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markgolley.bsky.social
The White Falcon
@markgolley.bsky.social
1.2K followers 850 following 1.5K posts
Freelance TV sport producer || Limosa obsessive L3 ❤️ || BOURC voting member || Cley Moth Obs || TG04 = the Patch || ex-Norfolk Records Committee member || Gulls & Geese👌|| Music lover: give me as much Neil Young as you like ☮️🕊️ || Don't Spook The Horse.
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markgolley.bsky.social
Who doesn't love a rufty-tufty Dotted Border 😊 but why it went from pale orange to pink when it went to some green herbage is wild! Nice that we are starting to chip slowly away at some of the regular late winter/early spring moths.
#cleymothobs

Bonus Pale-brindled Beauty on the wall shot 👇
February 11, 2026 at 1:15 PM
markgolley.bsky.social
Nipped along to Stiffkey after the harbour to enjoy the 3 Glossy Ibis that have been around the coast since autumn & looking very at home on the meadows by the A149...
...just to the SE, at least 9 Cattle Egrets & 3 Little Egrets (looking left of the Ibis 🙂)
@linnetincley.bsky.social
#norfolkbirding
February 10, 2026 at 4:20 PM
markgolley.bsky.social
Greenshank (with a Redshank for company)...
Morston Harbour
February 10 2026
@linnetincley.bsky.social
#norfolkbirding
#cleybirds
February 10, 2026 at 4:13 PM
markgolley.bsky.social
The muddy pools & tidal fringes around Morston Harbour are traditionally a spot to find wintering Greenshank. We've had a look a couple of times this week & we had another look today. Success! So smart & with such intricate feather patterns.
@linnetincley.bsky.social
#norfolkbirding
#cleybirds
February 10, 2026 at 4:08 PM
markgolley.bsky.social
There's a lot of winter fungus around for us to discover & enjoy at the moment. We had more time on Salthouse Heath today & we came across the ever-so-smart Candlesnuff fungus (aka Stag's Horn fungus - though ours today were much simpler in form).
@linnetincley.bsky.social
@norfolknats.bsky.social
February 9, 2026 at 9:49 PM
markgolley.bsky.social
An increasingly chilly February day but that presented zero issues for one of our local Otters, that we watched for well over half an hour late morning as it stooged around, doing it's thing. First one we've seen for a while & still a total buzz.
@linnetincley.bsky.social
@norfolknats.bsky.social
February 9, 2026 at 5:54 PM
markgolley.bsky.social
A more slightly more mothy night at CMO HQ last night with 15/5 into the actinic. Pale Brindled Beauty, Dark Chestnut, Chestnut (one of 10) & the 1st Hebrew Character of the year. Also two Agonopterix heracliana (see 2/2 👇)
@linnetincley.bsky.social
#cleymothobs
#norfolkmoths
#teammoth
1/2
February 9, 2026 at 5:48 PM
markgolley.bsky.social
Happy 40th anniversary to me! 09/02/86 & today is the day I reminisce about one of my favourite finds, the Portscatho Least Sandpiper. I'll never forget seeing a tiny wader land on the harbour wall, just above the female King Eider & then BOOM! Olive legs! Disbelief all round!
#oldrares
#ukbirding
An old black and white shot of the Least Sand, lifted from British Birds, taken by a *very* old skool Corn, Stuart Hutchings. There was a bit of consternation when the news of a winter Least Sandpiper went out, a lot of folks didn't quite believe it. A few well known Cornish birders arrived soon afterwards, all mumbling that it couldn't be right (I still know the names 😂) but they all began to come around to my way of thinking (one or two were banging on about it being a Little Stint with green legs...ignoring the herbert teenager explaining it was tiny and brown and not a Little Stint!). More folks arrived from Drift (twitching Bonaparte's Gull) and the bird moved out of the harbour and around the bay. Amazingly, it dropped onto a small clifftop puddle and showed brilliantly. Stuck around to late April too. Lovely job 😊 A photo from the BBRC Report of 1987, with the Least Sandpiper starting to drop some summer feathers in April 1986. So good it hung around, many birdwatcher (me included) had only seen the wretched Dungeness bird a couple of years beforehand, so a fit, healthy, very smart Least Sand was a welcome part of a winter trip to the southwest (that was a good winter at home) & it's stay was long enough to coincide with the Berry Head Gyrfalcon too. Many happy memories with this one.
February 9, 2026 at 11:23 AM
markgolley.bsky.social
Some more Russian White-fronted Goose action from today. Can't resist! Lovely light this afternoon, barely a breeze, perfect for Goose-watching...🙂
@linnetincley.bsky.social
#norfolkbirding
#cleybirds
February 8, 2026 at 7:53 PM
markgolley.bsky.social
Goshawk
TG04
February 8 2026
I don't think there's any other raptor in the UK that is so mesmerising to watch. Cruising around with ease, those deep wingbeats propelling the bird swiftly to whichever way it wants to go. Simply magnificent.
@linnetincley.bsky.social
#norfolkbirding
#cleybirds
1/2
February 8, 2026 at 7:46 PM
markgolley.bsky.social
...and we also spent time scanning the sky. Calmer conditions, a little warmth & BoPs. Good numbers of BoPs. A bunch of Red Kites, probably 20 Buzzards.
And...
...2 superb Goshawks (ad & 2CY females). "Patch gold" for sure. Epic, epic birds.
@linnetincley.bsky.social
#norfolkbirding
#cleybirds
February 8, 2026 at 7:36 PM
markgolley.bsky.social
A fair bit of today was spent in some of our local woodland areas & it was great fun! Fab views of Nuthatches (still not a really common species here), Treecreepers, a boisterous, yaffling Green Woodpecker, tit flocks & Goldcrests.
@linnetincley.bsky.social
#norfolkbirding
#cleybirds
February 8, 2026 at 7:31 PM
markgolley.bsky.social
Turkey-tail & False Turkey-tail from this week. Wowsers!
@linnetincley.bsky.social
@norfolknats.bsky.social
February 7, 2026 at 8:23 PM
markgolley.bsky.social
A few days ago I don't think either of us would have known what this beautiful fungus was, but after False Turkey-tail at Bayfield at the start of the week, we were chuffed to find Turkey-tail on Kelling Heath this morning. Love this 🦃
@linnetincley.bsky.social
@norfolknats.bsky.social
February 7, 2026 at 8:19 PM
markgolley.bsky.social
The lighter nights as the dusk draws out is a good thing. The total lack of gulls on the North tonite is not a good thing! Odd as there were still low 100s on the beach as we walked back. Ah well. 21 Russian WFG east & 22 Pintails the highlights.
@linnetincley.bsky.social
#norfolkbirding
#cleybirds
February 7, 2026 at 5:56 PM
markgolley.bsky.social
Pale-bellied Brant in amongst a decent size flock (maybe 800+) Dark-bellied Brents in the Eye Field late on this afternoon.
@linnetincley.bsky.social
#norfolkbirding
#cleybirds
February 7, 2026 at 5:53 PM
markgolley.bsky.social
Russian White-fronted Geese from this morning ~ 10 were in the flock when we arrived & a 2nd flock of 12 came in, at which point 9 of the original 10 flew east. This current mass arrival is really something, the best in the county for decades.
@linnetincley.bsky.social
#norfolkbirding
#cleybirds
February 7, 2026 at 3:25 PM
markgolley.bsky.social
Here's half a minute of the Tundra Bean Geese from the square this morning.
@linnetincley.bsky.social
#norfolkbirding
#cleybirds
February 7, 2026 at 3:18 PM
markgolley.bsky.social
Tundra Bean Geese from this morning in TG04. Such a smart pair these, with the gander standing guard as the goose slept and then fed in the harvested beet. Loved seeing a flock of a dozen Russian White-fronted Geese landing beside them too.
@linnetincley.bsky.social
#norfolkbirding
#cleybirds
February 7, 2026 at 3:13 PM
markgolley.bsky.social
Wish I'd taken a photo of the view from the Morston "tower" in y'day's rank weather (it would have been dark & grey) so today was *way* better. Two Great Northern Divers in the harbour, plus lots of Mergansers, a few Goldeneye, shorebirds galore.
@linnetincley.bsky.social
#norfolkbirding
#cleybirds
February 7, 2026 at 3:08 PM
markgolley.bsky.social
After the early AM around Gramborough & Little Eye, we skirted the east end of the square for a walk around Kelling Heath. Quiet as the blue sky turned grey but a cracker of a ♂️ Dartford Warbler (just inside the 🔲 😅) was mission accomplished 🙂
@linnetincley.bsky.social
#norfolkbirding
#cleybirds
February 7, 2026 at 3:03 PM
markgolley.bsky.social
After all the greyness, drizzle, rain, thick murk & gloom of the last few days (weeks!) it was good to see blue sky this morning. 1000s of gulls on the shoreline at Salthouse, GCGrebes offshore + a buoyant Guillemot. Not too many Twite tho...
@linnetincley.bsky.social
#norfolkbirding
#cleybirds
February 7, 2026 at 2:58 PM
markgolley.bsky.social
Always love seeing grey geese in TG04 & this nice flock today included c1000 Pink-feet, 22 Russian White-fronts & two very fine Tundra Beans. It won't be too long until the Pinks start to depart en masse, so these late flocks are very welcome.
@linnetincley.bsky.social
#norfolkbirding
#cleybirds
Tundra Bean Geese, a Russian White-fronted Goose & a bunch of Pink-feet from the Cley square today.
February 7, 2026 at 2:51 PM
markgolley.bsky.social
We did have one significant highlight today. In the afternoon, we drifted west for a bit for some Russian White-fronted Goose action. The strong easterlies seem to be at the heart of the influx in Norfolk ~ a magnificent 450+ watched in the gloom & rain.
@linnetincley.bsky.social
#norfolkbirding
1/2
Yup, bonus Barnacle Goose in the background & a couple of Dark-bellied Brents too. Wonder if the Brents and the Barnacle are Dutch winterers as well as the RWFG?
February 6, 2026 at 8:12 PM
markgolley.bsky.social
We tried hard on a grotty, rank February TG04 day. The wind dropped a bit but the drizzle & rain kept coming. Yuk. We saw some birds, Kingfisher, a smart flock of over 100 Curlews, but it wasn't fun & the visibility was pants. Apart from that... 😅
@linnetincley.bsky.social
#norfolkbirding
#cleybirds
February 6, 2026 at 7:55 PM