Trip reports
Coach Trip to NWT Cley
Turnstone by Barrie Stockwell
Saturday, 20 February 2010
Freezing overnight temperatures had caused a heavy frost, but the day turned out dry and bright, if a little cold. The pools were initially iced over, which kept species numbers down, but had almost thawed by the time we left.
We thought it was a pretty quiet day by Cley's standards but 81 species of bird were recorded during the day, including all three divers, the two subspecies of Brent geese that regularly winter in Britain (dark-bellied and pale-bellied), Barn owl, bearded tits and a corn bunting, which was spotted perched on telephone wires as we drove by on the coach. On the beach, a small party of fearless turnstones proved entertaining, during our stop for lunch. They seemed to have forsaken the arduous task of turning stones to search for food, for the less labour intensive, scavenging scraps from friendly birdwatchers and fishermen.
81 Birds species recorded:
Red-throated diver, black-throated diver, great northern diver, little grebe, great crested grebe, cormorant, little egret, grey heron, mute swan, black swan, pink-footed goose, greylag goose, Canada goose, brent goose (dark and pale-bellied), Egyptian goose, shelduck, wigeon, gadwall, teal, mallard, pintail, shoveler, eider, red-breasted merganser, marsh harrier, common buzzard, kestrel, red-legged partridge, grey partridge, pheasant, moorhen, coot, oystercatcher, avocet, ringed plover, grey plover, golden plover, lapwing, dunlin, ruff, common snipe, black-tailed godwit, curlew, redshank, turnstone, black-headed gull, common gull, lesser black-backed gull, herring gull, great black-backed gull, woodpigeon, collared dove, barn owl, kingfisher, skylark, meadow pipit, pied wagtail, wren, dunnock, robin, stonechat, blackbird, fieldfare, Cettis warbler, bearded tit, long-tailed tit, coal tit, blue tit, jay, magpie, jackdaw, rook, carrion crow, starling, house sparrow, chaffinch, greenfinch, linnet, reed bunting and corn bunting.
Other wildlife:
Rabbit, grey squirrel, common seal, muntjac deer.
Many thanks to Mike for leading this trip.