Where to Watch Birds in East Anglia by David Callahan

Author:David Callahan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: 2020-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

EXPECTED SPECIES

Year-round

Western Marsh Harrier

Western Barn Owl

Spring/summer

Sand Martin another hirundines

Winter

Geese (mostly overhead)

Commoner winter wildfowl

Short-eared Owl

Passage

Little Gull

Black Tern

Drift migrants and rarities

Description

Despite the plainness of the habitats – one modest pool, grazing marsh, arable land and dunes beyond – Kelling has garnered a fair reputation for attracting scarce and rare birds over the years, due to its position in the middle of the North Norfolk regional hotspot. The location certainly pays off for regular visitors and patch watchers – though it can be hard work at times – but Meadow Lane and Kelling Water Meadows (aka Kelling Quags) are the places for attracting the birds in the area. The Quags are managed by NOA and the Kelling Estate together.

There are hedgerows for feeding thrushes and finches, water for gulls, terns and wildfowl, muddy edges for waders and fields for other waders, along with larks, pipits and wagtails. The odd seabird can be glimpsed above the dunes, but these obscure most of the sea from your eyeline.

Facilities

There are no facilities on site, but Kelling has a rustic cafe-cum-bookshop with refreshments, nice cakes and pasties, and some toilets. The site is within easy reach of several major towns if more choice is required.

Strategy and timing

As with most North Norfolk birding locations, Kelling is best during passage periods though there is much entertainment year-round.

After parking, head down the track, but pay attention to the fields and hedges, as both Common (‘Mealy’) and Coues’s Arctic Redpolls are fairly regular among the Lesser Redpoll flocks sometimes present in winter (though these are very mobile and can wander into the woods inland at times), while Brambling and winter thrushes are also likely.

In spring and summer there will be plenty of the commoner warblers, while in spring and especially autumn, species such as Spotted and Pied Flycatchers and Common Redstart are also possible.

After a third of a mile or so, you will notice a small, reed-fringed lake to your right, somewhat obscured by high brambles, though there are a couple of places you can peek through at the assembled gulls which loaf at the site – Mediterranean and Little Gulls can occur, and White-winged Black Tern has been known. To get the most out of this quite small area of water, a scope is advisable.

A decent variety of the most likely wildfowl species also visit outside the breeding season, including common Shelduck, Gadwall and Eurasian Wigeon, but Garganey can drop in to provide a bit more interest in spring. The incipient nesting season will also see good numbers of hirundines and swifts whipping through the site well into summer, while Black, Sandwich, Common, Arctic and Little Terns may all put in an appearance, although usually brief.

Lower water levels will coax in a spread of migrating waders at the right time of year, with Common, Green and Wood Sandpipers, Ruff and Common Greenshank among the more likely visitors. The odd American or Siberian vagrant has been found, so pay careful scrutiny during passage periods.

European Reed and Sedge Warblers and Common Reed

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