Bird Walk at Yarmouth 17th November 2019

Eighteen members met at Thorley Road for a walk along the cycle path to the scrape in front of Mill Copse led by Jim Baldwin. It was a glorious sunny morning with a light north easterly breeze and a rising tide making perfect conditions. As a result 62 species were seen during the course of the morning. We stopped at Rofford Marsh with the highlights being 5 drake Shovelers, 3 Gadwall, a drake Pintail, 6 Snipe and 2 Kingfishers while 2 Sky Lark few overhead and a Cetti’s Warbler was heard. Moving on to the Western Yar estuary there was c.900 Golden Plover and Lapwing which made a lovely sight when they all flew round the estuary as a result of a passing Sparrowhawk before returning to their roost site in the marsh. Everyone managed to have great views in the telescopes of a confiding Kingfisher which sat on a post in the scrape. Further sightings of Kingfisher ensued with two together over the Yar and another one catching a fish with an overall total of five different birds seen during the morning. Turnstones were busily turning over the seaweed close to the cycle path while a Curlew was also observed at close range. 30 Black-tailed Godwit were at roost, 2 Greenshank was a nice bonus while other waders seen were Oystercatcher, Grey Plover, Dunlin and Redshank. Wildfowl was represented by Shelduck, Wigeon, Teal and Mallard. 12 Little Grebe were fishing in the Yar. The elusive Spotted Redshank was not seen at the scrape but a number of passerines were observed including Stonechat and Yellowhammer. The walk concluded with a Marsh Harrier quartering the reed bed opposite Off the Rails café. Jim Baldwin

About the Author