North Norfolk Coast: excellent birds including a bonus Raven

Brian and Norman picked me up at seven for a drive through the misty lanes up to Cley. A couple of stops to listen for Nightingales were unproductive and we were quickly seated in Bishop's Hide scanning the scrape. Apart from a few Sand Martins and a couple of Greenshank, there was little to keep us there, so we moved round to the centre hides. From here we enjoyed somewhat distant views of some splendidly-coloured Ruff, but again, soon moved on (after coffee and scones, naturally!)

Near Stiffkey we were startled to see a Raven flop down on top of a roadside conifer: that's two Norfolk birds I've seen this year... The sky was still grey and overcast and Titchwell seemed the best bet. Near the carpark the previous night's moth-catch was being released: it included a super Privet Hawk Moth.

A longish session in the Parrinder Hide added a couple of excellent Little Gulls,  two Little Ringed Plovers, four Ringed Plovers of two different races, a Garganey and a few Med Gulls. The walk back to the car gave us reasonable views of a pair of Red-crested Pochard that emerged briefly from the reeds by the path.

Last couple of unproductive stops were at Thornham and Choseley before we headed eastwards and home.