Passage waders, Hobbies and other odds and ends: something from nothing!

The usual 7.00am meet-up left Brian, Norman and me in a bit of a quandary: the weather forecast had changed somewhat overnight and our original plan to visit Minsmere seemed likely to put us in the middle of a belt of rain. Accordingly, we headed north to Cley instead.

A walk out to the centre hides gave us distant views of the Green-winged Teal, now so heavily in moult that it was barely identifiable. There were plenty of waders to enjoy, however, including a couple of smart Green Sandpipers and five Whimbrel that flew overhead piping out their seven-note call. After coffee, a move to Bishop's Hide added a fine adult Yellow-legged Gull to the list. The weather seemed to be closing in from the west, so we decided to head inland to Hickling.

In between showers we walked around the reserve, enjoying good views of Hobbies, a Bittern, Bearded Tits and numerous Little Egrets. One little point for the NWT to consider: they don't offer diabetic ice cream, but they do sell vegan products. Now being a vegan is a matter of choice: being diabetic is not!