Yesterday started at Gorleston, searching for the Hoopoe. It was very quiet and the highlight was meeting the local birder who saw the bird last night. From here I went to Burgh Castle, where a hybrid Hooded / Carrion Crow was feeding. There was little migrant activity. As I drove over Breydon Bridge I noticed a couple of birders hurrying across. I decided to pull into the Asda car park, to here that someone had found a 'Lesser' Golden Plover. After a certain amount of searching the bird was located again from the hide, where it showed intermittently among the vegetation. The misty conditions made viewing difficult. I came away with the impression of a small, seemingly bulky, well marked (particularly the dark cap and broad supercillium) bird (although rather golden in colour). It was not seen in flight, but the finder definitely saw grey underwing.
From here I went to Barton Broad, where a count of 32 Little Gull and 4 Common Tern was had - although only 8 Little Gull remained when I left. I have since heard 24 were present later, so presumably they had been passing through throughout the day.
Today, news that the plover was still present and thought to be probably Pacific, I decided to return. In much better light the bird looked slightly greyer than y'day, with the head pattern more noticeable. However, better views seemed to suggest that the primary projection was marginal, beyond the tail and the tertials long, creating a shorter appearance! What a difference light makes!
A cruise round the east coast produced a Yellow Wagtail over Horsey Corner and a summer plumaged Black-throated Diver (typical) flying south!
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