Spect-acular! Two tick day!

A great day out with Martin began with a run up to the North Coast: on the way we had fantastic views of a Grey Partridge (a rare bird in the Yare Valley!) and a Red Kite, both at South Creak. A brisk walk out through a damp, windy grazing marsh found us between Holkham Pines and Gun Hill: we only had to wait seconds for our first views of the Spectacled Warbler, but another half hour for more prolonged lensfuls. The bird never came really close, but I managed a few reasonable shots through the murk. Other birds here included Spoonbill, Little Tern and loads of Little Egrets.

We moved on to Cley, picking up Buzzard (one of five we saw!) before a coffee-stop at the Reserve Centre. We noticed a small crowd by the coast road, so walked over to get the craik. There was an acro singing its head off and giving occasional glimpses. It really sounded like a Marsh Warbler at times, with incredible mimicry - Bearded Tit, Sandwich Tern, Black-headed Gull etc - but for long periods it sounded like a Reed Warbler. A few of the Cley aristocracy arrived and confirmed that it probably was a Reed Warbler....

We drove southwards towards home, stopping off at 'the worst best-kept secret' lake in Norfolk for views (and a single distant snap) of a new Dragonfly for both of us: A Downy Emerald.