Saturday 10 February 2024

Bunting bonanza at Kessingland

On Saturday 10th February, I decided to visit Kessingland North beach, from the Heathlands steps I walked south to the reedy area and just east of there, I witnessed a fairly flighty flock of around 35 Snow Buntings flying around and briefly settled but they were very flighty and seen on several occasions and then I saw Chris D, who said he'd just seen the Laplands fly a little north and said I needed to work the triangular strip between the reedy area and the beach some 500 metres worth, saying check every bit of marram grass and particularly the laid flat deadd grassy tussocks and mounds. I then wandered north and saw the bird in flight, it called its distinctive dry soft rattling "prrrt" confirming it as the fantastic Lapland Bunting It then flew to a large Sea buckthorn bush and perched for a while, through the scope, it showed the 2 white wing bars and reddish brown wing coverts giving visual confirmation to my initial ID. It then disappeared and I only saw it when I walked and the bird flew from some marram grass as i walked back around 50 metres. It flew north and by carefully walking north it fed on some flattened dead grass and I watched it for some 15 minutes as it fed around the back of some marram grass, I managed a few pictures before it suddenly took to flight and flew south 50 metres again. Instead of wandering back to the main shore pool, I walked back up the steps and from the bench at the top, the lazy way out I scoped 2 fine Sanderling on the seaward side edge of the shore pool back in thr middle. I checked Heathlands copse nothing in there save for a couple of Wood Pigeons.

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