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The North Norfolk coast is always a good birding site,
but in the autumn it is a place you mustn't miss especially the 10 mile stretch
of coast between Snettisham on the Wash to Titchwell facing the North Sea. | | Great
birding opportunities on the coast. Photo - RSPB Images/Andy Hay |
One the great things about the north west Norfolk coast is that
there's lots of wildlife within easy reach.
All along this coast there
are great opportunities to look for migrating birds. Norfolk Ornithologists
Bird Observatory at Holme next the sea is a perfect place to see migrating birds
arriving from Scandinavia, or passing through on their way further south. Amongst
the many visitors are Long tailed Tits which don't normally live in the area. The
great thing about this time of year is that you never know what will turn up.
Birds flying south from Siberia are on the look out for resting places
and fuel stops - a kind of avian motorway service station. Anywhere that
sticks out into the sea is a good place to look - and one of the best is the beach
at Snettisham. Stunning spectacle  The
Wash is adored by waders and geese including Knot and Oystercatchers.
At
low tide there are lots of exposed mud flats and sand banks, safe from predators
and packed full of food. The migrating birds come here from their breeding
grounds in the high Arctic. Some will stay here until spring, others will
rest before flying on to Africa for the winter. Look for giant flocks of
Knot - apparently named after King Canute because they stay until the rising tide
covers their feet. When the tide starts to cover their roost, they take-off
in their hundreds, providing one of the top spectacles in wildlife watching. During
the autumn the Knot change from their summer plumage - a tan breast and darker
back - to a striking monochrome.
There are more than 10,000 of these waders
at Snettisham and the best time to see them is when there's a full moon for the
high spring tide early in the morning. Although it only happens a few times
each autumn, the RSPB arranges walks with handy tide-tables to help. Gore
Point  Another
good spot on the Norfolk coast is Gore Point, home to the Holme Bird Observatory,
one of the best places to see migrating birds.
Most migrating birds overeat
before migrating, building up fat reserves, waiting for the right weather conditions.
By the time they get to our shores, the fat has gone and some birds have
lost a third of their body weight. A good stopping off point for these
migrant birds to replenish their food supplies is the RSPB's reserve at Titchwell.
As a result of its location Titchwell is full of all sorts of usual and
unusual migrants. The birds here are so used to people walking along this
path that you don't even need to sit in a hide. The variety of habitats
- reedbeds, lagoons, beach and sea - means that there's lots to see including
Godwit, Dunlin, Redshank, Turnstone and lots of Wigeon.  Photo
credits
Images copyright and courtesy of
RSPB Images and Andy Hay. | 
