Bull of the Bog

Autumn mislaid

2011-10-27T19:50:00.003+01:00

Jack Snipe, Titchwell, 23 October

Autumn has shot by this year and I seem to have missed all the fun. This has been due to the usual commitments required of a young family so I mustn't grumble too much. And thumbing through my notebook my little grabbed 30 - 60 minute walks have been quite good.

In the very hot weather at the end of end of September I was still seeing Grass Snakes in Ken Hill Wood and on the 30th had a nice second brood White Admiral. The following day sitting on Holme Beach whilst our toddler played in the sand, on a flat calm sea I managed Razorbill, Guillemot, Gannet, Red Throated Diver plus early Brent and Pink Footed Geese. A Weasel running across the access track here was a bonus. As was a late Hummingbird Hawk Moth in a Titchwell garden later that day.

Last weekend a flying visit to Titchwell rewarded me with a brief view of a sleeping Jack Snipe.

With baby number two due to appear in the next few weeks I suspect that early winter will also pass by quickly and with very little field time.

Banham Zoo - second attempt

2011-09-12T22:05:00.003+01:00

Emperor Tamarin, Banham Zoo, Norfolk, UK

I had tried to put up a post yesterday about a visit I made with my two year old son to Banham Zoo on Saturday. Unfortunately for reasons only known to blogger I wasn’t able to do this, so I’ve had another day to mull on what to write.

I guess I should make clear my broad views on Zoo’s first as they can raise strong emotions in people. I grew up in north London and one of my key early influences were the books of Gerald Durrell. Of relevance to this post was his manifesto for modern Zoo's The Stationery Ark. I learnt my early birding skills in and around north Londons' parks and reservoirs and as a member of the XYZ Club [Exceptional Young Zoologists I believe] also spent many happy hours wandering around London Zoo. on me.

So I'm pro good zoo's, zoo's which have high welfare standards, which educate their visitors, who take part in conservation initiatives and who help to change how people feel about wildlife conservation.

Over my two family visits to Banham Zoo I have gained an impression of a family friendly, reasonably well run zoo. One or two of the cages look a little small, but I know size alone doesn't make a good home for wild animals. I also like the sense that they haven't tried to squeeze in the full suite of stereotypical zoo animals. There are for example no Lions, Rhino's, Hippo's or Elephants. This isn't universally popular with all their visitors and I overheard one young mum saying to her chap "I can't believe they don't have elephants" as if you couldn't call yourself a zoo without at least one Elephant.

The Zoo does seem to be in a state of flux at the moment with several new enclosures either about to open [The walk through Lemur exhibit] or on the cards down the line [The Rainbow Lorikeets]. These look like they could be exciting additions to the zoo adding not only to the animals well being but also to the quality of visitor experience.

But I do feel that the zoo need to think more carefully about how it interprets the animals both through static and face to face interpretation. Being in sole charge of a lively two year old, I like many visitors had my hands full on Saturday and had little time to absorb messages. On the odd occasion I looked at an interpretation panel it did seem a little wordy and in need of an edit. The only live interpretation we listened too was about the spectacular Siamang Gibbons, this was somewhat lack lustre and tried to pack in too many messages, but much more importantly it was broadcast to the visitors and there was no attempt to interact and build excitement.

I also think that Banham Zoo could think harder about placing seats in positions that make it easier for folk to dwell by exhibits, so that they can slow down and wait for the animals to behave, rather than wandering past each cage and moving on if nothing is happening there and then. I wonder what is the dwell time in front of an exhibit here?

Having said all this we enjoyed our four and a bit hours on site and the zoo got many things right. From a parents perspective the baby changing facilities were great [they have them and they are unisex]. I didn't bother with the cafe which looked just as poor as last time, but we came prepared with a packed lunch and there are plenty of tables to eat at. The Safari Road Train ride was a great way of spending 10 - 15 minutes with a two year old boy and a great way for the Zoo to exceed my jaundiced expectations as it was free!

I’ll finish with our favourite moments. Mine were on arrival listening close up to the deafening calls of the Siamang Gibbons, this brought back memories of a couple of visits I made to Khao Yai National Park in Thailand in the early 1990's where I was woken each morning by a dawn chorus dominated by Gibbon's. I also, as before, loved the Red Panda exhibit and I think the Emperor Tamarin's with their free access to Birch trees is great, especially if like me you want to photograph animals without bars or reflections in the glass getting in the way. But it would be even better if there were more / better placed seats by this exhibit.

My little boy loved the Penguins and we had to pay these a second visit. He was also keen on the Giraffe's and wanted to see more of the sleeping Tiger. Of cours ethe large Dinosaur that we saw from the train was also a firm favourite.

I'd go back maybe once or twice a year with the family and perhaps as often again on my own with a camera.

For more Banham Zoo pictures check out my Flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/bullofthebog/sets/72157623737928335/

A Day at Banham Zoo

2011-09-11T20:29:00.008+01:00

Red Panda, Banham Zoo, Norfolk

I took our two year old to Banham Zoo yesterday. This was his and my second visit although he was too young to remember his first visit.

I grew up reading Gerald Durrell books including his manifesto for modern Zoo's The Stationery Ark. I also grew up in London and although I'm a great advocate of the view that if you have eyes to see you can find and experience the wild in our big cities. I also know that having London Zoo close by was an important formative influence on me.

So I'm pro good zoo's. Zoo's which have high welfare standards, which educate their visitors, who partake in conservation initiatives and who help to change how people feel about wildlife conservation.

Over my two family visits to Banham Zoo I have gained an impression of a family friendly, reasonably well run zoo. One or two of the cages look a little small, but I know size alone doesn't make a good home for wild animals. I also like the sense that they haven't tried to squeeze in the full suite of stereotypical zoo animals. There are for example no Lions, Rhino's, Hippo's or Elephants. This isn't universally popular with all their visitors and I overheard one young mum saying to her chap "I can't believe they don't have elephants" as if you couldn't call yourself a zoo without at least one Elephant.

The Zoo does seem to be in a state of flux at the moment with several new enclosures either about to open [The walk through Lemur exhibit] or on the cards down the line [The Rainbow Lorikeets].

We enjoyed our four and a bit hours on site. From a parents perspective the baby changing facilities were great [they have them and they are unisex]. I didn't bother with the cafe which looked just as poor as last time, but we came prepared with a packed lunch and there are plenty of tables to eat at. The Safari Road Train ride was a great way of spending 10 - 15 minutes with a two year old boy and a great way for the Zoo to exceed my jaundiced expectations as it was free!

My favourite moment was on arrival listening close up to the deafening calls of the Siamang Gibbons, this brought back memories of a couple of visits I made to Khao Yai National Park in Thailand in the early 1990's where I was woken each morning by a dawn chorus dominated by Gibbon's. We returned here just before we left for a rather lack lustre bit of live interpretation. The guy said all the right things but didn't engage at all with the audience. I also, as before, loved the Red Panda exhibit and I think the Emperor Tamarin's with their free access to Birch trees is great, especially if like me you want to photograph animals without bars or reflections in the glass getting in the way.

My little boy loved the Penguins and we had to pay these a second visit. He was also keen on the Giraffe's and wanted to see more of the sleeping Tiger.

I'd go back maybe once or twice a year with the family and perhaps as often again on my own with a camera.

For more Banham Zoo pictures check out my Flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/bullofthebog/sets/72157623737928335/

Little Bittern at Titchwell

2011-09-11T20:16:00.003+01:00

The 'Gallery' for the Titchwell Little Bittern this evening

Juv Little Bittern, Titchwell Marsh this evening

Not had much time to get out birding but a short walk this evening to test out the camera after its return from Canon for repairs turned up trumps.

A Little Bittern was showing well by the side of the West Bank path and I managed this heavily cropped and tweaked 'record' shot. I am sure those with more time at their disposal will have managed far better results.

This was incidently a Norfolk and UK lifer.

Also had a female Marsh Harrier, male Sparrowhawk and a calling Cetti's Warbler during my brief visit.

Passing time with Passage Waders at Titchwell

2011-08-27T21:36:00.002+01:00

Little Stint, Titchwell Marsh

Ruff, Titchwell Marsh

Curlew Sandpiper, Titchwell Marsh

Real feel of autumn in the air the past week or so. This morning saw me taking our toddler to Home beech for a play and a chance for me to have a very quick squint at the sea where couple of young Gannets could be seen feeding way offshore.

This afternoon I managed an hour at Titchwell on my own. The Fresh Marsh was looking pretty good and absolutely hooching with waders, In the time I spent there I saw 13 species and dipped on Wood Sandpiper. Perhaps the highlights were the juvenile Little Stints and Curlew Sandpipers and the mixed winter and summer plumage Spotted Redshanks.

After Titchwell back to the father in laws in Titchwell where we watched a Weasel work its way along one of the flower beds.

Top wildlife moments from Asturias July 2010

2011-08-16T21:29:00.004+01:00

Marbled White, Asturias, July 2011.

A little top seven wildlife moments from our recent family holiday in Asturias.

Evening and two Honey Buzzards fly by at eye level, wonderful profile view with lots of lovely plumage detail visible. A brief but classic view and a wonderful moment with nature.

Knowing that there should be raptors somewhere over the distant 'Turbine Ridge' and eventually scoring distant but distinctive views of Griffon's.

The first afternoon butterflying. Warm sunshine, a meadow splashed with purple, yellow, pink white and blue flowers. So much promise and so many Marbled Whites, Clouded Yellows and Meadow Browns.

The first evenings unsuccessful Salamander patrol but the discovery of Glow Worms and churring Nightjars.

A montage memory of rock pools and sea anemones, crabs and shrimps, sandy beaches and jagged rocks, all with our toddlers excited screams and shouts.

Fire Salamanders and then more Fire Salamanders. The relief of finally getting them and then their abundance on that first damp night, followed by time spent photographing them and learning more of their lives by following them on succeeding nights and in chats with our hosts.

West Iberian Painted Frog. The joy of the unexpected. The joy of plunging my hand into a warm, muddy ditch and pulling out a gem of a frog. The rain and wet adding to the experience and then later the buzz of identifying it from photos.

West Iberian Painted Frog

2011-08-02T21:15:00.003+01:00

West Iberian Painted Frog, Asturias, Spain, July 2011

Lets keep the Amphibian vibe going a little longer. Towards the end our holiday I went for a walk along the road that runs beneath La Cumbre and up towards a small chapel. I had a few days before noticed some tadpoles living in a ditch that ran alongside the road. On this evening other than a short burst of Nightjar churring, it was very quiet.

On this evening as I walked past the ditch I flushed one or two frogs, these dived into the mess of overgrown herbs and grass that had been flooded out by the rising muddy water levels in the ditch. Moving quickly I plunged my right hand into the murky water and located one of the frogs pulling it out for a closer look and to take its picture with the small digital compact camera that I had in my pocket. It posed on the tarmac for a few pictures before disappearing back into the ditch.

Looking in Arnold & Ovenden I am pretty certain that this is a West Iberian Painted Frog Disclogossus galganoi. This is based on range, its pointy head shape, patterning and lack of a visible ear drum. A frog lifer!

Fire Salamanders by torchlight

2011-08-01T21:18:00.006+01:00

Fire Salamander, Asturias, July 2011.

Before I got into birds I was into Amphibians. As a kid I used to love exploring marshy corners and ponds in search of frogs and newts. Finding these was no mean feat in the concreted over corner of north London where I grew up, but find them I did. I've never lost this love of searching for Herps and on the rare occasions these days that I manage to get somewhere with a less impoverished Reptile and Amphibian than population than the UK's I enjoy the challenge of finding, identifying and photographing the local Herps.

I had a chance to do just this recently on a two week family holiday to the Asturias region of northern Spain [we stayed at http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/p224154 ]. The big draw here was Fire Salamander, an amphibian that I had never seen in the wild and which I was told occurred in good numbers around the farm buildings 'after rain'.

So for the first week of our stay I patrolled the bone dry gardens and fields around the farm by torchlight in a fruitless search for Fire Salamanders, turning over every movable stone, log, plank and piece of plastic in the hope of finding a hiding beast. Then it rained and rained some more and out came an army of slugs and snails. But still on my first torchlit circuit no Fire Salamanders. Then half way through my second damp walk round the grounds, just as I was resigning myself to never seeing one of these little black and gold gems, there one was in my torch beam in the middle of the grassy path.

I got down on my hands and knees to get a closer look and to take its photo and spent a happy ten minutes in its company. When I got back to the buildings Fire Salamanders seemed to be everywhere and I watched bemused as two squeezed out of a narrow gap [narrow even for a Salamander] between the stone steps and wall of one of the outbuildings. For the next two or three nights I encountered Salamanders on my nightly patrols, enjoying their company to the sound of cow bells and churring nightjars as a light rain fell on my back.

These Salamanders were of the Asturian race Salamandra salamandra bernardezi which tend to be smaller than other European Fire Salamanders and have adapted to giving birth to a handful of live young.

I was asked by our helpful host Lynn, whether they were poisonous to people and I still think my gut instinct that they would only cause you harm if you rubbed their mucus in your eyes or mouth [an unlikely scenario] is true, I can though find very little online about their toxicology.

Lynn felt that numbers had perhaps declined around the farm and certainly elsewhere on the mountain where chemicals were used on the land and I suspect this allied to the stands of Eucalyptus and Pine where once there would have been native deciduous forest has probably reduced their numbers.

I'll put some more pictures on my Flickr page shortly http://www.flickr.com/photos/bullofthebog/ .

A evening spent on the Bog

2011-06-12T11:57:00.005+01:00

Nightjar, Dersingham Bog

Dersingham Bog 22.10: Nightjars are churring making a sound like the worst shortwave radio interference, three or four Roe Deer have been barking to each other and a couple of Tawny Owls have been 'hooting' to each other from the woodland edge. A group of birdwatchers voices intrude across the silent heath on the western horizon the last pastel pink stain left by the setting sun and above a four fifths moon.

A very tranquil hour and a half and the relative coolness of the evening kept the biting insects at bay but may also have been responsible for the lack of Glow Worms sightings [some had been seen here last weekend].

I tried the EOS 5D MK2 out on the Nightjars pushing it to its limit with a ISO setting of 6400 to get the result shown here, maybe I should take a flash next time?

Train ticks

2011-05-31T22:29:00.003+01:00

I regularly make the train journey from King's Lynn in west Norfolk to Sandy in Bedfordshire a journey that takes me across the Norfolk and Cambridgeshire Fens and then down through Hertfordshire arable country and finally through some more scruffy Bedfordshire countryside.

Last autumn when these journeys were becoming more frequent I started keeping a bird list, the rules being that the birds on it had to be seen or heard from a station platform or train.

The best bits of the journey are the first and last bits. The section across the Fens between King's Lynn and Cambridge is best of all with herds of wild swans in the winter and regular sightings of Little Egrets, Lapwings and occasional Barn Owls. The big Hertfordshire arable fields are sometimes enlivened by Common Buzzards and the last length of line from Hitchin to Sandy goes past Biggleswade Common and some gravel pits.

Having started my list in the autumn I still need to add many summer visitors. Today I managed to add a couple of Cuckoo's just north of Ely and a Hobby over Letchworth Station platform, so a really good day that took the list to over 40 species.

All that and I cleared my email inbox on my Blackberry!

Lessons in Swift photography

2011-05-29T22:25:00.006+01:00

"They've made it again, Which means the globe's still working, the Creation's still waking refreshed, our summer's still all to come" from Swifts by Ted Hughes

Every summer I try and take a good shot of a Common Swift and every year so far I've not been satisfied with my efforts.

With an hour to spare this afternoon I popped into a busy Titchwell Marsh and underneath a grey sky I spent some time trying to photograph the low flying Swifts and the shot shown here was my best effort. The technique that I have adopted is to reduce my 100 - 400 lens to 300mm, put it on the closer focusing and panning settings, over expose by 2/3 of a stop and then expect to delete an awful lot of what I take.

Image above is of a Common Sift over the Titchwell Marsh reedbed today.

Roe Deer & Fawn

2011-05-28T22:01:00.005+01:00

Friday lunchtime saw me on one of my regular local walks in Ken Hill Woods on the edge of Snettisham village. It was a cool grey day with a threat of rain in the air and I suspect as a consequence of the weather conditions the woods were devoid of people walking dogs.

As usual I entered the woods from the path that leads off the busy A149 and almost immediately picked out a Roe Deer in the bracken perhaps 50 metres away. Normally I'd wouldn't expect to see a Roe here, not because they don't occur in these woods, but because the heavy usage by dog walkers make of them, means that as the day goes on the more sensitive wildlife tends move away from the paths. I'd also expect a Roe Deer to bolt as soon as it saw me. So the fact that this one stared at me from the waist high bracken that carpets the woodland floor here was enough to arouse my curiosity.

As I changed position to try and get a picture of the deer, I noticed a movement in the bracken by its feet and was then delighted to see a small, spotty Roe Deer fawn emerge briefly from the bracken as it staggered after its mother moving deeper into the woods and away from me. I can only guess that when I first spotted the adult female it was feeding its fawn and that was why it didn't bolt.

Apologies for the not quite sharp images, there was next to no light under the canopy and I only had a rather basic DSLR and a slow old zoom lens with me.

Both pictures of Roe Deer in Ken Hill Woods, Norfolk

Snake Eyes

2011-05-13T21:07:00.003+01:00

Grass Snake, Ken Hill Wood, Snettisham, Norfolk

As a birder you learn to read the countryside through a birds eyes, where are the good places to feed, cover from a predator, somewhere to sing from and as you develop your bird eyes, you start to see more and more birds until the process can seem uncanny and instinctive to non birders.

If you want to look at other taxa you have to develop your skills and train your senses to find them. Now we've only got three native snake species in the UK one of which the Smooth Snake is very rare and range restricted, another the Adder is in decline and I've not found locally and the third and commonest is the Grass Snake. This relative paucity of species and low population levels, along with the beasts habit of hibernating for half the year means that perhaps unsurprisingly, I rather disappointingly don't have 'snake eyes.' I do though have a chance to try and develop them.

Ken Hill is a lovely wood that covers the slopes of a hill overlooking The Wash on the edge of the West Norfolk village of Snettisham. It is popular with locals as a place to walk their dogs and is an OK birding site where each January I reckon to add Marsh Tit to my year list. It also would appear to have an excellent population of Grass Snakes and I have taken advantage of several days work in the village to spend my lunch breaks looking for these snakes.

At the moment my technique is to walk slowly along the woodland paths listening for the distinctive sound of a snake sliding through the leaf litter. This can be an effective way of finding snakes but has the disadvantage that they have normally already spotted you and are slithering away or are on a mission anyway and moving fast across the forest floor.

So my next challenge is to develop the eyes to see snakes before they move, to see and understand the sorts of places that a snake would find attarctive to sun bathe, rest and wait for prey and then hopefuly I will spot them when they are lying still by the side of the path and be able to creep up on them and look into their snake eyes and take their photo.

Today was a little cloudy and cooler than of late and I found one Grass Snake in the 40 minutes I spent in the woods. This image is the only vaguely acceptable one I got and not quite sharp. So I'll have to try again.

Duelling Green Hairstreaks

2011-04-17T21:22:00.003+01:00

"Sunbathing?" Green Hairstreak, Ringstead, Norfolk Green Hairstreak, Ringstead, Norfolk A beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon saw me slowly walking around Wharton's Belt. This corner of Courtyard Farm has been a reliable local spot for Green Hairstreaks for me and I wanted to grab the opportunity that today's warm temperature's offered to catch up with this early butterfly. Never easy to spot, their green wings merge well with the spring leaves, I spent a fruitless 40 minutes slowly pacing along a drove before finally on my return walk I spotted a couple of insects about 30 feet in the air, tumbling in circles as they fought for territory. Occasionally even without binoculars and at this distance I could see the green pigments in their leaves catch the light and eventually my patience was rewarded when one settled on a leaf. It then did something I not noticed before it quickly flattened its wing on the leaf in what looked like an attempt to sunbathe or perhaps to make it less visible to its rival? I managed a couple of long distance record shots which I have added to this blog. If I get another chance perhaps on a cooler day I will have another go at photographing these dainty little creatures. Also present here were Speckled Wood, Green Veined White, Orangetip, Brimstone, and Holly Blue. Had Buzzard and Sparrowhawk over and lots of singing Blackcaps and Chiff Chaffs.

This is nice

2011-04-06T20:28:00.003+01:00

Blackcap, Rosary Cemetery, Norwich What more is there to say, car thermometer read 23 C when I left Norwich this evening and the forecast is for warm weather, sunshine and southerly winds through to the weekend. Lunchtime mooch around the cemetery was just pleasant with singing Chiff Chaff and Blackcap although bizarrely didn't see any butterflies.. Even managed a Swallow perched on some roadside wires during the drive home.

Tarnished Kite

2011-04-03T20:21:00.003+01:00

Male Garganey, Titchwell Marsh Red Kite, Titchwell Marsh Dead pleased with myself for picking out my second Norfolk Red Kite of the week at Titchwell this afternoon. I did this shortly after my arrival on site as the bird flew west over the trees surrounding the Visitor Centre. I then had a pleasant 40 minutes or so photographing the pair of Garganey on the Fresh Marsh. On leaving I heard at first in amused disbelief and then as I realised it wasn't a late April Fool that White Tailed Eagle had been accompanying the Red Kite as it had been drifting East. And that I had probably missed it by a matter of minutes.

Spring out of the traps

2011-04-02T21:32:00.006+01:00

Blurry, distant male & female Garganey at Titchwell Common Buzzard & Crow near Fring I had a splendid walk at Titchwell Marsh this morning, a reasonable amount of time available between family commitments, a warm south west breeze at might back and a warming spring sun in the sky. Marvellous its been a long protracted winter. Even better than the weather were the birds, a real sense of the season having properly turned now and spring is in the ascendant. Most obvious were the singing Chiff-Chaffs in the woodland around the car park and visitor centre. Also by the VC was a male Blackcap in full exuberant song. Looking west across the cow pasture at the start of the West Bank path I could see a single Wheatear and as the Fen woodland thinned into reedbed I saw and heard Willow Warbler. Overhead the odd Swallow slipped past heading west and in the hour and half I had on site I saw 10 - 20 Sand Martins also heading west. On the dried out mud of the Brackish Marsh was a mixed flock of Pied and White Wagtails and in amongst these a glowing Yellow Wagtail. All this plus the 'usual suspects' of Avocets and Marsh Harriers. After Titchwell I had time for a slow drive home, I had hoped to have a go at Photographing Hares but although I found some good fields with lots of Hares none were close enough to the road to make photography viable. I did though stumble across a couple of Common Buzzards including the one pictured above, These are becoming an increasing frequent and welcome sight in the county as they recolonise their former range. Even better on Thursday I had a Red Kite near Guist a species which has been absent from the east for even longer than the Buzzard. Apologies for the formatting being wonky, can't work out how to fix it.

Spring Squirrels'

2011-03-22T20:50:00.003Z

Grey Squirrel, Rosary Cemetery, Norwich

Found time for a quick lunchtime walk in the Rosary Cemetery, Norwich. Amazing how the season is picking up momentum, the Snowdrops are now a memory and the Crocuses which carpeted the rides in the cemetery a couple of weeks ago are nearly all gone and replaced by the yellow blooms of Primroses and Daffodils. High in the trees I could hear the song of my first Chiff - Chaff of the spring.

Approaching the small pond I heard the purr of mating Common Frogs and looking into the water I could make out the swish of Smooth Newts tail.

In the picture is one of the local Grey Squirrels that spent a lot of time on the ground foraging for last autumns acorns.

Mealy and Lesser Redpolls side by side

2011-03-21T21:14:00.002Z

PicaHD's Mealy and Lesser Redpoll footage

It has been a pretty full on couple of weeks with little time for birding, however I have recently managed a lunchtime session in the hide on the heath at the RSPB's Lodge nature reserve in Bedfordshire. This is always a good spot to watch a wide range of woodland birds come in close to the hide to bathe, drink and feed.

This winter it has offered a great opportunity to watch the two commoner forms of Repoll [Mealy and Lesser] at close range and alongside. The attached YouTube footage by PicaHD nicely illustrates the differing plumage's of the two birds. Certainly during my stint in the hide the odd Mealy that put in an appearance stood out with their appreciable colder, whiter plumage.

Also present were some stunning Siskins drinking from the pool within a few feet of the hide and always fun to see Nuthatch and GS Woodpecker.

2011-03-05T20:42:00.003Z

Male Teal at Titchwell Marsh

Little Owl, near Ringstead, Norfolk

A cold grey day. Spent the morning looking after our toddler and in the afternoon a family visit took me along the coast road and meant that I could spend an hour at Titchwell. En route I found this Little Owl sitting amongst the Ivy cladding a roadside Oak Tree, my first of the calendar year.

It was bitterly cold at Titchwell with a north east wind and drizzle. So I prioritised my time and spent a pleasant 30 minutes on my own in Island Hide photographing Teal. Leaving aside the terrible light this was a really nice treat, usually the hides at Titchwell are pretty busy places and even when you can get onto a bird to do some photography you run the risk of someone disturbing it just enough to make photography more of a challenge. It was also great because its easy to forget what cracking little ducks Teal are, especially the males and in the flat light their feathers seem to glow.

My walk back to the car was delayed by a number of the ridiculously tame Robins that live at Titchwell and I amused myself photographing them.

Snow Buntings and Shorelarks

2011-02-24T20:31:00.003Z

Snow Bunting, Salthouse Beach Car Park

At last a day that more resembled early Spring than the depths of Winter, an air temperature of 13 - 14 C and some sunshine, made it a pleasure to be out and about today.

Started out at Salthouse Beach car park with a very pleasant 45 minute session photographing Snow Buntings and Turnstones at the baited spot at the east end of the car park.

Spent the late morning at Cley Marshes NWT reserve, hadn't been here for a while and today was relatively quiet bird wise with the highlight being a single Shorelark on the shingle bank.
Next to Holkham Park where a walk in the woods in the hope of connecting with a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker ended in disappointment.

Finished the day at Holme Marsh a favourite spot for just sitting and watching, seeing what pops out of the woodwork, today that included a Sparrowhawk flying fast past the hide carrying prey, single Barn Owl, Marsh Harrier and Green Woodpecker and slightly incongruously Long Tailed Tits impersonating Penduline Tits by feeding on the Typha heads.

In the rain at the Sealife Centre & Titchwell

2011-02-23T20:29:00.005Z

Wolf-fish Hunstanton Sealife Centre

Twite at Titchwell Marsh

Bewicks Swan at Titchwell Marsh

Hunstanton Sealife Centre
Spent just over an hour this morning at the Hunstanton Sealife Centre, my first visit for many years. First impressions were how expensive it was [£12.80ish for adults] and bemusement that they had their admission price in bold and then 2 columns for the VAT on this and then the price you had to pay, a touch of the Ryanair approach to advertising costs I thought.

The place was busy which was not surprising on a wet half term morning in Hunstanton, but I don't think there were vast numbers of people present and as it was it felt uncomfortably crowded in places. The exhibits were fine and on a quieter day I think we would have got more out of the live interpreters, touch pools etc.

The seal feed at 11 o'clock was very popular and as a consequence for children difficult to see.

Having said all this our toddler, once he had got used to this new and exciting place, enjoyed himself and had a fun morning. On balance I'd go again, but not often and not in school holidays. It would be good value at half the admission price.

Titchwell Marsh
Afternoon visit on my own to Titchwell in the wet. Highlights were the wintering Twite flock and a single Bewick's Swan feeding in the company of ferla Greylag, Canada and Egyptian Geese in a roadside field at the east end of the reserve,

Shorelarks in the Bay

2011-02-18T14:44:00.004Z

Shorelarks in Holkham Bay today

Bullfinch in Wells Woods today

A real treat today, just me and the wife out for a walk together whilst our little lad enjoyed playing with his friends at nursery. We walked from Lady Anne's Drive east to Wells on the south side of the conifer belt and then back west on the landward side of the dunes.

The walk along the edge of the conifers was very quiet but at Wells the soft piping calls and then flashing white rumps got us onto five Bullfinches. Even though they didn't cooperate with having their picture taken these are great birds to spend time watching.

Holkham Bay was wonderfully empty of the usual mix of dog walkers, horse riders, kite flyer's and birders. We found the small flock of seven Shorelarks feeding at the eastern edge of the low saltmarsh vegetation that covers the area landward of the dune system. There were also Skylarks and Rock Pipits feeding here.

After our two and a bit hour walk we stopped off at the White Horse in Brancaster Staithe for some lunch. This was very nice although in common with many of the gastro pubs that litter the north Norfolk coast the plate of food was a little lacking in carbohydrates.

A nice morning.

Snowdrop walk at Walsingham

2011-02-13T20:36:00.002Z

Walkers on Walsingham's Snowdrop walk today.

Its as much o fixture of the Norfolk social calendar as the county show. Every year around about Valentine's day Snowdrop walks are held across the county. One of the best known is held at Walsingham where I'd guess on a busy Sunday hundreds of people will plod around the paths leading through the woods surrounded by tens of thousands of Snowdrops and Aconites.

Not only do these small white flowers lay on quite a visual spectacle to draw the crowds, they also I think pull folk in for another more important reason. By mid February winter feels like it has been going on for a very long time and we are all ready to start clutching at any sign that Spring is coming. Whether that be a Mistle Thrush in full song, the first frogs back in our garden pond or just the inexorable lengthening of the days. The display of Snowdrops and Aconites I think plays to that yearning for longer days and a warm sun and offers us real proof that spring really isn't now too far off.

If you plan on going the coast is £3.50 per adult, the paths are of a mixed standard and a little muddy in places, the loos are basic outdoor affairs. We had a light lunch at The Old Bake House in Walsingham, reasonably priced, friendly service and a child seat willingly provided, the food was OK but a little uninspiring.

Sanderling Time

2011-02-12T20:08:00.003Z

Sanderling, Titchwell Beach today

I had the luxury of not only a couple of spare hours to myself this afternoon, but also for three quarters of an hour or so some great light. Even better this coincided with me being on the beach at Titchwell and able to photograph some of the Sanderling to be found here.

Tactics for photographing these energetic little waders are pretty straightforward, work out which way they are moving along the beach, crouch down and stay still and hope that they come towards you, which as you can see this bird did. The crouching bit is important, not only does it seem to reassure the birds but it also changes the angle at which you take the picture and improves the final image.

Sanderling feed along the line of the breaking surf so you do need to keep an eye on where the next wave is going tow ash up. They are very busy birds and I wonder if I could sell the idea to Duracell of using them to advertise their batteries?

Spring is out of the traps

2011-02-09T21:13:00.004Z

Crocuses, Rosary Cemetery, Norwich

Butterburr, Rosary Cemetery, Norwich

Aconite, Rosary Cemetery, Norwich

Snowdrop, Rosary Cemetery, Norwich

I knew that Spring was limbering up by the starting blocks a few weeks back, when on a blue sky day I heard a Mistle Thrush in full song. Today though there was no denying that the season of growth and renewal has begun to muscle its way in on winter. The Rosary Cemetery in Norwich is home to one of the county's best natural spectacles, the sight of thousands of naturalised Crocuses carpeting the cemetery floor in a great show of life amongst the trappings of death.

Today the spectacle was a little looted under a grey and gloomy sky but there was no denying that it had begun in earnest. Interestingly most years the Butterburr comes out ahead of the Crocuses, this year, perhaps because of the cold winter weather they are coming into flower together.

Expect to see more snaps from the cemetery in the coming weeks or if you are really keen take a pick at my Rosary Cemetery set on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/bullofthebog/sets/72157612369872412/

Swans in the gloom

2011-02-05T21:11:00.007Z

Strong blustery winds and a grey sky today saw us taking the road south and across the Fens to WWT Welney for a family outing to see the 3.30 pm swan feed.

As usual the area in front of The Observatory [WWT's centrally heated, double glazed, showpiece 'hide'] was dominated by Mute and Whooper Swans and a pack of male Pochard.

Careful scanning did reveal a couple of the smaller Bewick's Swans, a single Pink Footed Goose and a pair of Ruddy Ducks. More unexpected was a single Long Tailed Duck, a long way from its usual maritime haunts.

A winter visit to Welney always offers a reliable spectacle and nice lazy [and hesitate to use the term] birding. What is lacks in leg stretching, wind in your hair, rain on your glasses it makes up for as a chance to see some truly wild birds up close. This is why on an average winter Sunday 400 - 500 people pay to watch this spectacle.

For the adults in our party it worked well, and for our toddler the easy spectacle outside the hide window held his attention for as long as we could have hoped before he turned his attention to 'posting' pebbles in the collection cairn and running up and down the ramp.

The Visitor Centre had a nice clean baby changing room that was accessible to parents of either sex. The cafe was a bit of a disappointment, expensive [all but 5p for a average slice of cake] and only served hot food at lunchtime, I think Welney could learn something from the catering operations at Titchwell or Minsmere on that score at least. That aside we had a great time and will be back.

Both pictures taken at Welney today, top is a Whooper Swan, bottom the Long Tailed Duck.

January 2011

2011-01-31T21:58:00.003Z

The rather splendid new Parrinder Hide at Titchwell

January started as last year ended with a busy family and work schedule that birding had to fit around. It is of course at times like this that the advantages of living somewhere like Norfolk really kick in, and when even a 60 minute window of opportunity can be enough to see me enjoying a quick walk to the beach at Titchwell.

Its amazing what you can see even when going about your daily rounds, I’m sure its more about how you choose to observe the world as much as where you are. For example some of my best birds this month have been when travelling, a roadside Tawny Owl on the way home from work and a Peregrine Falcon whilst driving through King’s Lynn.

When I have got out and about locally Titchwell has had some good birds this month and the Twite flock on the Brackish Marsh continues to impress as did a Whooper Swan on New Years Day and Long Tailed Duck and Red Necked Grebe on the sea. In Norwich a flock of Waxwings feeding on apples in a railway compound was lovely to see. And on a rare blue sky day a singing Mistle Thrush was a sign of the spring that will be with us soon.

So despite limited opportunities it was great to run through my notebook and find that so far in 2011 I have managed to see 114 species.

Birding Highlights from 2010

2011-01-29T21:25:00.004Z

Waxwing, one of many during the second winter period of 2010.

Now that BT have finally got around to sorting out our Broadband connection I thought I would resume this blog with a brief look back at some birding highlights from last year.

2010 was dominated by my continued adjustment to family life and the demands of a young son and busy job. Nonetheless I still managed to see 199 species in the UK during the year which I think was a good effort.

The year got off to a good start with 83 species clocked on New Years Day including a Red Kite and Little Gull at Titchwell.

Spring started well with a visit to Lakenheath Fen where I saw the young Common Crane fledged there the previous year the first to be raised in the wild in the Fens for over four centuries.

Red Kite's popped up several times during the year, a sign of their welcome recovery as a breeding species. Perhaps the most surprising encounter I had with this enigmatic bird was of a flock of three drifting over Holme Marsh one April morning.

The other Bird of Prey highlight of the year was the increase in sightings of Peregrines in King's Lynn, although not guaranteed the prospect of a brief glimpse of one of these wonderful birds as you sit a traffic lights on your way to the station adds a certain something to a journey through town.

I only managed to see three or four Kingfishers during the year, a reflection of doing most of my birding on the North West Norfolk coastal strip. Of those Kingfishers that I did managed to see three were seen from my car, one on the Norfolk / Cambs border, one near Swanton Morley and one flying into a ditch on the outskirts of Lynn.

I did manage to see some reasonable sub rarities, including a flock of five Black Winged Stilts at Titchwell, where I also had in the same scope view one afternoon a Buff Breasted and a Pectoral Sandpiper. Holme produced some good birds including my second British Arctic Warbler and one memorable afternoon when in the space of two hours I saw Red Backed Shrike, Barred Warbler and Red Necked Phalarope.

Oddest sighting of the year was a Bittern lifting off from underneath a line of trees bordering a field in Titchwell, with not even a puddle for it to have been getting its feet wet in.

Trips to London for meetings meant that I had no problem in year ticking that exotic alien Ring Necked Parakeet whose raucous calls are a feature of St James's Park.

The year ended with a Waxwing invasion and I was lucky enough to bump into several flocks of these birds including one of 31 that flew over our house in Hunstanton whilst I was unloading the car late one Sunday afternoon.

Away from Norfolk a family holiday to Speyside and a chance to visit many favourite old haunts was wonderful. In the memory now six months on, what stands out are the immaculate freshly emerged Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries, lots of Red Squirrels, Bottle Nosed Dolphins at Chanonry Point and 'pishing' in a couple of Crested Tits at Loch Garten. That and our Little Fella taking his first steps in Garten Wood.

All in all a good year. Here's hoping that 2011 is equally full of birds, wildlife, landscapes and memories.

Winter catch up

2010-12-20T21:02:00.005Z

Waxwing, north Norfolk

Common Snipe, north Norfolk

As usual I seem to start a post by apologising for the delay since my last appearance and proffering the same mix of excuses; work and family commitments reducing time in the field and a intermittent BT Broadband connection reducing time online.

Even for a range restricted birder like me this has been a Waxwing winter. I've had a flock fly over the front garden whilst unloading the car, a single bird over Titchwell and a couple of roadside flocks feeding on hedgerow fruit. All were unexpected treats, picked up on call or out of the corner of the eye whilst driving a back road in NW Norfolk. What I haven't managed is to spend time in good light with confiding birds so none of the shots I have taken are any better than 'record' shots.

It would be nice to think that the cold weather would push over some exciting birds from the continent [Nutcraker, Gyr Falcon or a White Tailed Eagle would be good]. Even without these sort of birds its been nice to have a chance to take some pictures of birds in the snow and ice.

The second picture is a of a Common Snipe frozen out of the main body of the saltmarsh at Thornham and forced to feed in the open on the edge of a tidal creek. Even here with the twice daily scouring of the tide the sides of the creek were coated in a layer of ice.

Not had a chance to have a proper look inside the new hide at Titchwell yet, but I'm told its quite spectacular and offers a great birding experience something to look forward to when I get a moment over the holiday season.

Bonxie and Water Deer at Titchwell

2010-11-13T20:13:00.003Z

Chinese Water Deer on saltmarsh at Titchwell Marsh, Norfolk

Bonxie at Titchwell Marsh, Norfolk

I managed to get to Titchwell for a couple of hours this morning. A beautiful day with a clear blue sky and a matching full car park. I had hoped to get lucky with the Pallas's Warbler which had been seen intermittently over the previous five days, but after a cold hour staring into a tangle of scrub and seeing diddly squit I decided to walk to the beach.

Highlight of this stroll was an unexpected Bonxie which has apparently been hanging around, freaking out the waders and wildfowl for a couple of days. As it passed over the reedbed towards Thornham a couple of Marsh Harriers came up to mob it and gave a real indication of what big and butch birds these Skuas are.

The Twite flock were present as usual in the low saltmarsh on the Brackish Marsh and I'm told 26 colour ringed birds from the Penines have been identified here this autumn.

Heading back to the car I stopped to look at a Chinese Water Deer on the edge of the saltmarsh an increasingly common sight in this part of the world. At the Visitor Centre feeders a female Brambling could be seen amongst the Greenfinches and Chaffinches and Lesser and Mealy Redpolls enlivened the Siskin flock.

Back in the field

2010-09-11T21:58:00.003+01:00

Arctic Warbler twitch, Holme Dunes, Norfolk.

Been a busy summer of family activities and work. Although I've spent some time out and about I don't seem to have been able to find the time to keep this blog up to date. I have though kept posting on my Flickr page [see link opposite].

I have manage to get out for a couple of hours at Holme on each of the last two weekends. Last weekend I managed to connect with Red Backed Shrike, Red Necked Phalarope, Barred Warbler and Common Redstart, all in the space of two hours. Today I joined a crowd of birders in the pines searching for the Arctic Warbler that was first trapped and ringed last Monday. My luck was in and I enjoyed several brief but good views of this cracking little bird, my first in the UK since one in Kent about 15 years ago and even better it was my first Norfolk tick in a long time bringing my county list to a modest 269.

With the West Bank path at Titchwell reopening as far as Island Hide today, I'm looking forward to finding an hour away from the family tomorrow afternoon to catch up with some waders.

The Way Through The Woods

2010-05-20T20:09:00.002+01:00

Ken Hill Wood, Snettisham, Norfolk

They shut the road through the woods
Seventy years ago
Weather and rain have undone it again,
And now you would never know
There was once a road through the woods
Before they planted the trees
It is underneath the coppice and heath
And the thin anemones
Only the keeper sees
That, where the ring-dove broods,
And the badgers roll at ease,
There was once a road through the woods.

From: The Way throug the Woods, by Rudyard Kipling.

Summer has arrived with a vengeance in NW Norfolk with temperatures in the mid to high 20's forecast for the next few days.

Fulmars at sunset

2010-05-17T21:21:00.002+01:00

Fulmar, Hunstanton

Busy day today so nice to be able to spend half an hour as the sun set over the Wash photographing the Fulmars that nest on Hunstanton cliffs.

You can see some more pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/bullofthebog/sets/72157624081467974/

Spring Red Necked Grebe

2010-05-16T21:59:00.002+01:00

Red necked grebe, Gypsy Lane, Titchwell, Norfolk

Got out for a couple of hours this evening. Main target was the Red necked grebe which has been hanging around the borrow dyke at Gypsy Lane. This proved very easy to find and I even managed a couple of record shots. Cuckoo and Marsh Harrier here plus lots of Redshanks, Lapwings and Oystercatchers.

Then popped into Titchwell Marsh for a quick look for the Curlew Sandpiper reported today. Couldn't find this, but 36 stunning brick red summer plumage Black Tailed Godwits were some compensation.

Bluebells and Opening Times

2010-05-15T21:24:00.002+01:00

NWT Foxley Wood, Bluebell Fence

May has been a poor month for me. It started badly with one of the worst colds that I can remember, going round the office and my family and just as I recovered from that the wind got stuck in the north and we have shivered through most of the month. So it was a joy to get out in the sunshine with the family today and visit the Norfolk Wildlife Trusts Foxley Wood nature reserve to see a few Bluebells.

It had been a few years since we last visited late on a spring afternoon, then we were greeted with a sign that explained that the reserve shut at 5pm and that we and our car would be locked in after that time. The sign was still there along with a more welcome one pointing out the direction to go for the Foxley Wood Bluebell trail. Reassured that we would be directed to the best part of this large wood for Bluebells we set off pushing the pram in four wheel drive mode and toting a restrained amount of camera gear.

It was great to hear even quite late in the morning [you can't access the site before 9 am or on a Thursday, Why?] a great deal of bird song including Blackcap, Garden Warbler Chiff-Chaff, Willow Warbler and Turtle Dove. At the first junction it become apparent that the only helpful Bluebell Trail signs were in the car park and from here on in we would just have to explore the wood by following our noses, something I enjoy doing normally but by now I had raised expectations of being taken to the best Bluebell areas of the wood.

After a pleasant half hour stroll in which the Little Fella pointed out lots of trees and a Ladybird [a talented naturalist at thirteen months] we finally came to a patch of Bluebells which we were excluded from going anywhere near by a temporary fence. There was no interpretation by this barrier to explain why it had been erected and I came away with the impression that it was there purely to keep visitors to the woods away from the Bluebells that they had come to see.

All in all our visit seemed a great example of how through careless signage and a antagonistic approach to the visitor experience, an organisation was able to put a gap in a visitors mind between the enjoyable parts of our visit and its role in providing them. Very frustrating.

An afternoon visit on my own to RSPB Titchwell Marsh had a very different feel to it. A special event was being held attempting to see how many species could be seen on the reserve in one day [the list stood at 113 species in mid afternoon] and there were wardens and volunteers positioned along the West Bank path to point out birds if you wanted them to. This was both fun and really helpful and enabled me to see the two Wood Sandpipers and two Temminks Stints which skulked half hidden on the Fresh Marsh. These along with Little Terns and Common Terns and a warm sun on my back gave the reserve a real feel of summer and the helpful wardens and signage gave it a real welcoming feel.

Early Spring Butterflies

2010-04-25T10:34:00.004+01:00

Male Orangetip [sorry haven't got a Green Hairstreak picture - yet]

The warm weather of the past week has brought out the early spring butterflies in NW Norfolk. Last weekend I saw my first Orangetips at Courtyard Farm near Ringstead. These fast flying white butterflies with their citrus orange wing tips are a real sign of spring emerging in mid / late April with the first warm weather and all but gone for another year by the end of May. Go and look for them now and get your annual fix.

Yesterday another walk at Courtyard Farm with a definite butterfly 'target' in mind, the Green Hairstreak. I have seen these elusive butterflies here in most recent springs and with the air temperature hitting 20 C yesterday thought it worth a punt.

So late afternoon my wife, small child and I walked up a ride coming off the Ringstead road and around Wharton's belt. Initially it didn't look promising with very few butterflies on the wing, but then at the top of the ride where it joins the end of a narrow belt of woodland, butterflies started to appear. A Speckled Wood first and then a lovely male Orangetip.

Then above us high up a pair of small butterflies who were either having an aerial duel or dancing a wonderful duet. Eventually these came lower and for a second I had them in my binoculars and they looked to me like wafer thin slivers of emerald each given life by the early spring sunshine - a pair of Green Hairstreaks and cause for a little celebratory dance.

We also saw a splendid Red Admiral here and our first Holly Blues of the year.

Birds were good with a single Common Buzzard, about a dozen Whimbrel and singing Willow Warbler, Chiff Chaff and Blackcap.

Lakenheath Magic

2010-04-05T18:51:00.004+01:00

Mute Swan, Lakenheath Fen

I ended this Easter Weekend down in the Brecks at one of my favourite places Lakenheath Fen RSPB nature reserve.

Lakenheath is special, not just because it is an amazing place to experience some of the UK's most special wildlife including our only nesting Golden Orioles and the first Cranes to nest in the Fens in four centuries. It is also special because it is a landscape restored. Hundreds of years ago the Fens here would have supported a wonderful array of wildlife and a local community, then gradually over time they were drained for agriculture, until today only a small remnant remains.

So when a dozen or so years ago the RSPB purchased some rather large carrot fields with the expressed intention of turning them into a world class wetland, it was a inspiring statement of hope. Today the Fen is a wonderful landscape to walk in. Later this month the sound-scape will pick up pace as hundreds of pairs of Sedge and Reed Warblers take up their summer home in this new wetland and the wonderful fluting song of the Golden Oriole will echo around the Poplar plantations.

Today though it was cold and grey and windy. But still you could tell what a special place this is, Marsh Harriers quartered the new reedbeds, a bird of prey which is still rarer in the UK than the Golden Eagle.

But best of all the Craniac in me was given a fix as, three times I saw a single Common Crane get up from in amongst the tawny reeds and fly around, it even did a circuit over the river, in the process placing itself on my Norfolk year list. This bird has some smudgy brown feathers on its back, so an immature bird, so probably the young bird that fledged last summer the first to do so in the Fens in 400 years. Never mind the weather pleased to make your acquaintance.

Wild Crocuses, Norwich's best kept secret

2010-03-15T21:04:00.003Z

Crocuses, Rosary Cemetery, Norwich

The short amble around the Rosary Cemetery in Norwich is one of my favourite walks, not only because it is close to the office and offers me a chance to get away from the computer at lunchtime but primarily it is a great place for wildlife. You need to take your time and look for the details on the gravestone's where White Lipped Snails come out after rain, or in the summer months search for the gold and black Hoverflies.

But it is the early spring that I think the cemetery is at its most wild and alive. In the small pond Common Frogs and Smooth Newts return to breed in an enthusiastic amphibian orgy. But best of all are the Crocuses, thousands of them gone wild and growing not where any gardener wants them but wherever they find conditions that are suitable. Each spring I try and capture this display and never feel that I have done it justice. the picture above is one attempt to do so this spring and I will make many more lunchtime attempts before the crocuses turnover and fade back into the earth.

You can see more Rosary Cemetery pictures on my Flickr page at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bullofthebog/

Baited Buntings

2010-03-12T20:13:00.002Z

Snow Bunting at bait, north Norfolk

Snow Buntings are a classic winter bird in north Norfolk, their flocks are often described as looking like a flurry of snow flakes as they take flight. Normally you would need to walk some of the quieter stretches of coastline to find a flock [Holme has been good this winter]. However at Salthouse the birds come to seed, I believe that this was originally put down by ringers so that they could catch and ring birds as part of a scientific study. I'm less clear as to who feeds them these days, certainly this afternoon a couple of photographers looked as if they had been putting out some millet.

You would think that this might be considered a harmless, even beneficial activity by all birdwatchers, however some concerns have been raised that not only are the Snow Buntings being fed but that local birds of prey will also notice the concentration of prey items in this one spot and that this will lead to increased predation of wintering Snow Buntings. As far as I am aware this has not happened and the Snow Buntings have become something of an attraction in their own right.

I managed half an hour with these lovely little birds today under a cloudy grey sky with low light and so didn't manage any amazing shots, nonetheless it was a fun experience and I'll see if I can get back before the Snow Buntings disappear in the spring.

I wonder what other birds it would be appropriate to bait in like this, there are plenty of traditional peanut feeders hanging up around nature reserves and gardens along the coast to attract Blue Tits, Greenfinches etc, what else could we responsibly bait in, Water Rails with fish, Bearded Tits at Grit trays?

Hare Today?

2010-03-09T19:42:00.003Z

Brown Hare near Anmer

So far this early spring I have seen very few Brown Hare's compared to last year, perhaps the cold weather has dampened their ardour and they are just being less conspicuous of perhaps the cold winter weather has knocked the population back. I know also that one or two local shoots refrained from shooting Hares in the first part of the winter as their numbers were low following a disease outbreak.

This individual was feeding by the side of a quiet back road near Anmer and allowed me to take just one picture.

An Orwellian view of Spring

2010-03-06T13:56:00.004Z

Naturalised Crocuses, Norwich

Took the baby for a walk this morning, lovely blue sky with two Common Buzzards wheeling over the woods behind Hunstanton and a Dunnock singing in a garden at the end of our road. Spring is coming and these words written by George Orwell 70 or so years ago feel appropriate.

"So long as you are not actually ill, hungry, frightened or immured in a prison or holiday camp, spring is still spring. The atom bombs are piling up in factories, the police are prowling through the cities, the lies are streaming from the loudspeakers, but the earth is still going round the sun, and neither dictators nor the bureaucrats, deeply though they disapprove of the process, are able to prevent it." George Orwell

With acknowledgment to Richard Mabey quoting this passage in the March issue of BBC Wildlife magazine.

Tit Flocks

2010-02-25T19:46:00.003Z

Ken Hill Wood [there's a Marsh Tit in this picture somewhere]

The diary has been kind to me this week and I've managed a couple of days working out of an office in Snettisham, close to home in Hunstanton. This meant that I managed a couple of lunchtime excursions into Ken Hill Woods.

These woods here can at times appear a little bird less and then with a little luck you come across a small mixed flock and things get a bit more interesting.

Earlier this week I had a twenty minute pootle and managed to 'pish' n a couple of Marsh Tits which are always nice to see and were my first of the year. Today a longer walk appeared to be a pretty bird free zone until I came across a mixed tit flock. Most of the birds were Coal Tits with a few Long Tailed, Blue and Great Tits for company. It was pleasing though to also find some Treecreepers and a couple of Nuthatches in this flock.

Mussel Harvest

2010-02-21T20:28:00.003Z

Oystercatcher, Brancaster Staithe

From a purely selfish perspective, one of the great things about the winter on the north Norfolk coast is that there are fewer people around. This means that it is possible at this time of year to have the small coastal harbours almost to oneself even in the middle of the day. So this afternoon I popped into Brancaster Staithe Harbour on my way to Titchwell Marsh.

The tide was out and there only one other car on the harbour hard in which an elderly couple snoozed. Winding down the window I could hear the tell tall crack as a mussel shell hit the ground dropped by a hungry Herring Gull. I have blogged before on this piece of learned behaviour and the response of the local Turnstones to try and take advantage of the cracked open mussel shells before the Herring Gulls are able to reach the ground.

Today I saw a development on this theme as a juvenile Oystercatcher joined a single Turnstone in trying to pinch a adult Herring Gulls meal. Later I photographed an Oystercatcher asleep on top of the sacks of harvested Mussels.

The World's still turning

2010-02-16T20:47:00.002Z

Snowdrops

Naturalised crocus

Although in today's cold drizzle it was a little hard to believe spring is coming on and with it one of Norfolk's best kept wildlife secrets the annual burst of colour in the Rosary Cemetery as thousands of 'feral' crocuses carpet the ground. I love this annual show of life bursting through the ground fed I guess in parts by the bones of the departed.

The Snowdrops which will shortly be outnumbered by Crocuses are already looking good and today I saw my first Crocus flowers. Interestingly the Butterburr flowers that normally precede the bulbs have been slow to appear this year with a only a few flower stalks present.

The World's Started Turning

2010-02-15T20:39:00.003Z

Robin, Titchwell Marsh, Norfolk, February 2010

I managed an hour at Titchwell Marsh on Saturday and with a clear blue sky there was a definite feeling of spring in the air. Patches of Snowdrops were coming into bloom by the side of the path between the visitor centre and the car park and our resident songbirds could be heard flexing their vocal muscles.

The Robins at Titchwell are know for their tameness and you can get great images of them using a digital compact camera. For this shot I used a 400mm lens and I like the way that this has thrown the background out of focus.

Snow Buntings at Holme

2010-01-23T13:49:00.003Z

Snow Bunting, Holme, winter 2008/2009

A bad back meant that what I really needed today was a good walk, so I left the car at home and walked from Hunstanton to the west end of Holme and back.

Usual mix of waders on the beach including Bar Tailed Godwit, Oystercatcher, Sanderling, Turnstone, Redshank etc. A steady movement of Wigeon east and few Brent flocks flying past offshore. On the sea a handful of Great Crested Grebes and a single Red Necked Grebe.

Best though on my way back when I thought that I had missed them, was a flock of 70 plus Snow Buntings feeding on the beach, these took my Norfolk year list to 114 species.

Whitlingham lunchtime birding

2010-01-19T19:35:00.003Z

Whitlingham Broad, Norwich

Finally had a clear lunch break and made the ten minute drive to Whitlingham Broad for a birding fix and some rather nice year ticks.

There is obviously a bit of a lunchtime birding scene going on here with half a dozen birders, some sporting ties, hanging around the edge of the Broad and scoping the excellent selection of winter wildfowl present.

During my short stay I added Red Necked Grebe [1], Slavonian Grebe [1], Scaup [1] and Ruddy Duck [1] to the year list plus single Great Northern Diver and Smew. All in all an excellent half hours spotting within Norwich city limits and the year list now stands at 112.

Blue Sky at last

2010-01-17T21:02:00.004Z

Spring has been in the air today, blue a blue sky, the thermometer at 7 C and the song of Great Tits gave the day a fresh feel after the cold grey weather we have had of late.

Added a few birds to the year list today. In King's Lynn a Peregrine landed on the white tower in the docks whilst we were stopped at lights. A walk around Courtyard Farm was enlivened by a very confiding Fox and a Buzzard over a distant copse.

Titchwell Marsh was bombed with people, who I guess like me had been cooped up during the snow and ice. Bird highlights here were three Redhead Smew, single Water Rail, Spotted Redshank and Bittern and three Marsh Harriers.

A very nice Sunday and the year list now stands at a modest 108 species, all so far in Norfolk.

Goldies at the Triangle

2010-01-09T19:53:00.002Z

Male Golden Pheasant, Wolferton, Norfolk

I had to go to the shops in King's Lynn this afternoon and with half an hour to spare I took a short diversion around the Wolferton Triangle in search of Golden Pheasants or more accurately Golden / Lady Amhersts Pheasant hybrids.

As you can see I was successful although as ever these are right skulkers and this is the best shot I managed of one of the three males I saw. Species 101 in Norfolk for the year.

Also had an obliging Woodcock feeding in the snow by the side of the road, you can see a picture on my Flickr page link opposite.

Death in the snow

2010-01-08T19:39:00.003Z

Woodpigeon blood and feathers in snow, Ken Hill Wood, Norfolk

The snow deadens things and allows us to view the landscape in a different way. Here the stark crimson patch of blood and loose curl of feathers stand out against the white snow far more clearly than they would have done against the brown winter mud that would normally provide the backdrop to this image.

My guess is that this is a Sparrowhawk kill and whilst this is grim news for the Woodpigeon involved it tells a heartening tale that one of our most enigmatic predators is alive and well in this wood.

Predator and prey such a natural a part of our countryside and a great indicator of its health. Yet one that some folk find distasteful and something to kick against. For me its something to celebrate.

Ice Diver

2010-01-04T21:12:00.004Z

Mute Swans, Whitlingham, Norwich

Had a quick lunchtime visit to Whitlingham Country Park in Norwich today. Over half of the Broad was covered in ice and there were large numbers of wildfowl feeding in the ice free areas close to the bank. Our target bird was a Great Northern Diver which obliged with close views as it fished the ice free part of the Broad, a real Polaris of a bird as it effortlessly slipped through the water.

No sign of the Smew and Black Necked Grebe which have been here of late but we did manage a single Goosander which was nice. Although the Diver was close it wasn't close enough for my compact camera, so you'll have to make do with this obliging Mute Swan family.

New Years Day Birding

2010-01-01T20:20:00.005Z

Water Rail, North Norfolk

After a sickly Christmas I managed to get a full day in the field today. Worked the coast from Hunstanton to Holkham and back. A coincidence that this was New Years Day and so if I wish the beginnings of a new year list [something I didn't bother with last year]. Good to be out and about auditing what birds are about in the neighbourhood and something I enjoyed all the more now that fatherhood has restricted the time I can spend in the field.

First birds of the year were fly over Black Headed Gulls as I got into my car in Hunstanton followed by Fulmars riding the updraft along the cliff top. Almost the first bird at Holme Marsh was a Water Rail, followed by a hunting Barn Owl. A slow drive along some back roads added Yellowhammer, Corn Bunting and Reed Bunting. Then to Titchwell via a quiet Brancaster Staithe harbour. Titchwell was just getting busy as I arrived and looking great in the bright New Years Day sunshine. A Red Kite quartering the dunes over Thornham Point was a unexpected treat as was an adult Little Gull. Less surprising but equally wonderful was a male Bullfinch.

After Titchwell I headed for Holkham and Lady Anne's Drive. This was absolutely bombed with people, the busiest I've ever seen it. I thought I'd get away from the crowds on the saltmarsh, but all that happened was that I had their dogs for company and was unable to find any Shorelarks. Still the grazing marsh was productive with tens of thousands of Pink Feet present and a single Snow Goose.

To get away from the crowds I decided to end the day at Burnham Norton, here I added a single ringtail Hen Harrier to the day list along with another three or four Barn Owls.

The day wasn't quite over yet as I drove back via the road that cuts through Courtyard Farm I flushed two Woodcock from the roadside species number 83 for the day.

Snow Ponies

2009-12-18T21:19:00.003Z

Ponies in today's snow at Snettisham

Normal service isn't resumed just yet but maybe over the Christmas break I will find some time to update this blog properly. In the meantime you can always look at my Flickr page http://www.flickr.com/photos/bullofthebog/ for some up to date images of North West Norfolk.

Summer on delicate wings

2009-08-20T21:49:00.003+01:00

Clouded Yellow, Courtyard Farm, NW Norfolk, August 2009

Hummingbird Hawkmoth, Rosary Cemetery, Norwich, August 2009

Been a summer of grabbed moments between work and baby care duties. Despite these restrictions its been a good one for butterflies. Starting with the phenomenal Painted Lady invasion, then an unexpected emergence of Small Tortoiseshells, then in the last couple of weeks I have seen my first Clouded Yellow for a couple of years and added Hummingbird Hawkmoth to both my year list and Rosary Cemetery lists. It just goes to show what you can see when you keep your eyes open.

Damsel in the Bog

2009-08-05T21:48:00.001+01:00

Emerald Damselfly, Dersingham Bog, Norfolk

I managed to get out for a few hours on Sunday and headed for Dersingham Bog with my friend Jim. This wet bowl of heath and bog is managed by Natural England is perhaps best known as the location of the infamous 'Sandringham Harrier' incident a couple of years ago when a couple of Hen Harriers were seen being shot out of the sky. Rather unfortunately this happened at the same time that Prince Harry was out shooting with some chums. You decide whether this was a worrying coincidence, a security lapse with armed criminals loose on the bog, the figment of the wardens imagination or something else.

Anyway there was no shooting going on Sunday and we had the Bog pretty much to ourselves. Although quite warm, cloud cover kept the sun from breaking through and this seemed to depress Odo activity. Did see some nice Four Spotted Chasers, Black Tailed Skimmers, Emperor dragonfly's, Black Darters and lots of these little gems Emerald Damselflies.

Cley for Spooners and Demoiselle's

2009-07-21T12:03:00.002+01:00

Spoonbill Cley Marshes NWT

Managed to get out with the family yesterday for a drive east along the coast road to Cley, to visit the NWT reserve and to see the flock of Spoonbills that has been feeding on the scrape there for a couple of weeks now. There were 15 birds present yesterday and they spent most of the time doing what Spoonbills do best, sleeping. However a light aircraft did spook some of the birds and this bird flew overhead, not the best of shots, but not to bad given I had a camera in one hand a and a three month old baby in the other.

Banded Demoiselle, Cley Marshes NWT

Standing on a small bridge over the clear channel that separates the reserve from the coast road we were able to do some Dragonfly watching. The beautiful azure blue Emperor Dragonfly never stayed still long enough for me to grab a shot, but this Banded Demoiselle did land briefly enabling me to take this 'record shot' of what to my mind is one of our most beautiful Odo's.

We even found time to have lunch in the new NWT Visitor Centre, great view but slow service and not the most generous of portions. The ride in the lift up from the car park to the Visitor Centre was good fun. Really rather disappointing that in this new eco friendly building there was no baby changing room.

Norfolk Butterfly Tick

2009-07-14T20:20:00.002+01:00

White Admiral, Holkham Pines, Norfolk.

Sometimes it pays to pay attention when a friend tells of a conversation with a complete stranger. My friend Rob was telling me last week about a birder he bumped into, who asked whether the White Admiral's were showing at Holkham Pines this year. This was the first that Rob had heard about this rather splendid insects presence here and he did wonder whether the bloke had got his butterfly id right even though "He did seem to know what he was talking about".

Today with a sunny afternoon free, I popped along to the spot described to Rob and after a few minutes of watching large numbers of Whites flying around, I caught a glimpse of a White Admiral. Even a brief view was enough to tell me what I was looking at, the whole way it held its wings stiff and in a shallow upside down V was very distinctive compared to the floppy handkerchief flight of the Whites. I wasn't able to spend long at the site, but did manage to grab a few celebratory record shots including this one.

Return of the Tortoiseshell

2009-07-05T19:37:00.004+01:00

Small Tortoiseshell, garden in Titchwell, Norfolk.

Already this year we have seen a miraculous butterfly event the invasion of the UK bu millions of Painted Lady butterflies. This weekend an almost equally miraculous event happened the return of the Small Tortoiseshell. This butterfly has declined by 80% in recent years the victim of a small parasitic fly [Sturmia bella] that has spread north in recent years on the back of our warming climate.

So it was good to see large numbers of freshly emerged Small Tortoiseshell's at all of the three sites I visited this weekend; a back garden on the coast road, a nature reserve and a country lane. The picture is of an individual feeding on Lavender in a back garden in Titchwell.

Butterfly Punctuation

2009-06-30T20:54:00.002+01:00

Comma, Butterfly, Rosary Cemetery, Norwich

I managed a half hour walk around the Rosary Cemetery at lunch time today, a beautiful clear blue sky and screaming Swifts added to the atmosphere. From the dense foliage recently fledged Green Woodpeckers called as they pestered their parents and a Jay upset the local Blackbirds. White Sp butterflies fitted around the Gravestones alongside newly emerged Meadow Brown's and this splendidly immaculate Comma.

House Sparrows for Lunch

2009-06-24T20:11:00.001+01:00

Male House Sparrow, Snettisham, Norfolk

I can remember as a kid going to St James Park in London and being amazed by the Sparrow Man, who hand fed the large flock of House Sparrows that lived there, he even had some feed on food he held between his pursed lips. Since then Sparrows have disappeared from much of London and much work has been done to try and understand the reasons for their decline. As is often the case with song bird declines part of the answer at least is a lack of suitable insect food in the breeding season to feed their young. So it is good to see this colony of House Sparrows in Snettisham doing well and a quick look at their surroundings rich in food and nesting places provided by the horsieculture explains why.

These shots were grabbed in a twenty minute session with my camera yesterday lunchtime outside the office I was working from.

A Psychogeography Field Trip along the Thames

2009-06-16T19:48:00.003+01:00

Thames Barrier looking towards the City of London, June 2009

Work took me to London today and a trip along the Thames from Embankment Pier to the International Cruise Terminal at Tilbury and back. Like most of the people on the boat I like to consider myself relatively well travelled and having a reasonable knowledge of London. However as we followed the sinuous course of the Thames, a route most will be familiar with in outline from the opening credits of Eastenders, a new view of London emerged.

I've always known that London in reality is much more compact than it might appear on a map or that journey times via its overburdened transport network would make you think. But by following the Thames you see how close together major districts are. You also see sweeps of the city and country's history from the ultra modern docklands developments back through the Royal Naval college at Greenwich and back even further to the Tower of London.

As we passed along the Thames it was also possible to observe major differences to the river today compared to the one we would have experienced before the 1950's, gone is the hustle and bustle of one of the worlds great ports, moved down river closer to the sea or across the sea to Rotterdam. Gone to is the stench and pollution , its impossible to imagine this river catching fire or being the source of outbreaks of disease. Indeed I saw plenty of evidence of a clean river, evidenced by the presence of fish eating Cormorants and some rather wonderful Common Terns.

The very embankment of the Thames of course points at possible future changes. Surge tides forced up river and a sinking east coast allied with the effects of climate change could have a serious impact on this city and the Thames Barrier is a visible reminder of that possible fate. To me the Barrier reminded me of the walls around a medieval city with the tidal gates ready to be closed shut in the face of the enemy, not this time marauding Vikings but a surge tide threatening London.

Will Self writes a column in the Independent called Psychogeography [The study of the effect of geographical factors on the mind or on behaviour ] and today felt to me like a very enjoyable journey into my own Psychogeography of London and the Thames.

Minsmere Hobby

2009-06-10T19:52:00.002+01:00

Hobby, Minsmere

Spent Sunday volunteering at Minsmere, initially parking cars in the rain and then taking pictures of visitors. Finally at 4 pm I had some time to myself and headed for Bittern Hide. The birding was great, in the hour I had in the hide I saw Bittern, Marsh Harrier, Kingfisher and four Hobby's.

The Hobby's were hawking for insects over the pools in the reedbed and seemed intent on making up for the time lost to the rain earlier in the day, this meant they put on a great show for those of us in a packed hide.

Photographing them was a real challenge and I am not really completely happy with any of the shots I took [you can see a couple more at http://www.flickr.com/photos/bullofthebog/ ] If anything I found them harder to photograph than the Swifts I have been working on at Titchwell. Still the pictures I managed to take give me something to work on and hopefully I'll get at least one more go with these dashing falcons this summer.

Evening Shift at the Staithe

2009-06-02T21:58:00.002+01:00

Little Egret, Brancaster Staithe

This evening took a dusk ride along the back roads near Ringstead and then down to Brancaster Staithe and back along the coast road. Highlights were this Little Egret in Brancaster Staithe harbour that I saw catch a small flat fish and presumably the same Tawny Owl I photographed just outside Ringstead a week or so back.

Hunting Barn Owl

2009-05-30T12:00:00.002+01:00

Hunting Barn Owl, north Norfolk

Another early Saturday morning drive around the back roads of North West Norfolk with the baby lulled to sleep by the motion of the car and my camera to hand in the passenger seat. This owl regularly hunts over this meadow and provides reasonable photographic opportunities.

Sharing Swallowtails

2009-05-30T11:51:00.003+01:00

Swallowtail, Strumpshaw Fen, Norfolk

Dr Martin George Swallowtail Garden Sign, Strumpshaw, Norfolk

I managed to find half an hour yesterday afternoon to pop into Strumpshaw Fen RSPB nature reserve in the Norfolk Broads. Or more accurately I spent my 30 minutes skirting the edge of the reserve in Dr Martin George's garden. The main trail around the Fen passes here and for as long as I can remember Dr George has planted nectar rich plants to attract Swallowtail butterflies from the reserve into his back garden. Then in an act of generosity each year he puts up a little hand written sign inviting folk to wander around his private garden to watch and photograph Swallowtails. A wonderfully kind and public spirited way for this retired conservationist to share his love of nature with visitors.

Catching Quick Silver

2009-05-26T21:36:00.002+01:00

Common Swift, Titchwell Marsh

Mallards, Titchwell Marsh

Spent a fun hour late this afternoon at Titchwell Marsh photographing the Swifts, a past time that is a bit like trying to catch Quick Silver. Grabbed a few shots, but still some work to do to get a picture I'm really happy with. Of the 200 or so frames I shot, there are about three or four I am moderately happy with. I'll post these on my Flickr page later http://www.flickr.com/photos/bullofthebog/ In the middle of the Swift action I grabbed this shot of the Mallard mating party.

Invasion of the Painted Lady's

2009-05-24T20:21:00.002+01:00

Painted Lady, Courtyard Farm, Ringstead, Norfolk

Last weekend on a work tour of the Broads I noticed a few early Painted Lady butterflies, this weekend they seem to be everywhere locally. During a walk around Courtyard Farm this afternoon I saw over 50 and on returning to a friends garden in Titchwell there were at least another ten there.

Painted Lady's are migrant butterflies, as I understand it they start their journey in North Africa and fly north stopping to breed in southern Europe, they then die and the new generation picks up wher their parents left off, heading north on the next leg of the journey. Many of the Painted Lady''s I saw this afternoon had quite a 'worn' look. As well as these I saw another eight species of butterfly on this organic farm.

Two Owl Day

2009-05-23T22:07:00.001+01:00

Tawny Owl, Ringstead

Started and ended the day driving the baby round North West Norfolk's back roads in an attempt to get him to sleep. This worked much better this morning when I saw a number of Barn Owls, than it did this evening. Nonetheless just as the light was going this evening I did stumble across this Tawny Owl perched on a dead roadside tree just outside Ringstead. Even in poor light its shape distinguished it immediately from the more often seen Barn Owls. I used an image stabilised lens and a 1600 ISO setting to take this image.

Marsh Orchid at Titchwell

2009-05-22T21:06:00.002+01:00

Marsh Orchid sp

The Fen Meadow area at Titchwell Marsh RSPB nature reserve has come on a lot since it was first opened up about ten years ago. Then there were a few flowering spikes of Marsh Orchids and Ragged Robin flowers. Now after a decade of meadow management by RSPB wardens cutting and taking the sward away there are many tens of orchids in bloom and a good showing of Ragged Robin, all just to the side of the board walk and easily photographable. This picture was taken with a Ricoh GR2 digital compact.

New pictures

2009-05-15T11:16:00.003+01:00

Dusk flight of Little Egrets, Titchwell Marsh

I've added a couple of new 'sets' of pictures on my Flickr page including one on birds in flight, take a look at http://www.flickr.com/photos/bullofthebog/

Joy of a rush hour Red Kite

2009-05-11T20:39:00.004+01:00

One I made earlier, Red Kite, Spanish Pyrenees

I keep a small black notebook in the car, in which I scribble sightings of birds and mammals to send to the county recorder at the end of the year. Today I was able to note that I 'had' a Red Kite fly over my car as I drove to work along the A47 heading towards Norwich.

This was my third Norfolk Red Kite and the one that has given me the most pleasure, not only because it was a great, well lit if brief view looking up underneath it as it circled overhead, but also because of how I picked it out, first as a brief silhouette against the sun, with a fleeting twist of its tail giving its identity away. Then a few minutes later confirmation of my earlier instinctive identification a Red Kite, for my money perhaps our most spectacular raptor.

I don't know where this bird was from, I couldn't see a wing tag so it could be either a continental migrant or from one of the successful English reintroduction projects. Either way it was a pleasure to see and for me it threw into focus how such a simple pleasure as this has been denied to generations of birdwatchers and ordinary people who would take enjoy it. Denied because of the prejudices that we had and still have against birds of prey. Prejudices which still manifest themselves in illegal persecution and knee jerk reactions against the idea of looking to put back Sea Eagles in our East Coast wetlands.

Lunchtime in the cemetery

2009-05-07T20:03:00.003+01:00

Common Frog

Rosary Cemetery, Norwich

I've managed to get over the Cemetery twice this week at lunchtime. Rosary Cemetery is divided neatly into two halves a modern section where burials still take place and which is well maintained and a wonderfully wild Victorian half where the gravestones are surrounded by brambles and mature trees. This is a great place to observe life's thrusting progress amongst the memorials to the dead. Today I heard a Green Woodpecker's yaffling call and since Christmas without the aid of a pair of binoculars I have recorded thirty species of birds here during lunchtime walks.

Today I stopped first at the small garden pond in the remembrance garden, although quite overgrown this is a great spot to watch Common Frogs and Smooth Newts. Moving through into the older part of the Cemetery there were Speckled Wood, Orangetip and Holly Blue Butterflies on the wing and the Bluebells were at their peak.

To find out more about the Cemetery visit the excellent http://www.literarynorfolk.co.uk/

St Mark and other Flies

2009-05-06T20:17:00.005+01:00

Male Orangetip

Cowslips

St Mark's Fly

A lovely sunny day at the end of which I managed a forty minute walk around part of Courtyard Farm near Ringstead. I went equipped with my macro lens in the hope of getting some butterfly pictures. Unfortunately it clouded over and there were relatively few on the wing.

A male Orangetip did pose briefly and allow me to get a better image than that in my previous post. The Cowslips have spread really well in the road side meadow and even though they are starting to 'turn' they still present a great splash of colour.

The St Mark's Fly would have been too active to take a picture of on a sunnier evening so it was good to find this pair hitched together and immobile. This large midge gets its name due to its habit of appearing on St Mark's Day [25 April], here on the north Norfolk coastal strip it can be very abundant particularly in the vicinity of Alexanders.

Organic Butterflies

2009-05-03T20:17:00.006+01:00

Male and female Orangetips

Holly Blue

Our son turned 18 today [18 days not years] and we managed to get out for a family walk around Courtyard Farm near Ringstead, this is an organic farm with a progressive access policy and a great place for a walk. I hoped that as well as enjoying some time together as a family outside of the house, we would also see some butterflies drawn out by the spring sunshine.

Although quite windy we were able to plot a route that took us along a lane and round a patch of woodland known as Wharton's Belt. As we walked up the lane and got out of the wind we started to see butterflies, with Green Veined White's feeding on flowers on the edge of the lane, lots of Holly Blue's had emerged and were feeding on the white blossom of Hawthorns. A tatty Peacock appeared, presumably an overwintering insect. Splendid new buttercup yellow Brimstone's flew past and Speckled Woods sunbathed. One of my favourite butterflies the Orangetip was on the wing, this pretty little insect only flies for a month or so each spring and is always worth seeing, it is though on of the more active of our native butterflies and I wasn't able to get a particularly brilliant shot of one today.

The highlight though was a single Green Hairstreak that stopped very briefly on a Hawthorn, I have seen this well camouflaged butterfly here before, but not in last years terrible wet and cold summer so it was good to see that they are still present.

Less expected than the butterflies here was a calling Tawny Owl in the middle of the afternoon and a couple of 'boxing' Brown Hares.

Wagtail on the roof

2009-04-23T11:41:00.001+01:00

Pied Wagtail, Titchwell

Yesterday was beautiful sunny day and a so week after he was born, we took our new son on an outing to the coast to see his Grandad who lives in Titchwell.

As I walked down the West Bank path on the reserve at Titchwell, there was a lovely spring feel to the afternoon. Peacock butterfly's flitted by the side of the path and in the sky high above the reedbed Marsh Harriers did their roller coaster sky dance. A Sedge Warbler sat up in a clump of Bramble on the edge of the reedbed giving its discordant jazzy song and a male Red Crested Pochard loafed in the pool in the middle of the reedbed, it's ginger head and bright red bill standing out even at a distance. A Little Gull hawking for insects over the far side of the Fresh Marsh was the most interesting bird I could locate there.

On the way back to my car I noticed this Pied Wagtail feeding on the roof of the Visitor Centre.

Flicker of a Redstart

2009-04-13T20:19:00.004+01:00

At tea time today the sun at last started to chisel through the layer of low cloud that has sat over 'Sunny Hunny' this weekend. I decided to enjoy this break in the weather with a quick trip to Titchwell. On arrival in the car park I bump into Trevor, who told me that a male Redstart had been showing well all day along the Meadow Trail, so I thought that I would focus my visit there.

By the end of my second circuit of the Meadow Trail I had almost decided to cut my losses and have a look at the Fresh Marsh, when a passing birder pointed out the bush he had seen the Redstart feeding in the middle of. Patience was going to be needed. Still it was a pleasant wait as I could hear singing Chiff-Chaff, Willow, Sedge and Cetti's Warblers.

At last I caught a flicker of movement deep in the Sallows and it was a cracking if elusive male Redstart, this then flew across the meadow and into another bigger clump of scrub. By now I had been joined by a trio of birders one of whom had a very big lens and announced that he was determined to 'zap' the Redstart with it. Not sure if he got his wish as after 10 - 15 minutes during which I had a series of brief but good views, I headed off for a quick look at the Fresh Marsh before going home for tea.

Pheasant on the Picnic Table

2009-04-12T20:39:00.002+01:00

All I've had time for today has been a quick shoot down the coast road this evening to Titchwell. Often of an evening this can be an idyllic spot. With the sun setting behind you as you look out over the lagoons, the light is great and most of the crowds that throng the place during the day have left. However this evening the low grey cloud that has sat over this corner of Norfolk all Bank Holiday weekend, kept the sun at bay and the temperature down.

Still the relatively low temperature of 10C hadn't stopped a hatch of insects that a flock of c 100 Swallows [with a few Sand and House Martins mixed in] were feeding on over the Fresh Marsh. Here a range of dabbling ducks could be seen sifting for food in the shallows, in particular Shoveler and Teal, whilst in the distance a pair of Red Crested Pochard snoozed by an island.

As I headed back to the car this male Pheasant posed on top of a picnic table and provided the only real photo opportunity of a light less dusk.

Groppers and other early migrants

2009-04-12T14:39:00.003+01:00

Spent most of a grey Easter Saturday with the family, so by about 5.30 pm I was ready for a fix of fresh air and birds. As I was going to pass Snettisham on my way back from King's Lynn, I gave my mate Jim a call to see if he fancied coming out to play for an hour. He couldn't, but he did say he'd had a few good birds down the Coastal Park recently including an Alpine Swift earlier in the week.

The large car park was almost empty when I arrived just a few dog walkers braving the chilly grey evening. Heading into the scrub almost the first bird I heard was a Grasshopper Warbler reeling away from an area of reed and brambles. Standing here for a few minutes I was also able to hear Chiff-Chaff, Willow Warbler and Sedge Warbler. Great, but where were they, hard as I tried even the Sedge Warbler normally a bit of an exhibitionist kept its head down and carried on its improvised Jazz routine from deep in the cover of a clump of Brambles.

Walking on skeins of Pink Footed Geese numbering perhaps a couple of hundred birds flew overhead and onto Ken Hill Marshes on the other side of the river and a second Gropper sang from a patch of scrub in the middle of a wet reedy area.

With the light going and no sign of the setting sun being able to break through the blanket of grey cloud I headed back to the car skirting the piles of dog turds as I went.

Magic of Wallcreeper's

2009-04-10T21:56:00.004+01:00

Something a wrote a while ago. Picture is of the rock face at Gabardito

Sunday 21 May 2006

Gabardito

Wallcreeper

Why is Wallcreeper the most sought after bird on every trip I have led to the Spanish Pyrenees, the bird that seems to sum up these wild mountains. The species that on the first day of the holiday we take the group in search of under the towering rock face of Gabardito, so that we have time to try again here later in the week should we fail?

Wallcreeper the bird that each year without fail members of the party will sidle up to me in the departure hall at Stansted, and ask in a whisper “Its not that I’m a twitcher or anything, but I’d really like to see a Wallcreeper. What chance have we got?”

I feel that part of this birds appeal must lie in its association with high, wild, inaccessible places like the Pyrenees. To have seen one means that you have joined a small select club of birdwatchers.

The walk to Gabardito starts in a small car park next to a Refugio, on the edge of an alpine meadow ringed by mountain peaks that are over flown by Griffon Vultures and the occasional Lammergeir. From here it is an uphill walk along a narrow side valley, gaining height as we pass through Beech woods and Pine clad rocky slopes. The surface of the path is a little uneven in places and has a steep drop on one side. Choughs fly overhead their metallic calls echoing around us. Different members of the group handle this ascent in their own way. For some it is an easy uphill walk, others describe it as ‘hard’ as much for the overwhelming and unfamiliar mountain scenery as the physical exertion involved.

Even when you are in the right place you have no certainty of success and again even when the bird has been spotted you, the individual who has been guided to this time and place, have to work hard to follow the directions across the almost featureless rock-face so that you can spot a small, well camouflaged and distant bird. To have done this gives you not only a buzz but also a sense of ownership of the sighting a sense of satisfaction of having worked for your bird.

So after all the exertion of the climb, the giddying drops to the side of the path, the wait whilst you and the guide scan the vast rock face for this small well camouflaged bird, followed by the anxious moments whilst you try and find the bird in your binoculars. Then you get onto it and can enjoy the moment, watching a small purple, black and grey bird with scimitar beak and butterfly wings, the shared excitement with your fellow travellers and of course the anticipation of being able to tell friends back home of your successful journey into the Wallcreeper’s mountain home.

Yet after all this I am often surprised, that when it comes to the end of a week full of wonderful wildlife and landscape experiences in this amazing corner of Wild Spain, and I ask the group for their bird of trip or Champagne moment, Wallcreeper will often not feature on either list despite having been seen by everyone. Is this because this unique bird’s legend out does the reality of its appearance, or is it because in the guests hearts they expect to see one and it is the unexpected surprises that really etch themselves onto folks memories?

For a picture of a Wallcreeper see my earlier post http://bullofthebog.blogspot.com/2009/02/northern-spain-in-winter-day-2.html

Singing Robin

2009-04-09T22:17:00.002+01:00

The 'tame' Robin's in the car park at Titchwell are as much a part of the birding experience as the Avocet's on the lagoons. Pull up, open your door and wait for them to land on your wing mirrors. Or as has happened to me wait, for one to investigate your cars foot well. If you are feeling generous you can buy a tub of meal worms in the visitor centre to take back to the car park to feed the Robins with.

Titchwell Teal

2009-04-05T13:30:00.003+01:00

With the sun setting behind you the light at Titchwell is always at its best in the evening. Yesterday I had a hour in the Parrinder Hide mostly with good light. A small flock of half a dozen Sand Martins hawked for insects over the west bank path and an adult Mediterranean Gull rubbed shoulders with the Black Headed Gulls on the Fresh Marsh. A Common Snipe fed right below the hide a few feet from my camera lens but as I have recently shown pictures of bird doing just this I thought I would post a couple of shots of a male teal.

With one's attention drawn to the first flush of spring migrants, it can be easy to forget how splendid wildfowl can look at this time of year. The Teal at Titchwell glowed in the evening light and when not busy feeding the males would occasionally fight.

Adders

2009-03-29T18:47:00.002+01:00

I've never had much luck with Adders [Vipera berus] before and have resolved this spring to 'get my eye' in with this rather elegant reptile. When I saw the weather forecast for today, clear blue sky's and a weak but warming winter sun, I decided to head for Kelling Heath a well known Adder hot spot in north Norfolk.

After an hour and a half of carefully walking the heath with my friend Jim and neither of us spotting a snake [we did manage a couple of Common Lizards, Zootoca vivipara] we were heading back to the car park when I saw another friend and his wife staring through their binoculars at the base of a tree trunk. When we wandered over to them they pointed out two Adders basking in the dead bracken and then took us to another spot a short distance away where two more Adders could be seem.

A wonderful result and I hope time and weather permitting to get back here again this spring and summer to improve on the pictures I took today.

You Looking at Me?

2009-03-27T16:08:00.002Z

Now when the birds are back at their nest trees but before they can hide behind new leaves, is the time to suss out where the local Little Owl's are nesting. This bird is at a new site for me, a small, gnarled old oak tree in a hedgerow along a quiet back road.

The Hare & The Harrier

2009-03-25T17:42:00.005Z

This afternoon we were driving a back road through Hare country. I was busy scanning the trees in a hedgerow for Little Owls, when the wife said "There's a Harrier". Sure enough a ringtail Hen Harrier flew down the road in front of us and into a stubble field, where it landed next to a hedgerow. As it flew we could see that it was carrying prey.

Within a minute of the Harrier settling in the long grass, a Hare came down the side of the Hedgerow and 'flushed' the Harrier, which then flew low across the field. At this point the Hare appeared to give chase with the successful intention of preventing the Harrier from landing in the field.

It would be easy to suppose that the Hare was the mother of the Leveret that the Harrier had caught [on blowing up some pictures the Harrier is either carrying a young Rabbit or a Leveret] chasing away its killer. It could though be that the Hare just wanted to be rid of a large and possibly dangerous predator. This would be a similar strategy to that adopted by flocks of small birds that come together to mob Raptors and Corvids. A risky strategy, but an effective one, as the harassed predators tend to move on far enough away from the scene of the mobbing so as to cease to be an immediate danger to the birds. Whatever was happening it was an exciting couple of minutes.

Ringo's Back

2009-03-24T19:10:00.001Z

The weather this week has been on balance grey and rather poor for photography, but every now and again the clouds blow away and the sun breaks through for a little while. Yesterday evening was just such an occasion and I headed down to Brancaster Staithe for the last 45 minutes of daylight. I had the harbour almost to myself and as the tide dropped away down the hard, this splendid Ringed Plover fed close to my car.

Hare field

2009-03-22T16:33:00.004Z

Early start to avoid the weekend crowds and to try and get some photos of Brown Hares. I found this field one afternoon a couple of days ago, it looked promising but the hares were a long way off. I liked the fact that unlike a lot of fields it had no hedgerow down one side so I could get a clear arc to move my camera through and its on a quiet road with little disturbance. What I didn't bank on was that where I parked my car was opposite a gap in the hedge of the field on the other side of the road and that I was in a perfect spot for hares to cross the road in front of me. An hours quiet sitting and waiting was rewarded with several close views and at one point a group of six hares ran past the side of my car a few feet from me. Really top quality wildlife watching and nice when a plan comes together, I hope to spend more time at this location over the coming days.

Gypsy Morning

2009-03-18T08:42:00.003Z

Monday morning, half an hour to spare so I wandered down Gypsy Lane [or Gypsy Drove if you prefer] at the east end of Titchwell village. Great to hear the Skylarks and Meadow Pipits in song, and in the small patch of wet woodland at the start of the path 3 Bullfinches were as ever a delight.

A biggish tide filled the saltmarsh creek, a reminder of the fact that Titchwell is a place on the edge of the land and the sea, and the value of saltings such as this as a sponge protecting the land, as well as being great places for wildlife and a wonderful landscape to enjoy being in.

Spring on the way

2009-03-15T15:45:00.003Z

Pleasant weekend of sunshine and a cold wind. Yesterday [Saturday] had a brief visit to the bird hide at Abbey Farm, Flitcham. Always a great place to stop to have a quiet birdwatch on the way back from shopping in King's Lynn. Highlights were a Common Buzzard, singing Chiff Chaff, half a dozen Bramblings and a Tree Sparrow.

A herd of a dozen Fallow Deer on the edge of a wood between Flitcham and the Anmer turnoff was unexpected. Popped into Titchwell for an hour before dusk and got my second spring migrant of the day a Little Ringed Plover on the Fresh Marsh. Also saw and then briefly saw a Bittern in the reedbed.

Today popped down Dersingham Bog with Bricker and Phil for the Great Grey Shrike which we had good scope views of plus lots of fly over Crossbills and Siskins.

Got this grab shot of a hunting Barn Owl over a field on the south side of Barrow Common yesterday afternoon. If Norfolk has a signature bird species surely this is it.

Frog on Frog

2009-03-06T08:56:00.002Z

Had a chance to pop over the cemetery for half an hour earlier in the week. The Common Frogs in the small pool are now well and truly consumed by lust and there were a couple of mating balls of randy amphibians, plus at least half a dozen lumps of spawn. Other highlight was a Rosary Cemetery mammal tick in the form a of Fox, apparently a two were also seen last week by some folk from the office.

Stunning Snipe

2009-03-03T08:21:00.003Z

Spent an hour at Titchwell late on Saturday afternoon with this beauty. Feeding on the Fresh Marsh right underneath the Parrinder Hide window, less than six feet from where I was sitting. Even better most of the time I had the hide to myself so didn't have to worry about anybody else accidentally flushing the bird. Did get to share it with a couple of ladies who wanted to know if it was a Water Rail as they thought Snipe were much bigger ;-)

Took lots of photos with my Canon 100 - 400 Zoom at 400 ISO. With its tail spread showing those wonderful orange tail feathers this is my favourite.

Crocus awakening

2009-02-25T20:44:00.005Z

The Rosary Cemetery in Norwich is a wonderful little oasis close to the centre of the city and a couple of minutes walk from my office. The cemetery falls into two parts a wild older section full of mature trees and Victorian tombstones on which the inscriptions read like CV's fro the afterlife and a newer section which is still in use. Cross a road from the new part of the cemetery and you are in Lion Wood. Visit the excellent http://www.literarynorfolk.co.uk/rosary_cemetery.htm for more information on the Cemetery.

Its a great place for a 'birds without binoculars' lunchtime walk or potter with the camera. See http://flickr.com/photos/bullofthebog/ to see a small of selection of photos taken here over the last couple of years.

Today was my first visit for a couple of weeks and it was good to see the changing season in the shape of the naturalised crocuses that have spread, seemingly randomly through the cemetery, no boring municipal lines here. For the next month these wild crocuses will be an absolute joy. Not to be outdone the small pond was full of frogs with at least ten 'pairs' of copulating amphibians. A large female Sparrowhawk was my first over the Cemetery this year.

Walsingham Snowdrops

2009-02-22T18:12:00.002Z

An annual event in Norfolk are the February Snowdrop walks held around the County to raise funds for charity. One of the most popular of these is held in the grounds of Walsingham Abbey, here the Snowdrops carpet the ground interspersed with smaller clumps of yellow Aconites. The bare branches of the trees carry large clumps of Mistletoe.

For the last couple of years the mild winters have meant that by late February the Snowdrops have been turning over, but this year presumably thanks to the cold weather we have had this year, they were at their best. An additional bit of atmosphere was provided this year by a small girl playing her violin below the ruined arch.

Prior to our walk around the Abbey we had lunch at 'The Pie Pub' aka The Three Horseshoes in Warham http://www.warham.biz/3horseshoes/index.html This pub sits just inland from the north Norfolk coast and has escaped the tarting up that has befallen many Norfolk pubs. The words 'fusion' and 'sitting on a bed of' don't appear on the menu instead they sell a range of home made pies and old fashioned puddings alongside Norfolk Wherry bitter, a great place for a winter pub lunch.

Death down at the Staithe

2009-02-21T17:35:00.003Z

Beautiful early spring morning. Had a short walk around Holkham Park, no Lesser peckers, but lots of noise from the resident Jackdaws and the wonderful almost owl like cooing of the local Stock Doves.

Stopped off at Deepdale Cafe http://www.deepdalecafe.co.uk/ for a takeaway sausage sandwich and coffee, as ever excellent food, great value for money and friendly service. I took my meal down to the Staithe, what with the tide still being out and a number of folk walking around enjoying the sunshine it was quiet for waders and wildfowl. However the calm was broken by a Sparrowhawk taking out one of the Redshanks. Only managed some distant shots of the BOP as it subdued its prey. I've sharpened and cropped one of these and posted it here.

Snowdrops & Aconites

2009-02-20T17:27:00.004Z

Early, early spring and Summerfield, a corner of scrubby, scruffy Norfolk woodland which for 11 months of the year is unremarkable comes to life. The ground here is covered in great painterly splashes of yellow and white as aconites and snowdrops burst through last autumns still decomposing leaf litter to have their fifteen minutes of fame. Yesterday morning was wonderfully clear and spring like and then at lunchtime the tide brought in a grey overcast sky, it was in this diffuse light that I spent a pleasant ten minutes with the camera photographing these first signs of spring.

Northern Spain in Winter Day 5

2009-02-19T14:23:00.004Z

Sunday 15 February

Left Hotel Carinena and arrived at El Planeron at 7.30 am, much stiller than last time but also a lot colder at -4 C. A lot quieter we only heard a few snatches of a single Dupont's Lark in song. The wetland area here held a roost of c 80 Common Cranes as well as a selection of wildfowl and a Green Sandpiper.

We drove a track further out into the depression managing to find more Lesser Short Toed, Calandra and Crested Larks and Pintailed and Black Bellied Sandgrouse. Following the minor road across the steppe towards Quinto De Ebro we found roadside Dartford and Fan Tailed Warblers.

Time was now pressing in on us if we were to make Zaragoza airport and our flight home. Nonetheless we found time for a brief stop by the river in Quinto de Ebro. Although in full spate we did manage to add a number of birds to our list including Little, Cattle and Great White Egrets. This village was also really good for nesting White Storks.

Ended trip on 104 species. For gen we used 'A Birdwatching Guide to the Pyrenees by Jacqueline Crozier' We also got some good up to date information from http://www.birdinginspain.com/

Northern Spain in Winter Day 4

2009-02-19T14:13:00.003Z

Saturday 14 February

Spent the morning in the Echo Valley, managed to get about a Kilometre beyond Boca Del Infierno at which point the road was blocked with snow. We parked and enjoyed a short walk through a wonderful sparkling winter landscape of snow covered hills and forest and icicles hanging from the roadside trees and rocks. On top of all this we had more Wallcreeper and Lammergeir sightings.

We wanted to be back at Gallocanta for dusk so we headed south on the road that runs via Ayerbe. Here in the village of Plascencia we saw our first White Storks on a roadside Church and just south of a here a Golden Eagle was hunting a roadside field.

We arrived at Gallocanata late afternoon much sunnier and stiller than on our first visit. Lots of birdwatchers and photographers scattered about the place and perhaps as many as 23,000 Common Cranes. We had a wonderful last couple of hours of daylight and probably an hour after sunset watching and listening to thousands of Cranes flighting into roost. A truly stunning sight and an amazing testament to the wildness that does still manage to survive in western Europe.

Northern Spain in Winter Day 3

2009-02-19T14:05:00.004Z

Friday 13 February

Pre Breakfast walk turned up a number of wintering Hawfinches, Bullfinch, Peregrine, Lammergeir and an unseasonal bat flying around the church.

Today was to be our high altitude day and we had a wonderful clear blue mountain sky. The road to the Portalet pass was blocked and there was chaos around the ski lifts due to the sheer weight of ski traffic. No sign of any birds so we headed down and up to the Somport Pass, again the road was blocked by snow so we went down to the ski resort of Astun. This was very busy but also sheltered and we were fortunate to find c 6 'tame' Alpine Accentors feeding in the car park and a number of Alpine Choughs hanging around. Disappointingly so Snowfinches here or anywhere else today.

Had time for a quick drive up the wonderful Echo Valley, the usual Red Kites, Common Buzzards and a Dipper on the river. Had to give up on trying to reach the Refugio at Gabardito when our hire car refused to drive up a steep road of sheet ice.

Northern Spain in Winter Day 2

2009-02-19T13:50:00.005Z

Thursday 12 February

Up at Sparrows and on site at El Planeron SEO reserve by 6.30 am. Quite a blowy morning but we heard the first Dupont's Lark squeaky gate song in the pre dawn at 7.05 am. Really atmospheric just the wind, the Dupont's Lark song and a velvet blue glow in the horizon. As it got lighter the dawn chorus was joined by Short Toed, Calandra and Crested Larks. After about three hours trying we managed a brief scope view of a Duponts. Also saw a pair of Southern Grey Shrikes here and Black Bellied Sandgrouse.

On our way north we stopped at the Lomara reserve for lunch and had great views of a low flying Golden Eagle. We continued our way north via Embalse's Sotonera and Ardissa but in the high wind these were pretty birdless.

The hour and a half that we spent at Riglos was one of the best of the trip. As we walked through the village towards the church we had great close views of two Alpine Accentors. Once under the cliffs we had good views of two Wallcreepers including one very low down eatinga caterpillar. Other graet birds here included a stunning male Black Redstart, a Blue Rock Thrush, Peregrine and a steady fly by of Griffons.

Next stop the Monastery at San Juan De La Pena. The meadow and car park here were carpeted in snow but we had good views of a Black Woodpecker in the vicinity of the Aspen tree I had seen it nesting in last spring. A singing male Crossbill added to the atmosphere.

As we drove down the hill we saw Lammergeir and Peregrine. We got a room for two nights at the Hostal Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz de la Seros.

Northern Spain in Winter Day 1

2009-02-19T13:44:00.004Z

Wednesday 15 February

Flew into Zaragoza and drove down to Laguna Gallocanta and followed a clockwise circuit around the lake. Quite breezy and 7 - 8 C. No other birders about and the Cranes were feeding close to the road, small numbers with c 2000 present late afternoon. Very good for Hen Harriers with about ten birds present all bar one were males. Other highlights were a Rock Sparrow on the church in Tornos and a roadside Wild Boar at dusk. On leaving Gallocanta we headed for the Hotel Carinena in the town of the same name, strategically situated 45 minutes drive from Belchite.