North Coast in the mist...

Brian, Norman and I met early morning and headed north, arriving at Cley just as it started to drizzle! No sign of any Jack Snipe at Walsey Hills, but a Water Rail lurking in the gloom was some compensation.

A walk out to the sea added a few distant Bearded Tits but little else, so we moved round to Bishop's Hide. Just a few Black-tailed Godwits on the scrape so we decided to go and look for our own birds at Stiffkey. The walk out to the 'Whirligig' provided us with frustrating views of a Hen Harrier and a couple of Ring Ouzels: the many Goldcrests, Chaffinches and winter thrushes were slightly more obliging and we added Yellowhammer, Linnet and Reed Bunting to the list too. A dapper little Chiffchaff was worth a look (see comment below!)

Returning to Cley (for coffee!) we visited the Coastguards in time for distant views of a Short-eared Owl, a Brown Hare and a few Golden Plover, although the Snow Buntings somehow eluded us.

Last bird of note was a fine ring-tailed Hen Harrier flying parallel to the A140 at Hevingham.