North East Birder Ramlings: Norfolk 2010 – Day 4 the 1st of June

We had decided the previous night we were going to Cley the next day so we were happy to hear news from RBA that a Red-backed Shrike male was seen at Cley! So we headed first thing and we picked up the Shrike immediately but it flew off! Patients prevailed and it came back soon enough and pretty much sat right in front of us and put a nice show on for us as it flew back and forth catching some prey to eat. We also found out that the Trumpeter Finch was still present so took a nice stroll along the beach and went to go and see the Trumpeter Finch again and we had good views again and Stuart and Andy also got to see the bird today as they didn’t see it yesterday, it was a pleasure to watch such a special and rare bird again. We then went to go and have a look at the Bearded Tit's that could be seen from the public footpath that runs up the side of Cley nature reserve that overlooks the reedbed, I had some exceptional views of the Bearded Tit here and had 2 males sitting out in the open for quite a while and had fantastic scope views. When we got back to the car we saw the Red-backed Shrike again and were alerted a Thrush Nightingale was seen! We heard it but never saw it, it then came up on the pager it was just a common Nightingale and we left. Was it ever confirmed at Thrush Nightingale? With this failed attempt to see what could have made a fantastic day for rarities I headed off and was rewarded with fantastic views of the Bearded Tit from the Public Footpath that overlooks Cley reedbeds. There wasn’t much on the Cley reserve itself but it’s a fantastic reserve all the same. We had a busy day ahead of us the next day with a planned trip to Minsmere so we took it easy and went back to the digs to relax.