THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS (August 2026)

The Cley area consists of the Ordnance Survey square TG04 plus the tip of Blakeney Point. Also included are records from the whole of Kelling Heath, the eastern part of which extends beyond the TG04 boundary.

A Work in Progress

The plan is for every species, major subspecies and form of bird that has been recorded in the Cley area to have its own page detailing its status here.

Currently, the non-passerines rare birds and scarce birds are being uploaded. Each has a heading photograph taken in the Cley Square (unless one has never been taken here or one is not available), a section summarising the records, and then a list of all of the records (as much as is practicable for the commoner scarcities).

For the rarer species, concise details and observers' names are given for each record where known. Credited observers' names are those given in the annual British Birds rarities reports and Norfolk Bird Reports, plus others where known, from the Cley Bird Club database and elsewhere. Here, normally up to three observer names are given (occasionally up to five for special records) in alphabetical order, but with the initial finder's name moved to the front when known. The inclusion of observers' names brings the records 'alive', but this is a work in progress: if you know for certain who found a particular bird and it is not yet credited here correctly, or you think any other observers' names should be added or changed, please let me know.

In due course, it is hoped to provide histograms summarising the records of all the scarce migrants and commoner rarities, but this will be done after all of the non-passerine and passerine rare birds and scarce birds have been uploaded, and after pages for all of the commoner birds have been added too.

A few conventions different from those used in the Norfolk Bird Reports, for example, have been used here. Notably Kelling Water Meadow here refers to the pool itself and the water meadow immediately surrounding it. Kelling Hard, the Kelling Quag field, the NOA Pool and Meadow Lane Marshes all come under the name Kelling here, except where these names are specifically used.

The small 'box' that appears before most bird names indicates that these are fully accepted full species. The absence of the box indicates birds that these birds are either currently regarded as subspecies or otherwise not fully accepted full species for some other reason as explained in the species text. Priority for the box is given to the commonest form of a species occurring here.

Completion of this project will take some time. Meanwhile, please do take a browse of the non-passerines rare birds and scarce birds uploaded so far, and please do let me know your thoughts.