Gibraltar Point 2005

It was a very warm day when, en route to Gibraltar Point, twelve of our party met at the Old Moore Public House, Frampton for a very good lunch.

After lunch we set off down the road to Frampton Marsh, where we were rewarded with views of a large flock of Golden Plover. As the many other birds on the salt marsh were very distant, we decided to head for the RSPB Reserve at Freiston Shore. (You may recall that this reserve was the subject of the film shown at our recent AGM).

Here, we had close-up views of Ruff & Black-tailed Godwit. There were also Tree Sparrow, and a flock of tits preceding us down the track to the sea wall. From here we saw Marsh Harrier, Little Egret plus the birds of marshes, Curlew & Redshank.

We arrived at Gibraltar Point at about five, meeting the rest of our party. A brief safety talk was given by the visitor centre manager prior to dinner and a visit to the local hostelry.

The following morning was overcast and windy, but a few of us met before seven for a pre-breakfast walk to the beach. There were many waders on view, but the small birds were keeping their heads down.

After breakfast we set off in various groups to explore the reserve and search for the Yellow Browed Warbler & Richards Pipit that had been reported the previous day. On the beach, the sea watching was very productive with many birds flying by. Scoters, Velvet Scoters, Gannets, Sandwich Terns, Auks & many waders were seen.

We all met up for lunch to report our findings to the rest of the group. After lunch we set off again to explore different parts of the reserve. A rain shower in the late afternoon sent us back to the visitor centre early to prepare for dinner, after which some of the party revisited the local hostelry. The rain continued until late in the evening.

On Sunday morning I awoke at 06.00 and looked out of the window. It was a clear morning & I could see the lights of Hunstanton, Norfolk fourteen miles away, across The Wash.

A few of us set out for a pre-breakfast walk to various parts of the reserve. Two of the group saw a Yellow Browed Warbler. This caused much excitement from the rest of the party over breakfast.

We all set off again for our last session prior to lunch & returning home. Alas, only one other couple had a brief glimpse of the bird.

We decided to head back to the beach. Red Throated & Great Northern Divers were seen as well as an Arctic Skua. Whilst we were on the beach, a Short Eared Owl flew over the reserve.

I would like to thank all of the party for this very enjoyable weekend, the mix of people was terrific and from the reports that I have received, everyone had a great time.

The total number of birds seen by the group was 110 which was an excellent total.

Dave Jones

P.S. As if this were not enough, a handful of us stopped off at Graffam Water on the way back to view a White-Rumped Sandpiper that had been there for quite a few days. We found it among a small flock of Dunlin being “twitched” by about 15 people.

The bird list for the weekend :-