Eight members chose the dry but chilly weather to visit this fabulous reserve rather than stay at home where as I understand it, the weather was not so kind.

We benefitted enormously from the fact that there was a particularly high tide peaking at about 08:40 that morning and thus driving thousands of waders onto the scrapes. (Sea water had got as far as the sea wall in places which is unusual.)  As the sea receded, many of the waders returned to The Wash providing a dramatic change between morning and afternoon viewing with few waders after lunch although still one special species remained.

59 species were seen during the day, the best of which, in no particular order were:
Great White Egret 1, Spoonbill 1, at least 4 Curlew Sandpipers, 2 Greenshank, 9 Little

Stint, a Grey Plover, 1 Sandwich Tern, a Whooper Swan, Yellow Wagtails and a couple of

Wheatear. However, it was the shear numbers of quite common waders which was probably the most impressive feature of the visit. There were literally several thousand Black-tailed Godwits creating an evocative background sound with their chattering

(probably discussing where they were going to go for breakfast), hundreds of Dunlin and Ringed Plover and one visitor counted 80 Linnets. Added to this, there were quite a few Swifts still about and all the hirundines plus a large flock of Goldfinch which would rise en masse from the thistles as you passed.  As you walked along the sea wall, it was fabulous to have House Martins drifting past at head height in the strong wind and only a few feet away.

And then there were the other animals!

In spite of missing out on the Wood and Pectoral Sandpipers, which remained stubbornly elusive, we had a wonderful time and if you get the chance to go in the next week or two it could prove a worthwhile experience.

The good photos were provided by the proper photographers on the trip – the rubbish ones were digiscoped!

The weather forecast was foul causing even the trip leader to bale out.  However, three hardy souls braved the elements and reported as follows:

You (i.e. the trip leader) were right to cancel. It rained for the 4 hours we were there. Visibility was bad and there was very little movement.
We saw 51 species including Barn Owl, Greensand, Dunlin, Marsh Harrier, Spotted Redshank, Snipe & half a dozen Ruff in a wide variety of plumages . We dipped on the female Montague’s Harrier that had been reported twice the day before and also that morning before we arrived. Also surprisingly absent were Avocets, Spoonbills and Bearded Tits, all of which we had expected to see.

It can’t have been that bad Ron, if you managed to see 51 species or were you counting plants as well?

This trip was the one which should have taken place on 7th June, but had to be rescheduled after the National Trust closed parts of the park as a result of damage to a number of trees resulting from the recent gales.

The 13th of June, in contrast presented a warm still evening which meant that we had to wait longer than normal for the Nightjars to appear.  Interestingly, in such perfect conditions, one would have expected to get at least as many species as we did on our visit on the 23rd May.  However this was not to be with 39 recorded and yet we clocked Mandarin, Greenfinch and Tawny Owl which we didn’t record last time. That being as it may, the stars of the show were again the Nightjars and the Woodcock.  The latter treated us to some marvellously close views with as many as four flying at once making their squeaking calls.  The first churring of the Nightjars happened at 21:46, a good half an hour later than on the previous trip.  Also, they weren’t churring as frequently until around about 22:20.  However, we did get to see a male and a female flying together on several occasions, complete with a bit of wing clapping and ‘yelping’ from the male.

Maximum numbers had booked on this rightly, popular trip and with the weather being incredibly warm, with little wind, hopes were high that we would break the previous record of 44 species of bird identified.  Indeed, the evening started well with linnets and a Yellow Wagtail spotted on our way to the ford near to Hardwick Village. At or near the ford, a Cetti’s warbler was heard and there were a few Sedge Warblers and Reed Buntings whizzing around to keep us entertained.
At about 9 p.m. we drove to the area where we hoped to see the Nightjars and we’d only been there a few moments when the first Woodcock flew overhead.  Ten minutes later, while it was still quite light, we heard the first Nightjar churring.  It seemed to be coming from close to the top of some nearby pine trees and this was confirmed a moment later when someone spotted it perched on a branch.  We stayed in the same spot until about 10:20 p.m. getting frequent sightings of flying Woodcock with a maximum of 4 at any one time.  We also had excellent, close sightings of a male Nightjar, displaying to the female with wing clapping and yelping cries.
The last species to be identified was a cuckoo, which rather surprisingly was still calling after 10 p.m.  Total species seen/heard was 44 so the record remains.