Isabelline Wheatear, Cley, 13 November 2019

In years gone by an Isabelline Wheatear would have had me dashing up to Cley like a madman but having seen one at Burnham Overy in 2016 the pressure was off to a certain extent! Having been tied up with work since it was found on Sunday, yesterday was my first opportunity to go when I finished a job off.

The walk along the East Bank and subsequent trudge along the shingle behind Arnolds Marsh was met with a complete absence of the bird when I arrived. It had flown miles away onto the grazing marsh! Amazingly, within just 10 minutes it popped up distantly on a fence post and then worked it's way back to us across the shingle. In no time it was hopping around feeding just 10 feet away! In time it moved west along the back of the shingle ridge at which point I began the walk back. En-route c30 Snow Buntings were showing nicely on the shingle ridge and a imm drake Long-tailed Duck was on the pool to the west of the north end of East Bank. 7 Bearded Tits and then a lovely Otter in the main drain finished off a particularly productive and highly enjoyable couple of hours. 

Isabelline Wheatear

   Snow Buntings