More Snow

Drawing the curtains at 6.00 exposed the snow falling steadily. That postponed departure until 9.15. The road into North Walsham was an polished ice covered by half an inch of fresh snow. Once in the town itself, roads were fine for the rest of the day, the sun shone and the countryside looked lovely.
Bird numbers were not great to-day but we saw some good additions to the year list. Still no Little Owl at Abbey Farm but a new and unsettling experience. Suddenly, a rabbit shot out of the bushes to the left of the hide hurtling towards the water, soon followed by a chasing Stoat. The rabbit swam to the far bank, managed to drag itself out of the water and collapsed in a clump of sedge. Would it survive the icy water and 0C temperature? All the widfowl congregated nearby, gazing intently at the clump of sedge. Extraordinary.
An extra high tide at Snettisham early morning meant an extra low one when we arrived. Two Shorelark fed along the tideline on the shingle ridge, thousands of the usual waders scattered along the shore. A flock of Golden Plover was our first of the year.
Thornham to eat lunch was a lucky decision; a Peregrine flew across the marsh and then the road behind us. It was pretty quiet apart from that, quickly off to Choseley Barns and a successful sighting of Corn Buntings.
Holkham Church entrance gave good views of the thousands of geese amassed in front of Meals House, stretching into the far distance. Amongst the Pinks we identified several Barnacles and the unmistakeable white blob of the Snow Goose. The field next to the road held a flock of Whitefronts.
Many Brent Geese on Wells pitch and putt but, no Brant to-day, the Scaup on Abrahams Bosom were more obliging. The Wells to Stiffkey road is closed for the whole of February - don't know why - we had to detour inland to the A148, turning off for Cley at Glandford to see Marsh Harrier and Mute Swan (!). As always, a most enjoyable day, ending with a superb sunset over Cley Marsh from Salthouse Beach.We managed Tree Sparrows at two sites and loved watching superb male Goldeneys displaying to the females. I think the final total was 78, haven't done the final list yet.