Clough Head the right way

A gloriously sunny morning, so a quick trip up Clough Head. This time we went along the Old Coach Road that circles behind Threlkeld Knotts. At Hausewell Brow the track is fenced continuously, but a gate allows access to go up the path over White Pike and then onto the summit.  Now, on the way up at the farm at the bottom, we had met Meg - a gorgeous young collie that scrambled under the fence to say hello...we dutifully encouraged her back under the fence to the farmer. Who should be at the summit of Clough Head but Meg. A quick phone call to the farmer (she had a tag), before we continued down across Red Screes with Meg in regular attendance, playing with Rocky most of the way. Rocky is now very tired! We met the farmer at the bottom and were able to return the lovely Meg, who clearly had been everywhere this morning - not just with us! Anyway a lovely morning out. 

Looking across to Blencathra.

The Coach Road.

Across to Skiddaw.

Great Mell Fell.

From White Pike to Clough Head.

A smattering of snow.

Looking into Central Lakes and Bow Fell.

Clough Head with Rocky and Meg.

Looking over Keswick. 

... and down Red Screes. 

A bitty last day...

Last days of holiday are always hard. First because it is the last day and second, because we've usually done the things we really want to earlier in the week. So a bitty day - a check in at Titchwell as we were driving past, then a walk along the sea wall from Cley to Blakeney and finally an hour on Stiffkey salt marsh in the late afternoon sun. 

At Titchwell we had good views of the Water Rail again, at Cley we got rather damp, courtesy of a passing squall and then at Stiffkey Marsh we dried out in the afternoon sun....it was still cold mind, while being treated to a raptor spectacle. 

Mediterranean Gull showing its red bill nicely.

Cley.

Reed stack.

Reed patterns.

An atmospheric light before the rain...

And the rainbow after the rain...

Saltmarsh in the sun with a Merlin on a post: add to that Barn Owl, Short-eared Owl, Hen Harrier, Marsh Harrier and Kestrel and not a bad hours bird watching|! 

A nosey Chinese Water Deer.

Titchwell and Hunstanton again

After a quick trip into Titchwell to check what had been seen ...and to eat our picnic, we went back to Hunstanton as I wanted another look at the cliffs ...a possible source for a wall hanging - I'm planning it in my head! 

Titchwell was cold and windy - not a lot different to see, and Hunstanton wasn't a lot warmer! 

Brent Geese.

Golden Plover - well camouflaged in the dull light.

Avocets and Brent Geese - choppy waters.

And then on to Hunstanton.

The three layers in the cliffs are well demarcated ...

An excellent explanation from: http://www.discoveringfossils.co.uk/hunstanton-norfolk/

Fulmars.

There are fossils ...finding them is another matter ...

Trace fossils - crustacean burrows.

Slipper Limpets and Mussels.

..and some decent interpretation.

Lesser White-fronted Geese

To be honest I'm not good on goose id, but there are 22 Lesser White-fronted Geese at Wild Ken Hill. These are a new species to me and very rare. They come from the reintroduced Swedish population and have come across to the UK for the winter. Interestingly, in the past, the population has been trained by implanting on Barnacle Geese to fly west to 'safe' grounds, rather than fly east to areas where they are shot. They have less dramatic barring on their bellies than the Greater White-fronted Geese from Russia, that we saw earlier in the week, and the white around their bills extends high up onto the top of their head. ...so what were our chances of seeing them? 

Well we walked for about 400 yards and there they were - 22 of them as reported and close enough to photograph to confirm their id. 

Lesser White-fronted and below 

Greater White-fronted Geese from earlier in the week.

Holkham Shore Larks

A few photos ...first on the sand and then on shingle - not easy to spot on either! 

Holkham beach and woods round walk

The wind had dropped, so an early-ish, start to beat the weekend crowds to Holkham. As we drove into Lady Anne's Drive a good view of a Barn Owl which was nice, before arriving to park - £13.50 for over 4 hours - not quite so nice! Anyway, straight out onto the beach and some good views of the well camouflaged Shore Larks, before walking along a practically empty beach. There was a huge slick of Common Scoter off shore, that you could see with the naked eye; apparently there were over 2000 of them with six Velvet Scoter and two Red-necked Grebes among them. Funnily enough we didn't spot the Velvets or Grebes! We then continued along the beach before returning through the woods and the newly built Joe Jordan (a voluntary warden on Stiffkey Marsh) hide. What a superb hide it is too. Built high up it gives good views across the marsh. We had splendid views of Spoonbills and The Merlin app picked up the call of a Firecrest: apparently this is a good area for them....sadly, we didn't see it to confirm this. 

A vast expanse of beach....

Shore Larks.

2000+ Common Scoter.

Lichen Heath.

Spoonbills.

..and landing...

After Holkham, we popped in on Titchwell on the way back, where the sun came out...and we had good views of Little Gull and Mediterranean Gulls.

Golden plover and Lapwing in the sun.

Avocets.

Sunshine!

 

Cley Marsh Harriers

A few photos of the Marsh Harriers: 

Over the beach.

Two at once ...

Closer up....

..and over the reeds.

Plagued by a crow.

A pair seeing the crow off...