Titchwell RSPB – Rain ALL Day!

I had a lazy morning – it poured with rain ALL day, which did not entice me out of the door very quickly. I was tempted by the American Bittern in Suffolk, but promised to deliver fish n chips to my mother and I have twitched the Cornwall bird in 2010 – also I didn't fancy a long drive and then standing in the rain all day!

At Drove Orchards Complex at Thornham I picked up fish n chips from 'Erics'. I was just about to get in the car when I noticed a massive finch flock in the field on the other side of the A149 – lots of birds on the telegraph wire and feeding in the field – got the bins out of the boot and saw Bramblings, Chaffinches and Goldfinches – every time a car flew past, the entire flock got up, possibly 150+ birds, what a fabulous sight!

After lunch I took mother to Sainsburys in Hunstanton for a mini shop. Cruised back slowly along lighthouse lane to look for Wheatears on the pitch 'n' putt – a favoured place for them, but none seen.
Then, cat napped on mother's sofa for a while – still raining heavily and decided to go birding anyway. Got dressed up in waterproof gear and headed for Titchwell RSPB where I spent a couple of hours birding from 6pm-8pm.

I'm really glad I went out in the end, as I had the entire reserve to myself and saw a few good birds including: 3 Swallows flying across the main path west at 7.10pm, 2 Spoonbills were on the freshmarsh, a pair of Red-crested Pochards were next to the path – they were so close I could only just video them! Massive gull roost – I have never seen so many Black-headed Gulls here, the noise was almost deafening! I counted 7 Marsh Harriers in the roost, including a stunning male bird.

Other birds seen: Teal, Mallards, Shelducks, Gadwalls, Black-tailed Godwits, Ruff, Greylags, 2 Canada Geese and Lapwings. No smaller waders at all – couldn't see any Redshanks or Dunlin, but the light was atrocious, so there could have been! No sign of Garganey on Patsy's Pool, only a few Pochard, Tufted Ducks, Shelduck and Teal here. A very tame Pheasant by Fen Hide, who allowed me to walk past him – must have been poorly, stupid or very trusting!