Cley Marshes NWT & The Broads - Fri 5 Nov

After an excellent and extremely filling breakfast we checked out of Machrimore and travelled east along the coast to Cley Next the Sea and a visit to Cley Marshes NWT. After paying the £4 entrance fee we walked out to the hides in the middle of the reserve and Ellie got a view, albeit somewhat fleeting, of her first Bearded Tit. From the hide I had hoped to see the long-staying American Golden Plover and Green-winged Teal, but neither could be found much to my frustration...luckily they were only year ticks! We did see a few bits and pieces, Ruff and Black-tailed Godwits were quite numerous and as we returned to the car a Water Pipit flew over. We then got a bit lazy and drove down to the East Bank car park and took a walk out towards the sea in the hope that Ellie could get some better views of Bearded Tits, but despite hearing several we could not actually locate one!
So we headed off again, and after an unsuccessful attempt at trying to see some Waxwings at Weybourne we set off south and drove round to Horsey Mill in the hope of seeing some Common Cranes. This turned out to be a complete waste of time as we saw nothing of note at all. So with time getting on, and tension rising in the car, we skipped Filby Broad and the Velvet Scoter and headed straight in to Great Yarmouth. Finally, our luck turned as we parked in the Lidl car park and were greeted by a flock of over one hundred Waxwings!



This was the other bird on Ellie's wish list, so she was thrilled to get up close to these charismatic creatures. This really picked up our moods and so we continued south feeling much happier about things.
We took at quick diversion to Covehithe where we parked up and had a cup of tea, after which I took a brief walk behind the church to find a Richard's Pipit, but I only succeeded in getting completely soaked as the heaven's opened! So we completed the final leg of the day's journey and arrived at The Roost, our bed and breakfast accommodation for the night in the village of Middleton.