Trumpeter Finch, Blakeney Point (Norfolk), 1-Jun-08

When I was young and fit, Blakeney Point was a long, hard slog. It's a shingle ridge several miles long and hard going every step. Now, not so young and only exercising once every few years when a rare bird turns up on Blakeney Point, it was torturous. To make matters worse I was half way up when news came out that it hadn't been seen since the initial sighting and was thought possibly to have flown off. Fortunately, I realised that if I cut my losses and turned back, and then it did reappear, I wouldn't have the energy left to go back up again, so I pressed on. Good job I did, as within a few minutes of arriving at the spot where it had been seen the gloomy mood soon switched as it dropped in again.

 

This was the first record for Norfolk (amazingly, the third species to be added to the county list this year, following the White-crowned Sparrow in January and the Black Lark in April). I'd seen one before in neighbouring Suffolk, but, coming from North Africa or the Middle East, they're an extremely rare bird in the UK.

 

The second for Norfolk turned up almost exactly two years later.

Done