Garden Drove, Blakeney, Salthouse & Cley!

My intention was to walk Blakeney Point, but it was really windy and sunny and I decided I would waste my energy for very little return. Instead I opted for a pretty lazy day!

I started off at the West Track at Warham, also known as Garden Drove. Parked up on the concrete pad and headed off down the tree lined track. It was seriously overgrown here, which made it difficult to walk along. The recent fallen tree that had blocked the path had been removed and piled up on the side of the track, so this was something, but it needed a serious trim all the way along. I found very little, only a party of inquisitive Long-tailed Tits, a Chaffinch, Wren, Tortoiseshell Butterfly, a Speckled Wood and some bees. Hacked my way through the jungle of undergrowth at the end of the copse and found nothing at all apart from Woodpigeons. A couple of Little Egrets were out on the marsh towards East Hills. Trudged back to the car and then walked east to the barn and hoped for something exciting in the elder bushes by the derilict wall, but nothing. Walked back and had a coffee before heading east.

Stopped at the pull-in by Friary Hills at Blakeney and thought about walking through the marsh and also thought about walking Friary Hills, but didn't bother with either! It was hot, windy and there was no bird action really and I felt tired today and also there were too many people about. A couple of Marsh Harriers cruised round the marshes, a Little Egret was in the pool and a few Greenfinches were sitting in the elder bushes and Jackdaws were in the field.

Drove to Walsey Hills NOA where I had a job to park. I walked all round the reserve and up and over the top, found a few butterflies: Speckled Wood, Tortoiseshell and Peacock Butterfly, but no birds of note. Bumped into John F. and David B. and had a very crazy conversation, that's all I will say! Pete S. then appeared along the path and we all chatted for a while before heading off in different directions. John left and I went up the steps to see if any lizards were basking in the sunshine. Suddenly I heard John bellow from the carpark 'ARNOLDS... quick!' He then repeated again... 'ARNOLD'S'. Heart beating fast, thinking there was a mega within my sight, I ran down those steps and David wasn't far behind me. John had seen 30+ birders all scoping Arnold's marsh along the East Bank and understandably thought they had a got a major bird. I had already seen this large party of birders earlier, walking along the shingle west of the East Bank and could see it was a big tour group – when I looked through my scope, it looked like the same people, so my heart stopped pounding, but as David amusingly said 'thanks for the excitement John'! After all this shenanigans, I headed off to find some birds.

Parked in Meadow Lane, Salthouse and went to look for yesterday's Spotted Flycatcher, but the sallow bush was bare, not even a chiffchaff. It was beautiful walking along the track though and Sedge Warblers were singing all the way along. A couple of Grey Herons flew out of the dyke and settled on the marsh. At Kelling Water Meadows there were only a couple of Black-headed Gulls on the pool, along with a few Woodpigeons on the edge and some Egyptian Geese. Two Stonechats and some Linnets were a bit further along in the brambles and on the fence line. Walked back to my car.

Went to Coastguards and had 40 winks. Ended the day at Glandford Ford and saw a Barn Owl in the field, a Whitethroat, Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Grey Wagtail. Drove home in daylight.