Norfolk for Oriole Birding - 29th October 2025

A pre-breakfast head out the door saw thousands of Pink-feet on the move but going inland rather than over the hotel but spectacular none the less while a Red Kite gave me the eye to see if I was either about to perish or through out some tasty morsel.

Pink-feet 

Red Kite

East once again and we made excellent time on the roads and were soon at an empty Walsey Hills car park which was something of relief. A short walk and a scan and the 1w Grey Phalarope was safely in the bag as it spun and bobbed around on Pope’s Marsh.  It had chosen Shoveler as its feeding assistants and closely followed their own gyrations so that it could pick up titbits floating around them but always facing in the opposite direction when so close that they were almost touching.  Every now and then a Shoveler would get grumpy and give it a poke but it would just swivel and come back. 

Grey Phalarope

A Water Rail was conveniently out feeding with some Moorhens in the main ditch and despite frequently dashing for cover it would soon return to continued foraging.

Water Rail

This Black-headed Gull followed us the whole length of the East Bank - and back

Bumping into Chris Gooddie was a fortuitous thing as he had just found a cryptically sleeping Jack Snipe and kindly lowered his scope to show my group while I worked out where it was lurking in the grass.  While we were doing this Maria then found one feeding completely in the open – a quality bird doing some steady bobbing to a beat only it could hear.

There were Little Grebes in the channels and a Kingfisher zipped by while a pair of Stonechats seemed particularly upset by a couple of Reed Buntings in their Elder.  Marsh Harriers were constantly on view and there were the usual assortment of regular waders on Arnold’s Marsh along with several smart Pintail and other dabblers.

Stonechat

Pintail - not quite out of eclipse

Little Egret - noting like a good fluff and shake

The sea was calm and almost devoid of birds with just a Guillemot, two Red-throated Divers and two bull Grey Seals seen before we decided to start the walk back. Bearded Tits continued to elude us but a Mistle Thrush overhead was a new for the trip and by Snipes Marsh by the van I heard Grey Wagtail and a couple of Redwings too.

From here we popped into the main Cley visitors centre and then made our way to Bishop’s Hide where Water Pipits were seen but briefly with one clos outside found just before it took flight.  A Kingfisher rocketed through and 17 Ruff dropped in with a host of Lapwing for a drink and wash and brush up before heading back to inland fields.  There were a few Dunlin, Snipe and Black-tailed Godwits and a solitary Avocet.  Marsh Harriers cruised to and fro but to be honest most of the birds on the scrape took no notice. A  trio of Reed Bunting posed well as we made our way back the car and we then stopped to help a seriously disabled man cross the road only have a paused car change its mind and almost take me out. 

Black-tailed Godwit

Reed Bunting

Reed Buntings

the cigar gall of Lipara lucens - a fly

Acrocercops brongniardella on Holm Oak in the car park

We had lunch as the rain at last started but we could not really complain having escaped it up to this point before making our way back along the coast.  Just before Cley village a sign said ‘Road Ahead Closed’ with a diversion sign up Old Womans Lane.  Any signage then disappeared and I dropped back out past the village and on my way.  Strange we thought.  The same sign then appeared before Blakeney and then Morston.  Cars and buses came the other way and it was not until we reached Wells that the road was clocked by ‘works’ and we were forced left back towards Wighton and then by following our noses onto a tiny lane back west that everyone including the buses were on!  It was exciting and certainly a road less travelled as they say.  We emerged back on the main Wells – Fakenham road and continued on our journey and were soon bac in the Burnham Overy Dunes lay by where we sat for five minutes to see if the light rain would stop.  It did not so we got out and kitted up for a walk down to the seawall in the hope that we could get amongst the Starling roost we saw the night before.

Blackbirds and finches moved ahead of us and six Fieldfares came out of the hedges where Goldcrests and Long-tailed Tits noisily fed while the first Deer and Hares were already out in the fields.  Three Cattle Egrets flew in to join the herd alongside us and there was a good flock of Canada Geese along with Pinkies and Greylags.

Cattle Egret

Cattle Egret

Once up on the seawall the rain stopped and there was the makings already of what was to become a spectacular sunset. There was a good selection on waders out on the saltings, muddy creeks and sandy bars including our first Bar-tailed Godwits, Turnstone, Oystercatcher and Ringed Plover of the day while Brents grazed and Little Egrets fed in the shallows.

Starlings started to appear and we were treated to a super display form the 4000 or so that arrived and they timed their final murmurings with the sun peaking out from below the cloud and given us more of a golden five minutes than a golden hour.  Meanwhile in the background Cormorants had been making their way in snaky lines to Bones Drift and had been joined by thousands of Jackdaws and Rooks that literally turned the bare trees black.  Chinese Water Deer dotted the meadows and Marsh Harriers began to collect but the Peregrine we saw went over before the Starlings had ever really got going.

Starlings

With the sky on fire it suddenly became filled with a vast line of Pink-feet that came from inland and dropped somewhere off towards Scolt Head and at that point we decided that we should really start the walk back.  More nudgers and winkers could be heard and a similarly vast number came across the Holkham Estate and headed towards Lady Anns only to be followed by the same again.  It felt like 10000 birds could have been within those three flocks.

Pink-feet beyond

I still had hope of Barn Owl once again and as if by magic a ghostly shape banked and dropped just in front of us before slowly quartering the fields and disappearing off into the gloaming making a perfect end to a special day.