18 May 2026 Hickling Broad
My sense that I might be getting a cold, yesterday, seems to have resolved into a bad hay fever caused by willow pollen so I struggled a bit through the day. We went to Hickling Broad where we joined the NWT. We walked the track down to Stubb Mill, stopping at each of the two platforms.
We were hoping to see the three Teminck’s Stints that had been around but to no avail. There were, however, plenty of birds and we heard both Cuckoo and Bittern. (See full list) and had a nice view of around ten Little Plovers. There were a few Hobbies flying around.
We returned to the visitor centre for a cup of tea before heading off to the 1:30pm 1-hour boat trip. We didn’t see much although there were many Marsh harriers flying around. we stopped at the tower but at 75 steps, I decided it was too much for me. We returned from the boat trip and made it back to the visitor centre
Year Ticks
Water Rail
Bird Sightings : 18 May 2026 Hickling Broad
| Species | No |
|---|---|
| Avocet | 4 |
| Bittern | 1 |
| Black-headed Gull | 8 |
| Black-tailed Godwit | 24 |
| Blackbird | 2 |
| Blackcap | 4 |
| Blue Tit | 1 |
| Chaffinch | 6 |
| Chiffchaff | 8 |
| Common Tern | 4 |
| Coot | 4 |
| Cormorant | 10 |
| Gadwall | 6 |
| Goldfinch | 3 |
| Great Crested Grebe | 4 |
| Great Tit | 1 |
| Great White Egret | 3 |
| Grey Heron | 1 |
| Greylag Goose | 7 |
| Hobby | 5 |
| Jackdaw | 2 |
| Lapwing | 6 |
| Lesser Black-backed Gull | 2 |
| Little Egret | 2 |
| Little Ringed Plover | 3 |
| Magpie | 2 |
| Mallard | 20 |
| Marsh Harrier | 8 |
| Mute Swan | 4 |
| Pheasant | 4 |
| Pied Wagtail | 1 |
| Pochard | 20 |
| Redshank | 2 |
| Reed Bunting | 1 |
| Reed Warbler | 3 |
| Robin | 3 |
| Shelduck | 6 |
| Shoveler | 8 |
| Swallow | 4 |
| Teal | 10 |
| Tufted Duck | 3 |
| Water Rail | 2 |
| Whitethroat | 4 |
| Willow Warbler | 10 |
| Woodpigeon | 10 |
| Wren | 3 |