GREAT KNOT AT HOLME THIS EVENING!

Birders watching the Great Knot at Gore Point, Holme

Shortly after I arrived home from work, the pager bleeped up with Great Knot on the beach at 4.50pm at Gore Point, Holme! Obviously I had to go! I had only seen views of this bird in thunder and rain at Titchwell RSPB and hoped to see it again at the weekend anyway. So off I went, looking and feeling bedraggled after six days at work! I phoned a taxi for my sister Lucy on route and then phoned Lucy to say I couldn't take her to her rehearsal, but I had booked a taxi for her, but I would pick her up when she finished later on this evening. I don't think she was too impressed!

Great Knot (towards right hand side and back of flock)

Knot and Oystercatcher

Holme Beach

Great Knot and Knot

Knot

Knot flying off west at Gore Point

It was one of the most beautiful evenings I've had birding for a very long time. Parked the car by the five-bar gate and walked along the coastal footpath and then made my way to the beach at Gore Point. There were no more than around 15 or so birders and nobody got too close. In fact we were much too far away! I had stupendous views of the Great Knot amongst thousands of Knot – the light was perfect and I will never forget that bird running along the shore amongst green seaweed and around the rock pools. To watch this bird at Holme was an added bonus! I shared this spectacle with Phil, Andy, Robert S., Dave Holman, Sophie and Jenny B and others. The views were amazing through my scope, but no good at all for SLR photography, unless you had a 800mm lens! However, phone-scoping wasn't too bad at all, thank goodness. There were also a few Turnstones in the mix and a Ringed Plover on the beach.

Knot flying off west from Gore Point

Sunsets and beach at Holme

Sunset over Old Hunstanton

The Knot flock and Great Knot worked their way west past Gore Point on the incoming tide and I stayed with a few others until dusk. The sunset was just stunning and dramatic clouds set the scene. Unbelievably, I could hear Natterjack toads croaking from the beach and also heard a Cuckoo. The Knot flock was a joy to watch, as they constantly ran from the tide, jostling for new positions and gathering to roost. At 8.16pm the entire flock dispersed – approximately a third flew east towards Thornham Harbour/Titchwell and the remainder flew east towards Old Hunstanton. Frustratingly, none of us saw which way the Great Knot headed! I just can't get over how beautiful the light was this evening, if only I had been close to that Great Knot - the pictures would have been mint!

There was a Little Egret in the lagoon at the way back to my car and  I could hear two Turtle Doves purring behind the bungalows/pay hut. A rainbow emerged from the black clouds over Holme marsh. What a fantastic evening! Picked Lucy up from her rehearsal in time and when I told her where I had been and what I had seen, she declared 'you made me get a taxi for a Great Knot!!!' 'yes Lucy I did'.