Cley Marshes NWT 9th May 2016

Cley Marshes NWT 9th May 2016

We left Chosely Drying Barns for Cley Marshes nature reserve. I asked about Spoonbills and was given a very cagey reply. As far as I can gather the authorities do not want to encourage anyone looking for them during the breeding season. We did meet a couple who told us they had seen them at Holkham but that was a bit vague. Anyway, we had not really come to Cley to see the Spoonbills specifically so we headed off to the hides to see what was about.

Greenfinch were singing from the wires and Skylark and Goldfinch were bustling around on the marsh. A Kestrel hovered overhead and Reed Buntings sang from the little trees next to the path. In the hides there wasn’t a lot to get excited about really. There was a nice flock of Dunlin and some Ringed Plovers. Among the Ringed Plovers appeared to be a Stint of some sort but it was too distant to see clearly. There were Oystercatcher and Redshank, Shelduck and a single Shoveler. A few Teal were swimming around but that was about it.

We walked back down the track and over to the Bishop’s  hide and there were more singing Reed Buntings, Sedge Warblers and Whitethroat along the paths. At the Bishop’s hide we could get a better view of the scrape although the hide was very busy. Here we got better views of the Godwits but no sign of the Stint anymore. There were a few Ruff getting into breeding plumage and a Common Sandpiper.

Of course, there was the occasional sighting of a Marsh Harrier as there is everywhere around here but, really, we felt a little disappointed at how little there was compared to our previous experience of this site. It may well just have been the luck of the draw or not getting there early enough because we met someone later in the day who said he had seen Black-winged Stilt there the previous day.

Anyway, a little disappointed we decided to take a look at Holkham to see what that was about.