On the sea shore......

Salthouse Shingle Ridge in Norfolk was cold but bright. Shelducks were appearing quite frequently.
Very nice in flight, and here below you can see the lovely colours in all their glory.

The larger gull in the centre is a Common Gull, while the two to the left are Black headed gulls. Turnstones are foraging around beneath them.

A nice close up of a Turnstone

Snow Bunting - Norfolk

One of my lifer birds on my Norfolk trip was the Snow Bunting. I'd made numerous trips up to Winter Hill on the Horwich Moors to try and catch a glimpse of one of these birds. Weather conditions were always against me. Whether it was fog, rain or falling ice, I always drew a blank. So when I managed to catch up with these lovely little birds in Norfolk at the end of January, I was absolutely delighted. Once again using the car as a hide, I managed some ok shots. Not great, but pleased to get something of a bird that had proved to be rather elusive for me.

Not a great shot but it looks like the Snow Bunting and Turnstone are having a nice little chat.

Golden Plover - Norfolk

While in Norfolk we came across several groups of Golden Plover. I've never got that close to them, but this time we spotted one lone individual on some mudflats. It kindly let us drive up and park alongside it, which gave me a good opportunity to put the lens out of the window and snap away. The colours are quite beautiful.

Really quite unusual to be able to get this close to the Golden Plover. Just 20 feet away.

This is my favourite shot.

Turnstone - Norfolk

One the lifers that I did see in Norfolk was the Turnstone. A bird that I have always been keen to see, but have never made a conscious effort find. I wasn't disappointed with these little beauties. We came across several groups of them along the shingle beaches, and some of them were very confiding. One particular bird was practically walking between our feet. Quite an amazing sight. Better than that though, was the noise these guys made as they tossed over shingle. To hear the stones clanging together made me laugh. It was quite a comical thing to hear. I don't know why. Tiny things please tiny minds I suppose.

Annoyingly, the sun was situated behind the birds, but I think it actually made for some nice shots.

There once was an angry Mute Swan

Never exactly elegant, but always captivating to watch a Swan in flight. Even better when you can watch them taking to the air or coming into land. Here at Titchwell there were several pairs on the water.

 

From the pictures above, all looks peaceful. That is until the neighbourhood bully turns up. Yep, this guy was seeing off all and sundry, and he wasn't happy.

 

 

 Have that, and don't come back! Yes, this is the first Swan (on the left) pictured above that was minding it's own business, being harassed by the angry bully.

Geese a plenty - Norfolk

Geese are always plentiful in Norfolk during the winter months, and I managed to come across a couple of species that I'd never seen before. The first was the Black-bellied Brent Goose. They winter largely on the East coast, and Norfolk holds good populations. They depart again in March. I don't know if it was because I'd not seen them before, but I did find them to be quite a good looking goose. Certainly nicer to look at than the numerous Canada Geese we see all year round.
The second species I'd not seen before was the European White-fronted Goose. I only saw two and didn't manage to get any shots of them, but it always makes a trip worthwhile when you see something new.

Black-bellied Brent Geese

Pink footed Geese were always on the move, or so it seemed. Huge skeins could be seen high up in the classic V formation.

Pink footed geese overhead.

 

Egyptian Geese were quite plentiful. They seemed to turn up in most places.

 

 

 

 

 

Black-tailed Godwit

Waders are some of my favourite birds to watch and especially to photograph. We came across many in Norfolk, and some came close enough to give some decent shots. Some didn't, and so we had to improvise. We used the car as a hide on this occasion. We stayed in the car and just waited (patiently) until they got in a good position with the right light.
This Black-tailed Godwit gave really decent views. The late afternoon wintry sunlight gave it a really good look.