Oystercatchers and Turnstones at Hunstanton

About 2 hours after high tide, the sky and rocks at Hunstanton were full of Oystercatchers and Turnstones returning to the shore as their feeding grounds were uncovered.

 

 

New Year's Day at Titchwell

 On New Year's Day, ten RPS Nature Group Members, partners and friends spent the day photographing the many species present at Titchwell admid crowds of bird watchers there to start their 2020 new bird lists. The day started overcast with poor light conditions for bird photography but the cloud gradually lifted to give a sunny afternoon with perfect lighting on the beach. I think curlew are may favourite in flight birds but the Oystercatcher came a close second. Lots of waders and ducks to test the camera focusing plus a very obliging Little Egret. Even a glimpse of an Otter but it was so quick as it undulated through the water.

 

Norfolk Tour - Pensthorpe

A big change in the weather giving cloudy and cold conditions didn't spoil our day at Pensthorpe Natural Park. We are about a month too early for the gardens and meadows to be flourishing but the birds performed well with the usual suspects - Bearded Tits, Turtle Dove and Ruff putting on a good display in the captive area and lots of activity at the Woodland Hide and the Scrape

Morning Visit to Cemlyn Bay

To try and get better light on the Tern colony , we visited Cemlyn the following morning. The Sandwich Terns were busy bringing in fish to the colony where pairs were still displaying even though many chicks have fledged and their parents returned south. Other species - Black-Headed Gull already in winter plumage, Little Egret, Common Tern (black tip to bill), Arctic Tern, Grey Heron, Oyster Catcher and Greenshank.

Birds Feeding at Snettisham RSPB

At a first glance, the extensive mud flats at Snettisham appear devoid of birds at low tide but looking more closely we found Oystercatcher and Ringed Plover pulling out worms and a Curlew catching a crab. Further along Common Terns were snatching small fish from a creek and taking them back to islands on the gravel pits behind the beach. Most have finished breeding but one male tried to insist a female accepted his gift - in vain. Later an Egret was tossing a small invertebrate of some type.