Holkham NNR 9th May 2016
Holkham NNR 9th May 2016
Holkham NNR certainly knows how to make money at £2 an hour for parking. We paid £3 for 2 hours and started off on the left path that goes through the woods to the hides. There were various birds about and we felt that there should have been Crossbills but we never did see them and, instead, had to settle for a Jay, some Chiffchaff and a Robin. When we eventually reached the hide (is it really only a quarter of a mile ?) this gave us views over some fields and a lake and with shrubbery in the foreground.
The shrubbery gave us a nice Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcaps and some Tits and finches. Over the fields we saw a Marsh Harrier and a Buzzard. On the fields were Greylag Geese, Shelduck and Pheasant. We stayed here a while, as much to recover our strength as anything else, before taking the boardwalk up and over to the dunes. From the viewing platform we could just make out a couple of Little Terns landing on the protected area of dunes and, although we tried to get a better view by getting closer, we never got any clearer of a view because the viewing platform, though distant, is at a better elevation.
After a bit of a trudge back to the car we were glad to sit down and were happy with the Terns. Obviously we had only scraped the surface of the woods and dunes at Holkham but perhaps we will get back there again .
Year Tick : Little Terns
Bird Sightings : 9th May Holkham NNR
| Species | Count |
|---|---|
| Greylag Goose | 20 |
| Common Shelduck | 6 |
| Common Pheasant | 1 |
| Grey Heron | 3 |
| Eurasian Marsh Harrier | 3 |
| Little Tern | 2 |
| Eurasian Jay | 1 |
| Common Chiffchaff | 2 |
| Lesser Whitethroat | 1 |
| European Robin | 1 |
| Eurasian Blackbird | 1 |
| Common Chaffinch | 1 |