Surf & Velvet Scoter plus 2 Desert Wheatear.

A rare Saturday off for Brian gets us a trip to Norfork for a belated look for the Surf Scoter, we arrive round about 8 o'clock after taking a detour around some country lanes in the hope of seeing some Barn Owls.
Parking at the bottom of Lady Ann's drive we head down the boardwalk towards  Holkham Bay, 2 fellows from Hertfordshire join us in the search for the Scoter, after a fair while we all spread out along the beach & this is rewarded when we get a phone call from Brian telling us he may have it, but he needs the telescope, Jimmy is the only one to take his this time.
It's a long walk before we get to Brian with our feet sinking deep in the wet sand it seems a lot further.But Brian was right & we get onto the target bird to give us all another lifer.We wave our arms about to tell the other fellows that we had found it & get some nice words from them for taking the trouble to get them on the bird.
The Bird stands out from the rest with a bright white patch on the nape & a yellow orange bill.
In with the common Scoters are 3 Velvet Scoters to give us another year tick, also seen Red-necked Grebe, Arctic Skua,Razor bill, & few Gannets.
On the way back to the car we have a quick look for the reported Palla's but not to be today, so after a nice cuppa from the van in the car park we scan the sky for any sign of Rough-legged Buzzard but all we see is a nice Red kite.
So off to Burnham Overy for another look for one, after only a short time we pick out a couple of Rough-legged Buzzard to give a good display for us a distance view but good views in the scope as it turns to show it's markings to help us identify it, another year tick for us.
Next port of call is a place that none of us had been to before called Gorleston on sea near Yarmouth.
A short walk along the beach to join a few people already with cameras out looking at a Desert wheatear  that had taken shelter in a hole in the sea wall,
 After a while the bird keeps popping out onto the beach for some good camera shots.
On the way home now with the light getting short we decide to give Yarmouth a visit to try for another Desert Wheatear, this is a very short walk before we looking at a very accommodating bird
with the bird sitting on a wall only feet away from us.
So with a lifer plus 3 year ticks in the bag it was a really nice long day birding.

The Suffolk bird

Again

And again on the other side of the path.

The Norfolk bird