A grand day out

There's nothing better than a perfect late winter's day on the North Norfolk coast and today was one of the best. Initially there didn't seem to be too many birds about, but by the end of the day Chris and I had spotted sixty-seven species. It's hard to pick out highlights, but some encounters will definitely be remembered, particularly :

oystercatchers and bar-tailed godwits snoozing at the edge of the sea, accompanied by a busy little sandpiper (see extra);

a coastal migration of red kites, putting up flocks of avocets, oystercatchers, lapwings and godwits;

dabbling teal, their vivid green feathers positively glowing in the sun (see extra);

a female merlin hunting over the saltmarsh, and catching her prey;

a flock of twite feeding on the seeds of saltwort (see extra);

two barn owls hunting near the sea wall;

flocks of Brent geese swirling in the sky and skeins of noisy pink-footed
geese flying west into the sunset (see extra);

roosting gulls on the shore, painted pink as flamingos by the setting sun.

And we found a basking seal on a sand bank and a troop of scarlet elf-cups in some damp willow woodland. A truly grand day out for two naturalists!