North Norfolk

[jcyprus]

Heading to north norfolk this weekend to try and glimpse the northern harrier, but i was just wondering whether to try titchwell or cley afterwards, What am i likely to find at these reserves as havent been to them before ???
thanks,

[Adam Cheeseman]

Good luck to you. It will probably be perishing cold. Both sites are good. Any reason why you picked the two sites with the best cafes on the coast
Seriously, either will be rewarding, but I would tend toward Titchwell out of personal preference. They'll have waders, gulls, ducks, bearded tits, sea ducks etc and possibly snow and lapland buntings. Must say the American variant of Hen Harrier wouldn't be enough to tempt me out on its own. Good luck though!

Cheers,

Adam

[Wild-Woman]

I wouldn't rule out penguins and albatrosses in this weather!

[htcdude]

I've not been to Titchwell, but have visited Minsmere RSPB on the coast and would recommend going there if you haven't already! A good selection or waders/ducks there as well as their Bearded Tits, Bitterns and Marsh Harriers

Nige

[solus]

If the OP's going to North Norfolk then he's not going to be anywhere near Minsmere! I'd suggest Titchwell as the the Harrier has been seen in the Thornham-Titchwell area and it's a surprisingly long drive from there to Cley, especially bearing in mind the short hours of available daylight. Both will have much the same species with possibly less distance to walk at Titchwell to see them all.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by solus

If the OP's going to North Norfolk then he's not going to be anywhere near Minsmere! I'd suggest Titchwell as the the Harrier has been seen in the Thornham-Titchwell area and it's a surprisingly long drive from there to Cley, especially bearing in mind the short hours of available daylight. Both will have much the same species with possibly less distance to walk at Titchwell to see them all.

dependiong on what the tide is doingh the wader roost at snetisham is worth a look - ideally yopu want as high tide just before dawn so all the waders are pushed up right near the hides

[htcdude]

[quote=solus;708115]If the OP's going to North Norfolk then he's not going to be anywhere near Minsmere!]

I know but worth doing the few extra miles

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by htcdude

I know but worth doing the few extra miles

76.3 extra miles - thats about 2 hours in the car - not really worth it when we only have 8 hours of daylight

[RoyW]

Originally Posted by eeyore

dependiong on what the tide is doingh the wader roost at snetisham is worth a look - ideally yopu want as high tide just before dawn so all the waders are pushed up right near the hides

Morning high tide is well before dawn at the weekend, but if you feel like staying out until it's dark the evening roost gathering may be worth seeing.
Hide tide is near 5pm on Saturday, 5.45 ish on Sunday, but as it's a new moon on Sunday the tides will be pretty high so should push quite a lot of waders in at dusk.

Otherwise, the suggestion to stay very local and visit Titchwell is a good one - make the most of the daylight. There should be a good selection of waders, Snow Buntings (and perhaps Twite and Shore Larks) on the beach, and sea birds offshore.

[brendaward]

Just a quick note, Norfolk county council are doing a grand job of keeping the main roads passable. However after daylight roads are treacherous. Bearing traveling in mind we went to North Norfolk on Saturday and daylight travel was good and beautiful snow covered scenes. North Norfolk was hard hit with the snow on the weekend. Clarity of what you will see against the backdrop will worth completing the trip.

Minsmere is a good two hours from North Norfolk and in south east Suffolk. Not good road link.