Migrants, patch tick and not technically twitching gulls... Weekly Highlights 07/09/2014

Yes, a weekly highlights page that posted no weekly highlights for two weeks.  The reasons behind this are manifest and for you dear reader I expect that they are not particularly interesting when you want to see pictures of birds.  So let's do birds then.  

Lots of them.  

Like this one.

Not a particularly good week for photos, but a good one for birds.  Birds everywhere on the patch this week and some nice ones too.  Wheatears, Whinchats, Redstarts, Black Redstarts, an absolutely stonking adult Hobby at point blank range, and rounded off at the weekend with a Pied Flycatcher in the gloom.  I had seen reports of Pied Flycatchers that were doable in my lunch hour and I was sorely tempted.  But I thought, no, if I go chasing up there I won't know what was on the patch, and I was thankfully vindicated with a lovely patch tick.

Pied Flycatcher doing lovely patch tick

 And so to the weekend.  I'd seen some chatter on the interweb about Caspian Gulls at Cromer and thought that I'd go and have a look.  This doesn't count as twitching as I was only going for a speculative look, and there were no other birders there.

Unfortunately it was in fading light, and as I was looking for a 1st winter bird I almost overlooked the adult.  Oops!  Now, my previous experience of Caspian Gulls has been stringing funny looking Herring Gulls and reading about them in a very big book, but because of this I have had a fair handle on what to look for (I believe that these are called diagnostic features, and one absolutely must know what a gonys angle is).  Having seen some of the pictures on social media of what people are saying are Caspian Gulls, I'm not so sure myself.  However, there was a nice Yellow-legged Gull kicking about too.

Adult Caspian Gull, Cromer

Yellow-legged Gull, Cromer

Ended the week with a field full of Wheatears, and a late-ish accompaniment of Sand Martin and House Martin which was very pleasant indeed.

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...

Website is here!

Lots of things beginning with the letter S - weekly highlights to 27/7/14

In the reasonably new tradition of starting off where I left off last week, here is the same wren as on the previous post, but on a different stick.  It even has a spider in it's bill for good measure. 

A Starling from midweek - no excuse needed to take photos of these.

And so to the latter part of the week, and a visit to a beach in the evening.  It's what you do round here.  There were a few little groups of Sanderling knocking about on the tide line and with a little fieldcraft I managed to get some pics as they approached.

Friday night rave, Norfolk stylee...

Finally, Arctic Skua (one of three) that was hassling Sandwich Terns at Cley on Sunday.  And just to add to the number of things beginning with the letter S in the post, that there is Sheringham Shoal in the background! Oh, and the Sea.

Here hare here, and other photos from last week...

Unusually for me I took a photo of something furry, rather than feathery.  This Hare was in a field near Langham.

The week began where last week left off, with Little Owls.  The family that I am visiting has three young, this one is sheltering from the rain and not looking to pleased with it all.

During the week there was a rare bird in Great Yarmouth.  Here is a picture taken with a telephone of some people having a Great time knot seeing the rare bird.

An obliging Linnet that sat on a wall.

An obliging Wren that sat on a stick.

Little Owl adult showing nicely in the evening sun...

...and the Wren again for good measure.  This particular bird will feature in future posts. 

More of my photos can be found by clicking here!

Last week

Last week finished with a Marsh Harrier, and this week begun with the same, although the photos are a bit better.  Clocked this one near Martham.

With the rough weather during the week, seawatching became rewarding for a couple of days.  Lots of Terns, Common Scoter, Gannets, a fair few Whimbrel and a Black-tailed Godwit.  Here is one of the Common Terns in the murk.

This little critter needed reference books initially as I thought it may have been a funny looking Dunlin, but in the end this shot clearly shows the jizz of a Purple Sandpiper, not a patch tick but I do like Purple Sandpipers.

It is July so butterfly pictures have to do when the birds don't show.  This Common Blue was struggling in the wind and if I knew how to operate my phone properly it may have ended up on a selfie when it landed on my face.

Saturday was proving unproductive until this happened!

Last week with the lens...

Snapped a Jay doing anting from the kitchen window.

Saw a Swan at the local park...

...where the coots were not fighting for once...

...and then got to work on a feather...

Found some gulls.

Friday turned autumnal with a load of Med Gulls on the patch, and a porpoise or two in the sea.

And all nicely rounded up with a Marsh Harrier.  Well it is Norfolk...

Feather, water

2014 version 1

Mute Swan