April 11th – May 11th Norfolk Birding Tours & Species recorded
Species recorded during April – May 11th
During April 11th to May 11th 2022. There was quite a backlog of people as well as advertised Norfolk group tours and I ended up running guided birdwatching tours on 19 days during this period! It was impossible to keep up with daily Norfolk trip reports on the website. So condensed below is some nice pictures taken by clients on the tours, followed by a list of the species recorded with some numbers and insight into the more unusual or tricky species we saw on the tours during this period.
| Greylag Goose | Numerous | |
| Greater White-fronted Goose | 1 | Present at Potter Heigham till end of April |
| Dark- bellied Brent Goose | 100 | Still present of April Blakeney harbour |
| Red-breasted Goose | 1 | Present till end of April and seen on both group tours |
| Canada Goose | num | |
| Mute Swan | num | |
| Egyptian Goose | num | |
| Common Shelduck | ||
| Garganey | 2 | Seen at Cley & Hickling on 5 day & 3 day group tours |
| Northern Shoveler | num | |
| Gadwall | num | |
| Eurasian Wigeon | 1-2 | Still 1-2 end of April |
| Mallard | num | |
| Northern Pintail | 2 | Still present end of April |
| Eurasian Teal | 10 | Few still end of April |
| Common Pochard | 12 | Breeding pairs noted at several localities |
| Tufted Duck | 4+ | Titchwell Marsh RSPB Reserve |
| Common Eider | 1 | 1-2 noted early April offhshore |
| Common Scoter | 4000 | Early April, off Holme but very few by the end of April |
| Grey Partridge | 1-2 | Seen on the group tours |
| Common Pheasant | ||
| Red-legged Partridge | ||
| Little Grebe | ||
| Great Crested Grebe | ||
| Stock Dove | ||
| Common Woodpigeon | ||
| Collared Dove | ||
| Common Cuckoo | 1-2 | Seen at the end of April, Holme, Snettisham CP |
| Common Swift | 4 | Late April |
| Common Moorhen | ||
| Eurasian Coot | ||
| Stone-curlew | 2 | Seen on all the Brecks trips in April |
| Pied Avocet | num | Holkham NNR–Burnham Overy Marshes |
| Black-winged Stilt | 4 | Seen at Hickling on May 10th tour |
| Eurasian Oystercatcher | num | Holkham NNR–Burnham Overy Marshes |
| Grey Plover | 20+ | still late April |
| Northern Lapwing | num | |
| White-tailed Lapwing | 1 | Wild Ken Hill Estate seen on group tour on 10th April |
| Common Ringed Plover | num | |
| Little Ringed Plover | 1 | |
| Eurasian Dotterel | 3 | Thornham Bank, Green Lane, seen on late April tours |
| Whimbrel | Reg | Small groups seen regularly during April tours |
| Eurasian Curlew | 1 | Holkham NNR–Burnham Overy Marshes |
| Bar-tailed Godwit | Reg | |
| Black-tailed Godwit | Reg | Plenty of migrating Icelandica flocks seen during April |
| Ruddy Turnstone | Reg | |
| Red Knot | Reg | |
| Ruff | 12 | Up to 12 still late April at various locations |
| Sanderling | ||
| Dunlin | ||
| Common Snipe | 5 | Still present at several sites early May |
| Jack Snipe | 1 | Still present end of April Thornham |
| Common Sandpiper | 2 | Holme Bird Observatory (restricted access) |
| Green Sandpiper | 5 | Hickling Broad NNR–Potter Heigham Marshes |
| Common Greenshank | 3 | Hickling Broad NNR–Potter Heigham Marshes |
| Wood Sandpiper | 4 | Seen regularly and 4 Hickling end of April |
| Common Redshank | 12 | Holkham NNR–Burnham Overy Marshes |
| Black-headed Gull | 1 | Holkham NNR–Burnham Overy Marshes |
| Little Gull | 1 | 2cy 9th May at Titchwell |
| Mediterranean Gull | 2 | Holkham NNR–Burnham Overy Marshes |
| Common Gull | Snettisham RSPB Reserve | |
| Herring Gull | 1 | Holkham NNR–Burnham Overy Marshes |
| Lesser Black-backed Gull | Snettisham RSPB Reserve | |
| Great Black-backed Gull | 1 | Holkham NNR–Burnham Overy Marshes |
| Common Tern | 2 | Snettisham RSPB Reserve |
| Sandwich Tern | 4 | Holme Bird Observatory (restricted access) |
| Northern Fulmar | 1 | Holme Dunes NWT NR and NNR |
| Great Cormorant | 5 | Holkham NNR–Burnham Overy Marshes |
| Great Bittern | 1 | Singles heard N Norfolk and one seen in flight at Lakenheath |
| Grey Heron | 2 | Holkham NNR–Burnham Overy Marshes |
| Great White Egret | 2 | Holkham NNR–Burnham Overy Marshes |
| Little Egret | 5 | Holkham NNR–Burnham Overy Marshes |
| Glossy Ibis | 4 | Hickling Broad NNR–Potter Heigham Marshes April-May |
| Eurasian Spoonbill | 3 | Holkham NNR–Burnham Overy Marshes |
| Western Marsh Harrier | 8 | Max count Titchwell Marsh RSPB Reserve |
| Eurasian Sparrowhawk | 2 | Snettisham RSPB Reserve |
| Northern Goshawk | 1 | Seen early April tour but not later. |
| Red Kite | num | |
| Common Buzzard | num | Holkham NNR–Burnham Overy Marshes |
| Common Kestrel | 1 | Holkham NNR–Burnham Overy Marshes |
| Hobby | 30 | Up to 30 seen Lakenheath early may |
| Peregrine Falcon | 1 | Snettisham RSPB Reserve |
| Eurasian Jay | num | Hickling Broad NNR–Potter Heigham Marshes |
| Common Magpie | num | |
| Eurasian Jackdaw | num | |
| Rook | num | |
| Carrion Crow | num | |
| Marsh Tit | 1-2 | Seen in the Brecks |
| Eurasian Blue Tit | num | |
| Great Tit | num | |
| Woodlark | 2-4 | Seen on all April group tours |
| Eurasian Skylark | ||
| Bearded Tit | 4 | Holkham NNR–Burnham Overy Marshes |
| Sedge Warbler | ||
| Eurasian Reed Warbler | ||
| Common Grasshopper Warbler | 1-3 | Mainly heard, one seen |
| Savi’s Warbler | 1 | Singing from undisclosed location on May 10th |
| Sand Martin | Notably small numbers | |
| Barn Swallow | Notably small numbers | |
| Willow Warbler | Num | at Hickling |
| Common Chiffchaff | 1 | |
| Cetti’s Warbler | Num | |
| Long-tailed Tit | Num | |
| Eurasian Blackcap | Num | |
| Garden Warbler | 2-3 | Santon Downham–River Ouse |
| Lesser Whitethroat | 2 | Wild Ken Hill Estate–Snettisham Coastal Park |
| Common Whitethroat | 1 | Snettisham RSPB Reserve |
| Goldcrest | 1 | Holme Bird Observatory (restricted access) |
| Firecrest | 4+ | Seen and heard on all group tours to Brecks |
| Eurasian Nuthatch | 3 | Santon Downham–River Ouse |
| Eurasian Treecreeper | 2 | Santon Downham–River Ouse |
| Eurasian Wren | ||
| Common Starling | ||
| Mistle Thrush | 3-4 | Regular in the Brecks |
| Song Thrush | ||
| Eurasian Blackbird | ||
| Fieldfare | 1 | Holkham NNR late bird April 28th |
| Ring Ouzel | 3-4 | Seen Burnham Overy area on 2 group tours |
| Nightingale | 4 ♂ | Singing near Lakenheath late April |
| European Robin | ||
| Whinchat | 3 | males at Holme, Salthouse & Hickling on group tours |
| European Stonechat | num | |
| Northern Wheatear | 4-5 | Poor spring passage but seen regularly |
| Dunnock | ||
| House Sparrow | ||
| Western Yellow Wagtail | 1 | Poor passage 1-2 seen on late April tours |
| Pied Wagtail | Num | |
| White Wagtail | 3 | Thornham pools late April |
| Meadow Pipit | 80 | Hunstanton Cliffs Vizmig |
| Tree Pipit | 4 | Singing and seen on all group tours late April Santon Downham |
| Common Chaffinch | ||
| European Greenfinch | ||
| Common Linnet | ||
| Lesser Redpoll | 10 | Santon Downham–River Ouse |
| European Goldfinch | ||
| Eurasian Siskin | Breeding birds still around in Brecks | |
| Yellowhammer | Reg | |
| Common Reed Bunting |