Brian and I weaved through the NDR traffic and headed up to Cley: on the way we stopped by the Reepham Road where a flock of Waxwing had spent yesterday.... but not today! Arriving at Cley Beach carpark, a brief seawatch was not very productive (just lots of Cormorants and a few Scoter) so we walked along the West Bank to the sluice. Here we saw lots of Meadow Pipits and Skylarks and, almost certainly, a flock of Twite, which sadly refused to settle.
Next stop was Holkham, where we were among the first arrivals at Lady Anne's Drive. A bit of a search failed to produce the Green-winged Teal, but two Ruff were the first of the year and a Grey Wagtail was nice. A walk out to the roped off area failed to produce the Shorelarks, nor anyone who'd seen them: lots of Rock Pipits and Skylarks, though. The sea held a vast flock of Scoter, among which were numerous Velvets: several pairs of Red-breasted Mergansers were feeding along the shoreline...
We returned to Cley for coffee and a half hour session in a somewhat crowded Bishop's Hide: a Kingfisher and more Ruff were the highlights.
On the way home we tried for another flock of Waxwings - this time at Fifer's Lane: needless to say we missed those too! Still: a great day out in pleasant weather.
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