standing area where we had seen the Dotterel last year and although there were no Dotterel visible there was quite an array of bird life before us; no less than 7 Hares, many Pheasants, Partridges, a Skylark, a Corn Bunting, 4 Stock Doves and 5 Wheatear. When we last visited Choseley Barns we had seen 20 Hares between the Barns and the A149, that was about to be shattered.
Hare & Wheatear At Choseley Barns
As we went past Choseley Barns and in about the same distance from the Barns to the A149 we saw another 21 Hares making a total of 41 and we didn’t particularly set out to see the Hares, these are what we counted just from driving slowly along the road. I’m sure if we had stopped at every field the number might have been a lot higher. Some of the crops are now getting tall enough for you not to see the Hares unless they sit up or move. That would have been pretty good if it was all we saw but we also saw 10 Chaffinch, 8 Goldfinch, Reed Bunting, another 8 Wheatear and 50+ Linnets which made it an excellent diversion even if we hadn’t seen the Dotterel.
Deciding to head for home the next decision was to whether we stopped at Abbey Farm, when we got there it was 7.30pm and the light was beginning to go but I’m glad we did make the stop because Abbey Farm rarely lets us down and it didn’t tonight. This is what we saw in our short stop (about 30-40 minutes): Little Owl, Barn Owl, pair of Tufted Duck, Egyptian Goose with 2 Goslings, Canada and Greylag Geese, Mallard and 8 Ducklings, Jackdaws (one of whom tried to snaffle a Gosling), Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, 2 Oystercatchers, Rabbits, Coot (one on nest), Pied Wagtail, Lapwings, Moorhen, 2 Curlew, Pheasants and a pair of Shelduck. It is going to be interesting to see the development of the pond they are constructing in the car park (I’m always interested in ponds).
It really was time to head for home but it wasn’t quite over yet. As we drove down the lane that skirts around Abbey Farm we saw a Bat (probably a Pipistrelle), lots of baby Rabbits and the Barn Owl we had seen earlier, now sitting on a gate post, where we have seen him before by the side of the lane. We inched forward and I suppose we got to within 30 metres of him before he flew off and that was when our sightings finished.
Lesser Black-backed Gull & Herring Gull At Abbey Farm
Little Owl In The Tree Roots At Abbey Farm
This is what we had seen in total:
Kestrels (3)
Avocets (30+)
Shelduck (20+)
Mute Swan (1)
Greylag (Too many to count)
Canada Geese (Too many to count)
Lapwing (30+)
Brent Geese (1000+)
Mallard (Too many to count)
Black-headed Gull (Too many to count)
Goldfinch (10+)
Skylarks (5)
Jackdaw (Too many to count)
Crows (Too many to count)
Rooks (Too many to count)
Tufted Duck (2 pairs)
Marsh Harrier (1)
Heron (6)
Little Egret (10+)
Coot (Too many to count)
Moorhen (8)
Teal (5 pairs)
Blue Tit (1)
Oystercatchers (10+)
Starlings (6)
Redshank (4)
Wheatear (16)
Chiffchaff (1 heard)
Buzzards (4)
Curlew (15)
Blackcap (1)
Chaffinch (10+)
Pied Wagtail (4)
Wood Pigeon (Too many to count)
Cormorant (4)
Pheasant (Too many to count)
Partridge (Too many to count)
Reed Bunting (1)
Stock Doves (4)
Linnets (50+)
Little Owl (1)
Barn Owl (1 twice)
Egyptian Geese (3 + 2 Goslings)
Lesser Black-backed Gull (5)
Herring Gull (1)
Hares (41)
Rabbits (Too many to count)
Bat (1 Pipistrelle)
Keep your eyes peeled and good spotting.
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