In addition to our regular winter indoor meetings the Club organises occasional other events including social events and, for the last few years, Big Bird Days.
Past events – Reviews
Blakeney Point Plant Walk – Saturday 20th July 2024
A decent number of would-be plant spotters game for a trudge across the shingle gathered at the Cley Beach car park in near perfect weather – warm but not too hot, sunny but with enough high cloud to take the edge off, and a light breeze. We were ably let by Richard Porter, whose enthusiasm for the subject is matched by his detailed knowledge and familiarity with the Point. There were many species to see that it is hard to find elsewhere, and it was fascinating to hear how some of these plants survive the rigours of the harsh environment.
We were fortunate also to have Andy Clarke with us: Andy is a marine wildlife expert who interpreted the flotsam of the tideline for us. We also kept an eye out for birds, butterflies and other animals, but there was not much about. The highlights were a flock of five Whimbrels that came in off the sea, and a Roesel’s Bush-cricket which posed nicely on a fence post for photographs.
There’s a full list of the plants we saw, and a summary of the other wildlife, here.
Big Bird Day – Saturday 6th January 2024
Once more this year, the activities on the day took two forms. There was a traditional bird race where teams of up to 4 people birded around the Cley Square to see who could see the most species. For the less energetic we asked that people visit whatever areas they could and record all birds (and mammals) that they saw and, where possible, get counts.
The weather was better than the last few years, generally dry, around 3-6°C but with a cold NW wind.
A total of 129 species were recorded – the highest yet.
Thanks and congratulations to all who took part.
THE RACE
Six teams (21 people) took part this year.
The results were:
- The Dippers (Ed Betteridge, Ollie King, Kate Fox & Riley Woodhouse) – 105 species
- Weynor Gardens Wanderers (Steve Stansfield, William Earp & Janice Darch) – 99 species
- Happy Birders (Lin Pateman, Phil Borley & Julia Peters) – 97 species
- The Flight Club (Mark Boyd, Chris Tucker, John Swallow, Seán Dempster) – 95 species
- The Norvicensians (Tim Hill, John Fisher & Ben Parker-Wright) – 80 species
- The Bulldogs (Mike Harcup, Ian & Sue Griffin, George Baldock) – 78 species
The members of the winning team were each awarded a voucher generously donated by Cley Spy.
THE REST
A further 7 groups of people did ‘casual’ birding around the Cley Square during the day, submitting data via the official casual birding checklists adding to the list an dthey aded some species not recorded by the racing teams.
WHAT WAS SEEN
The FULL LIST of all species recorded can be downloaded by clicking here.
Interesting information about species seen and omitted.
The following birds were only seen by one person or team
- Tufted Duck – Ann Gladwin, Nick Kimber & Tessa Rose
- Great Crested Grebe – The Dippers
- Black-tailed Godwit – Ann Gladwin, Nick Kimber & Tessa Rose
- Iceland Gull – David Griffith
- Green Woodpecker – The Flights
- Raven – David Griffiths
- Blackcap – Steve & Sue Gantlett
- Lapland Bunting – The Dippers
Birds recorded this year but not on previous Big Bird Days
- Mandarin Duck
- Little Gull
- Cattle Egret
- Raven
- Lapland Bunting