RSPB Snettisham, 24th July 2024

The plan was to have a day at Cley in Norfolk, but it appeared that there were some good birds at Snettisham including a White-Rumped Sandpiper so we called in there first. Surprisingly it was my first ever visit there, but what a magical place! On the long walk up to the shore a male Linnet was very confiding.

When we got to the shore there were a few Ringed Plovers and one or two Turnstones.

As to be expected there were a few Oystercatchers including a pair with a youngster.

There were large numbers of Knot, which were difficult to photograph, but this image gives a sense of the numbers flying around.

The Dunlin were slightly easier!

The White-Rumped Sanpiper evaded us and I managed to miss the Little Stint however, there were a distant group of Sanderling and I obtained some shots of an individual that flew past. Great to see it in Summer plumage instead of the more usual Winter attire.

On the sea was a Mediterranean Gull with a juvenile showing the very scaly plumage.

The Common Terns were outnumbered by Sandwich Terns including some juveniles.

And even better was a small colony of Little Terns, again with some youngsters.

The most unexpected bird of the day was a Turtle Dove which flew along the shore before landing almost in front of us.

A fabulous morning, and in the next blog I will show how we got on at Cley Marshes.