The news this morning said that today was the most depressing of the year and they were not far wrong. I had everything planned for today, spend the morning ringing in the garden then head off to Cley for the American wigeon and Warham Green for the harrier roost.

I opened the curtains this morning, no wind but thick fog. As it lifted, I managed to get an hour ringing (1 new dunnock, re-trap coal and great tit) before the rain arrived and it pissed down until mid afternoon. At least I had the opportunity to nail the beginner level on Colin Mcrae rally on the XBox!

By the time the rain had eased off there wasn't time to go to Cley so I just went for the roost. On the way I bumped into 2 adult whooper swans just to the north of the village - a nice start.

The light was much better by the time I was in position at Warham and within a few minutes I had the first ringtail over the saltmarsh. 2 barn owls were hunting over the saltmarsh near East Hills and another one passed really close not even noticing me. By the end of the afternoon I had at least 10 ringtails of which 7 of the roosted on the far edge of the saltmarsh. The other 3, including a striking bird with an all-white left outer tail-feather, headed off towards Holkham. There was also 2 female marsh harriers and 2 peregrines kicking about the area.

After a crappy start, it turned into a good afternoon.