Sightings at Cley Marshes and Walsey Hills NOA (5th April 2017)

Arrived shortly after 9.30am and parked the car at the end of the East Bank.

This time we decided to take a slightly different route around Cley and we walked in an easterly direction along Attenborough Way, towards the Babcock Hide. It was our hope that we would see the Water Pipit that had been reported recently, but sadly this was not the case.

We then crossed the Coast Road and walked west up Walsey Hills and then through the Walsey Hills NOA reserve.  After stopping at the NWT Cley Visitor Centre, we then finished off the day by visiting the main bird hides opposite Pat's Pool and Simmond's Scrape.

Despite temperatures being around 9°C, it felt considerably warmer. There were also winds from a north westerly direction of around 16-17mph,

Ruff x 3 - A single bird seen opposite the Babcock Hide on Watling Water, whilst the other two were on Simmond's Scrape later in the day.

A Ruff as seen on Simmond's Scrape.

Canada Goose x 4 - All seen from a distance on Pope's Pool shortly after we arrived in the morning.

Little Egret x 3

Oystercatcher x 4

Gadwall x 4 - All seen together on Watling Water.

Pied Wagtail x 2

Redshank x 7

Pochard x 3

Curlew x 4

Avocet x 45 - The majority were seen across Pat's Pool and Simmond's Scrape.

Skylark x 3 - A pair appeared to be nesting in the field, close to the path, leading to the Babcock Hide.

Little Grebe x 2 - The pair were seen together on Snipe's Marsh on the Walsey Hills NOA reserve.

Black-tailed Godwit x 24 - All seen close together on Simmond's Scrape.

Whilst walking through the Walsey Hills NOA reserve, we also recorded the various butterflies that we happened to come across:

Small Tortoiseshell x 1

Comma x 1

Small White x 5

Comma seen on Walsey Hills NOA.