Wild weather on the North Coast: Spoonbills, Bittern and a Manx Shearwater...

Since Brian & Norman would be away for a while, we decided (despite the appalling weather!) to spend at least part of the day on the North Coast, accompanied by Brendon, the teenage son of ace photographer Mark Ollett.

First stop was Cley, where the reserve was pretty barren apart from Avocets and Marshies, so - after coffee at the Centre - we moved along to Holkham. On the way, though, I suggested a stop at the Coastguards, where a distant Manxie, a few Kittiwakes and a couple of Gannets were the best we saw.

Along Lady Anne's Drive, lots of cars were parked, but the owners must all have been on the beach: we had the woods more or less to ourselves.

From the Jordan Hide we peered through the mist and struggled to take photos of the to-ing and fro-ing of at least three pairs of Spoonbills. The Grey Partridges were still happy to pose at reasonable range, but I only managed a very poor record shot of a Bittern that flew high east. Is this Orchid an Early Purple?

We were back in the Yare Valley by 2.00pm and decided on a bash at the Osprey: we missed it by ten minutes! The only activity worth noting was a pair of displaying Marsh Harriers and a distant Hobby.