... the birds seemed to be constantly on the move ... sometimes swimming and bathing in the channels ...
... then lifting to form great wheeling masses in the sky ...
... first flying westward only to return eastwards only minutes later as I stood on the edge of the saltmarsh at Morston ... they flew close by each time with no apparent avoidance of humans ...
... and yet more distant flocks towards Stiffkey ...
... along side that seemingly wintry scene Avocets were engrossed in breeding behaviour ... this group of four acting as a unit within which the pairing was perhaps not yet settled ...
... and this male fed in the nearby channel ...
Marsh Harriers were ever present ... a female settled distantly near Stiffkey Fen ...
... and Red Kites seemed much more common than in recent years ...
... a few Little Ringed Plovers were scattered around the Cley marshes along side some Dunlin and Black-tailed Godwits ...
... suddenly 19 Ruff flew in to add to the already present handfull of Ruff ...
... with some lovely looking individuals ...
... a small group of Turnstones on Blakeney Point rested on the shingle ...
... in the reed beds Bearded Tits were very scarce, perhaps the result of a hard winter ... as the week wore on increasing numbers of Sedge Warblers sang from the reeds and brambles on Blakeney fresh marsh ...
Shovelers were widely distributed with some very showy birds ...
... and Egyptian Geese strutted their stuff ...
... or at least the males did ...
... while a flock of Pochard whiled away the afternoon on an increasingly choppy stretch of water ...
... with the grebes keeping to the more sheltered areas ...
... and on a tranquil evening a smart male Gadwall drifted among the reeds as the breeze barely rippled the surface ...
