Norfolk Weekend: Day 1 "That'll Be A Record Shot"

Delve deeper into the wildlife photography world and you will find two extremes of people. There are the people that do it to get the sharpest possible shots that aim to leave any viewer breathless; and then there are the people who use their photographs as “record shots” to help them catalogue the wildlife they have seen before. For their catalogue the collectors do not need the greatest quality pictures, just a picture to show they saw that particular species.

I stand amongst the group that sit on the fence: I strive to take the best possible shots but often circumstances such as low light, poor focus or distance from the subject deny me the perfect picture. Day 1 of the trip to north Norfolk was the day I learnt of the term "record shot" and turned out to be the day I had to utilise the phrase.

Embarking on the long journey from Cumbria at 1am Saturday morning (simply because we are penny pinching students that couldn’t afford the luxury of two nights in Norfolk) with Ashley, Cain and Steve rendered us fairly fatigued before we had even started. This however did not hinder what turned out to be an extremely successful weekend of bird and mammalian photography.

En route to Norfolk we decided to list all the species of bird spotted over the weekend. Occasional updates throughout the weekend were posted on twitter by Cain and me but for those who did not follow the weekend...

As misty morning light flooded through the pine needles in the forests of North Norfolk Day 1 began. Peacefully we waited on the verge of a road hoping to catch a sighting of a Golden Pheasant. Around half an hour and a couple of laps of a small circular route later, we finally found a Golden Pheasant feasting on salt on the freshly gritted road. This beautiful bird is on the brink of extirpation in the UK with around just 100 breeding pairs known to exist. This particular subject became the first to earn my newly discovered excuse of “it’s a record shot”.

After the fantastic start to this long day we started clocking up the bird species to add to the list; catching a lot of the common species on the drive to Buckenham Marshes. On arrival the list stood at 27 however this increased significantly as we spotted a pair of Peregrine Falcons, a large flock of Wigeon, Egyptian geese and a Cetti’s Warbler.

"Three's a crowd"

Whilst there Ashley made use of his scope to make a tricky long distance identification of a Lesser White Fronted Goose amongst a field of White Fronted Geese and other species. This came to the delight of the crowd of other birders with scopes who had gathered around Ashley whilst he surveyed the distant flock. This “record shot” shows the Lesser White Fronted Goose in the center of the picture. Its beak is shorter and white forehead steeper than that of the White Fronted Goose (bottom left of the picture).

By this stage it was getting colder and as temperatures plummeted we set back towards the car, spotting a female Bearded Tit along the way.

The next destination was Wroxham for sustenance. Just outside Wroxham we enquired to a couple that seemed to struggle to agree on anything about a possible place with a good view of Wroxham Broad. Luckily we chose the right advice and came across a large boating lake teeming with waterfowl. It was here Ashley spotted a Ring-Necked duck across the other side of the lake, unfortunately this time it was too far away to spot. Upon leaving Wroxham Broad we had made it to 63 species.

The last port of call for day 1 was Stubb’s Mill: Home to roosting Cranes. Kestrel, Marsh Harrier and Merlin were all added to the list at this stage as we awaited the elegant entrance of the Cranes. A couple landed in the distance and their distinctive calls echoed across the grassy golden fields. Light was fading as two cranes flew close overhead. All of a sudden I forgot the cold and just felt a respect for the cranes as they effortlessly glided in to roost.

Just as dusk was falling and a mixture of exhaustion and the freezing cold weather was getting the better of us we did catch a glimpse of a fox running across the viewing station. It was a nice way to cap off a brilliant first day that saw us find 80 different species of bird.

Day 1 turned out to be a great day for “record shots”. Day 2 was much better for photography... but that is for the next blog post. Coming very soon.

Thanks for Reading