Snettisham Beach

12th July 2013

We continued up through the lagoons and eventually arrived at the beach. At this time of year there are not the wheeling thousands of waders over the Wash and to make matters worse, the tide was out with mud stretching from Norfolk right across to Lincolnshire. There was, however, a few bits of interest. On the tide wrack a family party of Linnets were searching for seeds and I was able to get a shot before they flew off further along the beach.

Next was another surprise, a female Red-legged Partridge and her brood, also feeding on the beach. They too were incredibly confiding and made no attempt to move further way even as I approached to within 10 yards.

Scanning along the beach I could see an Oystercatcher sitting on a nest. This is quite late in the season, so perhaps a second attempt after the first clutch failed, as they are single-brooded. As we slowly approached, she stood up and tidied around the nest and moved down towards the mud. There were 2 eggs in the nest, which suggests that this was a relatively new nest as they normally have three eggs. We continued past and she kept an eye on us to ensure that the danger had passed before returning to her eggs.

Finally, just as we were about to turn round and head back to the car, I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye. There on the tide wrack were two adult Ringed Plovers and a well-grown chick. Just look at how well camouflaged they are, whether on tide wrack or a stony beach.

For better reproduction of my photos, see my photo gallery at flickr.com/photos/seymourbirdies

.