Now that's what I call twitching!

12/1/08 James and Simeon; Norfolk coast
James and I got up at 5 and were on the road by just after 6. Cutting through Norfolk we were at Cley just before 8. As we got out of the car in the semi-light you could feel the tension. Birders were getting out of their cars in silence and making their way to the crowd opposite a gravel drive. As the light improved, the number of birders grew and soon there were more than 200 of us! Luckily James and I were near the front and we could both see most of the driveway. The first sighting of the White-crowned Sparrow came at about 8:50. However, some inconsiderate birders rushed to the gate on the other side of the road, so we din't get a look in. The bird was flushed into the hedge again, but at least it was still around! No more than 10 minutes later it appeared again and as I now had a front row seat, (I was kneeling on the road!) I got really good views through my bins and so did James! Then a lorry went past the drive and the crowd erupted into angry shouting. When it had gone, so had the bird! James and I were happy with the views we got so we left, to let other people see it. It was a brilliant atmosphere and I just love the tension in a massive crowd at a mega twitch!
The next stop was Walsey Hills NOA where a Firecrest had been seen 2 days ago. We walked up to the observatory and then down the track past the feeders. About 50 yards along the bottom track James spotted a crest, and, sure enough, it was the Firecrest! It showed brilliantly, but was very flittery and it soon popped down, out of site. We told another birder of its whereabouts and were off on the road again to Salthouse.
Arriving in the beach car park, we walked west for about 50 yards and there were the buntings on the South side of the sea wall. They showed really well, down to about 10 metres. There were 70+ Snow Buntings and a lovely Lapland Bunting!
We then went back through Norfolk and arrived at Roydon Common to the news that the shrike had disappeared 5 minutes ago! We thought our luck was beginning to run out. But then, just as we were about to go to the car and have lunch, someone refound it on top of the hill! It showed distantly and the light was rubbish, but it was still a nice bird! We marveled at its ability to sneak round the back of us unseen in an open heath. If only we were that good...
Next stop was Ongar Hill, to try for the Richard's Pipit. The walk was very long and the bird hadn't been seen for about half an hour, but it was a pipit after all. We waited for a few minutes and it soon reappeared on the bank we were standing on! It walked up the bank and started feeding on the path! It gave excellent views and we were really pleased - we had picked up every bird we had gone for that day - an extremely rare occurrence! We then took a short walk along the bank and at a barn, 20+ Twite were calling on the wires!
We decided to leave it at that, and started the journey home. On the way back, we stopped off at Tottenhill. The usual stuff was about; Goldeneye, Tufted Duck and Pochard. Then a massive goose flock came in and as they were landing, I picked out a white bird. Thoughts of Snow Goose flashed through my head, but as I got my scope on the bird, I saw it was a Feral Goose! Oh well! Scanning the goose flock again, I found a single Barnacle Goose and James found a White Fronted Goose!
We returned home with a brilliant lifer and several scarce yearers "in the bag", and it's still only January! What a day...!