Temporary Tick!

 Temporary Tick!

Image by @RobsBirding, not same bird

We set off at 3.30am, picked up Dave and were taken to Fakenham by Keith. We arrived at around 9:00am. Our target bird was the Rustic Bunting, that had been seen here yesterday, however a Coues's Arctic Redpoll had been seen earlier in the morning, which would also be a lifer. Once we had arrived at the site, we scanned the crop cover at the far end of the field. The first thing that stood out to me was the large flock of Lesser Redpolls feeding in the crop cover, as well as the numerous Meadow Pipits and Skylarks in the surrounding fields. We also noticed many Red-legged Partridges in the fields. In the crop cover were a few beautiful male Yellowhammers. There were also a few Bramblings. I was very happy to see them after only getting brief views of them in the past. Suddenly, someone spotted the Arctic Redpoll in their scope, and they let me have a look. The Coues's Arctic Redpoll was sat on a branch, showing off its pale white rump. After getting a quick look through the birder's scope, I managed to get a longer view through Dave's scope before it got chased off by a Yellowhammer. We continued scanning, seeing many Reed Buntings and Goldfinches, as well as spotting a flock of Fieldfares fly through. However, there was no sign of the Rustic Bunting. After waiting for over two hours, we gave up and headed to the next site.

We arrived at Lynford Arboretum at around 11:40am in hopes of finally connecting with my bogey bird, the Firecrest. We had got word that one had been seen earlier today displaying at the far end of the paddocks, so that's where we headed. We quickly checked the car park looking for Firecrest, but to no avail. We then made our way to the paddocks. Along the way, we made a quick stop at the wooden gate to check for Hawfinches. We managed to spot many Chaffinches, as well as a few Yellowhammers and one Brambling. Keith then spotted seven Hawfinches perched in the trees just to the right of the gate, and they were showing exceptionally well. We then arrived at the far end of the paddocks, and scanned in the area where the Firecrest was seen displaying, which was around the yellow goal posts. We scanned and waited for over three hours, but sadly to no avail. All we saw were Goldcrests.  

We then made our way back to the car park, spotting a singing Marsh Tit and a Brambling tossing leaves along the way. 

With not a lot of light left, we quickly made our way to Weybourne, in hopes of seeing a Lapland Bunting. When we arrived, we made our way to the field where the bunting was, however we noticed a crowd of people looking at the coastguard cottages. They were looking at a beautiful male Black Redstart. It showed extremely well, and I was happy to see this bird as it was only the second male Black Redstart I had ever seen. Once we had arrived at the right field, we started scanning. There was a flock of Linnets which the Lapland Bunting was presumably in, however because of the crops growing in the field, as well as the rocks, we were unable to see much, except for fleeting views of the Linnets. Dave let me look through his scope at the finch flock, but the birds were very well camouflaged in the field and even seeing a linnet on the ground was difficult.  

 After a bit more scanning, all we managed to pick out were a large flock of Curlew, two Grey Partridges (which Keith was hoping to get for his year list) and a few Skylarks. With the light fading fast, we rushed over to Warham Greens in hopes of seeing some harriers.

We arrived at Warham Greens at around 5:30pm and we immediately made our way, at speed, down to the saltmarsh. Once we were at the saltmarsh, we met a group of birders who pointed out the Pallid Harrier, which was just sat on the ground! I saw it for a few moments, before it then got up and flew across the saltmarsh and out of view. Suddenly, a ringtail Hen Harrier flew in and glided over the marsh, before being accompanied by a second bird. As they dropped down, we noticed at least two (possibly three) Marsh Harriers were also flying about. With the light fading, we decided to call it a day and head home.

Overall, an amazing day with one lifer (Coues's Arctic Redpoll) as well as multiple exciting and rare birds!