CBC Wildlife News

Records submitted in the last 14 days, most recent first. Amber indicates local or uncommon, bold red indicates a description is needed for verification at county or national level, green indicates category D (reasonable doubt of natural occurrence) or category E (escapes or non-sustaining introductions).

Thu 17 September 2026

Cley/Salthouse
09:30 to 10:30
Showers, fresh westerly.

2 Spotted Redshank ((JF's birds) . Watling Water.) ,

1 Glossy Ibis (14:00-14:22 hrs, Meadow Lane Kelling. Too familiar a bird for some locals ! But always an unexpected thrill for me !) ,

[Gerard Sabran]

Thu 17 September 2026

Cley/Salthouse
09:00 to 11:00
Drizzle, windy

2 Marsh Harrier (Adult & orange-headed juv. north of Watling water) ,

2 Spotted Redshank (One initially, joined by another in front of Babcock, just before 10am. Some stunning views.) ,

4 Pink-footed Goose (A few in with the canadas & greylags near swan lake, which now has a tiny amount of water in it.) ,

[John Fairey]

Thu 17 September 2026

Cley Marshes
06:55 to 08:40
14-15C, SW f4, overcast with drizzle at end. Visited Bishop's, Skirts, E Bank & Arnold's.

7 Egyptian Goose (Pat's) ,

4 Pintail (2 Brackish, 2 Arnold's) ,

2 Little Grebe (Main Drain) ,

1 Grey Heron ,

4 Little Egret ,

13 Cormorant ,

10 Avocet (Pat's) ,

26 Curlew ,

95 Black-tailed Godwit (mainly Pat's) ,

40 Redshank ,

1 Snipe (Pat's) ,

25 Ruff (21 ad m, 1 juv m, 3 ad f, Pat's) ,

1 Pectoral Sandpiper (Pat's) ,

20 Dunlin ,

2 Marsh Harrier ,

[David & Pat Wileman]

Wed 16 September 2026

Cley Marshes
18:00 to 19:45
Mainly overcast with occasional sunny spells. Wind WSW, light to moderate breeze.

4 Glossy Ibis (Appeared three minutes later than the night before! Dropped on Simmonds ahead of roosting. ) ,

5 Caspian Gull (A whole new set of five compared to the birds of the previous evening. Nice mix of ages again. ) ,

8 Yellow-legged Gull (At least 8 birds seen, again several that weren't in the day before. Some big beefy adults in the mix. ) ,

1000 Lesser Black-backed Gull (Minimum count, give or take 50 either way. There were a lot out there. ) ,

350 Herring Gull (Minimum count ) ,

250 Pink-footed Goose (Large group on Bull Marsh, small groups over westwards too. ) ,

8 Snipe ,

10 Dunlin ,

30 Black-tailed Godwit (The mystery "blonde" godwit seen again, but - again - distant and in average light. Seems unlikely to be a young limosa but this colour variant within islandica is super unusual. No photos unfortunately. ) ,

20 Common Gull ,

800 Black-headed Gull (Minimum count ) ,

3 Marsh Harrier ,

[Mark Golley]

Wed 16 September 2026

Cley (sea)
06:45 to 08:30

c.10 Sandwich Tern ,

4 Red-throated Diver (East and 2 on sea before flying West) ,

20 Common Scoter (17 West 3 East mostly drakes) ,

5 Gannet ,

6 Common Tern (Mostly over wreck) ,

5 Shelduck (Flock West) ,

4 Teal (West) ,

1 Arctic Skua (West) ,

1 Raven (West over Eye field) ,

1 Razorbill (On sea) ,

1 Tufted Duck (Drake West) ,

1 Oystercatcher (West) ,

1 Wheatear (On fence Eye field) ,

1 Black Guillemot (Juv seen by J McCu on sea) ,

[David Fell]

Wed 16 September 2026

Cley Marshes
06:45 to 09:05
14-16C, WNW f4, cloud then sun. Visited Bishop's, Skirts, E Bank & Arnold's.

119 Canada Goose (at least Eye Field, counted from E Bank) ,

1 Grey Heron (Brackish) ,

1 Little Egret (Arnold's) ,

23 Cormorant (Arnold's) ,

1 Water Rail (heard, E Bank) ,

5 Avocet (Pat's) ,

47 Curlew (incl. 42 E of E Bank ) ,

3 Bar-tailed Godwit (with Curlew off E Bank) ,

108 Black-tailed Godwit ,

24 Redshank ,

4 Snipe (Pat's) ,

27 Ruff (19 ad m, 4 ad f, 1 juv m , Pat's, 3 incl 1 sat Arnold's) ,

10 Knot (flock of juvs on Arnold's briefly c. 08:00 before continuing W) ,

5 Sanderling (flock of juvs on Arnold's briefly c. 08:05 before continuing W) ,

27 Dunlin ,

1 Grey Plover (superb ad summ on Arnold's at 08:10) ,

2 Sandwich Tern (Arnold's) ,

1 Buzzard (over N Foreland) ,

1 Marsh Harrier (fem) ,

1 Kingfisher (Pat's) ,

[David & Pat Wileman]

Tue 15 September 2026

Cley Marshes
18:00 to 19:45
Bright with spectacular sunset with a freshening WNW breeze.

4 Caspian Gull (Two scraggy looking 1CY, a smarter 2CY and at least one, possibly two ok-ish adults) ,

11 Yellow-legged Gull (Nice range of ages, from relatively unmoulted 1CY through to smart adults. Two nice looking 2CYs and mean looking 3 & 4 CYs as well) ,

4 Glossy Ibis (Came in from the east and circled Simmonds at 1915, showing really nicely in front of Daukes until dusk. ) ,

2 Little Stint (Flighty juveniles with the Dunlin flock) ,

20 Dunlin ,

35 Ruff (Minimum count ) ,

25 Black-tailed Godwit (Icelandic) ,

1 Black-tailed Godwit (European) (Very brief views of what *may* have been a 1CY limosa on Pat's, distant and flushed by Marsh Harrier. Very unusual date for this age of it was one... ) ,

275 Lesser Black-backed Gull ,

150 Herring Gull ,

200 Pink-footed Goose (A few small groups over and off west plus at least 100 on the deck on Simmonds, several droppy-winged juveniles - first long flights having an effect on their muscles? ) ,

[Mark Golley]

Tue 15 September 2026

Cley Marshes
14:45 to 16:00
Warm, brisk SW wind increasing in intensity, generally sunny.

1 Pectoral Sandpiper (Juvenile on Simmonds Scrape) ,

7 Ruff (Pats/Simmonds) ,

12 Dunlin (Pats/Simmonds) ,

1 Little Stint (Pats) ,

1 Curlew (Simmonds) ,

1 Snipe (Simmonds) ,

1 Ringed Plover (Juvenile on Pats) ,

1 Avocet (Juvenile on Simmonds Scrape) ,

[David Griffiths]

Tue 15 September 2026

Cley Marshes
08:00 to 11:30
Initially sunny but eventually clouding over from the west. Wind SW 3/4

450 Pink-footed Goose (at least, several flocks passing west over the Reserve or along the shore throughout the morning. Some groups dropping in briefly) ,

4 Spoonbill (1 adult, 3 juvs) ,

2 Little Stint ,

14 Dunlin ,

12 Ruff ,

1 Hobby (west over the reserve) ,

70 Swallow (at least, small groups moving west over the reserve througout the morning ) ,

[Rob Lee]

Tue 15 September 2026

Cley Marshes
06:55 to 09:00
19-20C, cloud, SW f3-4. Visited Bishop's, Skirts, E Bank & Arnold's.

209 Canada Goose (flew E between 07:15 and 08 30) ,

12 Pink-footed Goose (roosted on Pat's) ,

8 Egyptian Goose (Pat's) ,

4 Spoonbill (ad + 3 imm, Pat's at 08:04) ,

1 Grey Heron (Brackish) ,

1 Glossy Ibis (Arnold's at 7:55 then left) ,

2 Little Egret (Arnold's) ,

19 Cormorant ,

1 Oystercatcher (Arnold's) ,

12 Avocet (Pat's) ,

97 Black-tailed Godwit (Pat's) ,

1 Black-tailed Godwit (European) (1 cy, Pat's) ,

24 Curlew (Arnold's/E Bank) ,

1 Snipe (Pat's) ,

34 Redshank ,

23 Ruff (incl. 14 ad m, 2 juv m, 2 ad f) ,

22 Dunlin ,

1 Little Stint (Pat's) ,

1 Marsh Harrier ,

1 Kestrel (fem, Arnold's fence) ,

[David & Pat Wileman]