Wildlife Photo Diaries 2025

Wildlife Diaries for Norfolk, the UK and Garden

February 2025

Second record of Bunting in 2025......

An immature male Reed Bunting was in the garden (2nd) looking for food below the feeding station. This is the second record of this species this year, which we occasionally get in cold weather.

2 Collared Dove, 2 Wood Pigeon, several House Sparrow, Dunnock, Robin and Blackbird was also seen.

Geese, Cranes, Swans and a Long-tailed Duck on chilly day in Norfolk......

Some good local birds today out with Jason (23rd) starting out with 5 Tundra Bean Geese on a field at Martham. A few Pink-footed Geese and Egyptian Geese were there too.

A drive around the Clippesby/Ashby area found 28 Cranes and at least 4 Common Buzzards.

Continuing along the coast road after looking for geese at Winterton we found approx’ 16 White-fronted Geese, as well as Pink-feet and Canada Geese to the west of the road between Somerton and Horsey, probably the pinks and white-fronts reported from Winterton yesterday, which we had just been searching for!

Bewick’s Swans had been reported at Ingham and we found 10 on a field with a few Mute Swans between Ingham and Stalham.

We decided to head up the north coast to look for a Long-tailed Duck on what was an understating ‘chilly’, dull and wet day!

We ventured along Beach Road; Salthouse first finding a male Stonechat perched on the fence wires alongside a Meadow Pipit. Then, as we headed for Cley we found 200+ Brent Geese on a field before driving up Cleys' Beach Road.

By now the weather was pretty dire and it was not comfortable standing on Cley’s shingle bank near Coastguards as we looked amongst the 250+ Common Scoter rafts for the two reported Long-tailed Ducks. After a while (not long, thank goodness!) Jason found a Long-tailed Duck at the western end of the scoters. We couldn’t find another long-tailed but Jase did spot a Great Crested Grebe also. Needless to say we were pleased to get back in the car!

We decided to head back nearer home with a look at Ludham Marshes near St, Benet’s Abbey. Here we found a single Bewick’s with 5 Whooper Swans and further up the track 7 Cattle Egrets with 2 cows.

A Marsh Harrier and a sheltering Common Buzzard were also of note here and not surprisingly no owls in far from conducive conditions for them to hunt prey.

Garden Diary 13th-20th......

Entering the kitchen (20th), I looked out of the window to see a Reed Bunting on one of the seed trays. Yet again another visitor, which sometimes comes into the garden for food during cold temperatures (which has been very much the case lately).

A Long-tailed Tit and 2 Blue Tits were also nice to see.

Between 3 and 4 Great Tits and 2 Blue Tits were present today (19th) so hoping these frequent visits may lead to breeding again this year in the nestboxes.

Robin, 6 Starling, 3 Blackbird, 2 Collared Dove, 5+ House Sparrow, 4 Wood Pigeon and a Dunnock were also seen.

A Sparrowhawk was seen perched on top of the Hawthorns from the lounge window (13th).

2 Long-tailed and 2 Great Tits were also looking for prey in amongst the dead vegetation and 5 Blackbird, several House Sparrow, Robin, Dunnock, 3 Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove and a Starling were all good to see.

Bathing Kestrel, 3 Spoonbills and Red-necked Grebes off Cley......

A pair of Stonechats began the day out (16th) with Jason at Beach Road Salthouse and a flock of Brent Geese were on the Eye Field and a raft of 60+ Common Scoters was off Cley Coastguards.

A Kestrel bathing in a puddle at Morston Quay was the highlight there, although the falcon did not seem to be totally well, judging by its behaviour and the ability of a woman to take photos of it from just below it when it perched on a sign post just before we left!

A stop in Stiffkey village to view the flash on the fields below, found the Glossy Ibis again present. And at Wells Pools a Common Buzzard perched in a bush and a Sparrowhawk perched alongside a dyke were the highlights on this grey day along the Norfolk coast.

A drive along Lady Ann’s Drive at Holkham, stopping at various spots along the way found 6 Black-tailed Godwits and 4 Common Snipe but no sign of the Long-billed Dowitcher.

Lunch at Brancaster Staithe found 3 Spoonbills, with two flying up initially leaving one still on the ground until the approach of two men in wellies! A Ringed Plover, Grey Plover and Black-tailed Godwits were also here.

Driving back through Holkham a Barn Owl was seen perched in some trees just east of Lady Ann’s Drive. Very difficult to get a clear image of it behind many branches but it was a Barn Owl so an attempt was made.

Finally a return visit to Cley Coastguards found the 2 Red-necked Grebes reported on the sea but by now a much further distance offshore than the initial 200 metres!

As last week; several Red Kites, Marsh Harrier, Common Buzzards and Kestrels were seen en-route.

Long-tailed new for the 2025 Garden Diary......

The following day (11th) saw the male Blackcap again in the garden and some new visitors for the year-2 Long-tailed Tits.  2 Blue and a Great Tit were also of note, on yet another freezing day.

Three infrequent avian visitors to garden during cold temperatures......

Up until now (10th) the garden had seen a selection of the usual birds, albeit in very low numbers visiting the garden mainly for food and water. However, after a hard frost and a scattering of snow (which laid for most of the day), today saw a few unexpected visitors, probably due to the weather conditions.

Seeing this weather was even more problematic than the most recent weather and temperatures, I made sure the water receptacles were free from ice (via the kettle) and food supply was topped up throughout the day.

Watching my avian visitors from the kitchen window on several occasions during the day I happened upon a male Blackcap in one of the Buddleia shrubs. I can’t remember seeing a male in the garden before, although we have had females/immatures before, usually in the said weather conditions.

The second highlight was when I spotted a Pied Wagtail (female) just outside the garden, but as hoped it walked through the gate and into the garden, where it started pecking around for food and going for a drink from the bird bath.

Later still I saw a cock Pheasant on the grass outside the garden. It wandered closer and walked right passed the garden gate but did not enter unlike the hen bird that did actually come into the garden a while ago.

The supporting cast of equally appreciated birds were: 4 Blackbird, Robin, Dunnock, Great Tit, 2 Blue Tit, 3 Starling, 8+ House Sparrow, 2 Collared Dove and 3 Wood Pigeon.

Tundra Beans, Dowitcher and Glaucous along the Norfolk Coast......



The day’s (9th) first avian encounters began where Jason Nichols and I started, at Martham, with at least 3 Tundra Bean Geese with some Pink-footed Geese were in a field, just off the A149.

A drive around the ‘block’ ending up at Ashby is where we saw 6 Fieldfares in flight but sadly no sign of any Cranes.

A trip to Honing found the reported Whooper and Bewick’s Swans, with at least 15 collectively in the small herd which were unfortunately hidden behind someone’s hedge and fence. Just west of Hoveton we found more Fieldfares on a field, 23 in fact with a Redwing and a Common Buzzard flew up into an Oak tree.

A juvenile Glaucous Gull had been reported feeding on a Grey Seal corpse near Cley Coastguards but the only seals we could see were live ones and no Glaucous. 100+ Pink-footed Geese flew west and a small flight of Cormorants flew by.

2 Greenshank and photogenic Curlew were present at Morston Quay, whilst at Wells Pools, Brent Geese and a Muntjac were the highlights.

Passing Holkham Freshmarsh we saw a Great White Egret flying over the marsh, before arriving at our usual lunch spot at Brancaster Staithe.

From the channels edge we saw 10 Ringed Plover, approximately 20 Black-tailed Godwit, 20+ Oystercatcher, Curlew, Turnstone, Grey Plover and 2 Little Egret.

Heading back along the coast we stopped at The ‘gate’ at Holkham, but as there was nothing of note here pulled in at the pull-in further up where there was 3 Barnacle Gees amongst the Egyptian and Grey-lag Geese, whilst at least 2 Chinese Water Deer were in pursuit of one another (rutting season for CWD) in the fields behind the hedgerow.

A Long-billed Dowitcher had again been reported from Lady Ann’s Drive at Holkham and here we searched the SE area where it had been reported from. Initially we could not find it and just saw a couple of Black-tailed Godwits (which the Dowitcher usually kept the company of), Curlew and many Wigeon with lesser numbers of Teal.

However, another birdwatcher who had stopped and spoke to us earlier beckoned us over. He had found the Dowitcher searching for food along the edge of a channel of water, where nearby there was a couple of Common Snipe. It was quite difficult to photograph the Dowitcher due to the freezing conditions, holding the camera still in the conditions and having to use manual focus because there were many other automatic focusable points in front of the Long-billed Dowitcher!

With a very cold-numbing wind factor we returned to Cley Coastguards as the juvenile Glaucous Gull had been reported again and this time it was present. I initially saw it fly up and over the sea briefly before landing back down on the beach again where some ‘birders’ were looking at it, as we were but from distance through Jason’s telescope-close to the car!

With at least 8 Common Buzzards and 4+ Red Kites seen at various places during the day it was a rewarding day, albeit bloody cold!

A cold New Year bird count in Norfolk......

Jason Nichols arrived to pick me up just after 5.30 (2nd) for our New Year’s Day ‘bird count’ (and anything else we happened upon) and on a very cold day we set off to see what we could find.

We had a change of day (from 1st to 2nd) as the weather predicted for the traditional New Year’s Day travel around Norfolk was far from good, although as it turned out wasn’t quite as bad as predicted!

We decided to start at Titchwell, but just before Bodham we had our first animal of the day; a Muntjac casually crossing the road. We stopped off at Holkham Park for a listen and were rewarded with a Tawny Owl calling and Pink-footed Geese.

A Blackbird was seen in silhouette before arriving at Titchwell car park where Grey-lag Geese were recorded.

Wren, Moorhen, Robin, Black-headed Gull, Marsh Harrier, Lapwing, Cormorant and Egyptian Geese were all recorded on the walk to the beach, along with a Common Snipe heard.

Further additions in the gloom, before we reached the beach were: Herring Gull, Curlew, Little Egret, Shelduck, Avocet, Redshank, Teal, Wigeon, Shoveler, Mallard, Little Grebe (4) and Great Black-backed Gull.

From the beach with the tide high finding shorebirds was tricky but we found an Oystercatcher and Turnstone. Similarly spotting stuff on the sea was just as tricky but we managed to see a raft of Common Scoter.

The return walk down the track found Grey Plover, Reed Bunting, Kestrel, Meadow Pipit, Dunlin, Golden Plover, Bearded Reedling, Skylark and the apparent escaped Black-winged Stilt which then flew right over our heads to the saltmarsh

Tufted Duck, Coot, Great Tit and a Jay on the RSPB buildings were seen before making our way through the woods to the car park, seeing Goldfinch and Chaffinch on the way. The car park added Blue Tit and Grey Squirrel and from the exit road a Pheasant; one that had not been shot!

With the running total now on 44 we made our way along the coast heading for Hunstanton seeing our first Jackdaws on the way.

At Thornham a Common Buzzard was perched at the edge of the wood and a Stonechat was a bonus (can’t recall seeing one here before). A Rock Pipit and Brent Geese were seen before we continued on our way.

Both Collared Dove and Magpie were added en-route to seeing if we could park anywhere near the reported Glaucous Gull and Shore Larks in the vicinity of the Golf Club, but unfortunately not and the long walk was not justified for 2 species on a numbers orientated day.

Nevertheless, we parked at Hunstanton cliffs and I spotted 2 Fulmar before we even got out of the car. Jason found a Velvet Scoter and Red-throated Diver on the choppy sea whilst I took a few images of Fulmars.

At Choosley we were surprised to see so many Red-legged Partridges had escaped the human killing-spree as these have been very difficult to find on New Year’s Day before, albeit today was 2nd! 2 Chinese Water Deer (the first of 10 recorded on the drive round-a personal record here!) were seen along with 2 Brown Hares. Red Kite, Carrion Crow, Yellowhammer, Common Gull and Pied Wagtail followed before we came across a charm of Finches coming to feed amongst some Maize. Most of these were Chaffinches but a Greenfinch was new for the day as was a very surprising sighting here; 2 Redpolls! A Dunnock was the first one as was a lone Starling and at this point Rook was added to the list.

4 Fieldfare in the Hawthorn hedgerow followed before making our way to Brancaster Staithe.

A spot of lunch ensued in between watching and scanning for birds and this was rewarded firstly with a Great Crested Grebe in the channel; never seen here before and we have been here a considerable amount of times over the years! Black-tailed Godwit, Ringed Plover and Bar-tailed Godwit were added to a list now totalling 70 (although no count was actually made until I arrived home). Finally, a really good bird to see in January was a juvenile Spoonbill flying over westwards.

A Grey Heron was in a field at Burnham Norton with a few cattle and so were 2 Cattle Egrets. A Mute Swan followed at Burnham Overy before arriving at Holkham.

Jason managed to find some White-fronted Geese on the Freshmarsh before we ventured down Lady Ann’s Drive to look for the reported Long-billed Dowitcher. No joy there but a Great White Egret made for an egret hat-trick on the day and 2 Ruff flew over and a Gadwall was on one of the flashes.

Stopping at Wells Pools was worthwhile as Pintail was added to the day’s list and the reported Glossy Ibis was found at Stiffkey.

Our usual stop at Morston was also worthwhile as a Greenshank was once again present and a Lesser Black-backed Gull was also seen. Just around the corner opposite Morston Church at a paddock we have named ‘Thrush Corner’ we found 2 Stock Doves. Not much else and the reason was probably because of a Common Buzzard perched along the hedgerow!

We then for the first time paid a visit to the Wildflower Centre at Bayfield Hall. Not quite what we were expecting but there was several birds coming to the feeders, including Coal Tits and Nuthatch required for the day list.

Last stop of the day was at Ludham Marshes, a sweet and sour experience as always, as this has become an over-populated venue for ‘would be wildlife photographers’ who think that birds are still going to come close with a noisy crowd of individuals stood in the open in the car park here to see Short-eared Owls. 

We had already passed 3 Cattle Egrets on a field with cattle but they seemed to be of little interest. Instead there was a packed car park with other vehicles strewn along the approach road. There was 2 Short-eared Owls perched on posts some distance away but after a few photos I returned to the car and eventually Jase returned and we left.

We managed to record 86 species of birds for the day ending just after 16.00; not a bad effort considering the weather and the lack of birds generally; a continuing trend. Thanks to Jase for doing the driving.

New Year Garden Wildlife......

With the New Year’s bird count postponed until the 2nd, it was bird-watch from the kitchen window (1st).

First bird of the year was a female Blackbird, with a male and a 1st winter also paying a visit.

A Dunnock came to search for food underneath the feeders and 2 Great Tits were good to see. At least 8 House Sparrows, 3 Wood Pigeon and a Robin made up the rest of the welcome avian visitors.

Outside the garden, a Magpie and Starling were seen and also a very welcome sight of a wind-blown Bumblebee, probably a queen Buff-tailed.