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).

Fri 07 August 2026

Cley Marshes
06:25 to 08:25
12-18C, SSW veering W f3, Sun. Visited Bishop's, Skirts and E Bank.

3 Grey Heron (incl 1 juv up in tree in reedbed.) ,

1 Bittern (flying SW over E Bank then W at 6:30) ,

5 Little Egret ,

1 Cormorant ,

1 Coot (Brackish, first seen at Cley since early April) ,

13 Avocet (plus 1 lge chick on Arnold's) ,

94 Black-tailed Godwit ,

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

1 Curlew ,

4 Snipe ,

1 Jack Snipe (with limp, Serpentine) ,

10 Redshank ,

2 Green Sandpiper (Pat's) ,

1 Wood Sandpiper (Pat's) ,

2 Curlew Sandpiper (Pat's) ,

1 Turnstone (sp Brackish) ,

7 Dunlin ,

1 Little Ringed Plover (+ 2 chicks) ,

[David & Pat Wileman]

Thu 06 August 2026

Cley Marshes
17:30 to 20:30
Grey and overcast, one brief light shower, cool with light NNW breeze. Some sunny patches way out west.

2 Curlew Sandpiper (Moulting adults still on Pat's) ,

1 Wood Sandpiper (Lovely juvenile on the back of North Scrape) ,

54 Dunlin (Two flocks, one on Pat's (28) and one on North (26)) ,

4 Green Sandpiper ,

1 Marsh Harrier (Adult female being busy on Pat's... ) ,

3 Common Sandpiper (Tucked away in North Scrape) ,

16 Little Ringed Plover (Minimum count, at least 10 on North, 6 on Pat's. ) ,

20 Ringed Plover ,

1 Whinchat (On the fence line towards North Scrape) ,

1 Wheatear (One along the same fence as the Whinchat) ,

6 Caspian Gull (Brilliant feeding flock of gulls and terns on the sea off North. Two big juvenile Caspian, plus a 1st summer/2CY,a near-adult and two full adults. ) ,

3 Yellow-legged Gull (Also in the melee, a massive juvenile, a smaller juvenile and a 2CY bird.) ,

15 Mediterranean Gull (Minimum in the melee, at least 8 juveniles) ,

1 Little Gull (Tatty 2CY over the flock. ) ,

30 Little Tern ,

25 Common Tern ,

700 Herring Gull (British) (Minimum count at peak melee time) ,

25 Lesser Black-backed Gull (One ultra dark female intermedius, very fuscus like but moult sequence all wrong for Baltic. ) ,

40 Common Scoter (Two flocks of c20 each, both west) ,

[Mark Golley]

Thu 06 August 2026

Cley Marshes
06:20 to 08:45
13-18C, WSW f4, Sun. Visited Bishop's, Skirts, E Bank & Arnold's.

1 Grey Heron ,

3 Little Egret ,

20 Cormorant ,

6 Oystercatcher (Arnold's) ,

13 Avocet (+ 3 chicks) ,

3 Curlew ,

116 Black-tailed Godwit ,

1 Black-tailed Godwit (European) (juv) ,

1 Bar-tailed Godwit (Pat's) ,

5 Snipe (2 Serpentine, 3 Brackish) ,

1 Greenshank (juv, Pat's) ,

46 Redshank ,

2 Green Sandpiper (Pat's) ,

2 Common Sandpiper (Pat's) ,

18 Ruff (ad m, Pat's) ,

1 Knot (fading sum pl, Arnold's) ,

2 Curlew Sandpiper (Pat's) ,

12 Dunlin ,

2 Little Ringed Plover (+ 2 chicks, Pat's) ,

6 Ringed Plover (Arnold's) ,

14 Golden Plover (Serpentine & Arnold's) ,

37 Sandwich Tern (Arnold's) ,

[David & Pat Wileman]

Wed 05 August 2026

Cley Marshes
19:00 to 19:45
Overcast, humid, hot.

2 Wood Sandpiper (Simmonds) ,

3 Green Sandpiper (Simmonds) ,

1 Caspian Gull (Juvenile Pats - picked up by EM) ,

1 Yellow-legged Gull (Adults on Pats) ,

1 Water Vole (Catchwater Drain opposite Warden's House east of footbridge ) ,

[David Griffiths]

Wed 05 August 2026

Cley Marshes
16:30 to 18:30
Sunny, a bit of heat haze and a WNW breeze after turning from SSW.

5 Black-tailed Godwit (European) (The two birds from the morning still present but, remarkably, three new adults appeared, so a total of 4 adults and 1 juvenile/1w. Three of the adults still in summer plumage and that really is not what is expected with nominate limosa at this time of the year - they should be well advanced into their winter plumage by now. Fascinating if you like this sort of thing. ) ,

55 Black-tailed Godwit (Icelandic) ,

1 Curlew Sandpiper (Single moulting adult still on Pat's Pool) ,

6 Green Sandpiper (Split between Pat's & Simmonds) ,

1 Spoonbill (Seen on first visit to reserve in the morning) ,

6 Little Ringed Plover ,

[Mark Golley]

Wed 05 August 2026

Cley Marshes
15:00 to 16:30
Sun/cloud Brisk W breeze. Visited Bishop's hide/Pat's Pool

2 Curlew Sandpiper ,

1 Common Sandpiper ,

2 Green Sandpiper ,

6 Ruff ,

8 Dunlin ,

28 Black-tailed Godwit ,

2 Whimbrel ,

38 Lapwing (Only 2 of which were Juvenile) ,

2 Ringed Plover ,

1 Spoonbill ,

1 Marsh Harrier (Juv) ,

1 Yellow Wagtail (Juv) ,

1 Ruddy Darter ,

[Kath & Mick Claydon]

Wed 05 August 2026

Cley Marshes
06:20 to 08:20
18-22C, SW f4, Sun then clouded over. Visited Bishop's, Skirts, E Bank and Arnold's.

2 Grey Heron ,

2 Little Egret ,

10 Cormorant ,

3 Oystercatcher ,

11 Avocet (incl 1 juv, + 2 chicks) ,

7 Curlew ,

100 Black-tailed Godwit ,

46 Redshank ,

2 Green Sandpiper (Pat's) ,

3 Common Sandpiper (Pat's) ,

21 Ruff (ad m, Pat's) ,

1 Knot (s.p. Arnold's) ,

2 Curlew Sandpiper (Pat's) ,

39 Dunlin ,

3 Little Ringed Plover ( + 3 chicks, Pat's) ,

3 Ringed Plover (+ 3 chicks, Arnold's) ,

34 Sandwich Tern (Arnold's) ,

3 Golden Plover (Arnold's) ,

1 Kestrel ,

1 Stonechat (juv, E Bank) ,

10 Goldfinch (E Bank) ,

[David & Pat Wileman]

Tue 04 August 2026

Cley Marshes
11:30 to 11:40
Sunny, very warm

1 Clouded Yellow (Flitting from side to side 3/4 of the way along East Bank) ,

[David Bryant]

Tue 04 August 2026

Cley Marshes
07:10 to 08:30
17-20C, var f2, sun after early mist/fog. Visited Bishop's and E Bank to Brackish.

3 Spoonbill ,

2 Grey Heron ,

2 Little Egret ,

2 Egyptian Goose (Serpentine) ,

1 Little Grebe (ad, Don's) ,

2 Oystercatcher (Arnold's) ,

19 Avocet (plus 3 sm chicks) ,

5 Curlew ,

74 Black-tailed Godwit ,

31 Redshank ,

1 Green Sandpiper (Pat's) ,

1 Wood Sandpiper (Pat's) ,

1 Common Sandpiper (Pat's) ,

11 Ruff (add m, Pat's) ,

1 Knot (Pat's) ,

2 Curlew Sandpiper (Pat's) ,

39 Dunlin ,

6 Little Ringed Plover (5 + 3 chicks on Pat's, 1 Serpentine) ,

[David & Pat Wileman]

Mon 03 August 2026

Cley Marshes
18:00 to 19:15
Bright and sunny, some cloud building with a fresh ENE to NNE breeze keeping it on the cooler side.

1 Black-tailed Godwit (European) (smart looking, well moulted juv-1w bird on Pat's) ,

45 Black-tailed Godwit (Icelandic) (mainly distant all around Pat's bar a smart moulting male) ,

2 Curlew Sandpiper (nice moulting adults still on Pat's Pool this evening, close to Bishop's Hide) ,

9 Green Sandpiper (split between Pat's Pool (6) and Simmonds (3)) ,

2 Common Sandpiper (both on the mud on Pat's ) ,

35 Dunlin ,

18 Ruff ,

8 Little Ringed Plover (all on Pat's including at least two of the small chicks seen recently) ,

1 Mediterranean Gull (super looking 1CY off west over central hides) ,

3 Yellow-legged Gull (1CY on Pat's & an adult and 5CY on Simmonds) ,

50 Lesser Black-backed Gull (some darker looking Dutch intergrades in the mix along with some darker than usual intermedius as well) ,

3 British Yellow Wagtail (all juveniles, all on Pat's, all mobile and elusive) ,

4 Sandwich Tern (in amongst the gulls on Simmonds) ,

[Mark Golley]