A digi-bined record shot of Great Egret at Barniningham - the timings of sightings at this location and Felbrigg suggesting that these may have involved different birds
Yesterday was the annual NENBC New Year's Birding Challenge - the challenge being to get yourself out of bed, after your New Year's Eve celebrations, and record as many species as you can - getting your new year birding list off to a flying start. I was at the entrance to Felbrigg Park by 06.45, joined shortly after by Gresham Phil, with my first bird of 2023 being a calling Tawny Owl. By the time we'd finished doing the park we had clocked up 44 species, including our first Great Egret - roosting by the lake, Water Rail, Stonechat & Marsh Tit. It was then back to Phil's via Sustead Common for coffee, before heading down to the coast at West Runton - where the tide was just right and the waders fell in our lap, including a solitary Purple Sandpiper. Then it was off to Weybourne for a quick bit of sea and coastal watching before turning inland, with a list of 67. Selbrigg pond and Gresham sewage works added a couple of species each and then it was on to Barningham for more geese and, perhaps the biggest surprise of the day, another Great Egret. Several more inland locations added more water birds and a nice mixed finch flock - including Brambling and Yellowhammer (passing my previous best NYBC total of 78). The coastal fields around Sidestrand produced several Mediterranean Gull before a mad dash into Cromer for roosting Peregrine on the church tower. We were still missing winter thrushes so, in the increasing gloom of a mid-winter afternoon, we headed back in land for one last effort. A flock of Fieldfare and Redwing finally gave themselves up at Town Green before our last 'tick' of the day, a fabulous Barn Owl quartering the fields by the River Bure - seen at 15.50 - nine exhausting but thoroughly enjoyable hours after we'd started. We finished on a day total of 84 species, excluding the hybrid Tufted x Ferruginous Duck at Felbrigg lake.
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