On January 3rd this year, Dave Gray, John Hague from Shrike Birding Tours and I decided to go and have a look at the long staying Black-winged Kite which was residing at Ludham Bridge in Norfolk. We knew the weather was giving snow showers down the east coast but arriving on site just after 9.30am, the so called snow showers turned out to be a snow blizzard, so we abandoned the Kite idea when John said the Eastern Black Redstart (a sub species of Black Redstart) was showing in Sherringham- a bird I had not seen. Driving conditions were horrible, and so a 50 minute drive to Sherringham turned out to be over an hour and half; fair play to Dave for driving in those coditions. On arrival at the esplanade, it was not long before this really confiding bird was showing really well on the beach and groynes.
We picked up a few year ticks from the esplanade, an adult Caspian Gull, adult Med Gull, Kittiwake and Turnstone plus the usual more common gulls.
We finished at Roydon Common where the Harriers come into roost, Male and Female Hen Harrier were seen, and up to 10 Marsh Harriers, well over 30 Red Kites a Couple of Barn Owls and Dave picked out a bonus Little Owl
Overall it turned out to be a better day than expected after a miserable start!
Happy New Year to everyone, as always thanks for stopping by, and here's to a bird filled 2026 and any thing else to do with nature.
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