Norfolk, October 2010 (3): Wells Wood, Warham Greens & Kelling

Wells-next-the-sea beach, October 2010

It'd been a few years since I'd been to the eastern end of Wells Woods, and I was genuinely excited about being there again on this beautiful, sunny autumn morning. I paused in the partly flooded quayside car park in Wells town centre, along the B1105, to look at the high tide in the harbour and enjoy the hustle and bustle of this still busy small port: although the open sea is over a mile from the harbour now, due to silting over the last two centuries, the quayside is still a hive of activity.

Before long, I was heading north on the Beach Road and parking in the large car park between the lifeboat station and holiday park. I've always found the path network here a bit of a maze, never going there enough to get to know it, and on this occasion I headed east, out the far end of the car park, past the boating lake and into the woodland.

Wells Woods

The pine woodland here - part of the Holkham National Nature Reserve - is a beautiful walk, set just behind the beach on a sandy ridge, and it's also a well- known spot for finding migrant birds on passage through the UK. The previous days had seen Yellow-browed Warbler, Ring Ouzel and Firecrest all found here, and I was hopeful of seeing some or all of the above. The birdlife was certainly lively this morning, enjoying the warmth, and Chaffinches, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Blackbird, Robin were aplenty.

After a half-hour's strolling, watching and listening, I took the raised boardwalk path to the beach itself. The sun was glorious and the beach was reasonably busy with couples and families enjoying the Sunday sun. The beach huts themselves here are worth a visit!
Beach hut, Wells-next-the-sea beach

The tide was receding now, leaving channels, sand banks and dune islands behind (see left). Across the edge of these, in mixed groups, were strung around 300 Oystercatcher, maybe 100 Sanderling and the same number of Ringed Plover, 80 Dunlin and 40 Grey Plover.

Wells-next-the-sea beach, October 2010

After a half-hour walk eastwards along the beach, I reached a pathway back into the woods and wandered casually back through the pines towards the car park. In a clearing near the toilet block, I came across a female Redstart and a Treecreeper, and, on the pathway back to the car park, Goldcrests and a Coal Tit flitted non-stop amongst a group of birches and berry bushes.

With nowhere particular to be and barely a cloud in the sky, I didn't want to spend long in the car. Heading east from Wells on the A149, I stopped after just a mile and a half at Warham Greens, an area of saltmarsh backed by farmland, hedges and an old quarry. Whilst best known for its winter raptor roost - Hen Harriers come in daily, Merlins are frequent visitors and you can regularly get good views of Short-eared Owl and Peregrine - the site is also a good area for migrants, especially in autumn. With a Radde's Warbler recorded the day before, I decided to explore the site for the first time.

The car park takes four or five cars and is located down a rough surfaced track called Garden Drove (turn off at TF944427), opposite the access drive to Northgate Hall Farm. If you're not sure about the track, there are are a couple of spaces on the main road just next to the entrance.
Looking north from the car park

I walked up the track towards the marshes, scanning the hedges and scrub for birds. Three Redwings were feeding on berries, three Goldfinches on teasel and a flock of eight Linnets were flitting around. It's a pleasant spot and one to check when passing.

From Warham Greens towards Wells-next-the-sea

Farmland around Kelling Quags 

Enjoying exploring new places, I headed further east along the coast to Kelling Quags, an area of water meadow, open water and farmland with hedges between Kelling village and the coast.

From the car park - which is situated on the north side of the A149 in the village centre at TG094429, just 30m east of the junction with The Street - there is also a beautiful 500m walk along a hedgelined farm track called Meadow Lane (see left) to the site's southern boundary, and these hedges are worth watching closely for finches, warblers and thrushes. On this beautiful October lunchtime, Robins, two Chiffchaffs, two Linnet and two Mistle Thrushes kept me company. In the fields on the west side of the track, a Stock Dove was amongst a large group of feeding Woodpigeons and Rooks.




On reaching the reserve itself. I continued on the western boundary path, past the pool and the junction with cross path heading east, to the gorse thickets near the north-west corner. A Barred Warbler had been showing here intermittantly over the last few days and I put in an hour of staring at the dense gorse in the hope of him flitting between the different mounds but succeeded only in seeing a male Blackcap, two Goldcrests and a Robin. Still, it was hardly a hardship on such a gorgeous day and I happily wandered back along the lane in the sun. This is a lovely walk and reserve, and the beach is close by for a spot of seawatching too. With Suffolk my destination for the night and the next day, the Isabelline Wheatear that pitched up that afternoon at Lowestoft was a neat stop-off and a first for me and I headed for Southwold and a pint of Adnams a happy man.