Migrants arriving, birds posing. Weekly highlights 17/8/2014

It was going to happen eventually, as it does every year. The Swifts leave and then everything else starts coming through (although after a week without any I did see two Swifts on Sunday).  The first Wheatear of the autumn came through the patch on Tuesday, and another on Thursday.  

Ropey shot of cracking bird.

There have been Common Sandpipers kicking about in the distance, but this one was in range length for about 5 seconds.  One shot in focus!

 Amongst the showers I can usually still find Pied Wagtails.  This scruffy little fella was posing a bit on Thursday.

The week nicely rounded off with a session with a Little Egret.  No doubt this will appear on other channels as the days progress...

Some of these photos may, or may not, end up here

Saved by the weekend... Weekly highlights 10/08/14

The problem with doing regular weekly highlight post thingy is that if there is nothing happening during the week (other than distant gulls and cormorants) then the whole thing can fall flat on its face.  Thankfully, this week was saved by a thing called 'the weekend'.  

There were some Spoonbills at Cley on Saturday, which currently isn't unusual.  About a half dozen or so of them flew in at one point, and as they approached the scrapes they started whiffling!  You might think that this is insignificant but I hadn't seen before so that was interesting for me at least.  One of them flew off.

Went looking for Little Owls, but they are proving elusive.  Did find a Barn Owl and a flock of hirundines that were quite entertaining.

Popped to Cley again on Sunday for some post Bertha buffeting, and it was most satisfactory.

A dragon, a gulp and something gnarly - weekly highlights 03/08/2014

It's that time of year when many birders suddenly become interested in moths and dragonflies and things like that.  Things that fly, but only a distraction until the autumn.  The garden birds are hiding, the Swifts are leaving and the breeding colonies dispersed.  All in all a bit of a struggle which is confirmed by my SD card on Sunday which didn't contain a single photo of a bird.  It did, however contain one of these...

... I haven't looked it up in a book yet, but I expect it to have the word 'Common' in its name.  It was in the garden on Sunday.  My undoubted natural history highlight of the week was on Thursday evening when the garden was full of Dragonflies.  About thirty of the critters at all levels chasing about like mad and whizzing past my head. This was enhanced by a good fifty or so Gulls circling about.  I can only assume that this activity was something to do with flying ants.  I'm not sure that the wife was as keen on getting close to this spectacle as I was!

However, not all is birdless.  I did enjoy a close encounter with a gulp of Swallows in the evening sun...

... which contained a cracking little Sand Martin.  This effort is considerably better than my attempt at the beginning of the year.  Although that was published.  Go figure.

Here is a picture of a man doing something undoubtedly 'gnarly'  in the sunset from midweek. 

And here is a picture of what is coming back soon, this photo is from my vast and quality filled archive of course...

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