A check along the fields at West Runton this morning produced the first Sand Martins of the year with a group of three flying west along the cliffs. There was still a Lapland Bunting in the recently sown field, the third bird of the week as this one was much drabber plumage wise then the two present earlier in the week.
Offshore there was a couple of Red-throated Divers and an Eider. Two Brent Geese flew west and a couple of Curlew east.
A trip up to Felbrigg revealed that the Firecrest was still in the western car park, along with a couple of singing Chiffchaffs. A few Siskins and Redpolls also flew over calling.
A walk down to the lake produced the surprise of a drake Pochard, the first one I had recorded there this year, and a pair of Mandarins were doing their best to evade detection amongst the trees.
Having been fortunate to be able to quickly acquire another Lumix TZ3, second hand but in really good condition, in addition to the Pochard I tested it out on some easy targets.
