Eighteen members of Leigh Ornithological Society recently travelled to Norfolk for the annual Winter Field Trip. A four-day birdwatching tour included a visit to Frampton Marsh in Lincolnshire as part of the itinerary. Day One took us to Barton Broad. The Norfolk Broads cover a protected area of 117 square miles, featuring over twelve miles of navigable waterways. There are sixty-three shallow water bodies known as “Broads” Barton Broad being one of the largest. The Norfolk Broads are home to seven significant rivers.
One of the highlights of the Field Trip was finding the Eastern Black Redstart on Day 2 of the trip on the sea front at Sheringham. Later in the day a Slavonian Grebe was present at RSPB Titchwell Marsh. Our group were unable to complete the first visit for Day 3 due to the collapse of the car park at Winterton on Sea due to coastal erosion and poor weather at the time of our visit instead, a short stop at Sea Palling before continuing to NWT Hickling Broad and a sighting of a single Crane. Two members of the group visited Waxham Beach, where they observed grey seals relaxing on the sandy shore.
Own arrangements were made for the return journey home, a group from the party added Ferruginous Duck bring the total number of sightings for the trip to 114 species.
