Holme/Titchwell

Having a long weekend in Watton with Ruth, the pull of Arctic Warbler at Holme was a little too much to resist, I was on the road by 5.30am on Sat morning and arrived at Holme to watch the sun rise (obviously too early for warblers) I parked by the far toilet block and walked along the track ever hopeful for some flyover migrants. I was partially wrong, SW wind and a clear night didnt help, however I was the first at the pines and the bird I wanted to see hadn't moved off. I had about a 2 hr search but the Arctic Warbler eventually showed very well, it enabled me, Conner, Ray and others to get all the necessary id features. The bird had a very interesting look about it, partially due to it looking like its been squashed but mainly due to its habit of feeding in a very lethargic fashion moving around the pines in a slow but deliberate way. No photo's even attempted as I was trying to see it well rather than ruin the experience by getting annoyed with crappy pics. A great bird and it showed well for those who were able to see/look for it. It also is my 399th species for the UK, looks like the 400 is well on the cards for this year!

After leaving the flock at Holme I decided to nip in to Titchwell, where I first worked in the conservation game, to see what been happening with the works. I managed to time it perfectly as the path had been reopened about 10 mins before I got there, walked up to the new and improved Island Hide which all looks great as does the new freshmarsh. There was even a good flock of Dunlin and Little Stints within touching distance from the hide, Rob looked like the cat that got the cream, the new Island Hide works...well!! also a single very juvenile (tea)Spoonbill on the fresh marsh. Congrats to the team, the reserve should be fantastic over the autumn/winter period .

I then tried to go back to Watton but Ruth's car had other ideas it was emptying its oil onto the car park (sorry Titchwell) 3hrs later after a mad bit of towing to Kings Lynn with the AA (its a bendy road especially when you can only see 1m in front of you) I was back on the road.
A good morning out and great to catch up with a few friends, as I have said before its so good to be back in Norfolk!