Late Spring update

Again, I've left it far too long in updating my blog, wanting to spend more time in the field and less time in front of my computer.
It's been a pretty quiet spring. The first notable thing is that it was very late. The strong, cold north-easterly winds kept many of the migrants at bay and it wasn't until mid-April when birds really started to arrive.
Not much to report until Mark Golley and I did some birding in North Norfolk on 17 May. We started off sea-watching off Cley, were the north-easterly winds had pushed quite a lot of auks close inshore, with a really good count of about 15 Puffins plus 300+ auk sps. Blue-headed Wagtail in the Eye Field and Little Stint on North Scrape were also nice to see.
We then walked along Warham Greens where there were a few migrants, including 2 Ring Ouzels and we also found a rather late Black Brant feeding on the saltmarsh. It was a bit difficult to photograph as it was quite a long way off in a slight heat-haze and the camera kept focusing on the grass in front of it. A few photos of it are included below:

Black Brant with Dark-bellied Brent Geese, Warham Saltmarsh

Black Brant with Dark-bellied Brent Geese, Warham Saltmarsh

Black Brant with Dark-bellied Brent Geese, Warham Saltmarsh

Black Brant with Dark-bellied Brent Geese, Warham Saltmarsh

Black Brant with Dark-bellied Brent Geese, Warham Saltmarsh

Black Brant with Dark-bellied Brent Geese, Warham Saltmarsh

Black Brant with Dark-bellied Brent Geese, Warham Saltmarsh

Black Brant with Dark-bellied Brent Geese, Warham Saltmarsh

Black Brant with Dark-bellied Brent Geese, Warham Saltmarsh

 Thankfully, some birds weren't quite so difficult to photograph, like this Skylark

Skylark, Warham Greens

More most people, me included, the best bird of the spring was a female Dusky Thrush in Margate Cemetery on 18 May that remained for a full day after its discovery, much to the delight (and relief) of the assembled twitchers.

Dusky Thursh, female, Margate Cemetery, Kent

Dusky Thursh, female, Margate Cemetery, Kent

Dusky Thursh, female, Margate Cemetery, Kent

On 28 May, there was quite a good number of waders on Rush Hills Scrape; 4 Dunlin, 17 Ringed Plover and 9 Sanderling, plus 2 Sandwich Terns which are quite rare at this inland spot.

Finally, on 1 Jun I was motivated by a number of migrants on the north Norfolk coast to spend some time between Horsey and Winterton, so I spent 7 hours searching the bushes between Nelson Head and Winterton Beach Road. The grand-total for my 7-hour effort was a single Wheatear! It's hard in late-spring to keep up the enthusiasm as it's really only that single bird that you're searching for, rather than being spurred on by an obvious movement of common migrants in mid-spring and autumn. Anyway, the courting Little Terns on the beach provided a nice contrast to the empty bushes in the dunes.