Left home at six this morning for a very full days birding with the Jims.
We started at first light in Santon Downham as they still needed Woodlark for a year tick which we managed to get just a few feet from the car with birds calling, singing and feeding on the ground along the path to the underpass. We walked down river accompanied by a mother and cub Otter all the way to the fallen tree at which point we stopped and they carried on. After a short wait we picked up a pair of Lesser-spotted Woodpecker and managed a few record shots of the female.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjfvKvd7me_DBBtrKZV9UE_VB3Q8BonWfXLT06rHY2JhoKh2YcRa4EifuqOurY-D6WYCCoPnMWtrh2i0bdUevv5SOS2HGn2rMHPPd5wQ2PtC97s_091xu3cnzdLyGRtkzn3D14oNB0pDkc/s640/Woodlark+3.jpg) |
Woodlark |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlCKkf9xBB-yOZyNaDicS22luH9f1nCJf1IxWG_jWzTRXcC1ChYLsbh0imgTskF6ZmodMD8fpd06v5AZjq-eA_hGi5VpCJtQgfXe4D1E0sfF2b9Y8VAU_XSb1eNz6F9M2TeLny5MYwdbw9/s640/Otter+5.jpg) |
Otter |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6IZ84kMgweuUapTWtAINavywWD0RWHlv4rvcP175Zd-9O6-Blpf7CbyBgK91PkMLsDM1RdPVBa2GOKyx3mHb-Ix1siIDTZ3cJaz7D8G2eOrgNZSfkc0fSzDFjY44uTz0phz5xO-1gYhNY/s640/Lesser+spotted+Woodpecker.jpg) |
Female Lesser-spotted Woodpecker |
Our next stop was Sculthorpe Moor where Redpolls were our target. After a small donation we marched on down to the portacabins where
Mealy Redpolls were quickly seen feeding with a couple of Lessers. I had a very likely candidate on the feeders and managed a record shot which to my mind shows it to be the
Arctic Redpoll. The Jims managed to get a view in better light when it dropped into a puddle to drink. I managed a record shot of the next bird to drop in which was a Mealy but still nice to watch.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUJd2C3G0av6X2A4urOL2dKKIIXm3CbEjaBQjYvsu7blDuVmJ4WhH1N3t9MX8blWsCQPSnMFVX5BbFceBicJtFA6DcbdO9EPX8HwzFGW7_fjtX2kOikq2tuztK8PHOLyIRJ4GRIvQwmtXK/s640/Arctic+Redpol.jpg) |
The Arctic |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIQyRsv447dGqP7tUu4VSmkjSMvES0C7zqfteR2Lnizt1FQRKxwlxfnuV-k9tVSad4UNyHfr2aIkDWH725rsH7xqeE4P1WNlyO8GEWOiw-5omA2hlsnaZCxW_p0jyXPtENz6thyphenhyphenb8XWI-S/s640/Meally+Redpol.jpg) |
The Mealy |
We moved on after a couple of hours of watching the feeders and chose Titchwell as our final stop of the day. A
Spotted Redshank was picked out in the distance as we marched to the sea where we picked out
Black-throated and Great Northern Diver. On the walk back I picked up a
Rock Pipit and eventually picked up my first
Bearded Tits of 2019.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8o8G3IQDiEQ8JJ0u71pWYdYurBCavsnCEkvYkQf0OYoRYsaGWp_DcthgkqfK6Aw9EdDyXLGxXlLsxQrKIWSazSjCOGtEwVdwyJiEMA0rn0F9SvAbsDrQiH-yXF6puD4xdY6LriyL08YML/s640/Woodlark+1.jpg) |
Woodlark |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgClpbysOXPa6Kqkm2X0TeM5e9IfrGU_32rgC92dYNEuT_ha2LIqR-xCym8A0x_b2m2s94zgFRUHwfwlxykHK5TAbIE7pAWgqs6fZoC6SQOe48ryVzCysf5JKBuXKNps27JpESgUBm84EJp/s640/Woodlark+2.jpg) |
Woodlark |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioWtdngQZnTii010qmRlxikH5_z-6HDyLibVAHFgI57yNnUv4FpgZc5PS2YOuWhwXGmVO-KFmXwSOyiiOmrQrnMVgEtwRQDkraZj6-Mvmmwfy_WXxdlV5DP21pTKHPw9Z-UlU4zyPXcblk/s640/Otters.jpg) |
Otters. Always on the far bank or in the darkest areas of the river but really good to watch them feeding. |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhudJkk4jUw3GeI2jPWfWlJIcqsiWOmVw9Fkk_r-ZjKBoqD0xgUSUHNqA4rj1-JtAm2KWikBOjTBiyZek1Rv9he_NzKTAB7wBHV7TShD3ckR9KdeMfpGkIevqZbcDQD2EBUI47f6DHdq_xN/s640/Lesser+spotted+Woodpecker+6.jpg) |
Lesser-spotted Woodpecker |
Year list now 178