Trip around the Broads and birds galore at the patch!

 Saturday was a chance for me to get out for some quality birding. I weighed up my options & taking into consideration the high winds i decided on leaving the jewels that the coast had to offer but instead headed for the Broads!
 I started off with a visit to Buckenham on route and was pleased to see the Lesser WF was showing well not far from the station car park . It was among the Bean Geese as it has been.Also of note was the huge flock of Golden Plover and a nice Peregrine Falcon.  I made my way to Ransworth for the Ring Necked Duck .It was showing well from the car park and was a nice easy view. I stopped for early lunch and then headed to Rollesby for the Great Northern Diver.
 This diver was also showing well from the south side of the bridge and was looking rather smart in the now bright sunshine.A nice Kingfisher and a low flying Sparrowhawk were picked up before i headed off to meet Jim. We were in search of Raptors and once at the desired spot we were greeted by a smiling James who i last saw a year ago at Ransworth when he helped me find a Mealy Redpoll(top bloke!). Despite the strong winds we had some cracking action :
 3x SEO's ,4x Barn Owls ,1x Marsh Harrier,1xKestrel,a flock of 35x Whooper & Bewick Swans & a Golden Plover flock. A big thanks to James for picking out 2x Common Cranes feeding.With use of his scope we had cracking views of these super bird- a nice end to the day!

 11/01/12-

Thorpe/Station Marshes

 Today on my lunch break i headed to the patch and was greeted by a super sight of birds everywhere! Gulls were gathered on the Broad itself and more still in the air.I counted more then 800+ BHGulls. Also wildfowl numbers were higher then they been with a mixture of Teal, Gadwall, Tufted and Pochard.
Over the Marshes were the biggest flock of Lapwings ive seen here,at least 120 + ! As i got closer to the flooded marshes i noticed 5x Snipe over the back and then a flock of waders on the edge. These were 28x Ruff , my first for the patch which made this my best lunch break to date!

Ruff

Totals-
On the Marsh:

Ruff x28
Snipe x5
Lapwings x120+

On the Broad:

Black Headed Gulls x800+
Pochard x 6
Tufted x34
Teal x21
Gadwall x 40

 Happy Birding,
  Shaky