Nov 13th Cley

Curlew

I have returned to Cley for another visit. Yes, I was here just last Thursday, but with no fresh ideas of where to go today, Mum decided that we should come back here to see what we could find this time. After a tea break stop at Kelling (with no waxwings to be seen), we parked at the small car park by the East Bank for a walk down to the beach and back. Wigeon were grazing on the field beside the bank, a marsh harrier soared over distant reed beds to our left and a couple of curlews were probing the small pools near the beach end of the trail providing brilliant close views. Scanning the sea rewarded us with gannets, guillemots and various gull species flying over the waves, while a red-throated diver bobbed and dived amongst them.

Wigeon

View of Pat's Pool (mostly Teal and Wigeon)

There were a lot more birds at the main central pools this time around compared to last week. From the hides, on my right, Pat's Pool was mostly full of feeding teal and wigeon with a few black-tailed godwits, ruff, curlew and a single avocet snoozing amongst them all. On my left, Simmond's Scrape was covered in a large number of black-headed gulls, possibly over a hundred or so strong. There were a few teal, godwits, dunlin and ruff, too, but in much smaller numbers in comparison to how many that were on Pat's Pool. At the far side of Simmond's Scrape, a great black-backed gull caught my eye. It was feeding on what looked like a dead teal and was being harassed by a pair of crows, which tried to annoy the gull off its meal by pecking at its tail. And that was pretty much it highlight wise. Not quite as eventful as seeing the peregrines and the bittern last week, but I wasn't expecting lightning to strike twice.

Teal

Ruff

Black-tailed Godwit

Moorhen

Avocet, Black-headed Gulls and Shelduck

View of Simmond's Scrape (Mostly Black-headed Gulls)

Black-headed Gull

Great Black-backed Gull being harassed by a Carrion Crow

Brent Geese