North Coast: all the Egrets, two rare Geese and a bonus Ibis!

With Norman unavailable, Brian and I headed north through the wind and tree branches to Cley. First stop was an abortive look for Waxwings: the road along which they'd been reported was blocked by a fallen tree!

We could see loads of geese on the Eye Field, so we drove out to the Coastguards (nostalgia!) where Brian quite quickly located the often-elusive Red-breasted Goose. After a good 'grill', we moved on to Stiffkey, stopping to admire a Great Egret and vast flock of Curlew behind the delicatessen. Further along, opposite Morston Church, we completed the set with four Cattle Egrets and a Little Egret. No sign of the Stiffkey Ibis, so we reurned to Cley just as the VC opened for tea and scones: as we were finishing, one of the 'vols' told us that a Ruddy Shelduck was visible from Dauke's Hide, so we hurried off to look for it. Richard 'the Hat' was already ensconced, and was able to point us in the right direction: despite the vast numbers of Pinkfeet, we both managed reasonable views.

A fruitless Twite Hunt at Blakeney was followed by a return to Stiffkey: this time a walk alongside the main road produced distant views to round off a terrific day.