Chitty runner

I made a flying visit back to Norfolk at the weekend following a couple of days working in London. The weather was Spring-like with a warm sun, clear blue sky and a light westerly breeze. With a packed lunch and a flask of coffee I took off for the day, exploring my favourite haunt of Winterton north dunes, hoping to pick up a scarce bird or two. Seawatching was slow going, with a few Red-throated Divers, a small flock of Common Scoter, a single Gannet and the odd Brent Goose or Sanderling, so I pottered off down the Holmes Road to look for the elusive Treecreepers (the only semi-reliable site in Winterton). No sign, but I did manage Bullfinch and a Coal Tit (both not easy in Winterton). A bit further north I stumbled across 3 Cranes loafing in a field and, after a scan of the area north of the concrete blocks, I picked up a Peregrine sitting on a clump of grass in the middle of a marshy field. It wasn't long before it was terrorising the local pigeons and I twice watched it make (unsuccessful) attempts to catch lunch before settling back to the same clump of grass. It was only my fourth Peregrine in Winterton (and the third in the last two years), so a delight to watch. During the afternoon I went back to the beach to try to photograph the Sanderling that was running up and down. A local name for Sanderling is Chitty Runner and, apparently, local people from Winterton are known as Chitty Runners, too.. so it is an appropriate bird to find there.. It wasn't particularly obliging (they are buggers for keeping still) but I did manage the photo above. The foray to the beach also resulted in my most gruesome find of the weekend - a wooden box on the tideline that clearly used to hold the ashes of a poor lady called Helen, cremated at Mortlake Crematorium in June 2007. Nice..

As dusk approached I was hoping for an owl or two and that is exactly what I saw - two Barn Owls hunting over the dunes. Sadly no Short-eared Owl (a long shot) but a sub-adult male Hen Harrier was a bonus before the light finally disappeared on what was a thoroughly enjoyable day.

69 species over the two days puts me in the lead in the Winterton Bird Spotting Collective's annual year-listing competition. See www.birdwatch.plus.com But I am sure the lead will be short-lived - last year's winner saw a whopping 173 species!