Thursday, November 21, 2019
Bright eyes....
Just a few of the hundreds of golden plover at Titchwell Marsh in Norfolk, two days ago. We were there house-hunting but came home earlier than intended as Greger wasn't very well.
On the lovely wide beach, he had a rest on the edge of the dunes while I walked down towards the waders. It was just the usual suspects, but then I caught sight of something tiny, black-and-white, whirring eastwards above the waves and felt certain it was a little auk.
When we'd first arrived at Titchwell there was a little group of people in the car park staring intently up into (can't remember - was it a sycamore or maple?) and learnt that a yellow-browed warbler was foraging there. I saw a chiffchaff (apparently there were a couple of those) and then I glimpsed the YBW. It didn't stop moving! But then I got lucky as it came out onto a more open branch and I had a great view. Not my favourite sort of birdwatching, but it's not as though it was my first YBW - that was in our garden here in 2015. But on that occasion it was a blink-and-you'll-miss-it kind of sighting, whereas this time I could see what a pretty, bright little sprite it was.
And back home, just for confirmation, I googled Norfolk bird sightings and found that little auks are being seen off the east coast at the moment. A nice double.
// posted by Christine @ 8:02 AM 
