Thursday 1st December
After completely forgetting to spot the Cranes that have been hanging around the fields opposite the Big Chillout Cafe on the way up to Norfolk but clocking some of the 1200 Whopper Swans in the area instead, we arrived at Titchwell with the breaking news of a Western Sandpiper at Cley Marshes. My birder's wife was in shopping mode, so I left her and our friend in the Titchwell shop while I went to look for the Mealys that had been seen on and off around the centre. Unfortunately, as time was at a premium and the light was not that great, all I could manage to find were some Lesser Redpolls. To some, this would be disappointing, but for me they were a good spot, as I had not managed to catch up with any this year until then. As lunch was beckoning, I managed to persuade the others to have lunch at Cley and then I left my birder's wife with the car keys and asked her if she could check into the hotel and pick me up later, which she kindly agreed to do. After buying my permit, I made my way over to the appropriate hide and squeezed in amongst the crowd and was soon watching the flighty litte Sandpiper, which was amongst some Dunlin. I will admit that I am not as educated on birds as many birders in the hide and therefore did not really find this new lifer for me that exciting, although a day later, a friendly birder did put the spot in perspective by stating how amazing it is that this little bird was only in an egg a few months earlier and had travelled sooo far. After spotting the Sandpiper, I retreated into the other hide next door, which was far less frantic and after scanning for the Green Winged Teal, could not find it anywhere. Fortunately, someone managed to put me onto the bird which was right on the other side of Pat's Pool and hardly visible at all. As I had some time to spare I thought I would then go and find some Bearded Tits and came across some as I walked to the beach. Unfortunately, my birder's wife's mobile was not taking calls, so I took the opportunity to walk to Salthouse and was rewarded with close views of a Guillemot on the sea along with two Common Scoters and a flock of Snow Buntings around the Salthouse Beach Carpark. After about 30 dropped calls due the appalling mobile reception, I managed to meet up with my birder's wife and we retired to the hotel for a swim, sauna and a spin in the jacuzzi closely followed by a pint of Adnams and a great meal - Not a bad day at all really.
Friday 2nd December
After the successes of yesterday, I was in a buoyant mood and was optimistic for the day's ahead birding. We started the day off with a bit of sea watching, which produced a couple of Little Auk, quite a few Little Gull, some Guillemots and the flock of Snow Buntings. We then tried to locate the Cattle Egret that had been in the area for a week or so, but could not find it. The same thing happened with the small flock of Tundra Bean Geese that were supposed to be around Weybourne. To break the day up from constant birding, we popped back to Cley and had a look round the shop and then at the Brent Goose flock in a nearby field, which produced one Pale Bellied amongst the Dark Bellies. As time was then marching on and the days are a lot shorterwend then popped back to Cley Beach for some further sea watching which did not produce anything unusual except for the famous Lee Evans (who was presumably in the area to see the Western Sandpiper). We then retreated back to the hotel for another Sauna which really helped to warm us up after the freezing wind on Cley beach.
Saturday 3rd December
I thought I would try my hand at some further sea watching but gave up after some inconsiderate git plonked himself a foot in front of me thus blocking my view - Thanks for that!! I thought I would try again for the Weybourne Bean Geese but they must have seen me coming and scarpered. The rest of the day was spent shopping in nearby Holt and at Blickling.
Sunday 4th December
All good things have to come to an end and after 3 days and nights doing the things I love to do, birding, eating and drinking, we made our way home. This time, I did not forget to take a mile detour to view the Cranes - awesome! Two hours later, to welcome us home into Warwickshire, the heavens opened and blessed us with some dismal weather (I am glad that it happened then and not during the weekend though).
