Editing Holkham National Nature Reserve (section)

=== Birds ===

[[File:Geese at dawn - geograph.org.uk - 599662.jpg|alt=flock of geese rising from fields|[[Pink-footed goose|Pink-footed geese]] leaving the grazing marshes at dawn|thumb]]
As many as 50,000 [[pink-footed goose|pink-footed geese]], 13,000 [[Eurasian wigeon]] and 7,000 [[brant goose|Brent geese]] winter at Holkham, making it of international importance for these species.<ref name= holkham/> Up to 400 [[greater white-fronted goose|white-fronted geese]] and a few [[tundra bean goose|tundra bean geese]] may join the wildfowl flocks, and the odd [[peregrine falcon]], [[short-eared owl]], [[merlin (bird)|merlin]], [[western marsh harrier|marsh harrier]] or [[hen harrier]] may hunt over the fields.<ref name = harrup/> The shingle banks and foreshore hold wintering flocks of [[horned lark|shore larks]], [[snow bunting]]s and [[twite]],<ref name= encitation/> and [[wader]]s like [[red knot|knots]], [[Eurasian curlew|curlew]]s, [[dunlin]]s and [[grey plover]] probe for [[invertebrate]]s in the mud flats.<ref name= holkham/>

Spring [[bird migration|migration]] is relatively quiet, although sightings of [[ring ouzel]] and [[common firecrest|firecrest]] are possible amongst the more common arrivals. Breeding birds include [[northern lapwing|lapwings]], [[common snipe]], [[pied avocet]]s, [[common redshank]]s and marsh harriers on the grazing marshes, [[common ringed plover|ringed plovers]] and [[little tern]]s on the beach, and [[black-headed gull|black-headed]], [[European herring gull|herring]] and [[lesser black-backed gull]]s on the salt marsh. The small [[grey heron]] colony has been joined by [[little egret]]s,<ref name = harrup/> and, from 2010, by [[Eurasian spoonbill]]s.<ref name=spoonbill>{{cite web|author=Natural England |title=Breeding spoonbills return to Holkham |url=http://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?a=2889<!--originally from http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/about_us/news/2011/120911.aspx--> |publisher=BirdGuides}} Retrieved 13 April 2017.</ref> In 2020, a pair of [[Western cattle egret|cattle egrets]] successfully bred at the site, the first time the species had successfully bred in Norfolk.<ref>{{cite web |title=Western Cattle Egret breeds in Norfolk for first time |url=https://www.birdguides.com/news/western-cattle-egret-breeds-in-norfolk-for-first-time/ |publisher=Birdguides |access-date=13 July 2020}}</ref> The pines may occasionally have nesting [[Eurasian siskin|siskins]] or [[common crossbill]]s, and [[parrot crossbill]]s bred in 1984 and 1985.<ref name = harrup/>

Holkham's north-facing coastal location can attract large numbers of migrating birds in autumn if the weather conditions are right,<ref>Elkins (1988) pp. 136–137.</ref><ref>Newton (2010) pp. 97–98.</ref> especially with north to north-east wind.<ref name = harrup/> The common species may be accompanied by a [[wryneck]], [[red-backed shrike]] or [[greenish warbler]] in August, with [[goldcrest]]s, [[thrush (bird)|thrushes]] and [[finch]]es later in the season, and perhaps [[red-breasted flycatcher]]s and [[yellow-browed warbler]]s. [[vagrancy (biology)|Vagrant]] rarities such as [[Pallas's leaf warbler|Pallas's]], [[Radde's warbler|Radde's]] or [[dusky warbler]]s may occur;<ref name = harrup/><ref>Newton (2010) p. 50.</ref> a [[red-breasted nuthatch]] in 1989 was the first, and, as of 2019, the only individual of its species to be recorded in the UK.<ref name= BB1995>{{cite journal | last= Aley | first= Jean |author2=Aley, Roy | year= 1995 | title= Red-breasted Nuthatch in Norfolk: new to Britain and Ireland | journal= British Birds | volume= 88 | issue = 3 | pages= 150–153 | url = http://www.britishbirds.co.uk/search?model=pdf&id=7786 }}</ref>