Cley Marshes on a very grey day

The weather forecast was for dark cloud cover yesterday, but we headed to Cley Marshes on the North Norfolk coast for a spot of bird watching nevertheless.  We counted 27 species in total, which is not bad for a day's effort.

First up was a rather obliging little egret.

In ten-pin bowling, I think this might be called a "godwit split".

There were several marsh harriers flying around, but always in the far distance.

There were plenty of golden plover and lapwing to be seen.

And the more common-or-garden species, such as the wood pigeon (not a collared dove, as has been pointed out to me by several people!) and a pair of mallard.

I originally believed this to be a pochard pair, but Ann has since put me straight and told me they're wigeon.  That makes two mistakes in the original post, so I'll clearly have to do better in future!

I loved the shoveler, which seemed to have its beady eye on me.

We also saw a pair of stonechat, although I only managed to photograph the female.

The main treat of the day was a group of bearded tits which were feeding very close to the path.

Finally, Cley Mill with the leaden grey sky in the background, and my faithful dumb blonde who thoroughly enjoyed the walk around the perimeter of the bird reserve.