Cley

7th November 2010

Birding during the week is now down to about 15 minutes of light in the morning, enough to confirm that Waxwings are everywhere and all the Long-tailed Tits flying through the garden are rosaceus. Once the rain had stopped on Sunday I wanted to get out to the coast, and Cathy's mum offered to give us a lift to Cley. It was very busy, but after getting our permits and having a chat with John Furse we headed to Bishop's Hide. I got some half-decent photos of a Common Snipe close to the front of the hide and we admired the Teal and Wigeon. After a while a head bobbed up in the reeds, and Cathy had seen her first Jack Snipe. It took a while before I could get the 'scope on it, but we got there eventually. No sign of the leucistic Brent Geese in the flocks I scanned, and the sea was similarly quiet. The amount of people on the shingle probably accounted for the lack of a bunting flock, but there was one more lifer for Cathy, one of the Grey Phalaropes was still spinning on Billy's Wash.

Snipe at Cley