After a very kind offer from Tim, to join him and Mark, to travel down to Norfolk to see the wintering Black-winged Kite was a no brainer as i had never seen this species before.
After an expert drive by Tim, of which i spent most of the time asleep, we arrived at Ludham Bridge on the banks of the River Ant just before it began to get light.
After a short while we started to see a few people heading off along the river bank, in the direction of where the Kite had been seen the previous evening going to roost.
We got our kit together and we were off looking.
Lots of scanning and waiting then ensued, but we were treated to fly overs by 2 Bewick's Swans, 12 Common Cranes and some lovely views of Red Kites before someone thought they had seen the Kite, but again it was frustratingly brief and we again waited, before, at last we saw it sat amongst a flock of Wood Pigeons.
This was a great relief for us, but the bird was sat with its back to us and its head was partially hidden by a branch. The bird then flew and landed out of view, before again flying and this time it was in full view perched and preening, giving some lovely views in the scope and allowing me to take some fairly decent video considering the distance involved. We watched as it preened, with those piercing red eyes and black supercilium/lores, black shoulder patch, long wings and short tail making for a very handsome raptor.
This was a new species for myself and a new UK bird for both Tim and Mark.
After enjoying the Kite, we had a quick look on the grazing marshes from the bridge, enjoying some distant views of 2 Cranes feeding, but no sign of the previous days Glossy Ibis.
After enjoying our time at Ludham Bridge we headed off towards Titchwell, having a pretty productive drive, seeing Glossy Ibis, Hen Harrier and several Red Kites. Just as we were approaching Chosely Drying Barns, i spotted a Heron flying towards us and it proceeded to land on a nearby muck heap just as we were parking up, it was a Cattle Egret. We watched it briefly, before it proceeded to fly off inland.
After arriving at Titchwell we headed out to the sea along the coastal path seeing a few nice birds which included A lovely Drake Pintail, a fine drake Red-breasted Merganser, Great-white Egret and a couple of Marsh Harriers.
Some prolonged scanning of the sea, saw us adding more niceties to the already excellent day list of birds which included 3 long-tailed Ducks, at least 3 Shags, a Great-northern Diver and more Mergs.
It was really nice to be back here after quite a few years of not visiting, a top site for birding.
After enjoying our mega day, Tim expertly drove us back home after another successful twitch.
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| The River Ant And Grazing Marshes At Ludham Bridge. |
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| Titchwell RSPB Looking Towards Holme. |
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