26.05.2024 - Outdoor Meeting : Wild Ken Hill & Snettisham Coastal Park

Leaders: Alan Hughes and Andrew Waddison
Reporter: Steph Plaster
Bird List: Paul Adams

Around 24 hardy souls turned out for the guided tour around Wild Ken Hill, the large coastal estate of some 4,000 acres in North West Norfolk that’s promoting a new form of conservation and regenerative farming management to improve soil health and increase biodiversity. Dominic Buscall who founded and manages the estate gave an extremely interesting talk to the WVBS on 21st March this year and this was the follow-up visit for up to 25 members. Although the weather threatened to be wet with thundery downpours it stayed dry for the majority of the trip around the estate and the sun even came out on the way back. The tour included wooded areas, grassy regenerative zones that were once arable
and the Eurasian beaver enclosure.

Our guide for the morning was Andrew Waddison, who looks after PR  and social media there and is passionate about wildlife and the estate regeneration project. The tour began in the estate farm, just off the main A149 King’s Lynn to Hunstanton Road and whilst in the carpark a Spoonbill flew over our heads. Further down the track to Gravelly Hill part of Wild Ken Hill wood a Song Thrush and Great tit flew along the hedgerow and in the fields to our left a Mistle Thrush was seen chasing a Buzzard over the treetops. Skylarks could be heard singing too.
It was a small incline up the gravelly hill track through the woods – which were planted in the late 18th century as part of a large shooting estate, many ‘non-native’ species like Rhododendron were planted as game coverts and this invasive species is now considered as a major problem here. The area at the top of the hill is known as ‘The Plain’ and is full of old ant mounds as the grass is short and ideal for Green woodpeckers and Wood larks – some members heard them calling and in front of Ken Hill
House, (a Grade II listed house, built by Sir Edward Green in 1878 as a retreat) and we could see an LBJ on the wire fence which on closer inspection was a Woodlark. There are also nightjars in this area too and going further into the woods we could hear Chiffchaffs and Wrens singing, but because of the overcast weather the birdlife did seem a bit subdued this morning.
Coming out of the woods into an area known as The Rookery (below) – once cornfields, but now part of the re-wilding strategy to create areas of scrub, gorse and brambles which will in years to come be a fantastic habitat for warblers. A large amount of arable land has been taken out of crop production and is now grazed by livestock instead.
Several Roe deer could be seen in this area on the hill in front of the pines. After this we went back through the woods towards the Eurasian Beaver enclosure where Andrew mentioned that out of the 17 different UK bat species there are 13 species found at Wild Ken Hill, including Barbastelle and Daubenton’s bat. The latter can often be seen flying over ponds and lakes and here the pools made by the beavers is an ideal habitat. They have tagged 7 species of bat there for scientific research. We were then taken into the locked, fenced beaver enclosure where there is an active colony started with four adult beavers from the River Tay in Scotland. This enclosure covers 55 acres and is the largest in Europe and the beavers (nocturnal – so not seen) have felled lots of small trees and ring-barked others to create a new and varied wetland habitat. The enclosure is full of dead and decaying trees which is a haven for invertebrates and subsequently birds who use them for nest sites – we were shown a Great-spotted Woodpecker’s nest and could see the pair calling to the chicks in the nest hole. 
Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs were also present, and a Jay was calling nearby.
We also spotted a Goshawk disappearing over the trees. After the tour around the beaver enclosure, we went across grassy areas which are grazed by around 40 Exmoor ponies, several Tamworth pigs and Red Poll cattle. These animals are left to their own devices and feed on the wild plants found here and are apparently very healthy and have minimal intervention by vets. A couple of Red-legged partridges and Pheasants could be seen in the grassy zones, and there were also lots of hares too,
plus Wood pigeons and a Cuckoo was heard calling over the marsh.
Getting closer to the coastal zone the other side of the old disused railway line we could hear Whitethroats singing, Cetti’s Warbler, plus looking across the marsh we could see Shelduck, Lapwing, Oystercatcher, Starlings, Mallard, Marsh Harrier with prey in its talons, Blue Tits, Reed Bunting, Reed
Warbler, Carrion Crows and other corvids, Swifts, and Black-headed Gulls. It was then time to head back to the farm for lunch, other birds seen included Red Kite and Sparrowhawk, Green Woodpecker, Dunnock and Robin singing and at the farm a lovely male Linnet and Swallows. There were also
several Goldfinches on the telephone wires leading to the road.
After saying goodbye, and thank you to Andrew at lunchtime, the weather had improved enough for us to sit together at the picnic tables. Some of the group then drove down to the Snettisham Coastal Park where we hoped to find Turtle Doves and Nightingales. We managed to connect with 2 Turtle Doves at opposite ends of the park but heard only a very hesitant song from a Nightingale deep in the scrub. However, we did have cracking views of a pair of Hobbys perched in one of the burnt trees, and they continued to entertain us as they hawked along the water channel for dragonflies that were still quite scarce. And last, but certainly not least, we were directed by a fellow birder to a very smart Red-backed Shrike. Tired, but satisfied, we walked back along the inner sea-wall, looking over the flooded wetland site that was full of birds, and we were able to admire a trio of Spoonbills as they flew overhead – a fitting end to an enjoyable day – or so I thought...... A couple of the group had parked at the RSPB car park, and on their way back to their cars enjoyed a flypast from a Barn Owl, and a “ringtail” Hen Harrier.

Wild Ken Hill farmland / Beaver enclosure.
Species seen/heard in approximate order of identification
1. Swallow 
2. House martin 
3. Wood pigeon 
4. Black-head gull fly by 
5. Goldfinch 6 
6. Spoonbill fly by
7. Kestrel
8. Skylark singing
9. Dunnock singing
10. Blackbird singing 
11. Buzzard
12. Pheasant calling 
13. Swift 
14. Long-tailed tit calling 
15. Chiffchaff singing 
16. Goldcrest calling
17. Herring gull fly by
18. Robin singing
19. Blue tit calling
20. Jackdaw estate house
21. Woodlark meadow
22. Blackcap singing
23. Wren singing
24. Mallard fly by
25. Coal tit 2
26. Great tit 3
27. Goshawk very brief view flying
28. Jay
29. Great spotted woodpecker nest, young calling
30. Red kite
31. Red leg partridge
32. Whitethroat singing
33. Cuckoo calling
34. Reed warbler singing
35. Marsh harrier
36. Shelduck
37. Cetti’s warbler singing
38. Starling
39. Oystercatcher
40. Coot
41. Carrion crow
45. Sparrowhawk
46. Green woodpecker Yaffle
47. Linnet
48 Pied Wagtail 2
49. House sparrow
50. Brown hare
51. Roe deer
52. Grey squirrel
53. Exmoor ponies
54. Tamworth pigs
55. Damselfly
56. Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly

Snettisham country park 26/5/24
Species seen / heard noted in approximately order as identified
1. Reed warbler singing 40. Gadwall
2. Starling 41. 
3. Linnet 8 
4. Pheasant calling 
5. Swallow
6. Goldfinch 
7. Chaffinch singing
8. Buzzard
9. Turtle Dove 2 pairs, calling
10. House sparrow
11. Bullfinch
12. Magpie
13. Black-headed gull
14. Greenfinch 4
15. Mallard fly by
16. Woodpigeon
17. Cettis warbler singing
18. Tufted duck fly by
19. Whitethroat singing 
20. Chiffchaff singing 
21. Grey heron fly by 
22. Hobby Pair
23. Marsh harrier
24. Dunnock singing
25. Stonechat 2 m,f
26. Meadow pipit
27. Stock dove 2 flyby
28. Red back shrike
29. Reed bunting singing
30. Greylag goose
31. Spoonbill 4 flyby
32. Greylag goose 1 leucistic morph
33. Canada goose
34. Egyptian goose
35. Blacktail godwit 6 flying into wetland
36. Cormorant
37. Lapwing
38. Avocet nesting
39. Shoveler duck
40. Gadwall
41. Shelduck
42. Little Grebe
43. Long-tailed tit
44. Barn Owl fly-by near car park
45. Hen Harrier, ringtail flew over RSPB carpark
46. Brimstone butterfly
47. Peacock butterfly
48. Broad bodied chaser
49. Rabbit
50. Deer horn, possibly Muntjac