First stop was at the usual Stone Curlew site just off the A1065 but alas none could be located. A short hop up the road and we were at Lynford Arboretum. Here we had much more joy with at least 3 possible 4 Hawfinch providing good scope views as they fed on the floor among the fallen leaves. Brambling and Nuthatch showed well on the feeders and we were now on a roll.
Next we headed to Santon Downham where we had all too brief views of Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, before heading off to look for the long staying Great Grey Shrike. A lovely walk along the river adding Grey Wagtail and Kingfisher to the day list, before we arrived in the area we believed the shrike favoured. We walked along the river bank scanning fence lines and bushes without realising the bird was actually in a tree just in front of us, only noticing it when we accidentally flushed it just 30-40 yards in front of us. We spent the next 30 minutes watching as it caught plenty of beetles, all on our own, not a person in sight. It certainly was nice to have the bird to ourselves, quietly enjoying it.
Marsh Tit
We headed to the local Goshawk view point which proved disappointing. Distant views were had which we were not happy with. We headed a mile up the road hoping to find a better view point and luckily managed to get one half decent view of a bird having a disagreement with a circling Buzzard.
The weather had now turned. It was windy, overcast and the temperature was steadily dropping. We ended the day at Mayday Farm, which was full of mountain bikers and walkers and empty of birds! We spent our final hour at the drinking pool watching common species at close quarters coming down to drink, hoping we'd be treated to a Crossbill, but it was not to be.
I'm looking forward to many more bird filled days out in the near future.
