Cley Birds Photo Gallery

Cape Shelduck, Cley, 26th June 2006 (Pat Wileman). This escaped bird has been present on the reserve fairly regularly over the last few days and has been causing discussion over whether it is a pure Cape Shelduck or a cross with a Ruddy Shelduck.

Tawny Owl, Cley, 24th June 2006 (Steve Gantlett). On the A149 roadside wires looking down into the garden of Sea Lawn just after dark.

Woodlark, Kelling Heath, 24th June 2006 (Richard Millington). One of two singing males at midday.

Spoonbill, Cley, 22nd June 2006 (Steve Gantlett). One of three that - more unusually nowadays - have been lingering on the reserve for the past three days.

Adult summer Mediterranean Gull, Cley, 21st June 2006 (Steve Gantlett). This splendid bird spent the early evening preening quite close in front of the North Hide. It then flew off towards the Point.

Red-breasted Merganser, Salthouse beach carpark, 18th June 2006 (John Miller). An unseasonable bird.

Female Gadwall with Chicks, Cley, Norfolk, 17th June 2006 (Steve Gantlett).

Six Spoonbills, Salthouse, 16th June 2006 (Steve Gantlett). These six beauties dropped into the pool just east of the Iron Road just for the evening.

Male Kestrel, Cley, 12th June 2006 (Pat Wileman). Showing off the Field Vole he'd recently caught.

Male Red-backed Shrike, Blakeney Fresh Marsh, 10th June 2006 (Steve Gantlett). This beautiful bird was a product of the light easterly wind at the time. It perched on the brambles close to the bottom of Friary Hills and performed splendidly for its small crowd of admirers, but unfortunately it stayed for only one evening.

Reed Warbler Kelling Quag, 4th June 2006 (Andy Booth)

Black-tailed Godwit, Pat's Pool, 4th June 2006 (Pat Wileman). This godwit was colour-ringed as an adult female in S. Iceland on 27th April 2000. A very interesting individual which has failed to put on any breeding plumage this year.

Ruddy Shelducks, Cley, 1st June 2006 (Steve Gantlett). Up to half-a-dozen frequented the reserve during May and into early June, but they are surely feral wanderers rather than true vagrants from the east or south!

Female Pochard with chick, Cley, 27th May 2006 (Steve Gantlett). A very rare breeding bird in the Cley square, photographed from Bishop Hide. She had seven; three were still alive with her in the Catchwater drain opposite Snipe's Marsh on 25th June.

Wood Warbler, Blakeney Point, 26th May 2006 (Richard Porter). One of two that turned up on the Point this spring.

Grey Heron and Avocets, Cley, 25th May 2006 (Steve Gantlett). It seemed as though just one Grey Heron was single-handedly responsible for predating almost every one of the almost 100 Avocets nests on the reserve in just four days (24th-27th May).

Avocet with chick, Cley, 23rd May 2006 (Steve Gantlett). Kestrels and Sparrowhawks took their toll of Avocet chicks in 2006, but it was mainly Grey Heron predation that they had to watch out for!

Osprey, Salthouse, 22nd May 2006 (Steve Gantlett). Spring 2006 was a good one for Ospreys at Cley, but it is unclear how many individuals passed though (a dozen perhaps?), as at least one bird lingered in the area for several days. This bird was feeding on a fish on the beach-top opposite the eastern end of Sea Pool in the evening; it was flushed by dog-walkers and then took its fish up onto Salthouse Heath.

Short-eared Owl, Cley, 16th May 2006 (Steve Gantlett). One or two Short-eared Owls often linger at Cley during the late spring, but this bird just stayed for just one evening, hunting around the North Hide.

Temminck's Stint, on the Serpentine from the East Bank, 15th May 2006 (John Furse).

First-simmer Little Gull, Salthouse beach carpark, 14th May 2006 (John Miller).

Sandwich Terns, Cley, 11th May 2006 (Steve Gantlett). As usual, up to 500 Sandwich Terns rested on Arnold's Marsh daily from mid April until late May, particularly in the afternoons and evenings, until the colony finally settled on Blakeney Point.

Adult summer Little Gull, Salthouse, 10th May 2006 (Steve Gantlett). This superb adult stayed at Salthouse for the first two weeks of May. It spent most of its time on the pools east of the Iron Road but, along with the Black-headed Gulls from there, it often visited the fence posts beside Salthouse beach carpark in the late afternoons.

Bar-tailed Godwits, Salthouse, 9th May 2006 (John Miller). I had to wait for ages for the chance to get these two flying over the beach road at Salthouse.

Turnstone, Salthouse, 9th May 2006 (Steve Gantlett). The Turnstones by Salthouse beach carpark are often quite tame, and often linger quite late into spring, when they look superb in their bright summer plumage.

Purple Heron, Cley, 8th May 2006 (Steve Gantlett). Found in the late evening by Mark Golley, this bird, unusually, obliging perched up on a bush in the middle of the main reedbed in full view for almost an hour and then flew around for all to see at dusk. It was still present on the reserve the next day, but was not seen thereafter.

Brown morph male Pied Flycatcher, Blakeney Point, 8th May 2006 (Richard Porter). The brown form of the male Pied Fly is rare in Britain. Who else has seen one like this? it is, of course, commoner in eastern Europe.

Quail, Blakeney Point, 8th May 2006 (Richard Porter). This bird was around for nearly a week near the Hood. On the first day it spent time feeding in a patch of Bur Churvil - as it is here.

Common Rosefinch, Blakeney Point, 7th May 2006 (Richard Porter). Unusual in that it was a two-day stayer (most rosefinches on the Point stop briefly). A young male - you can see a tinge of a pink in the supercilium and cheeks. This bird spent much time feeding on the buds of Chickweed in the plantation.

Nightjar, Blakeney Point, 7th May 2006 (John Furse). Just a few hundred yards west of the Coastguards.

Swallows, Cley, 4th May 2006 (Steve Gantlett). They have again bred at the Coastguards.

Nightingale, Salthouse Heath, 2nd May 2006 (Steve Gantlett). The 'second crossroads' – traditionally the best spot for Nightingales on Salthouse Heath – has finally been forsaken this year. The bushes here clearly need some management work. Nevertheless, there were still at least five singing males on the heath.

Dotterel, Salthouse, 30th April 2006 (Steve Gantlett). This bird was found in the field east of Salthouse beach carpark on a really cold evening, but its propensity for running into the wind (a biting north-easterly) meant that the field-crafty could just stand by the beach fence and wait for it to run right up to them!

Black-tailed Godwit, Salthouse, 27th April 2006 (Steve Gantlett). A highlight of the last two weeks of April was up to 50 Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits – many of them coming into superb breeding plumage – feeding on leatherjackets right next to Salthouse Beach Road.

Greylag Goose with goslings, Pat's Pool, Cley, 27th April 2006 (Pat Wileman). A cool spring day, 11 Greylag goslings decided it was warmer under Mum but it was a bit crowded!

Male Marsh Harrier, Cley, 17th April 2006 (Steve Gantlett). There are three nests on the reserve this year.

Spotted Redshank, Simmond's Scrape, Cley, 16th April 2006 (Pat Wileman). This bird struggled for at least 10 minutes to swallow this fish, but it did eventually succeed.

Grey Heron, Cley, 11th April 2006 (Steve Gantlett). This bird was by the Catchwater Drain, in the field east of Cley Beach Road. At first, it was thought that it must have brought its flatfish from over the West Bank or the beach, but this may not have been the case; there are flatfish in the Catchwater – as well as Pike!

Killdeer, Blakeney Freshmarsh, 9th April 2006 (Steve Gantlett). Sue and I went to Friary Hills on the evening of Friday 7th April, hoping to find a Ring Ouzel, but instead stumbled on a group of unbelievably selfish suppressors watching this beautiful second-ever for Norfolk! Fortunately, it stayed for another two days – and made the National Trust thousands of pounds by way of carparking fees in the process.

Male Garganey, Cley, 28th March 2006 (Steve Gantlett). As usual, this was just about the first nice migrant of the spring. It remained close to Bishop Hide for most of the day, but was gone the following day.