Waxwings at Sheringham, Snow Buntings at Salthouse and lots more besides!

The 'Summer Wine Crew' headed north to Sheringham (a much quicker journey now part of the Northern Distributor is open!) to see if we could connect with the recently reported Black Redstart. First stop, though, was a narrow road to the north of the Tesco Superstore, where the group of three Waxwings were instantly viewable on top of a somewhat ugly telegraph pole.

Moving down to the seafront, we carried out a thorough search, but the Redstart had either departed or was sheltering from the brisk wind. However, a very confiding Purple Sandpiper provided some compensation for missing one of our targets.

On the way to Cley (for coffee!) we stopped at Letheringsett, where one of the two Coues's Redpolls was reportedly still present. If it was, no-one on site had seen it: however, we enjoyed terrific views of a small flock of Bullfinches. What fabulous birds these are!

After coffee we drove to Salthouse and walked out to Gramborough Hill. We quickly located the large resident 100+ flock of  Snow Buntings and sat down out of the wind to watch them. Within five minutes they'd worked their way right up to us, allowing some terrific photographic opportunities.

Last stop was Felbrigg Hall, where a long walk around the grounds added Song Thrush to the year list, as well as flight views of four Hawfinches by the Orangery. A great day out!