The tide is high

An early start was called for in order to get in place in time. We had an appointment with the high tide which legend has it waits for no man, not even The Biggest Twitch. As we neared RSPB Snettisham a Barn Owl was illuminated by the headlights. This beautiful bird was perched in a hedgerow right alongside the road.

We parked and by the time we had gathered our gear, the first grey light of dawn was visible in the eastern sky allowing us just enough light to begin our walk towards the beach. Two Kingfishers flashed through the early morning gloom and a second Barn Owl hunted along the bank ahead of us, pausing on a fencepost to ensure everyone had a really good look.

As we reached the seawall, a wonderful scene was laid out before us. The vast mudflats of The Wash stretched towards the distant Lincolnshire coast and were alive with a mass of waders. Thousands of Bar-tailed Godwits and Knot were moving ahead of the rising tide just below us. More and more birds flew in from the north and joined the seething mass at the edge of the rising waters. A more careful look revealed many other species out on the mud. Dunlin, Grey Plover, Curlew, Turnstones, Redshank and Oystercatchers all marched to the tune of the tide.

Beyond the seething swarms of waders were thousands of Pink-footed Geese which had roosted out on the estuary. These geese slowly woke up as the waters washed against them and took flight, flying directly over us as they called excitedly to one another as they headed out to feed on the distant fields. We walked south following the flooding tide and reached a hide which overlooked both the estuary and the pool on the inland side of the seawall. This was the perfect place to watch the drama.

We sat and watched as the thousands of waders twisted and turned in smoke-like patterns, such stunning birdwatching, a thrill for anyone, and we just loved it! As the tide rose the birds were pushed right past the hide allowing wonderful views. Brent Geese dropped in to replace the mostly departed Pink-feet, Pintail, Wigeon and Teal rode the tide and further out both Common Scoter and Red-breasted Mergansers added to the variety. A Marsh Harrier floated over the seawall and we counted 57 Goldeneye on the inland side of the hide. A magical experience and time had flown by, along with a lot of birds, it was time for second breakfast. As we were close to Hunstanton, of course we headed for our favourite cafe Blah Blahh. Bacon sandwiches and hot drinks all round went down very well indeed.

We stopped by at the cliffs to add great views of Fulmar before heading east along the coast. We had not gone very far when two Barn Owls floated over a roadside field in the sunshine, wow! Stopping at a layby overlooking the wet fields west of Holkham we set up the scopes and scanned to see what was about. Both Grey and Red-legged Partridge where just below us, hundreds of Pink-feet were on the move and huge cloud of thousands of Golden Plover vied with the earlier waders for spectacle of the day. Hundreds of Brent Geese were feeding in the fields and we checked them carefully, and this paid off when we picked out a handsome Black Brant, a North American cousin of the dark-bellied Brents! We all enjoyed this rare goose and were able to help two other birders that arrived to pick it out. Small world, we'd met this couple a few weeks ago when we gave a talk on The Biggest Twitch to Weston-super-Mare RSPB Local Group.

More geese were found and we picked out a gang of Barnacle Geese amongst them as well as a large flock of European White-fronted Geese. Yet another Barn Owl was hunting over the fields!

On to Cley next and we enjoyed more wonderful views of waders and Marsh Harrier as Bearded Tits called from the reedbeds. A short drive took us to Salthouse beach where we enjoyed a great combination of good coffee and very close views of Snow Buntings in warm sunshine! Turnstones also posed for photos just feet away.

We headed inland to an area of heathland and after a short search we had brilliant views of a male Dartford Warbler, again in lovely sunshine, what an amazing way to finish our day. Well, not quite the finish, we added three more Barn Owls on the way home! Even that wasn't quite the finale, as we rounded off the week with a slap-up supper at The Globe in Wells-next-the-Sea, with delicious platefuls of exquisite food showing very well! The perfect ending to a wonderful birding week.

Our thanks go to Barry and Wendy, Paul and Shirley, Brian and Helen for making this such a wonderful, bird-rich and fun week, and we hope to go birding with them all again in the future.

If we've tempted you to join us for some exciting Norfolk birding, we already have scheduled a long weekend in April and another Houseparty week in October this year. If you'd like more details of these trips or are interested in a birding trip to Norfolk at another time during 2013, please email us on info@thebiggesttwitch.com for more information. We look forward to to having a chance to share more wonderful Norfolk birding!