CBC Wildlife News

Records submitted, most recent first. Amber indicates scarce, 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 18 September 2026

Cley Marshes
06:55 to 08:35
11-14C, SW f4, sun/cloud. Visited Bishop's, Skirts, and E Bank.

70 Pink-footed Goose (S off reserve then E at 07:00) ,

2 Little Egret ,

10 Avocet (Pat's) ,

13 Curlew ,

105 Black-tailed Godwit ,

2 Snipe (Pat's) ,

6 Redshank ,

1 Ruff (ad m, Pat's) ,

22 Dunlin ,

1 Marsh Harrier ,

[David & Pat Wileman]

Thu 17 September 2026

Cley Marshes
18:00 to 19:45
Freshening W'ly with a lot of cloud to start with but clearing towards dusk.

4 Glossy Ibis (Bang on cue again, watched flying in over East Bank and eventually onto Simmonds Scrape at 7.15) ,

[Mark Golley]

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 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]

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]

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
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]

This screen shows all sightings from the date shown here on the left until today in reverse date sequence.  There is a limited number that show at one time so the page numbers above let you page through them.  If you want to see any earlier sightings you can do this by changing the date on the left to the earliest date you want then click on SHOW MORE.  When the screen refreshes you will need to scroll to the bottom then navigate through the pages to find what you are looking for.