Weather: sunnier. From 2:55pm.
Back to Snettisham, this time to the proper location! Plenty of people around so I knew that I was in the right location & the sun even came out.
In the mixed scrub & reed beds: Blackbird, Meadow Pipit, Sedge Warbler, Chiffchaff, Black-Headed Gull, Grey Heron, Little Grebe & Coot on the small pool in the centre; Willow Warbler, Kestrel,
Goldfinch, Mallard, Swallow streaming over, Linnet; trying to find my way from the pond I almost trod on a sunbathing Grass Snake which hastily slithered away!
On the other side of the sea defence wall: Shelduck & large flocks of Pink-Footed Goose, in the hundreds, some of which streamed out to the Wash over RSPB Snettisham.
Heading back to the car-park after a long walk round finally I heard the sound I had come for: the distinctive 'reeling' of Grasshopper Warbler. Predictably the individual making the wonderful noise was impossible to see, however I crept closer & after 20 minutes crouched in the scrub I was rewarded with a 2 second glimpse as it scuttled from one thick bramble to another: still wonderful sighting especially considering my last view of one of these warblers was 22 years ago!
Finally in the large bramble bushes adjacent to the carpark, another distinctive song, this time the equally elusive Lesser Whitethroat. Again after standing around for a good 20 minutes this time I was rewarded with two fleeting views, one from the top of a bramble, however the song was a pleasure to hear, more so because it's not one that I'm not overly familiar with.
18 species.
No comments:
Post a Comment