Norfolk Holiday Day 5-It all ends

Its the last day sadly, but in one sense, its the first day. The first day without fog! Finally, I will be able to do scans of reedbeds and seawatching. We decided to go to Tichwell because it has a big car park that might be able accommodate the caravan. We only intended to spend the morning at Tichwell, the afternoon at some aviation museum for my brother and traveling home.
  Since I would actually be pushed for time today I made the most of it, dashing out of the car to get straight on with it. I didn't bother with fen hide as I have never seen a single bird there, and  also missed out Island hide, since anything I can see there I can also see from Parrinder. I first went to the Parrinder that looked out over the Fresh water area of the reserve.
 There were god numbers of Brent Geese in Comparison to yesterday. They had probably arrived overnight due to the fog clearing. They were perched on the islands just from the hide. Other birds that were around included Gadwall, which was not seen by me yesterday and a number of other wildfowl species

-Brent Geese 
I had a quick scan of the islands, but there was nothing that was not here yesterday. The golden plover had all gone, and only one snipe flew in, and that was just as I left. There were however lovely numbers of winter wildfowl, and I got great views of teal, shoveler and wigeon.

-Wigeon
I headed to the hide across to look over the tidal marsh. There was not much, much less than yesterday. I only spotted one knot, in fact I only spotted one wader that was not a redshank, the knot. I did however spend a bit of time in there, and as I waited a Grey Plover did fly in, but it was distant and only view able by scope,  which was a pity.
  I decided to go to the beach and do some seawatching. Sadly, the lack of fog had meant that the reserve was really busy, and this was maybe why there was so much less on the scrapes. The beach and sea were a good place to go to try and avoid the crowds.
  On the way to the beach I passed a pair of Black tailed godwits that were not visible from the hide due to a bar of grass. They were very close to the path, so I dutifully took loads of photos of them, probably the best photos of this species I have ever had.

-Black Tailed Godwit 
The beach was much quieter, but also much colder, winder and more unpleasant. I guess you can't have it all. I started by scanning the waters edge. The tide was well out sadly, but that meant that I could watch the shorebirds without spooking them. There were good numbers of Brent Geese, as well as oystercatchers. Other birds included Sanderling, Knot, Bar-Tailed Godwit and a few Grey Plover, all but one of which I have seen less than five times, so an impressive haul.












-Brent Geese
I next turned my attention to the sea. Actually being able to see what was out there was a luxury. It was all in vain though. I spotted two gannets, and one black duck. Sadly I couldn't get a decent view of the duck due to the wind shaking the scope. I took the scope down but then couldn't find it again, so it will forever remain a mystery.
  Walking back to the car after lunch, I noticed a group of hardcore birders looking out over the tidal marsh. Apparently there was a wood sandpiper around, just my look that I couldn't help look for it! Sadly that was the end of the Norfolk holiday, that has been incredible, but sadly rather short. Hopefully I will be able to come back some time before uni...